HD monitoring alternative at DVinfo.net

James Ball · October 20th, 2004, 05:38 PM

Make Do HD Monitoring Solution

This is TOTALLY UNPROFESSIONAL....ALL YOU PROFESSIONALS OUT THERE PUT ON YOUR GOGGLES!

Sneak out and buy yourself a Viewsonic N5 video Processor. It weighs in at 0.25 pounds with the remote. Then get a decent LCD display. Take off the base and it's amazingly light. Mine is about 1.5 pounds. Rig a mount onto your tripod for the monitor along with a cloth viewing box on the front of the monitor. Get the 4:3 monitor if you think you'll ever use 4:3 because with the N5 you can display either 4:3 or 16:9 on a standard monitor.

The N5 gives 24bit color

Now you've spent $350 and you have a monitor that will take analog video through an S-Video, RF, Analog Component YPbPr, or RCA connector and displays it at a resolution of up to 1280X1084 No it's not quite 1080i but very close. 16:9 displays at 1280X768

Mine weights around 2 pounds.

For qualitative focus I've found it far superior to most onboard monitoring solutions.

It comes with an AC power source but runs on 12VDC so you could use DC power depending upon the voltage output of your battery. I'd suggest a call to technical help for this.

This in conjunction with DV Rack on your laptop and you have a very professional way of monitoring your video.

OK PROS RAISE YOUR Goggles AND GO TO THE NEXT POST. ;)

Till Krueger · October 20th, 2004, 06:18 PM

well, since the N5 only takes analog inputs, technically it can only upconvert an SD signal...still better than the HD10U's preview monitor, but not HD...you might as well look for an LCD with component inputs for a clean signal...or am i missing something in your methodology?

on that note, are there small WXGA (1280x768) LCD monitors that accept an iLink signal directly? better get on Google again.

James Ball · October 20th, 2004, 08:14 PM

"Only takes analog"
What takes firewire? The only solutions there are the newest pro monitors.
For editing most people run their firewire out of their PC through their camera out an analog connection to a monitor.
Unless there's a solution I don't know about. You're talking $2500 to $3000 for a digital monitor.

the N5 takes your signal and does an excellent job of uprezing it.

With a standard analog LCD TV monitor with direct connections you'll get 350 to 400 lines of resolution.

Are most of the LCD TVs or Pro monitors 4:3 and 16:9 switchable?

Also the N5 allows you to use a standard LCD or CRT monitor. Which have a lot higher rez for the money than an LCD or CRT TV.

Even most professional monitors will only have only 800 lines of resolution. Less than this I believe though we'd have to shoot a resolution chart with an 3+megapixel camer, HDV or HD camera to prove it.

"WXGA LCD with I-Link directly Google it"

How about a link? As far as I know there is no such animal.

But wouldn't it be nice. The only one I know of is the one Sony is showing off with their pro HDV camera. Which other posts say will be around $3000 or so.

To me the main point of monitoring is 1) Framing 2) focusing.

All I'm saying is that this is the best I've found unless you pony up the $3000. I just figured there'd be a few people looking for an alternative.

Till Krueger · October 20th, 2004, 08:24 PM

> "Only takes analog"

i didn't mean it as a value judgement...you're right about that being a very cost effective solution...my question - in part - was: how much better does the signal look going through the N5 vs. going component out of the HD10U into the component inputs of an LCD monitor...if i remember correctly, the HD10U does output an SD component signal while shooting HD, or did i get that wrong?

i guess if the 2 second delay won't kill you, then using a small WXGA notebook with i.link in (JVC, Fujitsu, Sony, etc.) will give you true HD preview for about US$1200-2000...yes, a bit more than your solution, but you can also grab the stream to harddisk as you shoot, which is worth something.

so just to restate my question: have you compared the uprezzing of the S-VHS/component signal from the HD10U into a better LCD monitor to that of the N5? is it that much better going through the extra step (the N5)? if so, it's certainly a nice way to go.

hope you didn't think i wanted to belittle your approach :)

James Ball · October 20th, 2004, 08:28 PM

Wish I had a JVC but not yet. I'm waiting for the Sony. I didn't know either had a component analog out.

I'm glad to learn that there is a $1200 solution out there.

I'll shoot out a rez chart and shoot my monitor to show how well it does on a SD camera and a 3megapixel digital camera.

DV Rack also has a "MONITOR" in their rack. YOu can also save directly to HDD using firewire.

YOu just have to strap your laptop to your camera or have a long actiive firewire cable.

Till Krueger · October 20th, 2004, 09:40 PM

fortunately, the notebooks i was talking about are pretty small/lite sub-notebook (3-5 pounds), that wouldn't be too difficult to attach to your tripod.

the caveat here is, are they powerful enough to show the stream on-screen via VLC/DirectShow...pretty sure you'll need a P4 above 2GHz, or maybe a Centrino of 1.2GHz+ will do...i'm speculating...if the delay gets a little longer, it wouldn't be the end of the world for checking your focus and light.

but let's see some 16:9 WXGA monitors that take i.link in, dammit!
if ROKU can put an ATI Xilleon chip into their $299 HD1000, then Sony/Sharp/Samsung can do it to one of their monitors...how about it?

