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Low cost HD Scope from Hamlet
I mentioned in an earlier thread that I was going to be getting a Hamlet Waveform / Vectorscope in here for a demo and thought I would let y’all know how it looked. I’m using a Leader LV-5750 right now from a D.P. so this was a great chance to look at it compared to a much more expensive scope.
Hamlet LCD Scope 292WVA for both HD and SD
Inputs:
SDI (HD / SD via the same input)
Composite
Component
S-Video
Analog Audio (XLR)
Embedded Digital AudioOutputs:
SDI (HD / SD via the same output)
Composite
Component (via a nifty Firewire to Component breakout cable)
S-Video
Analog Audio (XLR)Connected for the test via HD-SDI (Output 2 of the Kona 2. Output 1 feeding the Leader scope)
Measurements:
Levels were a dead-on match with the Leader for both the Waveform and the Vectorscope. It has a neat Freeze button which you can hit twice for two levels of freeze to enhance the display for more information to really check your levels.Vectorscope display was a bit “wobbly” compared to the sharp lines of the Leader when looking at bars, but the points on the Hamlet were dead-on to the same points as the Leader. When playing video, the Vectorscope was the same as the Leader.
Audio levels matched what the FCP meters were showing me, though we never figured out how to get four channels working correctly on it. It was showing four channels, but Chs 1 / 3 and Chs 2 / 4 were showing the same thing though I was sending out four discreet channels. The manual was very unclear on how to set up the audio so we gave up on it and just concentrated on video.
All the normal Gain / adjustment controls were on the front of the unit that you would expect from a Scope.
Display:
The Scale and the display are the same light grey color. Made it a little bit more difficult to read than the Leader which has one color for the scale and another for the display. But you do have separate brightness controls for the scale and the display so you can tweak it to get it pretty good.Not nearly enough contrast between the background and the scale/display. The Leader has a very nice black background while the Hamlet is just a mid to dark grey. You must pretty much look at the Hamlet straight on, if you look from an angle, the display starts to get that “negative” look like most low cost LCD’s.
Outputs
The Hamlet was able to convert my SDI Input to Component output which was pretty neat. But the Component output appeared to be clipped as the whites were just not right. The color was also a bit more saturated than it should have been. So if I had this in the suite, I would not loop a signal through it, I’d continue to feed my monitors directly from the Kona 2.Price and Verdict
Hamlet LCD Scope – List Price approx. $6,500 U.S.
Leader LV-5750 – List Price approx. $12,500 U.S.As just a Waveform / Vectorscope, the Hamlet gives me everything I need to accurately check levels. It’s not perfect by any means and the contrast on the display is definitely the one thing I would really love to see Hamlet address. BUT, the Hamlet is about 1/2 the price of the Leader and it’s the lowest priced hardware HD Scope I’ve seen out there.
No doubt about it, it’s not the Leader, if I have $12,000 to spend, I’m getting the LV-5750. There’s definitely a trade-off by purchasing the cheaper unit. But as a low cost HD Scope, the Hamlet definitely works and it works well. Certainly something to consider.
I want to thank David Strupp of WH Platts, Inc here in Atlanta for bringing the unit out and if you’d like to get in touch with him here’s his email address. Great guy and a good VAR for Final Cut Pro and broadcast equipment.
da****@******ts.comWalter Biscardi, Jr.
Creative Genius, Biscardi Creative Media
https://www.biscardicreative.comNow in Production, “The Rough Cut,” https://www.theroughcutmovie.com
Now editing “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network
“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
G5 Dual 2.0, AJA Kona 2, Medea FCR2X
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17 Replies
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I saw the 292 at NAB2005. I am used to scopes from Leader, Videotek and Tektronix, and in my opinion, the Hamlet appears as a cheap toy. The LCD display is terrible. I don’t know why they didnt’ have an external port for an external display (like Videotek). The 292 is the cheapest HD scope, but it’s not cheap – it’s over 6 grand.
