Monitoring a V1u in the field?

[Keith Johnston]

Doing my first shoot with my new HVR-v1u in 2 weeks
I have given up on doing 24p for now for obvious reasons and 100's of posts by others.
So i imagine the default HDV 60i is what I am will be shooting?, I will open Final Cut and look at the easy set ups and make sure before I shoot.
(I had my heart set on 24p but I will just have to wait)

anyway, here is my question and extreme concern

Monitoring in the field...I will be directing a cameraperson and back in the NON HDV days, all it took was a sony PVM monitor and either a BNC cable or at worse, a long RCA cable...calibrate your bars, and now you can judge color and framing, light and dark and everything else

wellll, now here we are with a different "color space" a different frame size, and up till my decision about NOT shooting 24p, possible different frame rates.

Can someone please help me on which monitor to rent for this purpose and which output on camera to use to properly monitor what my camerapeson is shooting to accuratly KNOW what is going on tape.

aI had my eye on SCOPEBOX, but they dont support HDV set, and in the forum someone said on another camera they could output DV out the jacks all while actually laying HDV to tape!

anyway, if that were the case and the V1u, did that, I would actually buy scopebox, use it in that capacity and then when scopebox was updated to suppost HDV, be happy

But as you all know, this bleeding edge stuff is all over the place
Trust me I am researching as much as I can and the majority of monitor questions are about monitoring in the edit room NOT the field

thanks so much

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

The V1 allows for monitoring of SD or HD over the 1394 port, AV output, component output, while recording HDV to tape, this is correct.
You can also output HD over the component outputs, and obtain a component to DVI converter to input to an LCD panel in the field if you have AC access. Or, you can use various laptop applications that allow you to monitor in the field.

[Ron Little]

What about HDMI to a Sony Bravia?

[Keith Johnston]

Originally Posted by Douglas Spotted Eagle

The V1 allows for monitoring of SD or HD over the 1394 port, AV output, component output, while recording HDV to tape, this is correct.
You can also output HD over the component outputs, and obtain a component to DVI converter to input to an LCD panel in the field if you have AC access. Or, you can use various laptop applications that allow you to monitor in the field.

-----
so if I am shooting HDV 108060i I can output from the AV or component outputs to a good old NTSC monitor and actually use the picture to light the set and "see what I am REALLY getting"?

if not, then using an LCD in the field, do you mean just a good old computer monitor?.

and if it is indeed true I can output a SD DV signal out while recording HDV 1080 to tape, then SCOPEBOX would be a good "just spend the money and be done with it" solution

orrrrrr, if the LCD is a good solution and I have to monitor proper HDV in the edit bay, the apple HD 20 inch would work for both field AND edit bay?

I almost just want you to say the scopebox solution would work, because I bring my 17 inch mac book pro to shoots anyway for paper work, email etc etc
and if I were to be outputing "DV" instead of HD out of the firewire port into the mac, I can buy the cheaper version of soapbox for now

sorry to be so needy, this is just the last aspect of a very important shoot and the clock is ticking (2 weeks aint long when you are the director)

Thanks so much
I really appreciate it

[Ron Little]

I understand what you are going thru. I also had the same struggle.

What I did was take my V1 to Best Buy and plugged it into every HDMI Equipped TV in the 26 inch range. The sony bravia had the best picture by far. So that is what I use it has every connection you could need for monitoring.

I also use it with my computer to monitor HDMI capture and playback with my intensity card.

[Keith Johnston]

well everyone keeps telling me I wont see proper color space and luma and chroma if I use a TV (like a sony bravia)

I actually have a 40 inch LCD bravia for home use and its far to big to bring to a set.

But if someone would tell me different I would be interested

right now the scopebox thing looks promising.
output "normal" DV while recording HDV on tape and monitor using scopebox and then when quicktime updates and THEN scopebox updates to support HDV have the real deal.

I have an email out to the Scopebox to see his opinion

[Giroud Francois]

a 24" Dell monitor with HDMI input should fet.
currently i am investigating on how to use cheap PC monitot as HD monitor.
It seems it is easier coming from components to VGA.
you can find 20 and 22" monitor that should fit (to be confirmed) provided you got the adapter (mayflash is a good candidate).
for hdmi to VGA there is this one http://cgi.ebay.com/HDMI-to-VGA-RGB-...QQcmdZViewItem

I tested my mayflash with my JVC HD1 720p on a regular 4/3 17" Dell.
It worked fine except the aspect ratio is incorrect.
This monitor does not work with the FX1 (1920i) so i need to find a monitor that can display higher resolution..
there are no wide format monitor in 17" , neither with sufficient resolution (at best 1280x1024).
19" are probably not ok since most of them are 1440x900 (but i need to try)
20" should be ok (usually 1600x1050)
+22" are too big , while for you there is the BENQ FP222WH that has HDMI input for cheap.
ideally the monitor would come with a detachable stand and a external power supply (power brick) so you can provide the low voltage from a battery (but a small/cheap DC/AC converter is easy to find).

[Marcus Marchesseault]

Please, Magic Genie, tell us why HDMI to DVI doesn't always work.

This issue is so frustrating.

Is anyone using a component to DVI converter? Is there such a thing? I know that HDMI to DVI isn't working on small monitors.

Does anybody have HD out from the V1 working on desktop computer monitors? I have a 20" that would be perfect, but HDMI downsamples to 480p. I'd be perfectly happy with a 17" widescreen if I could figure out how to make it work. I really need something to help with focus. HD is not very forgiving.

[Giroud Francois]

the problem is to master exactly the technology and terms used. Most video people think in term of "plug".
Unfortunately , today plugs format means nothing.
DVI: for most people it is only a connector, but for real, it is a bunch specification from DVI-I to DV-D with many resolution.
Component: again, most people see only the 3 colored cinch, but there is at least a dozen of varation on this theme.
HDMI: simply said, it is DVI with another connector + sound. Unfortunately , it is crippled with the HDCP feature (several version also) that can make a simple thing impossible.

What you need to know is :
1) are the signal analog or digital. DVI and components exists in both version. the video world usually need the analog, while computer parts (display adapters and monitors) use the digital version.
Many converter allow to select both mode.

2) Scaling: while many converter are not scaler (they just output at same resolution than input, many screens are able to handle several resolution , that is why a converter can work with SD or 720p and fail at 1080. this is not the fault of the converter, but probably you exceed the rescaling capabilities of the monitor.

so the workflow is to get answer to these questions.
-What is the output format of my camera (SD, 720, 1080) on HDMI, components ?
-what really does the converter (scaling ? analog to digital ?)
-what input the screen can accept (analog , digital, min and max resolution , rescaling)