Marshall 23″ monitors – any good?

[Bob Zelin]

No.
The Marshall is a piece of crap. And so is the Sony LMD-2450.

The JVC DTV24L3DY is excellent. The Flanders Scientific (FSI you see advertised on this forum) is excellent. The Panasonic BT-LH series (1710, 1760 and 2550) are very good. And of course, the more expensive CineTal and TV Logic (and eCinema) are all wonderful if you have $8000 bucks.

But the Marshall is a joke.

Bob Zelin

[Brian Cutts]

Thanks Bob, I had a feeling that they would probably be a bit of a compromise given the fact that they are significantly cheaper than the JVCs but you know sometimes there are the occasional ‘bargains’ out there.

Interesting to hear that you’re not keen on the Sony monitors. What is it that you’re not happy with?

Brian

[Bob Zelin]

get a demo of the Sony monitors. Look at some SD signals on them.
There is no need for explanation – you will see (what everyone else sees).

My most dramatic story (which I have told already on the Cow) was at Brighthouse Networks. They called to complain about their AJA Kona 3, and how horrible all of their graphics were looking. They had the LMD-2050W. Their “old” monitor (that was still in the room, thank God) was the sony PVM-20L5/1. I simply looped the signal from the LMD into the Sony PVM, and said “what’s the problem with the AJA ?”.

Sony should be ashamed of themselves. I have used Sony monitors exclusively for my entire career. They have always made the best products since I’ve been in this biz since the late 70’s. I never caved into the Ikegami/Barco/Asaca craze that happened, and of course, back then, Panasonic and JVC was a joke.

But something bad happened when the LMD series came out. Today, Sony Bravia consumer monitors have better and more accurate images than the LMD series. The inexpensive LMD-2030W is possibly the worst HD monitor I have ever seen – and consumer monitors that you see at WalMart (like Vizio, and Sanyo, and Element) make better HD images.

Both JVC and Panasonic make superior HD monitors today – and of course, other companies – new companies like FSI (Flanders), and the more expensive brands, like CineTal, eCinema, and TV Logic.

Marshall made their name with what they do best – inexpensive “repeat” monitors. But today, when you need banks of monitors, modern switchers have “monitor wall” display functions, and of course, companies like Miranda and Evertz and Harris make stand alone units that will use one large plasma display to show multiple images, instead of banks of Marshall LCD’s.

Bob Zelin