Small HD Finally is here

[Miklos Konczol]

I am a litle bit disapointed because of the price, with all accessories it costs about 950.. (two akus 2x60 USD plus charger plus sunshade plus Battery Mounting Bracket)
and there is no HD SDI, we do not have info about menu (focus help, color settings etc) so I will wait for test and more info... not to buy on 5th of may...

and still interested in Ikan V5600 (at BH 650 USD)

[Andrew Dean]

I had set aside us $600 for "whatever smallhd comes up with", but the new pricepoint is just high enough i cant swing it right now, and possibly not for some time thanks to the fall of western civilization we are experiencing.

So i understand the disappointment over the price... but to be honest i never believed they'd be able to pull off what they planned for that cost. The one piece anodized case is really quite unusual, if not kickass.

Until I see one of the smallhd in person i cant say for sure, but this is why the monitor is far more exciting than most of the other offerings in the pricerange:

1. resolution. Frankly, this is the reason to care about this monitor. It can display a full 720P image at 1:1 pixel. In other words, there is NO downsampling (in 720p). Instead of a focus assist tool, the monitor shows you a full resolution image (in 720p), so you can see with your naked eyes whether you are focused or not. WYSIWYG (in 720p). Amazing. Hows it look in SD or 1080? that remains to be seen. I'd assume that it would be miles better than an image downsampled to 800x600 or less... but thats an assumption, not fact. some people claim a well downsampled low rez image looks better than an average downsampling at a much higher rez. Sounds plausible in theory. We'll see!

2. lots of rugged mounting points. Not only does it have mounting holes all over, but since the case of the monitor is built out of a solid hunk of alloy, the mounting points should be extremely strong and durable.

3. small. As the name implies, the unit is small, lightweight and high res. You can find 2 of those 3 features in other monitors, but rarely all 3.

And thats pretty much it. 3 good reasons to like a monitor, but not perfect for everyone. The lack of SDI wasnt an oversight. SDI was always considered a "if this sells, we'll ramp up for an SDI version" plan. In the last year SDI has come more and more in vogue, but its still a feature never planned for this particular unit.

My dream monitor would have hdmi, analog composite, s-video, analog HD and SDI. The monitor would be daylight viewable without a hood, would have perfect color rendition, and a FULL 1080p resolution, a low battery draw and it would cost $600.

That monitor doesn't currently exist for any price, so its a matter of choosing which features are the most important. I cant have everything in one unit (yet). Since *every* monitor is missing some of the dream features, I reckon complaining about what one lacks vs. another is pretty pointless.

Resolution
Brightness/transflective
Image clarity
weight
size
power consumption
color accuracy
assist modes
ports
passthrough
price

Show me ANY monitor that nails any of those points and I can point out how it falls seriously short on others.

The smallhd hits a combo of those points nobody else was hitting. Manhattanlcd has filled in some of the niche in the last year, but frankly, i'm thrilled to see another option at a fairly reasonable pricerange (and not much more expensive than the apples-to-apples manhattanlcd unit). Sadly, not the "ubercheap bargain" i dreamed of, but the rest of the unit sounds pretty sweet.

just waxing poetic. sorry if it offends anyone.

[Buba Kastorski]

Double expected price, no HD SDI, no common batteries (IDX, AB) connection option,
does it at least flip the image?

[Trevor Meeks]

Originally Posted by Bill Busby

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/961166-post61.html was the post by Dale himself saying they HOPED (keyword) to have the price in the $500 range.

Things change, and I can completely understand that.

[Miklos Konczol]

So the DP1 works with RED include MENU. Great news! (hopefully it will works with Scarlet also)

Dale, is it possible to show some picture about DP1 with RED? (before 5th of May)
regards: Miki

[Dale Backus]

I will get an image of the DP1 working with various cameras before may 5, including RED.

I'll at the very least have it of RED.
Dale

[Miklos Konczol]

OHHH:)
Great news! Thanks for that. This help me to make decision on 5th of may.

[Charles Papert]

What is the brightness level of the monitor in NITS? thanks!

[D.J. Ammons]

I was also disappointed with the $799 price point when I got the email. Especially since that did not include the battery.

I noticed in the last few days that Ikan has reduced the price of their 8" HD with HDMI down to $795 list and one major retailer has it for $719. I wonder if that is in response to Manhattan and now SmallHD?

It is looking more and more like the Manhattan for $499 with a Tekkeon3450 battery from Amazon for $119 is going to be my choice.

[Dale Guthormsen]

Good Morning,

I was wondering a couple things: 1. if ti is a 720 p monitor and your shooting 60i will that work just fine or not. considering an average view finder runs 200,000 to 300,000 pixels, 720x1980 is over a megapixel of resolution, substantial improvement!!! Talk about focus assist!!

Will it be battery dedicated, or can you use a 12 volt lighter attachment to run to other batteries?

[Garrett Low]

Dale,

On their web site they say that the units are shipped with a 12V adapter so I imagine you'd be able to just get a 12V lighter adapter with the correct sized connector into the monitor and you'd be good to go. That's an option I'm considering.

Garrett

[Dale Backus]

Yes, you can definitely use a cigarette car adapter.. just need the right tip.

Our tip is 5.5mm OD and 2.1mm ID, which is very standard and very easy to find. We will probably offer the correct adapter on our site in the near future.

Brightness of the LCD is 300 nits. Turns out to be plenty bright outdoors in overcast or shaded areas.. Direct overhead sunlight, you'll want a sunhood, which we are custom developing.

And yes, 720p native on a monitor works beautifully for focus assist, which is the main purpose of this monitor, which is why we didn't skimp on panel selection.

Thanks,
Dale

[Trevor Meeks]

Originally Posted by Buba Kastorski

Double expected price, no HD SDI, no common batteries (IDX, AB) connection option,
does it at least flip the image?

So you expected it to be a $400 monitor? Dream on!

Does it flip the image? It doesn't need to - there are solid mounting points on all sides, why would you need to flip the image?

[Andrew Dean]

Originally Posted by Trevor Meeks

So you expected it to be a $400 monitor? Dream on!

Does it flip the image? It doesn't need to - there are solid mounting points on all sides, why would you need to flip the image?

I dunno. I can think of a few times when software flipping would be easier than remounting the screen. Regardless, i thought software flipping was a common feature in the controller board, so I wouldn't be surprised if flipping is a menu option.

As to dreaming about the price... Hey, nothing wrong with dreams. Even Dale dreamed about the $450 price. Probably still does. I'm just glad I dont have a forum full of people commenting every time i'm too optimistic in scheduling or budgeting a video.

Anybody else old enough to remember sitting in the theater at the end of empire strikes back and having to face the fact that there wouldn't be closure until the NEXT movie came out, and how that was an eternity away?

Hehe. When i get too impatient i just remind myself how nothing could ever be as bad as that wait. Boy time goes slow when you are a kid. oy!

[Trevor Meeks]

well put. I'm glad that you're at least one of the ones who understands how these things go, instead of just hollowly griping about things.