October 20th, 2004, 05:38 PM	#1
James Ball Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sulphur, LA Posts: 61	HD monitoring alternative Make Do HD Monitoring Solution This is TOTALLY UNPROFESSIONAL....ALL YOU PROFESSIONALS OUT THERE PUT ON YOUR GOGGLES! Sneak out and buy yourself a Viewsonic N5 video Processor. It weighs in at 0.25 pounds with the remote. Then get a decent LCD display. Take off the base and it's amazingly light. Mine is about 1.5 pounds. Rig a mount onto your tripod for the monitor along with a cloth viewing box on the front of the monitor. Get the 4:3 monitor if you think you'll ever use 4:3 because with the N5 you can display either 4:3 or 16:9 on a standard monitor. The N5 gives 24bit color Now you've spent $350 and you have a monitor that will take analog video through an S-Video, RF, Analog Component YPbPr, or RCA connector and displays it at a resolution of up to 1280X1084 No it's not quite 1080i but very close. 16:9 displays at 1280X768 Mine weights around 2 pounds. For qualitative focus I've found it far superior to most onboard monitoring solutions. It comes with an AC power source but runs on 12VDC so you could use DC power depending upon the voltage output of your battery. I'd suggest a call to technical help for this. This in conjunction with DV Rack on your laptop and you have a very professional way of monitoring your video. OK PROS RAISE YOUR Goggles AND GO TO THE NEXT POST. ;)

October 20th, 2004, 08:14 PM	#3
James Ball Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sulphur, LA Posts: 61	might as well "Only takes analog" What takes firewire? The only solutions there are the newest pro monitors. For editing most people run their firewire out of their PC through their camera out an analog connection to a monitor. Unless there's a solution I don't know about. You're talking $2500 to $3000 for a digital monitor. the N5 takes your signal and does an excellent job of uprezing it. With a standard analog LCD TV monitor with direct connections you'll get 350 to 400 lines of resolution. Are most of the LCD TVs or Pro monitors 4:3 and 16:9 switchable? Also the N5 allows you to use a standard LCD or CRT monitor. Which have a lot higher rez for the money than an LCD or CRT TV. Even most professional monitors will only have only 800 lines of resolution. Less than this I believe though we'd have to shoot a resolution chart with an 3+megapixel camer, HDV or HD camera to prove it. "WXGA LCD with I-Link directly Google it" How about a link? As far as I know there is no such animal. But wouldn't it be nice. The only one I know of is the one Sony is showing off with their pro HDV camera. Which other posts say will be around $3000 or so. To me the main point of monitoring is 1) Framing 2) focusing. All I'm saying is that this is the best I've found unless you pony up the $3000. I just figured there'd be a few people looking for an alternative.

October 20th, 2004, 08:28 PM	#5
James Ball Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sulphur, LA Posts: 61	waiting for the sony Wish I had a JVC but not yet. I'm waiting for the Sony. I didn't know either had a component analog out. I'm glad to learn that there is a $1200 solution out there. I'll shoot out a rez chart and shoot my monitor to show how well it does on a SD camera and a 3megapixel digital camera. DV Rack also has a "MONITOR" in their rack. YOu can also save directly to HDD using firewire. YOu just have to strap your laptop to your camera or have a long actiive firewire cable.

October 20th, 2004, 06:18 PM	#2
Till Krueger Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: San Francisco Posts: 26	well, since the N5 only takes analog inputs, technically it can only upconvert an SD signal...still better than the HD10U's preview monitor, but not HD...you might as well look for an LCD with component inputs for a clean signal...or am i missing something in your methodology? on that note, are there small WXGA (1280x768) LCD monitors that accept an iLink signal directly? better get on Google again.

October 20th, 2004, 08:24 PM	#4
Till Krueger Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: San Francisco Posts: 26	> "Only takes analog" i didn't mean it as a value judgement...you're right about that being a very cost effective solution...my question - in part - was: how much better does the signal look going through the N5 vs. going component out of the HD10U into the component inputs of an LCD monitor...if i remember correctly, the HD10U does output an SD component signal while shooting HD, or did i get that wrong? i guess if the 2 second delay won't kill you, then using a small WXGA notebook with i.link in (JVC, Fujitsu, Sony, etc.) will give you true HD preview for about US$1200-2000...yes, a bit more than your solution, but you can also grab the stream to harddisk as you shoot, which is worth something. so just to restate my question: have you compared the uprezzing of the S-VHS/component signal from the HD10U into a better LCD monitor to that of the N5? is it that much better going through the extra step (the N5)? if so, it's certainly a nice way to go. hope you didn't think i wanted to belittle your approach :)

October 20th, 2004, 09:40 PM	#6
Till Krueger Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: San Francisco Posts: 26	fortunately, the notebooks i was talking about are pretty small/lite sub-notebook (3-5 pounds), that wouldn't be too difficult to attach to your tripod. the caveat here is, are they powerful enough to show the stream on-screen via VLC/DirectShow...pretty sure you'll need a P4 above 2GHz, or maybe a Centrino of 1.2GHz+ will do...i'm speculating...if the delay gets a little longer, it wouldn't be the end of the world for checking your focus and light. but let's see some 16:9 WXGA monitors that take i.link in, dammit! if ROKU can put an ATI Xilleon chip into their $299 HD1000, then Sony/Sharp/Samsung can do it to one of their monitors...how about it?