Anybody Have The Lilliput PVM210 21.5" Monitor?

[Paul F]

I'm looking for a budget director's monitor. I'm not doing this for a living. Just some fun stuff. I don't need SDI (there is an SDI version). This unit has 1000 nits, which will be ok. I don't need any features like false colors. I have a 7" monitor for that. I just want something that will give me a bigger screen to inspect the shots.

I find very few reviews for it. I'm asking here to see if anyone has it and their thoughts. https://www.adorama.com/llpvm210.html

[Doug Jensen]

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...broadcast.html

I've had this v-mount 15" Lilliput for a little over a year. I use it on a light stand as a client/crew monitor on shoots and sometimes for grading/editing when I'm on the road. I love the features it offers, how little power it draws, and how lighweight it is, but the picture quality won't knock your socks off. It's okay, but not as good as my 17" Sony OLED. Plus there is a lot of vignetting around the edges that takes getting used to -- especially when grading. Would I buy it again? Maybe, but I'd want to look around at current options first.

For how you intend to use it, I'd say the one you linked to is probably good enough. It's hard to find even a consumer monitor at Walmart anymore that doesn't have good enough picture quality for use as a client/crew/director monitor when critical decisions are not being made from it.

[Paul F]

Yes, I've considered the PC monitors. Anything with a vesa mount to put on a stand would be ok for what I'm doing. It's the 1000 nits that has me looking at this monitor.

[CharlesPapert]

It may be a little pedantic of a distinction for many because they will only have one such monitor on set, but I am not a fan of sharing a monitor with a director as we often have different needs. I provide a Sumo 19 as a director's monitor as it has just enough brightness, has the quad viewer built in, and the recording feature is really helpful for directors who are tech savvy enough to use it so they can do their own review as needed (on non-union shoots). But I would be pretty unhappy using it as a reference monitor myself as it is not that. So I use a Sony A250 for myself, protected from ambient light. For grading I put an LG OLED TV into my system last year, and overall I'm happy with it although it is continually annoying me with update requests for the apps, requesting "pixel cleaning" and the like.

[Run&Gun]

I bought the version with SDI/HDMI(PVM-210S) earlier this year for a return monitor for talent during live shows that could be used outdoors(hi-brite). It works great for that purpose, so if you're just needing to see framing, it's fine. But I wouldn't use it to judge anything related to color, brightness, contrast, etc. My "A" monitor is my 17" Sony OLED. Even my ~15 yr. old Panasonic 17" LCD puts the image of the Lillyput to shame.

So, if you're using it for a directors monitor on paying jobs, it could be an issue, because they'll probably constantly ask if the image really looks like "that".

[Doug Jensen]

IEven my ~15 yr. old Panasonic 17" LCD puts the image of the Lillyput to shame.

Ha, ha. Not mine! My 15-year old 17" Panasonic has always looked like crap and my Lilliput is quite few notches above it. The Panasonic barely gets used anynore, and I keep saying one of these days I'm just going to leave it behind when I pack up after a shoot. On the other hand, as you say, my 10+ year old 17" Sony OLED still looks fantastic.

[Run&Gun]

My Panasonic(BT-LH1710) definitely doesn't get used that much anymore, but when I did have to break it out again last year while my Sony was being serviced*, I thought it looked pretty darn good representing skin tones and colors. Where it falls short is black levels and resolution.

*I'm still thankful as hell that it could actually be fixed, as the service department told me that there were already more current models than mine(PVM-1741)(I think I got mine in 2011-2012) that were unrepairable.