Flanders scientific Slog monitoring

I have a Flanders Scientific monitor, which I consider to be the best monitor line on the market (and have said so in print). Just downloaded the update today but have not had a chance to install and test yet. What it is doing is mapping 90 IRE to 100 and while it may then lose some highlights, you can compensate by adjusting the monitor's gamma settings.

It's all in the new manual

Ned
 
i've got one as well. i like it, but i would have said that it's already lacking a little saturation and contrast. :D
 
MPB
Are you talking about the Slog gamma or the monitor in general. I know my own monitor in general has plenty of saturation and contrast. Haven't tried the slog option yet. I find the firmware instructions pretty confusing.
 
i mean the image on my flanders 8" has far less saturation and contrast than any other field or computer monitor i've used. i don't mean when displaying log, i mean displaying regular video. when you look at my flanders next to any panasonic bt-lh (for instance), mine looks flat by comparison. i've gotten used to it, and the engineering/exposure features are great. but the color and contrast ain't right. that's not to say that the panny isn't over-saturated and contrasty.... i've read where others have questioned the folks at flanders on the subject and were told not to worry about it.
 
i crank it quite a bit, but it still doesn't really look anything like any other monitor. and maxing those settings may make it look more like what you're expecting, but then, why have a monitor if you have to twist the knobs til it looks like what you're hoping it looks like, rather than being able to calibrate it and feel fairly confident? i've thought of taking it to Mr. Macie to have him tweak it. but it still begs the question about what any given monitor is telling me. i don't hate it, in some ways i think the color is more "true" i just don't think there's enough of it.
 
Apologies for the thread jack. :) I will try the update when I have some time.
 
Odd. Most monitors have menu settings for sat , contrast etc so you don't have to fiddle with the outside knobs.
 
there are those menu settings, but outside of the normal bars calibration, i have no other reference to have an objective target for those values. i'd just be eyeballing it.
 
Try to get another monitor that you know to be reliable or even just close. And then eyeball your Menu settings so it looks better. I've been doing that all my life with monitors. You'll be closer.
 
I have the 2140W...amazing monitor. They live about 10 minutes from me. One day I walked in and they gave me a full tour of the monitor I was interested in and I bought it before I left. Great service, great monitors.

They're willing to add pretty much any feature possible to their firmware so this is a great announcement.
 
I have the 2460 and 0950 and a colorist that works with me has the 2140. The firmware update will be especially helpful on the 0950. Flanders are a decent monitor for the price, however I see a lot of variation among these three when side by side. And I agree that they're a bit lacking when you need contrast and saturation on a shoot. In a dark edit suite they're better.
 
Lenilenapi said:
Try to get another monitor that you know to be reliable or even just close. And then eyeball your Menu settings so it looks better. I've been doing that all my life with monitors. You'll be closer.
Click to expand...

what'r'you, some kinda hippie anarchist?
 
"hippie anarchist?" - pretty much. Not a complete anarchist though.
I do believe that forums need a moderator!

Truth is no matter what manufacturers say about how a monitor is perfectly set up to spec uits hard to find 2 that look the same and they all have characteristic color issues that you sometimes have to balance against even if they are technically "correct." The old Sony 8" SD monitors looked green if they were set up right so I used to have my tech push them a little magenta. It was actually more accurate that way otherwise you would misadjust your camera in the field. The TV Logic 5.6 " monitors are way too warm and check out what a green screen looks like on them - terrible. As I understand it smaller monitors are harder to get right for some reason.

Find a good reference and then trust your eyes.
 
This is a very good discussion on Flanders monitors. I am looking for a good source of information on all monitors. It seems like new monitors are coming around all the time. What is a really good monitor that I can trust. If I'm trying to change the look, in camera, and the monitor is magenta or has low contrast I really don't know what my results will be. You spend 20K on a camera and accessories, but what are your monitoring it on? The CRTs disappears one day, and these new solid state monitors popped up all over. Engineers say they don't like the flat screens. Well...

Or are all monitors so good that discussion is not needed for them?
 
Lenilenapi said:
"hippie anarchist?" - pretty much. Not a complete anarchist though.
I do believe that forums need a moderator!

Truth is no matter what manufacturers say about how a monitor is perfectly set up to spec uits hard to find 2 that look the same and they all have characteristic color issues that you sometimes have to balance against even if they are technically "correct." The old Sony 8" SD monitors looked green if they were set up right so I used to have my tech push them a little magenta. It was actually more accurate that way otherwise you would misadjust your camera in the field. The TV Logic 5.6 " monitors are way too warm and check out what a green screen looks like on them - terrible. As I understand it smaller monitors are harder to get right for some reason.

Find a good reference and then trust your eyes.
Click to expand...

sorry, i should have included a smilie. :laugh:

i always struggled with the green in my sd sony monitor. i tweaked it a bit, but i also learned to look around it. in that case, though, it was pretty easy to isolate the variable. now, i find it more difficult to identify a baseline for monitoring. i am constantly pushing contrast and saturation one way or another in the camera to suit the shooting conditions, subject and desired outcome. if i spend enough time with a given camera using my monitor, i can learn what it's telling me, but i still have to explain to directors and clients if they're looking over my shoulder.

i agree, a lot of small field monitors now seem really biased towards red or magenta, and i like that my fsi doesn't do that. maybe it is just a matter of knowing your bias and being able to work with it. but i have yet to find one good reference that i feel comfortably spans different cameras and shooting conditions. i'll keep working on it though. thanks for your input.
 
Flanders gives a great baseline WYSIWYG (on SDI!!) . I've battled clients about color, contrast, etc. and finally get them of their hi-horses when I ask them which calibrator they've recently used on their unit? Flanders uses a Minolta CA-210 DCAA to the tune of $10k. Yes, I believe you do get what you pay for. :beer:
 
Flat panel monitors improve each year. Which is good because there's still a lot of room for improvement. Yes, Flanders uses very expensive calibration tools, but that's only as good as the panel itself. My Flanders 2460 is a pretty good monitor, but it has a magenta cast on one side of the screen that Flanders tech support tells me is within spec for that panel. And that replacing the panel doesn't mean I'm going to end up with a completely flat response across the monitor.

I also have a Penta Studiotech HD2line 32" monitor that cost twice as much. It's a fantastic monitor, but even at that cost level there is a bit of vignetting around the edges. Which, again, I'm told by tech support is "within spec." But it's an improvement over the Flanders for color correction, so now the Flanders is primarily a confidence monitor on set, with scopes that the Penta doesn't have. The Penta is also way too heavy for location work.

I'm not sure we'll ever again have a true "standard" for monitoring the way we did with Sony PVM and BVM monitors. But it would be nice.
 
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