Flanders Scientific Monitor and Kona 3

[Tom Meegan]

Bob,

I think Craig was saying:

Sony LCDs branded LMD – truly awful.

FSI – good value for price, but not full CRT replacement.

Sony LCDs branded PVM – good, but much more expensive than FSI, and therefore an unfair comparison.

Craig works in environments (live broadcast television trucks, the 53′ expando kind, not a SAT truck) where there are dozens of monitors in his work space, and he is responsible for color matching multiple cameras in real time.

His standards are different and generally higher for monitoring than most of us, as his work environment requires it.

Tom

Best,

Tom Meegan
Woven Pixels, LLC

[Bob Zelin]

Hi Tom –
I am not in NY or LA anymore. With that said, I understand that places like Nice Shoes in NY (the # 1 transfer house) is doing color grading on Panasonic Plasmas. And with that said, I see cable shows being done here in Florida with the Pana BT-LH1700W as the “final color grading” monitor. I personally do not know one person that owns a CineTal or eCinema. And believe me, at $5000 for the Flanders 2450, it’s still too rich for the blood of most of my clients.

Since the advent of the AVID Media Composer, I could not understand how anyone could get thru a session without a professional waveform monitor/vectorscope. Well, it’s been a LONG TIME now, and there are countless shows that go out with the use of the horrible built in scopes that are these software programs (AVID, FCP, etc). And of course, the new Blackmagic Ultrascope may change this.

I drag all this crap into the conversation because I know exactly what SHOULD be happening. I know that “we” should be using the best equipment, and not make excuses with inferior equipment. But this is real life, and it’s a MIRACLE for someone to have a TV Logic, CineTal, or eCinema monitor in todays economy. This includes full shows on TV. This ain’t LA. And even if it was, it’s still not the most predominant monitors.

bobZelin

[Tom Meegan]

Hi Bob,

Point taken regarding the proliferation of LCD monitors and the use of inferior scopes, or no scopes at all.

That said, I like that Craig is beating the drum for quality, even if it is quality my business doesn’t need to satisfy my clients.

In Craig’s world, he really does need that quality to do his best work, and more and more often he is not getting it, as the owners of the mobile units he works on choose to compromise in this area.

I suspect he is not alone in this.

Best,

Tom Meegan
Woven Pixels, LLC

[Craig Sommerer]

Bob,

Please reread my post. The Sony PVM and LMD are 2 different lines of monitors. In one instance I made casual mention that at this year’s NAB I saw the new PVM monitors and was quite pleased and surprised with the product considering the debacle of their LMD and BVM lcd products. The PVM is a superior product to the FSI monitors but it also has a much superior price point.

I mentioned the LMD only because I compared it to the TV Logic line of products, which you had put on par with a Cine-tal in your first post. It’s my belief that the only line of critical monitoring worse than the TV Logic line is indeed the Sony LMD. This is what I said as I thought it was widely known that the LMD line was a horrible, cynical joke of a product. Perhaps I’m wrong?

Back to Flanders Scientific; I am cynical by nature, doubly so by a meaningless career spent in live tv so I read reviews and hold them at arms length until I can make my own decisions of a product. I saw the Flander’s monitors at NAB and even with the pitiful viewing experience of their booth, I have to admit that I while I wasn’t floored, I also wouldn’t discount them. I said they are a good product for the price point and until such time comes around that I can work with one, hopefully this fall, that is all the endorsement I will offer.

My very poor opinions of the TV Logic and Sony LMD products mentioned in this thread do come from previous work experience. I should also mentioned that I have had great fortune to do some very minor work on a daVinci Resolve with Cine-tal monitoring: it ain’t nothing to sneeze at all.

[Helmut Kobler]

Another vote here for FSI. I have a 2450 and love it. I originally considered the 2430 (the lower end 24″), but the panel’s viewing angle was a little more narrow than I wanted. When I saw the 2430 next to the 2450, it settled the matter. The 2450’s viewing angle is wide, the blacks deep, and the panel seems to show better details in the highlights than the 2430.

I’ve had mine for a couple of weeks now and love sitting in front of it. It’s also been great to be able to talk directly to the company’s ownership…

[Jason Boucher]

Helmut wrote: It’s also been great to be able to talk directly to the company’s ownership…

This is one of the main reasons I’m about to buy the 2450. Their rep came to our office with all four of their monitors to compare to our Panny LCDs… We were all blown away. Maybe it’s because I run my shop right down the road from their HQ, but I actually feel like my $5K will be spent wisely and with the confidence that they will stand behind their product, and if I have an issue, I can pick up the phone, talk to a person and have my problem addressed.

My 2 cents… But I am confident that my Panny LCD will make quite a nice client desk monitor by next month!

greydogcreative.com

[Leonardo Hallal]

Hello there.

I just got a 1760w and I think it’s an amazing monitor!

But I have a question you might be able to answer… What is the correct gamma setting for color grading HD and SD material (not to print to film)? There’s a gamma select (film or uncorrected) and then a Film Gamma option that came set as 2.2

I know I want color temperature to be 6500K and that is the color temperature of the my ambient light as well.

Thanks for all

Leo Hallal
Brazilian colorist

Leonardo Hallal
Brazilian colorist