A cost effective HD monitoring system…If it exists.

[Greg Jones]

I’m using the Sony pvm 14L5 14″ Multiformat monitor. It accepts all of the HD signals. It only has 800 lines of resolution, but it’s about as affordable as you can get for HD monitoring. Sony also makes the 20L5, which is the 20″ version. You can pick one up at B&H photo for around $1600. I have not had any problems. If you are doing Broadcast critical work then nothing can beat a more expensive higher quality monitor, but for most situations the 14L5 would work great!

Greg Jones
D7,Inc.
Orlando,Fl.

[Tim Baker]

Thanks Greg,

I have the Sony PVM 14L2…do you know if I can just get a board to insert into one of my open slots on it? There are two open slots on the back of the monitor.

And will this give me as true a HD monitor as is possible for the money?

Thanks again

Tim Baker
Chameleon Mobile Video Productions
(239)849-3295
“It is not the light at the end of the tunnel that we should seek…it is the courage to take the next step in the dark that we must find.”

[John Mcclary]

Those little cards cost $1700 – and I’m pretty sure the monitor isn’t HD in the first place. Spend that money on the 14L5/1 instead (it also recognizes 24P) and you’ll be a lot happier.

John McClary

[Steve Covello]

There’s a HUGE long string on this topic from around March or February. Check it out. I have the PVM20L5 and am using the component analog inputs for the HD input (no additional accessories needed). Damn good! If I ever get a huge enough HD job that I can drop for an HD SDI card, maybe I’ll go for it.

Steve Covello
double wide post

[Dan Riley]

Steve,

If you were to spend more money, it would be on an SDI monitor card
versus something slightly larger? Just wondering about
monitoring 16 by 9 with 18 or 19 inch diagonal. I’m about to
have to purchase an HD monitor when we move to HD and
I’m wondering if this is large enough for producer or
director people to view as I’m editing. Does Sony make
something in the PVM line that’s 24 inches perhaps?

Have you seen the Apple 30 inch LCD used for HD monitoring
and if so, is it not the right way to go because of color balance,
contrast and other issues? Should we stick with a CRT ?

Thanks,
Dan

[Tim Baker]

I guess what I am going to do for the time being…is continue the down convert with the Kona2 control panel and keep using my PVM 14L2 with the analog, component inputs.

I still see all the image…it is just letterboxed…and it is good enough quality for now. I use it in a mobile editor setup anyway…so it is not like I have 2 or 3 clients looking at it from a producer’s desk from across the room.

I was really hoping for an idea for under a $1000.00, but I guess my niave state is obvious. I really want to save my annual budget for the HD camera of my dreams.

Like the earlier poster…I will wait for a few more gigs to hit me before I jump up to a larger display/monitor of some kind.

I appreciate all the input and can see that I definitely am not the only one facing the decision.

Tim Baker
Chameleon Mobile Video Productions
(239)849-3295
“It is not the light at the end of the tunnel that we should seek…it is the courage to take the next step in the dark that we must find.”

[Steve Covello]

I can’t speak on behalf of your clients, but they should be able to look at something that is at least 20″ diagonal (that’s assuming you have/get a conventional 4 x 3 CRT broadcast monitor with HD capability), and you can get an accessory 16 x 9 mask that will cutoff the blanking on the top and bottom parts of the HD picture.

I’m speaking from the point of view that unless your clients are providing you with the quality and quantity of GOOD paying jobs that allow you to actually make good money, then they should not expect you to blow $6000+ on a BKM HD monitor so that they can watch their damn reality show in full 900 lines of resolution or whatever. Call me cheap, but if I have a PVM20L5 with component analog 1080p 23.98 in 800 lines of resolution and a low-budget client has the compunction to complain about it, then it is likely that they are, in my father’s words, suffering from high self-esteem. In which case, I would say that we could always move the session to Nice Shoes for $1200/hour if they would like, versus my $1200 a DAY (maybe).

If you plan on color correcting, then forget about the non-CRT monitors for the time being. Their contrast and black levels are never “real”. If you want to blow thousands an thousands of dollars on HD monitors, then it had better be because your clients are paying for it, or that your competition mandates a certain standard. It’s a tough call.

Here’s a link for all of Sony’s monitors:

https://216.245.175.12/AVCat/CTL203/index.cfm?mlc_id=203&SID=12724363&var_id=207476&SUBCATID=282

Steve Covello
double wide post

[John Mcclary]

Now that we’ve explored what you SHOULD DO, let’s be brutally realistic. As long as you take the time to calibrate it before clients come in, you can get away with a consumer 42″ HD rear-projection television for $1400. If – IF it’s not for critical viewing like color-correction (the ‘tiny’ 14L5/1 is for that). Most clients will be impressed with a large screen lifted up in front of them.

Most clients, however, get worried when all of the monitors they see have a different tint to them. That’s where this whole discussion runs into real life.

John McClary

[Dan Riley]

So,
how about this setup, a Sony PVM20L5 for editor monitor/
color correction and a 42 inch good quality Plasma hanging
above the editor desk (which I could see as well) for the
director/client to watch? That way I could adjust levels
and color correct on a reliable CRT but also see what the majority
of home viewers will be watching in HD.
Yes/no ?

dan

[Bob Zelin]

Hello
this is the straight answer.
1) If you have the Kona 2, it has an RGB output (Y Pb Pr). You can use this to feed the DISCONTINUED Sony 20L5/1 or Sony 14L5/1, right into the analog
component input, and it will scan up to HD res, but this monitor series only has 800 Lines of resolution. It still looks good.

2) AJA recommends for FULL resolution, to get the Apple 23″ Cinema display or the PREFERED Sony SDM-P234/b monitor ($1999) and get the AJA HDP HDSDI to
DVI adaptor. This combo will display the FULL 1920 x 1200 resolution. Let me be more specific. This monitor will show the FULL HD RESOLUTION, but the BRAND NEW replacement for the PVM20L5/1 – the Luma LCD series from Sony – will only display a max of 1280×1024, and will “scale” the image for HD, so it will not show you the full resolution.

3) At NAB, EVERYONE – AJA, Blackmagic, Apple, AVID – had 50″ Panasonic Plasma displays that showed the HD image – this monitor has a max resolution of 1366×768 – great for 720p, but still not the true HD resoltuion for 1080i.

SO – to answer your question, right now, to see the FULL HD resolution, and spend less than a “discontinued” PVM-20L5/1 – get the Sony SDM-P234b and an AJA HDP adaptor, and you are in business. THERE IS NO CHEAPER SOLUTION

4) John Apt has just ordered the new DELL 23″ monitor that claims to show this resolution. It is only $1200 (and still requires the AJA HDP), but as of NAB2005, AJA has not received this monitor yet.

5) You are dreaming if you think that “color correction” must be done on a tube monitor, as there WILL BE NO CLIENT THAT WILL EVER SEE HD ON A TUBE CRT MONITOR. Every client you will ever have from this day on, will only have a Plasma or LCD to see your image – better color correct on what they will own.

DOES THIS ANSWER YOUR QUESTION ?

bob Zelin