NTSC Monitor Recommendations?

[Steve Nunez]

Hi guys,

I'm stepping up my personal editing setup and would like a recommendation for a small NTSC monitor for color correction using FCP3. I have a super sharp Samsung 13" TV but it wont show overscan area and i'm looking for the full view as shown onscreen in FCP. I'd like to keep my expense down to under $700 or so- anyone have any recommendations for a monitor and source to purchase? I'm not picky as to size- a small 9" would seem ideal- any recomendations would be much appreciated.

Thanks guys,

[Ken Tanaka]

Steve,
I use a Sony PCM-8042Q 8" monitor on my desktop. It has a very small footprint (for a pro crt monitor) and is extremely faithful in color representation, is PAL and SECAM-compatible, is easy to calibrate and features nearly every conceivable control. It can also be powered by a DC source and features a battery compartment. A very nice pro monitor for modest space and cash budgets.

You can find it at B&H for $680, within your budget.

[Ken Tanaka]

I just noticed an Ikegami TM-91 9" AC/DC monitor for the same price as the Sony, above. If it had been available when I was shopping I certainly would have considered it since it has all of the same features, a slightly larger (but not too large) display and a slightly higher resolution.

[Steve Nunez]

Thanks Ken,

do you think 300 lines is sufficient for tack sharp images? And would I be correct in thinking I will see the complete image as shown in FCP's canvas viewer as opposed to the "tv safe" areas that a normal tv would show? I'm looking for the full view and good color rendition....thanks for your recommendation- I will definitely look into this model.

[Ken Tanaka]

Yes. 250 lines is just fine on my 8" Sony. 300 lines would be just fine on a 9" Ikegami.

You'll just need to make sure that you calibrate the monitor's color carefully with FCP's SMPTE bars. Despite careful calibration my Sony tends to be a bit on the cooler blue/green side as compared to the footage as seen on my Cinema 22" lcd monitor.

[Boyd Ostroff]

now this is just a thought.... would you be happy with your Samsung if it showed the whole frame? As an alternative you could buy a Radeon 7000 PCI card and plug your existing monitor into it. It will give you s-video, plus another VGA or DVI output and only costs about $115. In FCP you can just choose the s-video port as your external video. Then using the "Mac2TV" control panel you can adjust the image size to show the full frame. Caveat: I use this on MacOS 9 and it works great. I've read that some people are having problems with the Radeon card under Jaguar.

As another alternative, somebody recently posted a link to this fascinating site http://members.accessus.net/~090/awh/how2adj.html. You may be able to use the "secret codes" here to adjust the Samsung to show full frame, and that wouldn't cost anything. Be sure to read the warnings however :-)

[Steve Nunez]

Boyd,

That's very interesting material on that website. I think for my purposes a dedicated studio quality monitor would be ideal. The Ikegami as recommended by Ken seems to be perfect- I will pick one up personally at B&H next week.

Ken,

I've noticed the GL2 has SMPTE bars as well- should I try to calibrate the Ikegami to that or to whatever bars FCP generates? (I'm guessing I'm gonna do that via FCP internally and firewire it out to the Ikegami monitor??)
Sorry for the ignorance- I guess i could look this info up online or via one of my FCP books- but I have no clue as to this facet of NLE technology- and was hoping you had a quick answer for this.

Thanks to you guys- this is what the internet is best for- the sharing of knowledge.

[Ken Tanaka]

You can either use your GL2's SMPTE bars or those in FCP; they're equivalent. I find FCP's to be more convenient. (You'll find them under the "Generators" section of the "Effects" tab.) If you're new to monitor calibration you'll find Video University's tutorial to be indispensible.

Re: connection, I'm guessing that however you connect your current monitor is how you'll connect the new one.

One other tip: you might want to stop by Radio Shack to pick-up a few BNC(m)-to-RCA(f) adapters just to be at the ready. I don't know if this will be the case with the Ikegami, but my Sony only takes BNC composite video connections. This is very common for pro monitors.

Here's Ikegami's TM9-1 spec page.

Have fun!

[Jeff Donald]

You'll need software like Echo Fire and Color Finesse. Neither monitor will take Firewire in. You'll need a convertor, also. There are several affordable ones on the market from Dazzle, Formac, and Sony.

[Zac Stein]

Jeff,

Is that the same thing as the canopus advc-100 ?

You can use them as a ADC or DAC instead of your camera as the bridge to a tv monitor?

Zac

[Jeff Donald]

Yes, same thing. Laird makes some high end convertors. Search the forums these have all been discussed in the past Steve. The Dazzle is the least expensive, but some people find it hard to use. I wrote a review on one and it worked fine. Then they sent me one to keep for doing the review. I think Ken uses one, too.

[Ken Tanaka]

Yes, I have a Dazzle "Hollywood DV Bridge" and use it mainly for VHS-to-DV transfers. Works very well for me. It's kind of a reasonably-priced Swiss Army Knife for digital-analog transfers. I've never tried to use it for a monitor hook-up but I've no reason to think it wouldn't work fine.

[Steve Nunez]

Couldn't i just pass the video out signal via my camcorder while using FCP with firewire?

My camcorder (not the GL2- which I use to record only) has RCA jacks and an S-video out jack....couldn't this just be used as the video out source to the monitor?'

This is how I see my video on a Tv set currently..the Firewire signal comes out of the camcorder and into the tv set by way of RCA jacks..I thought getting the Ikegami would be simple- it seems a bit more complex--- sheesh, isn't anything simple anymore?

[Ken Tanaka]

Yes, Steve. You can use the same config for the Ikegami. Just make sure to get the RCA-BNC adapters I noted above. I'm betting that you'll need them.

I think the EchoFire software Jeff noted above is principally for previewing After Effects, Photoshop and other apps on an external monitor. If you eventually decide you don't want to use your camera as a pass-through from FCP you could use the Dazzle as a good substitute

[Steve Nunez]

Ken,

what's the advantage of having a BNC connector? My 65" Mitsubishi Tv has them also but I'm not aware of anything that plugs into that connection.

Thanks.