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Current state of Plasma HDTV vs LED vs Broadcast monitor (for color correction)
Hi everybody,
I have been doing basic CC for a few years, and am currently in the process of learning Resolve. I want to pull together a basic setup–just enough so that I can get a fullscreen image out of Resolve and get color/gamma in the ballpark (all final corrections will be made at a facility with some serious gear).I’ve found several posts about the whole HDTV vs Broadcast monitor, but none in the last year. My budget is too limited to afford a real monitor, so HDTV is my chosen route.
1) Vieras seem really popular, but I can’t find any in the 24″ realm–seems like they don’t make them anymore. Know anything comparable?
2) Have the LEDs reached parity with the plasmas yet?
3) I plan on getting a lower-end blackmagic card. Do I need to concern myself with HDMI vs SDI? I’m willing to live with some of the drawbacks of a cheaper system.Thanks!
Video editor, animator, composer, producer
JustinCrowell.com -
6 Replies
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Nobody has any thoughts for me??
Video editor, animator, composer, producer
JustinCrowell.com -
The current state is the same as it was: anything other than grading on a properly calibrated broadcast monitor is flying blind.
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Justin,
Actually there are drawbacks for every technology right now.
LED has limited viewing angle. Black levels tend to be higher. Uneven backlighting issues.
Plasma has Automatic Brightness control but great off-axis viewing and excellent blacks.
LCD has lighter blacks, off axis issues, uneven backlighting.
OLED has the best blacks but poor off-axis. Pricy.For critical color: there is the Dolby reference monitor at $40k. DLP projectors for film mastering.
For your situation, actually panasonic plasma’s (especially pro models) are popular in many grading rooms as a client monitor and sometimes as the main monitor. The more important issue is calibration, but that is possible for cheap with an i1 display pro probe ($250 and you can calibrate your GUI monitor as well) and free software: HCFR colormeter. https://www.homecinema-fr.com/colorimetre-hcfr/hcfr-colormeter/
You can get most reasonable high end consumer displays in the ‘ball park’, as long as you don’t need absolutely ‘critical color’. I guess if you’re doing high end mastering, you wouldn’t be asking about these low end monitors anyway. The new Panasonic ZT60 is claimed as a reference studio grade display. It’s not available yet, but looks promising. The KURO was the closest to reference plasma made, and is still. But this new model looks promising. The important thing is High and Low RGB control, as well as gamma control, so you can dial the colors to true 6500k, and gamma of 2.2 – using your cheap probe and software setup. The Sony OLED is promising except for it’s poor off axis. I would probably wait for a next revision on that monitor. Actually once you use a big monitor 50″, you don’t want to go back to a small one, as you can really see a lot more detail and get an impression of the whole image. Just as they grade films in a theater, if you simulate what they see on TV on a similar size screen, then you’ll be closer to the mark. Especially important for fine edge masking, secondary isolations.
Most HDMI cards are only 8 bit, but then again to get a true 10 bit display will probably set you back more. For most DSLR originated content, it’s only 8 bit anyway, so you’re not going to magically get better quality with a 10-bit display. But if start doing a lot of SLOG or RAW material, you may want to step up to a SDI input display.
Any of the Blackmagic cards work fine with Resolve including the cheapest ones – like the intensity pro for less than $200.
Again, YMMV, so do your research, and have fun – if nothing else at least you’ll have a kick ass TV.
David Chai—————–
David Chai
Writer . Director
http://www.davidchai.com
dc@davidchai.com
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Thank you SO MUCH for that response, David! So much detail. Was JUST what I needed. You are correct in that I’m not looking for critical color–just a something for ballpark work, largely intended for web streaming. Also, I have access to other monitors that I can check against intermittently. The size point is well-taken. I’ll definitely consider a larger screen, if I can just find a place to mount it in my studio!
Pretty harsh words, Ben…I get your point, but grading isn’t all or nothing. There is definitely a continuum of value, as I’ve learned by previously doing most of my work on computer displays.
Video editor, animator, composer, producer
JustinCrowell.com -
hi, i would like to know if COLORHCFR works with i1 Display Pro Retail or i1 Display Pro OEM.
thanks! -
You’ve probably already found an answer to your question, but seeing as how I was just recently dealing with this issue myself, I thought I’d chime in.
COLORHCFR does indeed work with the i1Display Pro (consumer version), but I found that I needed to uninstall the X-Rite software first, which was fine by me as I was getting nothing but crappy results from it anyway.
Hope this helps.
-Pat
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