Anyone using the Totevision HD LCD yet?

I looked at that as well but heard bad things about it although In intrigued by the LED backlit screen which will be better for saturation and battery life. Im interseted to see if anyone has actually used it and compared it to the Marshall. I have used the Marshal many times but I just think its a $999 monitor, not a >$1200 monitor. Im expecting with the new compitition they will no longer be the only game in town at that price range and adjust the prices or come out with an improved monitor. It IS a good monitor and worth every bit of $1000 and Im betting that the Ikan and the ToteVision are worth - well - what you pay for them $750. FYI the Contrast Ratio for them are Marshall 400:1, ToteVision 300:1, Ikan 200:1 and that may be the most imoportant stat. They all have comparable rez (none are actually HD -ALL3 are downrezed)
 
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Sunstream said:
I looked at that as well but heard bad things about it although In intrigued by the LED backlit screen which will be better for saturation and battery life.
Click to expand...
Bad things from where?
I couldn´t find much info on it, the Ikan or the Swit have been discussed, I only saw the Totevision mentioned once, that´s it...
In Europe the Totevision is almost half the price of the Marshall and as long as I can´t afford a Panasonic or Sony Tft I don´t like to spent too much on a compromise...
 
Bad things from people who have used ToteVision and had to return it because it was so dissapointing, and bad things from my dealer who refuses to sell it anymore because of all the complaints that he got. (Im not sure that was the HD monitor, but the track history is not very good.)
Also, Ive talked to a half dozen people at totevision trying to get some questions answered and they did not seem very anxious to help and once I finally got to a tech I was dissapointed in his knowledge. That said Im still going to give them the benifit of the doubt and wait till I see a side by side comparison to pass judgement.
 
Hey Spartacus,
I'm working on solving this problem myself. I tried in the past, but my previous supplier was ****. had to return the item and I'm still waiting for the refund.
fortunately, I've found someone else. So I'll keep you posted. I'm hoping to have some samples to play with mid june. the resolution would be 1024x768 which is the same as the panny and the contrast 400:1. same as the marshall. but In my opinion the screen is much better. The angle of view is amazing.
I'll keep you posted.
 
Siniarch,
you are talking about the Totevision, aren´t you?
So, you had a Tote and had to give it back?
Or are you talking about DIYing a TFT (you where the one with the vga adapter right?)
Since I don´t have a dealer near me who has the Totevision, I ordered one today that should arrive Friday.
I´ll put it to a test and post my results on dvxuser, for online orders we have a four week no-questions-asked return policy here, so I´m save to return if it doesn´t deliver...
Anyhow, when it comes to a small portable TFT, all I want is the same deal I got with opting for the HVX - great picture, small price (well, compared to a Varicam;o) )
 
Nope. I was talking about an LCD manufacturer. (not a final product) I had work with a company from NY who's LCD was very nice. Nicer than the marshal in my opinion. but even though their controller card handles 1900x1200, it didn't handle HD video when coming in through RGB component. which killed the deal.

Unfortunately, they didn't let me know this prior to purchasing components. Now I'm trying to return the components.

Now I've found another Mnf. who is working with me in providing a solution for this. As for price, I'll have to see what it comes up to when I get everything and get the pricing.

I'll keep you posted.
 
Sounds good!
You´ll find a lot of thankfull customers here when you come up with sth rivaling the Marshal with a lower pricetag...
BTW do you happen to know which Noga-arm to get to mount a TFT?
 
Sunstream,
Be weary of the viewing angles on the specs for the totevision. 65/65/55/60 sounds like a good viewing angle. 130degrees horizontal, and 115 vertical.
In reality it usually starts fading the image much sooner the the 65degrees to the side and 55 vertically.
So if you are right in front of it. looks great, but your focus puller that is looking at the image from the side, Not so good.
 
