RCA to BNC

[S. Marcotte]

It’s a standard definition monitor. The TM14-17R. I’ll be using it with after effects to colour-match layers on some compositing work I’ve been doing. I don’t plan on using it for final colour corrections. But now Mr. Zelin’s got me worried about “soft CRT tubes”.

Soft tubes? Anyone care to explain that for me?

[Sean Donnelly]

Not every crt monitor provides the ability to adjust the functions that determine the sharpness of the image, including convergence, etc. I think he was implying that some iki tubes can drift out, and not be able to be trimmed back.

-Sean

[Bob Zelin]

I don’t know why you purchased this monitor. Any cheapo LCD today will display both SD and HD signals via analog component video (analog component HD). Blackmagic products (and everyone else) will downconvert from Hi Def to Standard Def, so you can use any TV you like, including your old Iki tube monitor. CRT monitors go soft after a few years (the tube wears out). This happens to the most insanely expensive Sony BVM monitors as well. Ikegami was notoriuous for the image going soft on their CRT montiors. One of the countless reasons that CRT monitors are no longer used by most people.

SDI means serial digital interface. Products from Blackmagic and others have the ability to convert from SDI to analog composite or component video. Blackmagic (and others) even make stand alone SDI to analog converters – but your card probably has this built in. You DO NOT NEED an SDI input on your TV monitor. standard def video will not look better if your TV had the word “SDI input” stamped on it – analog component video will look the same for standard def video. A connector is a connector – you can use RCA or BNC -they both have the ability to output any type of signal. RCA is considered a “consumer” connector for video, while BNC is considered “professional” -but they are interchangable. Things will still work with an RCA connector. It’s just a piece of metal.

There is no reason to buy “old broadcast equipment” today. Modern products outperform the old dog equipment, that you think you are getting a “deal” on. Buying used Leitch A/D or D/A converters that used to cost thousands of dollars does not mean that you don’t get the same quality from modern products that only cost a few hundred bucks.

Bob Zelin

[Jason Brown]

Hey Bob,

You always have great comments and knowledge. Can you answer a quick question along the lines of what you are discussing in this post?

I have a new HD monitor. Pushing HD out of my FCP timeline through a matrox mxo2 box through HD-SDI to the monitor. Is the cable I’d use for HD-SDI just a standard BNC RG-59 video cable that I’d have on any other of my AVID-Betacam equipment? Or do I need to get a higher end cable?

Thanks,

-Jason