Portable DVD Player as Monitor?

[Min Lee]

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/%3E%...a_DVDportables

Anyone tried using this as a monitor for 35mm adapters? It'd be used mainly for framing. It's slim and has a built-in battery for 3 hours. At first I was looking into the Nebtek because you can use your camera battery but this seems even better with the built-in battery. Anyone know how long the Nebtek monitor can run on the standard battery that came with the Sony A1?

Thanks!

[Eugene Kim]

Hi, some of the higher end portable DVD players can display 540 lines, 1024x600 pixel resolution, which would seem to trump the Swit/HDA monitors, plus built-in flip and zoom, and a handy little, portable DVD for the occasional Starbucks meeting and flights/layovers. However, those monitors have component inputs, of course.

Is there any commercially available converter box that could get these mini DVD players to accept component in? I ask, because such DVD players as this can be had dirt cheap used these days with decently spec-ed travel laptops now being so accessibly priced.

If such an adapter/box exists, I'd be willing to pay around $500, would these high-end DVD monitors be enough to resolve focus in HD? The consensus seems to be that the Swit/HDAs are the bare minimum for that if you're looking for something portable and battery powered for field use, but even those are far from ideal at this point.

How might such a hypothetical setup compare to the Swit/HDAs? Any foreseeable problems? I'm really not up to spec on the technics of this all.

Finally, if there is no practical work around solution to get the portable DVD players to accept component in, would the Canon ZR-2000 lanc for the A1 be a workable alternative? The ZR-2000 has of course the onboard peaking/magnifying/instant auto focus controls, but at $400 I'm a bit leary given I already have a zoom controller I like quite a bit and that has served me well, the now discontinued Studio One LCD pro zoom controller that has the indepedent dials for telephoto and wide zoom speeds and LCD readout of your settings.

I'm wondering basically if the ZR-2000 would allow me to focus while using the portable DVD player as a jib monitor, for example, given that I would be buy a higher res portable DVD player. Still, composite is composite I suppose.

Thanks for any info or insights in advance.

[Eugene Kim]

Anyway, found out can't work in any case there was anyone else like me looking for an affordable short term solution. Need image scaling in the player.

[Ben Winter]

See, now $500 is more than enough to buy a nice VGA input LCD screen, a component to VGA adapter, and batteries to power both. Work smart, not hard :)

[Graham Bernard]

For quick swap with other supports I have now added this to the SB:

http://www.fotosense.co.uk/Manfrotto...ID=1797&tabID=

I now have this plate on my trips too.

Plus a Hoodman H700 for the 7" monitor.

G

[Dale Guthormsen]

Grazie,

I have been looking for something just like that. I have two projects, one is an aluminum rail for the xl2 and a large telephoto lens, and the other is a bracket to go into my truck window for drive by shootings. that will solve the mounting problems.

thanks for sharing.

[Carlos E. Martinez]

Today I have finally tried connecting my DV and HDV camera to the Philips PET-1000 DVD player.

This is a very strange beast, quite temperamental I should say.

Some time ago I got quite furious trying to connect the player to my TV, using its video/audio output and my camera cable. No image. Only one cable, which probably came with the player, did the trick.

Today it was the same for the video in. No image. Same thing with the cable: only one worked.

But as I had to connect 3-way 1/8" to 3-way 1/8", things got complicated.

To make the story short: it turns out that the 3-way 1/8" DVD input is different from the 3-way 1/8" camera output. The ground ring is different.

That was a surprise. I expected the ground ring to be the one further on the back. And it's not so on the camera. Does anyone know if that is the standard for these 3-way connectors or if there is any standard?

Short of re-doing the DVD player input, I don't see any other way to do it.

Has anyoned had this problem too?


Carlos

[Carlos E. Martinez]

Just to update on the connection between the Sony camera and the Philips DVD player.

I found 3-way 1/8" plugs here, so I built a 1/8" to 1/8" cable, soldering the right rings on each side.

This time everything worked fine. Now I can and will use the player as a monitor.

So be warned, if you are going to use cables with such connectors, that there might be incompatibilities.


Carlos

[Robert Garvey]

Originally Posted by Carlos E. Martinez

..............
This time everything worked fine. Now I can and will use the player as a monitor.
..........................
Carlos

How does the image look Carlos?

Cheers,
Robert

[Carlos E. Martinez]

Originally Posted by Robert Garvey

How does the image look Carlos?

Looks reasonably good for what I will be using it for, which is checking the framing as I interview people.

Severe limitations for focus detail and probably lighting contrast, probably due to the fact that the connection is composite instead of S-Video/component.

But I will be able to check that during the job.

The image still looks better than a separate TVOne LCD 7" monitor I have, which came as a surprise to me. Size is larger too, being more than 10".

I think it will need some sort of shade to keep stray lighting away from the screen, which might improve contrast a bit.

Of course you can't put this screen on the camera or flip it for using a 35mm adapter. But you can't have everything.

[Ryan Szulczewski]

I was thinking about getting a portable dvd player as a field monitor (shooting with an XH A1). I know it won't be HD and I won't be able to check focus and all that. I will get an HD one once I get there.

Any tips on how to mount it?

[Annie Haycock]

I used one for remote work with my XM2 and Sony A1, haven't tried it with the XH A1 yet. But I was well away from the camera, it sounds like you want to use it mounted on the camera/tripod?

Either way, check that the DVD player and camera do work together with whatever leads you are using. We had some problems with the DVD connecting or not connecting with various bits of night vision equipment - including the Sony A1. Once we had leads that worked, they were labelled and kept aside for the purpose.

[Harold Schreiber]

Hi Ryan,

If you're looking to mount such a unit to your Tri-Pod, check out my past posts for Pics of how I've done it.

Thread "Hows about Telescoptic Handles & Articulating Cam-to-Head Mounts" has a couple.

I've made a number of DIY mods that I always use, and are very easy and cheap to make.

Harold

[Jon Omiatek]

Philips makes a 10in portable dvd player that has a video in and works good for monitoring sd. I would recommend a 7" lcd screen over it for image quality.

[William James Ryan]

I made this mount for the Sony 820 out of a some sheet aluminum, copper plumbers tape, and a worklight that came w/ a clamp-mount. I took the worklight off the clamp, bolted the aluminum to the frame I built out of the plumbers tape, then pieced it all together w/ a big bracket.

I love it because I can take the dvd player in & out whenever I want to, and I don't have to deal w/ velcro, which I really don't trust in the long run & don't want to deal w/ if I ever want to just watch a dvd.

The bendable plumbers tape on the left side allows me access to wires and switches when I need them, and keeps the player secure when I don't.

The whole thing is wrapped in duct tape a couple times, to protect innocent bystanders from any crazy injury. This, plus the bracket size and metal plate, adds extra weight that I would think about getting rid of. I can't convince myself that the metal plate isn't needed for security, as I don't trust a frame built on the tape alone. The same goes for the bracket size/width, as I want the strength, but I know there are thinner/lighter options out there.