The Videotek VTM-150 (which is an SDI – NOT HD scope) is 4 grand, and it’s display is top notch professional. I dont’ think I could convince anyone to spend 6 thousand dollars on the Hamlet. I am amazed that other companies are not trying to make 4-6 thousand dollar HD scopes. I guess Tek, Leader and Videotek can get the 12-16 grand from broadcasters, and our market is just not worth it for them. The Astro systems HD scope is $9000, and is about the same quality as the Hamlet.Bob Zelin
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[Bob Zelin] “The Astro systems HD scope is $9000, and is about the same quality as the Hamlet.”
At least you can save $3k with the Hamlet. It certainly is a very cheap looking LCD display, but at least it’s realtime and accurate. Again, give my druthers, I would pony up the money for the Leader, but I can also deal with a cheap LCD for a while to save $6,000.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Creative Genius, Biscardi Creative Media
https://www.biscardicreative.comNow in Production, “The Rough Cut,” https://www.theroughcutmovie.com
Now editing “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network
“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
G5 Dual 2.0, AJA Kona 2, Medea FCR2X
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Walter,
Some other major items which make the Leader 5750 more attractive include
1) capture mode of any display (ie wfm, vectorscope, audio, picture etc) and storage to a compact flash card. I use the feature alot for capturing actual waveform display, camera menus and/or video images which can be imported into photoshop for touch up etc. It a cheap way to get stills from an HD camera.
2)30 preset memory files which can be stored to the compact flash card. This is a major plus when dealing with multiple 5750’s (ie a rental environment where you want to recall your custom memory files to different 5750’s.) Honestly this feature is a major timesaver with the field and post production workflows I use.
3)Different color and intensity values settings for waveform,vectorscope,audio etc. displays.
4) Audio display can show embedded SDI audio which is returned from camera. In addition you can listen to any channel discretely via the headphone jack. Imagine the ability to monitor your multi channel audio return from the whatever source is routed to the A or B SDI inputs. The only change I would request is the headphone volume needs to be louder.
5)Multi mode in which you can have multiple displays on the screen side by side or top and bottom. Example (waveform and vectorscope side by side, or WFM and audio, or WFM,audio, picture, status in this case all four are arranged top and bottom).
6)Autosensing of HD SDI or SD-SDI inputs.
7) Compact size and DC powered. Very sharp LCD display.
The Leader may be more expensive than the Hamlet but the price for a high quality professional piece of equipment is well reflected. I am saving up for the Leader as I see it as a piece of equipment I personally will be using for many years to come. In fact I am still using my Composite Leader 5872 WFM unit to this day in the field. My only regret on the 5872 is the fan is too loud compared to Textronix units.
Ok I could go on but I have to go to sleep now as I have a six camera shoot I am working on all this weekend.
Tony Salgado
Tony Salgado
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I am still amazed, in this day of cheap IO cards, cheap storage, cheap display monitors, etc. that NO ONE is making a cheap scope – I think that there would be a HUGE market for a $2000 – $4000 HD scope that used a VGA monitor for it’s display, but no one is doing it.
Bob Zelin
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Tony, I’m definitely in agreement with you that the Leader is the better scope, but many things you point out are basically useless to me in the edit suite and thus drives up the cost of the unit.
[tony salgado] “capture mode of any display (ie wfm, vectorscope, audio, picture etc) and storage to a compact flash card. “
[tony salgado] “30 preset memory files which can be stored to the compact flash card. This is a major plus when dealing with multiple 5750’s “
[tony salgado] “Multi mode in which you can have multiple displays on the screen side by side or top and bottom”
These might be nice out in field production, but not something I need in an edit suite. All I need is realtime display of Waveform / Vectorscope levels. Especially since I’ve already seen that the FCP Scopes are accurate to the Leader and a Tektronix WFM-700 within 1%. What I lose with FCP’s scopes is the ability to view the scopes in realtime.
These things are also included with the Hamlet:
[tony salgado] “Audio display can show embedded SDI audio which is returned from camera. I”
[tony salgado] “Autosensing of HD SDI or SD-SDI inputs.”
[tony salgado] “7) Compact size and DC powered”
[tony salgado] “In addition you can listen to any channel discretely via the headphone jack. Imagine the ability to monitor your multi channel audio return from the whatever source is routed to the A or B SDI inputs”Not sure if you can listen to the audio channel discreetly but you can listen to audio off the Hamlet as I’m pretty sure I saw a headphone jack on the back. And the Hamlet was actually a little smaller than the 5750.
