Beware Small HD DP6 Monitor

[L.J. Morelli]

I've purchased and returned 2 of these monitors. By their own admission there's a problem called
"Jello Effect". It was too much for me to handle while I was panning, very disturbing visually. They're hoping the DP7 will have solved this problem (at almost double the price). The company was very helpful and refunded my money fully both times. Though the 2nd time they said there were scratches on it and would have to sell it as B stock at a loss. I told them that was impossible and to please check it again. They did, and changed their mind. Their 'fix' for the problem was to turn it upside down, as it takes less processing power. Sounds like BS to me, but tried it and of course did nothing to alleviate the issue. I would definitely give them another shot in the future. Anybody have monitors they like?

Jello effect on Dp6

[Kevin McRoberts]

I bought one of their B-stock DP6's. So far it's worked fine aside from starting in focus assist mode by default.

[Ed Roo]

I am glad you posted the link to the description. I was going to comment that I have not experienced such a problem. Once I saw that it is dependent upon having a CMOS sensor, it was immediately clear that my XH-A1 would not be affected.

[Andrew Dean]

As a freelance lighting/grip guy i've had a pretty broad collection of cmos cameras on my dp6 and dp6-sdi. 550d/600d/7d/5dmkii/5dmkiii dslr, af100, ex1/ex3, Red One, Red Epic and even an arri alexa. The jello effect of cmos global shutter is a known, well documented and challenging issue (which varies in intensity camera to camera). However, this is the first time I've ever heard anyone attribute the problem to the monitor.

I suppose its possible that the hdmi input is being displayed progressively and as such the full impact of the rolling shutter is visible on the monitor. By flipping the input, the monitor would be "buffering" a frame then displaying it all at once, which would not really "fix" the camera's jello, but might minimize how fluid it looks *on that monitor*.

Its possible there is a bit of progressive lag in the dp6. I've never specifically noticed it. The jello in the camera is real, and is recorded so if the monitor emphasized it at all it really just drew attention to the problem we needed to look out to minimize.

More importantly, i've had producers and DP and camera ops with Oscar and Emmy awards under their belts never notice or mention anything. I've had producers and cameramen from National Geographic and the BBC with their faces buried deep in the monitor nonstop for days on end. Even in the most problematic scenarios - car/foot chases, dslr handheld guerilla docos and frantic music videos no one on set has said a word about the jello effect being worse on any specific monitor. If the problem is so intense as to warrant an ominous "beware" subject, it seems like somebody would have noticed/mentioned it.

The monitor might delay the display progressively and you are acutely sensitive to it, or possibly the dp6 represents the image well enough to make the effect noticeable/annoying? I don't know. I'd like to see a monitor shootout to see if some monitors really do amplify the effect. However, It seems to me that the real culprit deserving of a warning sticker here would not be displays, but CMOS cameras.

my 2c anyways.

[Jeff Troiano]

I use my DP6 with my FS100, and have not noticed this. The only issue I've noticed, and it's a minor one to me, if I keep the monitor on the fs100 flipped up, while I'm using the DP6, the image on the dp6 is a split second behind the image on the fs100.

I may try and flip things over, and see what happens.

[Damian Heffernan]

+1 for Andrew's comment. I don't see why you'd blame a monitor for the cmos chip jello unless the monitor amplifies it on the display, but I too have been using the DP6 heavily with some fast motion filming and haven't noticed anything that gives me cause for complaint. In fact I think bang for buck you can't match the Smal HD monitors for build quality, features and outright value for money.

[Reed Phillips]

Hey,
Just wanted to chime in, Andrew is correct in his reply. The problem you are noticing is something that is caused by Cmos sensor's in general. It does not really have anything to do with the DP6 monitor. As mentioned we have found that the effect is not as noticible when using the DP6 in its flipped mode. It does still occur, and will occur in any monitor. In fact if you watch closely you can usually see it on your camera's little onboard LCD as well. Since this is something caused directly by the camera's sensor even our DP7 will not make it go away completely. I am sorry that it did not work out for you L.J. Morelli, but I did want to make sure it was clear that this problem stems from the camera and not the monitor.
Thanks
Dave
SmallHD support

[Andreas Andreou]

I also noticed the jello wobble when panning and as a workaround I flipped the image.

It just so happens that for me the flipped image has a secondary benefit too,
The menu scroll wheel is now located bottom left so the menu can now be accessed and scrolled without my hand obstructing the monitor screen and also the SDI cable input are now bottom right of the monitor allowing for SDI cable to hang down instead of sticking out upright from the top left. Looks so much tidier now.

Add to that the fantastic after sales support that the Small HD team offer. They sent me an SDI loan unit to the UK within 3 days of a firmware update problem. Probably the best value for money monitor around.

Great monitor, great service, what more cane we ask for? (Better colour reproduction maybe)?

Look forward to the DP7

Andy Andrea
ministry of video - video design, production and editing company based in london

[Dano Motley]

Just purchased the TV logic monitor 5.6 and could not be happier. I have looked at the Ikan, Marshall and the smallHD (as well as a few others)...my opionion...the TV logic blow them away. I can actually draw focus using theis monitor very easily. They offer an upgraded version with a waveform/vectoscope option as well.

Dano

[Greg Fiske]

Been using the dp6 and love it. If you are seeing jello, it might be too fast of a pan anyways.

[Stephen de Vere]

Can anyone suggest an upgrade monitor/viewfinder for my EX3 ? Critical on-the-run focussing is the issue so the resolution is the key criteria, along with peaking function, I'm not concerned about accurate colours.

I would prefer a loupe (viewfinder) arrangement and it be as small a unit as possible. I work outdoors with a large tele zoom (Canon HJ18x28) and carry everything myself. Ideal if it had HDMI input too so I could use it on my GH2 aswell.

The recent drop in prices for High Res HD monitors made for DSLRs brought about by widespread uptake of high res screens on smartphones is the reason for this post - I'm wondering about those monitors offered for as little as £300 or so, claiming similar specs to the likes of SmallHD and Marshall etc. which a year or two ago I would not believe but now phones are available for £100 or so with very high res screens....

[Kelly Langerak]

I like my monitor, but the huge delay it creates when stopping and starting the record button on my 7D is annoying. I use the HDMI input. I like using it for live events so I need to be able to stop the camera before it hits the 12 min mark.

Secondly, I can't figure out how to get the image to not be zoomed in. I can't see all the info on the screen that the 7D shows when I use the monitor on the camera. Secondly, when the image zooms in to fill the screen it's very hard to tell if the shot is in focus. Even the Focus Assist feature was tough to use. The lighting was a bit low thou.

Plus, the timer that shows how long you've been recording is missing when using the DP6