Monitor selection help!
 

Hey everyone,

I'm looking into purchasing a dual purpose monitor for both post production and also field use.

I've heard some ideas thrown out that using a monitor while capturing video via firewire enhances the image, something to do with the video monitor codec. first off is this true?

second if so, is there a best brand of monitor to use? I'm thinking of something smaller like 8-12 inches or so. any good recommendations?

thanks
~Mike

"I've heard some ideas thrown out that using a monitor while capturing video via firewire enhances the image, something to do with the video monitor codec. first off is this true?"

This isn't true. You probably already know it's often recommended to use a production monitor on set while shooting digital video, because a good CRT screen offers better resolution and contrast than a small video screen, and some monitors show the entire overscan area at the perimeter of the frame, cropped by most televisions and video camera viewfinders. Bringing along a monitor to your shoots will aid in getting better focus, composition, and color balance--but only upon origination of the material. Once it's committed to tape, you can't magically improve the quality of video by viewing it on a monitor while capturing over firewire to your editing workstation, nor will neglecting to use a monitor somehow reduce the quality of the image.

As to monitor recommendations, there are many threads, such as this one, discussing the topic. I give my recommendation here. You can do a search and find a number of other threads as well.

Robert,

Thanks for clearing that up and also thank you for your advice!

~Mike