Another Monitor Post
 

I am looking to buy a new TV type monitor for color correction and previewing. Most of my stuff from here on out is going to be widescreen so I was thinking about getting a HD LCD TV. Only thing is LCD's tend to over saturate colors and I think a traditional CRT TV might be more natural looking and would be better to work on. They sell small flat tube televisons for a fraction of the cost with a 16:9 mode. I guess you press a button and it changes the mode inside the tv to toggle the 2 aspect ratios. That might be a good alternative.

Anyone have suggestions on this?

Say Jeff.....this monitor is on it's way to me recommended by one of the people on this forum. It seems like a very good one and the price is dropping......check it out.

JVC TMH-150CGU. THIS HAS 750 LINES.

Lucinda

Jeff,

I use a Toshiba 14" TV that has a 16:9 mode. Like you, I shoot 16:9 SD and wanted a cheap solution. It works great. I forget the model # but they cost around $150. I got mine on eBay for $50.

Here's my opinion:
Consumer monitors = mystery meat.

Many of the CRTs are designed to be as bright as possible. So they do things like:
A- Overdrive the electron gun. This can cause geometric distortion or the electron beam losing focus.
B- Whites are much blue-er (higher color temperature), as this makes the image a little brighter.
C- When your eye adapts to the higher color temperature, it sees reds as duller and less saturated. So to compensate for this, the monitor will over-saturate reds. (red push)
D- Excessive edge sharpening and scanning velocity modulation.
And maybe more.
E- Flesh tone "correction" is common. Colors close to flesh tone get squeezed towards flesh tone. This compensates for inaccuracy in the TV's chroma decoder.
F- Some have tweaks to make the image look better. Some Sony TVs intentionally over-pump saturation.
G- Non-standard color gamut / mystery phosphors. The red, green, and blue phosphors will give a different shade than standard phosphors (SMPTE C, EBU, or 709; P22 is somewhat standard).

That being said, consumer monitors are a huge improvement over what you see in FCP on a computer monitor.

CRTs let you monitor for interlace flicker, which you'll never see on LCDs. Resolution I think would be a little better because LCDs are only good at their native resolution + aspect ratio. LCDs have raised black level and non-standard gamma.

Obviously if you have the money, I would get a field broadcast monitor (that way you can use it in the field too; very handy). But if you're on a budget, a cheap consumer CRT is fine. Just understand that the colors are whacked.

Wow, thanks for all the input. I understand what you are saying about the color correction not being perfect on a consumer monitor. Fortunately, I will be working on a surfing movie that will be much more forgiving then a feature film. I will probably end up getting one of those 13" televisions for the moment. Even if I only use it for a year I bet that the LCD's drop at least $100.00 in price by then. LCD's are sure nice but the over saturation on some of them are annoying and harsh to the eyes. Monitoring that pixel flicker is important. I have already encounter a lot of those problems, especially when slowing shots down.

Thanks again