HDLink & monitoring questions

[David Roth weiss]

Paul,

A lot of SD looks like suck on an HD monitor, but you really need to look for yourself, cuz no one can really tell you what a monitor looks like. I suggest you go to Magnolia Audio Video at 2800 Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica and let them show you what HD and SD satellite TV looks like on a monitor similiar to one you might purchase for your edit system. Yoiu can extrapolate from that and figure out what you need.

DRW

[Luke Maslen]

Hi Paul,

What make and model of HDTV are you considering? I could then find out some details about it and give you my best guess.

The HD from a HDCAM deck will look awesome via HDLink.

HDLink and HDTV’s are primarily for use with HD formats. You can use HDLink to display NTSC and PAL material via a DVI-D connection but not via HDMI. SD material is interlaced whereas DVI-D LCD monitors are progressive which means that you might or might not be happy with the quality of SD on the large display. If you do a lot of SD work, then it would be good to see a HDLink in action at your nearest Blackmagic Design Reseller. It would also be a good idea to review the support note Why do circles appear egg-shaped in standard definition? This is a difference between digital and analog monitors. Many people would use a standard definition CRT for SD in addition to the HDLink for HD & SD monitoring.

You might be able to use either DVI-D or HDMI to connect HDLink to your HDTV.

Some TV’s provide higher input resolutions via HDMI compared with DVI-D and so HDMI may be a better choice in this case. Typically these video displays accept a maximum resolution of 1280 x 720 via their DVI-D input but will happily accept 1920 x 1080 pixels via their HDMI input. These differences might or might not be documented and you may have to experiment to discover the capabilities of the DVI-D and HDMI inputs of your video display.

The maximum resolution of an HDMI display will often be less than full resolution HDTV, even if the display is rated to accept HDTV signals. This is a physical limitation of the display itself and full-resolution HDMI displays, or DVI-D displays, should be considered if pixel-for-pixel video is required.

Please check the HDLink specifications page for the latest information about video formats supported via DVI-D and HDMI as there are some differences. In particular, NTSC and PAL formats are supported via DVI-D but are not currently supported via HDMI.

In HDMI mode, HDLink supports HDMI video only and audio is output on the two RCA connectors for connection to HiFi audio equipment.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Paul Belanger]

I was thinking of getting a Sony WEGA 26″ HDTV.
It only has HDMI.
I will definately have to go check one out and see what it really looks like.
Stores only like to play HD video on their HDTV.
I’ll have to get them to display SD.
If that looks decent enough, then I have no doubt using the
HDLink with SDI and HDMI would be even better.

[David Roth weiss]

[Paul Belanger] “Stores only like to play HD video on their HDTV.
I’ll have to get them to display SD.”

Paul, I sent you to Magnolia specifically because they never send a customer out the door without showing them SD on HD TVs. Given that HD programming represents less than 1% all available television programming, any place that doesn’t show you SD is worth writing off immediately unless you are in the market for an open box product, because I assure you, that place gets lots of returns…

DRW

[Luke Maslen]

Hi Paul,

I found 2 Sony 26″ HDTV’s online:

[Paul Belanger]

Thanks Luke
The Sony WEGA KLV-S26A1 does seam to have the right specs for the job.
I’ll have all my component and S-Video equipment going directly to the HDTV
and HD equipment using the HDLink and HDMI on the HDTV.
I will definately test the set well at Magnolia, thanks David.

Paul

[David Roth weiss]

[Paul Belanger] “I will definately test the set well at Magnolia, thanks David.”

Paul,

Do ask for Victor — do waste lots of his time — whatever you do, don’t buy it there… Oh, and don’t mention that I sent you…

DRW

[Paul Belanger]

I checked out a Panasonic LCD TC-26LX50 at Magnolia.
It looked great and had just the right specs I was looking for.
I bought it cheaper elsewhere.
Upon hooking it it to my system I found a problem.
At the store everything looks great, but in real world situations
I’m not so please.
If you view the monitor from a 50 degree angle which I would
is how my system is st up, the picture looks bad.
It however looks great straight on.
Panasonic toughts there monitor as great quality at wide angles.

“Great Image Quality at Wide Angles
Some LCD displays require the viewer to sit within a very small sweet spot for good image quality. Move too far to the left or right and image quality drops off sharply. This LCD TV features an extremely wide viewing angle of 170

[David Roth weiss]

That’s strange Paul, usually TVs that brag about wide viewing angles usually do have that feature. Plasmas and CRTs definitely have a distinct advantage however where viewing angle is concerned.