How can a 480x800 Ikan monitor work for the HVX?

Jim Brennan

Jim Brennan

VHS Member Old Skool
I am looking at the Ikan V8000 monitor and I am confused by the specs being 480x800 since it bills itself as an HD monitor. I currently output my HVX (via composite) to 9" Ikegami production monitor. How will this be a better solution for HD focusing? I realize that the signal from the component out will be better, but the pixel resolution will still be limited something close to SD, no?
 
One of the reasons I never bought it, better than the hvx lcd but not my idea of HD (I only shoot in 1080).
 
Resolution is only a part of it, the scaler hardware in the monitor also determines how sharp the image is. Many "HD" production monitor is limited to 800 x 480, including the very expensive Panasonic BTLH80. But if you compare the Ikan and the Pana, which have similar resolution you'll find there is a vast difference in the resolved sharpness. The important thing is that you don't need a 1080p monitor to focus properly in HD (doesn't exist anyway).

The Ikan V8000HD is just a poor choice in general. I used it for over a year and not only is the build quality very poor but the image just isn't that sharp. Look into Manhattan LCD for a much better (and cheaper) alternative. Up to 720p resolution and much better image and build than the Ikan by far.

 
id suggest having a look at the dp1 from smallHD. true 720 res for $799

like any other sub $1000 monitor it has its plus and minus points. but i find it WAY better than the ikan.
 
My BT-LH80W is 864x480 (or something like that), but it has a pixel-to-pixel option where it'll show a subsection of the frame at full resolution. That works perfectly well for focusing, especially when combined with the focus-in-red function.

So -- 800x480 without pixel-to-pixel? I don't get the point. But with pixel-to-pixel, it's a perfectly acceptable option. If you're going to go with a smaller screen, I actually prefer the lower-res panel with pixel-to-pixel, over having a denser panel on a smaller screen, because it's a lot easier to see the detail. A 1920x1080 panel in an 8" size would be pretty difficult to impossible to actually use all that resolution, whereas the pixel-to-pixel extract gives you the equivalent of as if you were looking at something like a 19" screen (just an 8" window onto that 19" screen).
 
Thanks for the tips guys. I actually bought the Ikan a couple of days ago. I had read some of the on-line reviews (which were good overall), but I wound up making the deal before you guys posted or else I would have held off (although Huy had an earlier version his post that mentioned the lack of overscan...). Oh well, I got the whole kit used for $400. I will try it out. If it doesn't work I can either sell it or keep for my DVX and get the DP1 for the HVX.

There's always stuff to buy....
 
I received it today. I'm not disappointed, but I'm not doing cartwheels either. The build is actually better than I thought it would be, especially considering how light it feels. I still like the idea that I can run the signal back out to another monitor if necessary (not sure if that is typical or not). I need to figure out a hot-shoe solution since I often have wireless receivers on there, but that is not specific to this monitor.

The image is pretty clear, and it definitely gives me a better idea of focus than the on-cam LCD, which was my reason for buying it. In fact, after about 5 minutes of using it, I just closed the LCD screen on the camera since it serves no purpose at all at this point. I am already addicted to the bigger monitor. Not great color calibration, but pretty close.

But damn, this thing is noisy in the blacks. I knew the contrast rating was pretty low, so i knew it would be less than stellar, but I didn't expect it to be this bad.

So anyway, if money weren't an issue, I would go with something different. But after investing in a whole second camera set-up, this was about all I could spend. It does what I need it to do, and the kit came with a case, two batteries, charger and power supply, all for 400 beans.

I will upgrade at some point, but I still think it was a good buy. When I get a new one I will probably keep this for the DVX.
 
Okay, not as noisy as i thought. I just popped it on the camera to make sure it worked when I first opened it. Didn't realize the camera's gain was on.

I feel kind of dumb, but I'll get over it.
 
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