What should one look for in a location monitor?

[OK&L Ent.]

I'm looking to purchase an affordable ($500 max) field monitor and I want to know what I should be looking for in qualities, and any suggestions of some good ones.

 

[Chris Santucci]

Depends. Are you looking for a good reference monitor or just something to judge framing and composition? I bought a 13" Sharp LCD TV years ago for cheap that I still use on location sometimes. It has a TON of functions that make it a great location monitoring option but not terribly accurate as a reference monitor.

Even a good quality CRT television can make a good field monitor but I think a lot of stores are starting to not carry the analog TVs anymore. Try to find a nice smaller analog CRT television with at least composite or S-video inputs that has options to change contrast, brightness, and color.

Real video monitors are expensive so if you look for a used one it'll either be beat or it'll be more than $500.

.

 

[OK&L Ent.]

What do you mean by a reference monitor? Are there different types or purpose based monitors?

 

[Chris Santucci]

What do you mean by a reference monitor? Are there different types or purpose based monitors?

Something you use to make critical judgements about color, exposure, contrast, etc.

Some monitors are meant for "presentation" and some are meant to provide very accurate picture.

"built to provide professionals with the absolute highest accuracy in color reproduction"




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[OK&L Ent.]

Well I'm an upcoming Videographer and although I would love the luxury of excellent color representation, is there any compromise between my budget and a reference monitor? (Obviously it won't be anywhere near excellent, but it'll have to do for now.)

 

[Cryogenic Filmworks]

JVC TM-H150CG is what I have. Spent right at 500$ for it. Also got a 100ft S-Video cable off eBay to run between the camera and the monitor.

 

[OK&L Ent.]

JVC TM-H150CG is what I have. Spent right at 500$ for it. Also got a 100ft S-Video cable off eBay to run between the camera and the monitor.

Where did you get it?

 

[Cryogenic Filmworks]

Where did you get it?

Got mine from a shop in Dallas, but B&H Photo there in New York has it also. They are $ 464.95

 

[scotthar]

Here's a wacky idea that works pretty well for me (albeit in usually 'controlled' studio environments).

Check into a Dell (or equivalent) 24" LCD monitor (1920*1200) with multiple inputs and PIP. Connect your HVX video via component or s-video. Connect your HVX firewire to a laptop running On Location or Veescope or ScopeBox. Connect the laptop to the DVI input. Set the monitor to picture-in-picture (side by side mode). Now you see the scopes on one side and a video preview on the other side.

Pros:
- running the video side only, you have pixel for pixel HD resolution, great for framing and composition
- running the laptop DVI side only, you can also have pixel for pixel representation
- with the picture-in-picture mode on the monitor, use the software for the critical technical decisions (colour on the vectorscope, exposure on the waveform monitor, etc.) WHILE viewing the video signal for framing/composition
- resolves the laptop only problem of no HVX PN transmission over Firewire, you can see the image via the component outs while recording PN to P2

Cons:
- the colour and contrast reference from the video side is not great (ie. far less than accurate)
- only the video side appears in any HVX PN mode
- the setup is a bit cumbersome in the field

This works great in my shop, with the caveat that you've got to reference BOTH the scopes AND the video output to ensure you're capturing what you intend.

Cheers!