Hvx-200 Field Monitoring

  • Thread starter Thread starter steadicamsteel
  • Start date Start date
S

steadicamsteel

Guest
Can anyone shed some light on what the best method of field monitoring an output from the HVX-200 would be. Is there any 9" HD Field Monitors (CRT Preferably) out there? Would the firewire out be able to hook upto an HD Field Monitor? if not will there be any component outputs from the HVX to see something of a fairly high resolution?

Thoughts & Comments most welcome

Rich

www.steadicams.com
 
There are component outputs that will output a full uncompressed HD signal. Sony makes a 14" that goes for under $6,000. They also make a 9" LCD portable production monitor that displays HDTV signals, but it's only 640x480 resolution. That costs about $4000.

Panasonic makes an 8.4" LCD one, it's also around $4000 but at least it has 1024x768 resolution.

The by-far-least-expensive way to monitor would be using HD Rack (my name for the forthcoming DVCPRO-HD-aware version of DV Rack). A decently-powerful laptop with a 17" WUXGA 1920x1200 screen, connected to the firewire port, is probably going to be less expensive, lighter, more portable, and certainly more flexible than a regular LCD or CRT high-def monitor. You could get a killer laptop configured with a screen like that for under $2,000; you could get a less-powerful one for around $1000. And, of course, they'll be a lot more powerful and a lot cheaper by the time the camera's released!
 
Does anyone know if those $100 addons for tru-brite screens (different names, different manufactures) on laptops would be helpful for this application. I assume they make it easier to read the screen outside, but as far as color reproduction and stuff is concerned, would they help or hinder your LCD's ability to be an accurate field monitor (in all or some conditions).
 
I would just be concerned how long a laptop would last on the average location shoot... Those little 9" Sonys will take some knocks, a laptop doesn't... from experience. I suppose the money saved would easily cover good insurance though!
 
get a power inverter and plug your laptop to a car (~$40.-)
if there isn't a car around you should have an AC wall plug... very hard to be far away from both...
 
If neither then just make your own portable battery. Basically take a 12V or 18V car battery and wire it up to accept a normal wall plug. Do a search and youll find basic plans on how to make your own portable "generator" that can be recharged after shoots. Plus itll only cost around $60 or 70 bucks.

Ive been using an 18V marine battery for awhile and its great for lights, laptops, battery chargers and what not. If you also buy a powerful car battery charger then youll be able to charge the battery between shoots or even during shooting, giving you almost unlimited use.
 
I have to agree with Barry. The way to go is with a laptop with 1920x1200 WUXGA screen using something like HD-DV Rack. Unfortunately DV Rack uses 'DirectX' from Microsoft and that doesn't work on a Mac.
 
For Mac OS you could use Final Cut Pro with the Capture Window open. Might as well record directly to the hardrive on the laptop, since you have it with you.
 
Yeah, that's what I have been meaning to say. Underscan, waveform and vectorscope and instant capture. Almost everything you need.
 
Alot of real shows with Vipers ETC. are actually monitoring on a 42" DLP normal HD sets that are just strapped to a dolly... a more budget way to do so would be to use the Dell 24" HDTV monitor thats only 800 bucks now... no batteries but most people shoot where there is power.
 
.

.

For portable power what I do these days is either use a computer UPS that is specifically made to connect to 12V marine batteries, or use a 6000 watt putt-putt generator, a pair of 100-ft 10 gauge extension cables, and an APC UPS to hook up the computer to.

If you hook up a laptop or even a consumer grade monitor to one of those $40 car inverters, you are pounding your equipment with dirty power. That can wear out a laptop or tower quickly. Using a power-conditioning UPS will assure that you will minimize outages due to power problems.

I also agree that your cheapest bet is to go with a laptop which has a great LCD display, but of course calibration on set is not as accurate as a real pro HD monitor.
 
I already have a Sony PVM-9L3 Field Monitor (450 TV Lines) and it has a Firewire input card option on the back board. Does anyone know if this would be suffient to use to monitor a signal from the HVX-200 Firewire output?

Thanks in advance.
 
Avenger007 said:
If neither then just make your own portable battery. Basically take a 12V or 18V car battery and wire it up to accept a normal wall plug. Do a search and youll find basic plans on how to make your own portable "generator" that can be recharged after shoots. Plus itll only cost around $60 or 70 bucks.

Ive been using an 18V marine battery for awhile and its great for lights, laptops, battery chargers and what not. If you also buy a powerful car battery charger then youll be able to charge the battery between shoots or even during shooting, giving you almost unlimited use.
Click to expand...

How long can you run out of your set up and how many watts are you moving Avenger?
 
steadicamsteel said:
I already have a Sony PVM-9L3 Field Monitor (450 TV Lines) and it has a Firewire input card option on the back board. Does anyone know if this would be suffient to use to monitor a signal from the HVX-200 Firewire output?
Click to expand...
For DV, probably. For HD? Not a chance. First, it would be extremely unlikely that the Sony firewire input card would support DVCPRO-HD compression. But even if it did, you'd be trying to monitor a 1080 line signal on a 450-line monitor... I mean, it'd be useful for framing, I guess, but beyond that, no it's not going to serve as a replacement for a field HD monitor.

You could also use the 9L3 as an S-video monitor to monitor framing...
 
Looks like my investment for the HVX has tripled in price.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top