Recommendation for Color Grading Monitor?

[Stephen Mann]

Pros use pro monitors. And they pay pro prices, usually $5000 and up.

No consumer LCD monitor is capable of accurately representing colors. white depends on the color of the backlight, black is an illusion because an “off” pixel is not really opaque. (Ever see your “black” screen in the dark?) Contrast and brightness controls on an LCD monitor are also an illusion. In a CRT you can vary the intensity of each pixel, providing contrast and brightness control. In the LCD each pixel is either on or off.

I use a calorimeter (ColorMunki) to calibrate my monitors. They do an acceptable job, but I still like to use a reference monitor (CRT) on critical checks. You can find used reference monitors on eBay for around $100. Mine are Sony PVM14 units that were retired from a studio making the switch to the $6000 HP Pro monitors. As log as all three colors in the CRT work and can be calibrated, the reference monitor will be a true representation of color, brightness and contrast.

Steve Mann
MannMade Digital Video
http://www.mmdv.com

[Al Bergstein]

Thanks, you sort of answered my question, in that I wondered if a $2k pro monitor would do the job. HP is selling some, you mentioned that the studio you bought yours from was moving to an HP pro. But your price is way higher, so I’m wondering what is the right model numbers to be looking for.

Is the thought that I should look for a high end professional monitor CRT with BNC connectors for red, green, blue and black?

Is HP or Sony the reference here? What about Marshall?

Alf

[Anthony Jarman]

Hi Stephen.

Just seen this post. How would I go from a MacPro to a sony PVM14 monitor? And could I output an HD sequence to a monitor tht is SD? Looking for a cheap colour check solution and have seen as you have said in your post, a few cheap options on ebay. Colour checking on a budget. Thanks.