HD monitoring using Apple Cinema Display

[Annaël Beauchemin]

[Scott Brown] “I can highly recommend JVC’s 19” HD CRT – this cost us around

[Gary Adcock]

[Kelly] “When High Definition cameras are going for under $5000, are you surprised that people choke at paying $20,000 for a monitor?”

Agreed, it is a horrendous amount of money to pay for a display, but then not everyone on this list is using HDV (or is in the US) either.

But then again, do most people realize how many HDTV displays {“consumer”} offer the full resolution needed to be able properly judge the full 1080 scan line image size without scaling? –I believe the current count is something like 15 or so! So there is not much available to monitor the footage we all shoot, No matter what type of camera it is captured on.

The other side of this issue is that those $5000(usd) cameras are not considered an HD camera when delivering your content for transmission when delivering content for Cable or Broadcast .
Nor has the number HDV units sold exceeded the total number of actual “broadcast caliber” HD cameras from then usual suspects – Sony, Panny, Icky, Thompson – but we all now that is only a matter of time, with a few months until that is no longer the case.

I am not against using a Cinema Display for Cutting, I do it everyday using AJA’s HDP, but this thread started talking about doing editing AND color correction. Even Apple says that their displays are not the best for that when the content being monitored is Interlaced or in the NTSC color space – there is just no way to set black levels properly on Apple’s or most other DVI-D computer displays.

Gary Adcock
Studio37
HD and Film Consultation
Chicago, IL USA

[Scott Brown]

Re. the JCV 19″ – don’t use the HD SDI input card (CRT’s are analogue devices, often negating the digital benefits of SDI). The component card costs around $400 and works beautifully esp. if you use a card like the Decklink HD Pro with 14 bit component output.

Sorry if I was a wee bit opinionated re. the costs of HD (no offence intended), however I think we have to differentiate between HDV and the higher end HD market i.e. HDCAM / Varicam.

I personally don’t look at HDV as being a broadcast format (most broadcasters won’t accept this format), this may come, however at the moment I look at this as a HD format that is really exciting for the corporate market or for environments where a full size HD camera is not practical.

My point was that if you are working in HD for the broadcast market, then you’re going to be shooting with $100,000+ of camera equipment – in this context $5K is not a vast amount to spend on a monitor and again I cannot speak highly enough about the JVC monitor, it’s not as good as Sony’s grade one HD range, however it’s close and offers great value for money!

Best wishes

Scott

[Annaël Beauchemin]

yeah, it does make sense to go with an analog input card… in fact the the one I work with (at a place where I freelance) is maybe analog too. HD-SDI does have other advantages, but maybe not worth the price for “home” system.

I don’t really understand why is there a discussion whether HDV is broadcast. Of course they won’t take HDV tapes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t shoot HDV and hand out DVCPRO HD or HDCAM. The Sony Z1 gives a very nice HD picture. It’s surprising… of course it’s less sharp than a Sony F900, but subjectively it’s very very nice. It also surprises me how low is the noise on the FX1. I didn’t see a side by side comparison, but it does seem less noisy than a varicam.

Of course the Z1 isn’t going to replace higher end HD, but I do see how great this camera could be for small team small budget documentaries. It’s lightweight, tapes are cheap and easily available, batteries lasts for hours. And it give a outstanding picture… for the price.

[Gary Adcock]

[Le Coyote] “I don’t really understand why is there a discussion whether HDV is broadcast. Of course they won’t take HDV tapes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t shoot HDV and hand out DVCPRO HD or HDCAM. “

In the environment we have been talking about that will not work,
Decisions to reject material are made not by what you tell them is on the tape, but how the content looks on based on a technical analysis based on a variety of tests.
Many contracts have limits written into them for how much “non-standard” or “consumer video” original material can be included as part of a show with penalties for having too much ” illegal” {standards not pilfered} video content is included.

[Le Coyote] ” The Sony Z1 gives a very nice HD picture. It’s surprising… of course it’s less sharp than a Sony F900, but subjectively it’s very very nice.”

It does take a nice picture, I have worked with one for a while — yet this is not a subjective decision it is a technical one, I know of shows that have been booted by the networks because the tape ended on the wrong field of the frame! (and try and judge that one subjectively!)

Gary Adcock
Studio37
HD and Film Consultation
Chicago, IL USA

[Scott Brown]

I fully agree, the Z1 is an amazing camera and I have used it already quite extensively.

However, having used it, I’m also fully aware of its limitations i.e. it uses heavy compression and perhaps more importantly it has a fixed lens. In many ways, it is a much more difficult camera to use than a higher end HDCAM – the Z1 can produce very nice pictures, however you need to know what you’re doing and the HDCAM camera is more forgiving.

Given a choice, I would always choose HDCAM over HDV, however there are occasions where for cost or practicality, the Z1 or similar is a better choice.

Best wishes

Scott