Best Monitors for Best Price?

[Mark Raudonis]

Do you want to be ready for the future or are you just bargain shopping for the best deal today? How you answer these questions will greatly affect what kind of monitor you want to buy. For example, Sony has stopped making their standard NTSC tube monitor in favor of a new LCD panel. Purists on either side of the fence argue which is better. If you want a deal, buy one of the last of the tubes. If you want to be ready for the future, buy their flat panel. Just google “Sony professional monitors” and you’ll find tons of places. You need to focus your requirements before anyone here can recommend something.

Mark

[Danny Boyee]

I’ll try to be more specific next time, I guess. But what I posted is what I meant. I would just like anybody’s opinion on what they like and do my research from there.
DB

[Bret Williams]

I have a Sony PVM 20M4U 20″ that was built in 1998. It looks great, but at the exact same time this year, every PVM I’ve seen that was purchased around then has developed think red, green, and blue lines across the top of the screen. Only visible on black or dark images, generally.

2 facilities I edit at, and at my own suite. They all got the lines in the first few months of this year. They were all purchased in 1998. They all differ on how long they’ve been on, how much use, etc. Mine doesn’t stay on all the time, and is still sharp as a tack, the colors are still almost perfect in the preset positions, etc. Some of the others are getty blurry or dark. But weird they all got the lines at the same time. I figure it has something to do with a part like a capacitor that breaks down at a set rate due to the chemical inside. Too bad.

But I love the PVM series tubes. If you can get a 14″ or a 20″ used that is a few years old you’ll be happy for a good while.

[Tony]

Danny,

Get yourself a multiformat Sony PVM-14L5/1 14″ monitor or PVM20L5/1 20″ monitor.

Both will work with HD analog or standard def composite or analog video. You can add optional Standard def SDI or HDSDI cards later. The monitor will work with 59.94i SD and HD as well as 23.98 HD. Your are protected for current SD use as well as any future HD use you need.

I own both monitors and they are great. I use them for in the field use and in my edit bay.

You can buy them at B&H photo video in NY.

Tony Salgado

[Chris Poisson]

Danny,

All these guys know their stuff, and they are right about the Sonys.

But, to answer your question about price, there’s a couple of JVC units that are decent. You can see them all at B&H. There’s a 17 inch unit that I have seen in use, and it’s pretty darn good, and it will save you a few bucks. Yo can put a component or SDI card in this one.

Or, as suggested above, get a used Sony, Dbay has a ton of them.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=264455&is=REG&addedTroughType=search

[Mark Raudonis]

That RGB line in the top of the screen is a known defect. Fixing it cost maybe a couple of hundred bucks via a competent repair shop.
No big deal.

mark