[Ben Holmes]

Paul

Your experience mirrors mine. The TV Logic is hard to source in the UK and too expensive for me. The Panny has a nice picture, but is only 720p. Properly set up the JVC gives as good a picture, and I have had them side by side.

Ben

[Ben Holmes]

Hi guys. I have the HD-SDI version, which also has the DVI inputs this model has. A product like the Convergent Design Nanoview or similar HD-SDI to HDMI converter would give you a pretty similar experience.

What’s it like? Brilliant. As others have mentioned, it doesn’t really have any competition at this price point anyway, not with a full HD raster. The picture is incredibly clean and natural for a flatscreen, and looks amazing playing 1080 motion projects or converted RED camera footage (which I spend a fair amount of time doing now). I use it connected via a Decklink Multibridge pro, although I also have it connected via DVI as a second desktop (occasional use where I’m not working with video frame sizes the MBP doesn’t recognise). I also use it on set as the 1:1 pixel option and excellent safe area options are perfect with the RED camera. It has the best selection of title/safe markers of any monitor I have used, and supports 24p, 25p, 60p etc. with aplomb.

Only the glossy screen stops me from buying one of these ones and using it as a main computer monitor – plus I know where I am with the 23″ cinema display I have used for years.

Without doubt this was the best purchase I made fitting out an HD system recently – it even has useable audio meters on it – although I don’t know how much of this functionality is included in the DVI-only model. At that price, even without HD-SDI it’s a steal. It looks as good as any HD screen with SD (barring one of JVC’s own 800-line CRT screens, which I rate highly for colour correction). You can always drop the screen down to 1:1 for SD if you need to see it properly, but if you’re not going to work in HD a lot, why buy a flatscreen anyway? There are more sensible CRT SD options.

You probably gathered that I like this monitor. You could probably argue about colour reproduction/response/etc. to other monitors (ie. Panasonic or Sony) but these arguements would be based on marginal differences (I tried them all) and ignore the simple fact that for 1080×1920 monitoring there is simply no competition near this price.

Ben

[Ben Holmes]

[Jeff Carpenter] “But saying there’s no gain whatsoever is the same as saying Final Cut 4.0 and 6.0 are the same thing”

Jeff. Your’re right about the added features in Leopard, but I was assuming the OP was aware of these anyway. We are comparing FCP6 with FCP6. In FCS2 there is no added feature enabled by running Leopard – that was what I meant. Sorry if I wasn’t clear.

Ben

[Ben Holmes]

Will it gain you anything? No. Absolutely not. The good news is that if you get a new system that HAS to have Leopard on it (like a new Mac Pro) it behaves fine. Motion is still pretty unstable, but then it always was..

Ben

[Ben Holmes]

On the other hand, we had a refurbished G5 tower a couple of years ago that would not even power up – and had several loose screws in it. A check by the service guys confirmed it as dead – the motherboard was toast. How it ever got shipped is a mystery. You pays your money and you takes a little chance.

Ben

[Ben Holmes]

I assume you want to keep the whole frame – so you need a letterboxed version of the orginal.

Open a new sequence at the above resolution, and in sequence settings make sure ‘anamorphic’ is NOT checked. Note this assumes your original sequence IS anamophic 16:9.

Drag the 16:9 sequence, or anamorphic video (previously exported) straight into this new sequence and voila – it’s letterboxed. Export or lay to tape. Simple.

Ben

[Ben Holmes]

You can run OSX (and therefore MAYBE FCP) on a PC – using a so-called Hackintosh. This has been an open-source project since Apple switched to Intel Macs, and many people have achieved it. I’d have to ask, what’s the point of running pro software on an unqualified and unsupported computer? Nice project for a student maybe. Can you run FCP in Windows? No.

Ben

[Ben Holmes]

I think you make your best point at the end, with regards to ProRes in HD. I’m not sure I see the point in an SD enviroment – as you said, both look good, have minor advatages/disadvantages, and really it comes down to hardware support (for example if you have Kona acceleration). Personally, we usually work in uncompressed 10-bit in SD, because we can, and storage is cheap (and we don’t work longform).

I think the HD route is a much more compelling argument. Not that DVCProHD is not a good codec, it’s just that ProRes HQ is frickin’ great. I have just started various RED projects, and spent the last week doing camera tests. As part of that workflow testing, I have created uncompressed and ProRes files from the 4K originals (which are as beautiful as they say, believe me) and using a 24″ full-raster 1080p monitor, I can’t see the difference on 2k and 1080p files. One is 145MB/s, the other is 20. Amazing, and the 10-bit depth allows me to keep as much of the control for colouring as I reasonably need. Now, it’s only useful if you want to stay Apple (btw – you can install ProRes codecs seperate from FCP, and play them in QT Player etc., so it’s not true to say it’s FCP only – although I don’t know how they behave in AE), so for other clients we will have to deliver uncompressed, but still…

When Apple lauched ProRes they made far more of the HD uses of ProRes, and I think that was for good reason – there are many more useable SD options, but 10-bit HD ones? Notsomuch. And by ‘useable’ I mean ‘playable on portable solutions’. That matters more and more when you are capturing and backing up in the field on solid-state recording mediums. And soon, that will be ALL recording, whether we like it or not – tape will be dead in a pretty short number of years, at least for high-end and broadcast – although I appreciate it may take longer in some places than it is obviously going to here in the UK, where I give tape 5 years.

I wish you didn’t have such an axe to grind on Apple – I think it colours a good piece, and confuses your message. Apple are building a proprietory world, and ProRes is the center-piece. I don’t think that’s a particularly unusual solution for a hardware company to pursue.

Ben

[Ben Holmes]

From what you describe, you want to shoot two heads against a green screen, then use a chroma key filter to put a new background in. Is this what you mean? I’m not too clear, so try again and I’m sure someone can help.

Ben

[Ben Holmes]

Hi Mark

If you’re working with a Mac Pro, I would also consider the Decklink Multibridge Pro, Even if you don’t want the uncompressed HD it offers, it’s half the price of the AJA IO HD, and supports 3D LUTS for monitor setup, Dual Link, cross conversion on output etc. Very pleased with mine – totally future proof. Just doesn’t work with a laptop or offer Prores ‘acceleration’.

I also work with the AJA IO HD, and it’s a great box from a great company – but when I had to lay down my own money for a desktop, it had to be the Multibridge Pro.

Ben