First impresions of the Totevision:
Compared to the Marshal and the SWIT it ranges just under the Marshal IMHO.
The case comes close to that of the M, giving it a much more robust feel than the all-plastic S, only downside is that the BNCs are directly on the back of the screen and NOT fixed at the case itself, if they break thats gonna cost...
The screen: I will have to do further tests cause both my HVXs component cables are broken (F*CK these cables!) altough hardly used, when I fiddle them in the right position, the image is sharp with good color rendition (always considering it is a TFT), but since the picture only holds a couple of seconds I can´t finally tell...
Then I connected it via S-Video and the picture was beautifully displaying DVCpro50 (which I still mostly use), so even it isn´t as good in HD as the M, it´ll stay my choice...
As soon as I get a replacement or an alternative to my component cables, I´ll do final HD testing...
Do I have to mention that connected to a BetaSP via CVBS it looked horrible;o)
The viewing angle is OK I guess, but I operate alone so far, I will check the useability with a focus puller as soon as my SGpro arrives (you hear that Wayne!?)
BTW the company I got it from have both Marshal and Totevision, they bluntly told me to get the Totevision, cause it would be cheaper and better than the Marshal (this is either an honest statement or they get a better deal from Totevision;o) )
Anyhow, I´m not friends with any of the manufacturers, I´d buy a Pana or Sony if I could justify it ATM, but for the pricetag it seems to satisfy my needs (but I´m still having an eye on what Siniarch comes up with)...
 
Thanks for the 1st impressions, I look forwad to hearing more once you are able to compare the HD more accurately.
I just cant make up my mind, and Im just not sure that the Marshall is THAT much better than the totevision or the Ikan. Ive used the Marshall, and Im just not sold on it. Of course I also use the Panasonc on occassion, so I am spoiled.
Im thinking that the Marshall will be dropping in price now that they have competition, and I'll end up going with it. But the ToreVision intersts me.
 
Thanks Spartacus, for thinking of me.

I got prices today. OUCH. you pay big bucks to have the best components in the units. but the prices I got were for sample units. (for prototyping) they will go down when I buy more, and they are also a few bills more for the SDI In/Out option. I would also provide an option for 2 SDI In/Out.

I will haggle with the guy tomorrow and try to bring down those prices. I might get the unit from him for prototyping to not delay any of that, but I will have to contact other suppliers (if I can find them) to have a little healthy competition.

I am trying to make some money for myself here. (as oppose to the FWS-01) but I am like most of us here. Starting up with no financing, etc... so I'm conscious of cost and want to keep the price down. I am also trying to get a solution that is physically better than whats out there at this price range. With some extra functions, and without others (unfortunately)

I'll keep you guys posted.
 
Further testing from me will have to wait till I sort out the "freaking component cable (fcc)" issue with my pana dealer...
As said BOTH cables are broken (no I don´t use them for bondage games...),of which the second one I´m not even sure if I used it in the field before...
People claim the RCA conectors to be the problem, but hardwireing BNC to the cable would mean constantly twisting the BNC on the Totevision - which as stated is not fixed at the housing but only at the back of the panel itself and is likely to break in production use...
The Y/C looks perfect, but unfortunately that doesn´t say anything about the used HD scaler...
Expect sth from me in three weeks earliest, I had to send in the cable, they`ll test it, talk to Pana about it, blablabla...
 
I recently had a opportunity to try the ToteVision LCD on a shoot using a Mini35 with a box of Zeiss SuperSpeeds. Right off the get-go i was impressed with the overall crispness and sharpness to the monitor- It powered up right away with no warming-up period (LED backlight). What had impressed me most about the unit was its thin size and rugged aluminum body and great controls.

The image looked great- and focusing with the Mini35 was a breeze. The only concern was color rendition- i found the monitor to be slightly de-saturated compared to a broadcast CRT. Otherwise, it was an overall solid performer.

Considering the Tote's price-point and features (compared to the Ikan), i felt no regret dropping 750$CAN on one following the shoot.
 
Hey Rydon,
good to hear that, I´m still waiting for my replacement cables from Pana and I really want to check HD performance...
How did you power the Totevison?
Any problems withe the component cable yourself
 
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