HD Monitors for FCP - HELP!

[markv13]

I just finished shooting my first feature with the hvx200 - liked the camera so much I went out and bought one. BUT I edit on FCP with a dual G5 - we had our first screening at a film fest in MN and the picture was terrible. We have 2 LCD monitors and watch output through a standard panasonic field monitor hooked through a mini DV deck. The picture looked fine on the monitor but did not look like the end product on DVD. A friend suggested I need an HD monitor to edit with BUT do I need a special card to export the HD signal? If I run it through the DV deck, I think I still get analog? CAn someone suggest a monitor and card (if necessary) to add to our editing system.
Thanks.
Mark Vadik:badputer:

 

[Shane Ross]

YOu cannot run DVCPRO HD thru a DV deck or camera at all. You can et a STILL image, but then you will be dealing with an SD DV image, not the HD image that you need to see.

Yes, you need an HD monitor and HD capture card to view this properly. Dual G5...so Pci-x, right? You can get the Kona LH card for this, or if Decklink still offers PCI-X cards, they have good HD cards as well. But then you need the HD monitor to view this, and they can run from $3000-$10,000 for the cheaper ones.

The most cost effective way to do this would be to get a Matrox MXO and Apple Cinema Display. The MXO connects via DVI, and converts the DVI signal to make the Apple display into a color accurate HD monitor...ready to be set up to bars and used to color correct. Total cost for both? Under $2000 (MXO $995, Monitor $900). DOWNSIDE to the MXO...it is output only. But, if you capture your footage via firewire, or import the P2...you don't need that capability.

With a Decklink card (cheaper of the HD capture cards). it will run you $995..but then you need an HD monitor...so add another $3k. Or...if you get the Decklink and the HDLINK from Decklink, you can then use the Apple monitor for monitoring. But that is more expensive than the MXO...but with the added bonus of being able to capture.

It is all about what you need. I have a Kona LH for my tower, and an MXO for my laptop. I like both.