So as far as a pure scope, the Hamlet does work and it’s a good cost effective alternative. If it gets a cleaner LCD display, that would really make it work well. Hey if you have $12k, buy the Leader. Myself, I want a lower cost Scope so I can invest more in my Monitors and Storage.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Creative Genius, Biscardi Creative Media
https://www.biscardicreative.comNow in Production, “The Rough Cut,” https://www.theroughcutmovie.com
Now editing “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network
“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
G5 Dual 2.0, AJA Kona 2, Medea FCR2X
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[Bob Zelin] ” I think that there would be a HUGE market for a $2000 – $4000 HD scope that used a VGA monitor for it’s display, but no one is doing it. “
Now THAT would be huge. Wish I know someone who could come up with that.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Creative Genius, Biscardi Creative Media
https://www.biscardicreative.comNow in Production, “The Rough Cut,” https://www.theroughcutmovie.com
Now editing “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network
“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
G5 Dual 2.0, AJA Kona 2, Medea FCR2X
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Walt,
How does all of this compare with the scope within FCP. I have found that in SD the scopes are pretty bang on compared to my tektronic scopes. I do not have an HD scope yet, but how do the levels of the internal FCP scopes compare with those of the external.
Also, How accurate would the scopes be within a software package like Silicon colors Final Touch HD? I am sure that a software package like that, which relies so heavily on color, luminance and hue, would have accurate monitoring. Is this not an adequate solution.
I know that Bob is going to be all over me on this one, but I would love to know how much more accurate these very expensive hardware based measuring tools are so much more better than their software counterparts.
It seems so strange to me that the internal digital software scopes can not be relied upon. if they can not be then what exactly are they measuring.
David
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[David Battistella] “How does all of this compare with the scope within FCP. I have found that in SD the scopes are pretty bang on compared to my tektronic scopes. I do not have an HD scope yet, but how do the levels of the internal FCP scopes compare with those of the external. “
Accurate within 1% of both the Tektronix WFM-700 and the Leader 5750. Absolutely fine for editing HD, just don’t have realtime during playback. But they’re completely accurate.
[David Battistella] “Also, How accurate would the scopes be within a software package like Silicon colors Final Touch HD? I am sure that a software package like that, which relies so heavily on color, luminance and hue, would have accurate monitoring. Is this not an adequate solution.”
Sure they’re accurate, but that’s also $4,000. I have found that the 3-Way Color Corrector is more than what I need for correcting broadcast material so I’m not ready to invest that much into the product. $6k for a realtime Scope while using FCP is more attractive, though I like Bob Zelin’s idea of a $2 – $4k scope that uses a VGA monitor.
[David Battistella] “It seems so strange to me that the internal digital software scopes can not be relied upon. if they can not be then what exactly are they measuring.”
They can totally be relied upon, we just need a realtime scope while working in FCP. If Apple can release that with FCP 6, then that will solve a LOT of issue. In the meantime, we just need a hardware scope to get that realtime functionality while working in FCP.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Creative Genius, Biscardi Creative Media
https://www.biscardicreative.comNow in Production, “The Rough Cut,” https://www.theroughcutmovie.com
Now editing “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network
“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
G5 Dual 2.0, AJA Kona 2, Medea FCR2X
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[David Battistella] “How does all of this compare with the scope within FCP. I have found that in SD the scopes are pretty bang on compared to my tektronic scopes.”
FCP scopes cannot handle realtime info like a hardware scope does.
[David Battistella] “Also, How accurate would the scopes be within a software package like Silicon colors Final Touch HD? I am sure that a software package like that, which relies so heavily on color, luminance and hue, would have accurate monitoring. Is this not an adequate solution. “
The Silicon Color scopes in Final Touch HD / 2K match my Leader LV5750.
Gary Adcock
Studio37
HD and Film Consultation
Chicago, IL USA -
Thanks Gary,
I know RT is nice to have in the off board scopes, but it is also nice to know that a product like Final Touch can be relied upon for extremel accurate readings from a software type solution.
Much appreciated.
David
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