7" Android Tablets as Affordable IPS monitors

S

sbrenner

Active member
Seems like the new 7" Kindle Fire HD has all the specs we would want in a video monitor except for
an hdmi or sdi input port. Sells for $199.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/ref=pe_70050_25688310_pe_b2/?ASIN=B0083PWAPW
Similar specs on the Ikan D7 (with sdi/hdmi ports) comes in at close to $1000.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/871618-REG/ikan_D7_7_Camera_Monitor.html
I'm thinking that a 7" Android tablet with the proper input ports could not only
be a useful monitor but with innovative apps could provide tethered control and
all kinds of creative features (waveforms, peaking, etc.) without hacking the cameras firmware.
I find it hard to believe that there are no insightful engineers out there spotting this
opportunity to offload these tasks to a powerful but cheap tablet.

Steve
 
I'm wondering if a larger tablet with a 720p display could do the same thing...?
I didn't know that usb 2.0 could push a live high res video stream...
Looks promising.
 
i use an HP touchpad running android with that app. It works well after adding a little extra cabling.
https://plus.google.com/107702611495530615361/posts/Cr1tRMTpMuB

i also use the app with an android cell phone as a EVF. almost got all the kinks worked out. but the thing is brilliant. It still allows you to send the HDMI signal so now i can run my monitor off of the tablet and video village off of the hdmi.

Im amazed nobody else is talking about it becuase its so great.
 
stefanhuberfilms said:
it doesn't depend on the size, its more the firmware, as far as i know the DSLR Controller runs on Android 2.1 and above, but the phone or tablet has to have a USB host mode, normally used to connect a usb drive or such... unfortunately it does not run on my Galaxy S1..

if you want to test compatibility: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.chainfire.remoterelease
Click to expand...

Any idea if it runs on the Galaxy S2? I don't have one, so I can't test it out, but they're on sale and I'm thinking of getting one.

I'm also curious if the S2 will play .MOV files from the camera.
 
treynolds said:
i use an HP touchpad running android with that app. It works well after adding a little extra cabling.
https://plus.google.com/107702611495530615361/posts/Cr1tRMTpMuB

i also use the app with an android cell phone as a EVF. almost got all the kinks worked out. but the thing is brilliant. It still allows you to send the HDMI signal so now i can run my monitor off of the tablet and video village off of the hdmi.

Im amazed nobody else is talking about it becuase its so great.
Click to expand...

Yeah, why isnt this being talked about? My Nikon and note 10.1 are a fabulous combo now!
 
With an x86 tablet (one that can run Windows), you can get a USB HDMI capture device. Then you just have some software written up, or maybe the software already exists, and bobs your uncle.

That is to say, with Android devices it isn't the applications, or the firmware really, that is the issue. It is the lack of drivers to support external usb capture devices (or the lack of an HDMI capture device onboard), as most cameras can't output a video signal over USB. The capture devices usually run less than $400.

I don't know how well an Android tablet would work though, if you wanted to do anything more than just view the picture that is. Any sort of processing to add things like focus peaking, zebras, vecterscope, etc... might be too much for an android device, especially at 1080p.
 
This was a hot topic here a few years ago when the iPad was introduced. The 800 pound gorilla on this is latency. That is the time lag between the cam and the display. Maybe progress has been made?

Granr
 
Yeah, I might be late to the game. Years ago latency meant you saw video coming off the playback heads and not e to e and that gave confidence you actually had what you were shooting, so latency isnt the "defect" to me that it might be to others. Then theres the matter of cost. I like free...better than cheap, way better than hundreds. With the utility these apps offer, Im just surprised at the lack of attention.
 
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