Production Monitors and lack of HDMI

KyleProhaska

KyleProhaska

Veteran
OK, so I'm looking for a production monitor that I can also hook my DSLR's to on-set. This is a very popular monitor that I think is a great option.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...&AID=10603278&PID=4177994&is=REG&Q=&A=details

However, no HDMI. There are converter cables that can take HDMI to DVI and things of the sort, but I don't know if those will work with 5D/7D/GH2, etc.

I own an AF100 that has HDSDI so things will work fine, but it's the DSLRs I'm worried about. Thoughts?
 
many (most notably the 5d 7d and 60d and their various cousins) stop sending signal to the built in screen when you plug in an hdmi cable. i cant imagine that a converter box at the end would have any effect on whats further down the cable path...
 
I use this exact monitor. When I shoot on the 7D or 5D i use a AJA HDMI to SDI convertor. It works great.
 
HDMI is electrically compatible with DVI, no conversion is necessary - all that is needed is a simple HDMI to DVI cable or adapter to feed HDMI into this monitor.
 
nothing said:
HDMI is electrically compatible with DVI, no conversion is necessary - all that is needed is a simple HDMI to DVI cable or adapter to feed HDMI into this monitor.
Click to expand...

True but the industry standard is HD-SDI. IMO Hdmi cables are not nearly rugged enough to tolerate daily, rugged use.
 
Wait, I thought the 7D was the exception to the HDMI out monitor issue in the Canon line of cameras. Is that not correct?
 
Th 7D's exception is that it doesnt change resolution when put into record mode. not that you can double display.

HDMI by standards uses HDCP which is a copy protection protocol because it is considered a consumer protocol and therefore has to handshake with another HDCP compatible device other wise the HDCP protocol blanks out the screen untill a compatible product is hooked up.

Hope that helps
 
I'm pretty new to film making, but wouldn't it be cheaper to buy an actual flat screen TV and hook it up? I have a 40in. flat screen that I plug directly into my DVX100B when I'm messing around in the house. Even if you need a portable 17" screen, you could get one for around $200 and a Duracell generator for around $150. Or am I missing something and there is an actual reason to spend $2k on a monitor?
 
not all monitors are $2k there are a few under $1k, and YES there are reasons for that investment, things like focus assist, as well as histograms, HD-SDI capabilities as well as having the capabilities of being calibrated for proper color representation.

One other possible reason is they can operate from rechargeable batteries and not needing a generator, and easy transport.

If all you are needing is to help you with framing, a small lilliput will do the trick for under $200, with the Canon DSLR (and maybe others) the resolution drops down to 480 when the recording is engaged and is arguably good enough to focus with but that is a limitation of the camera NOT the monitor.

The one exception is the 7D because with its dual processors it can maintain the full 1080-ish output while recording, the other Canon DSLRs have single processors so when put into record mode they have to re-allocate processing power, and they do this by stepping down resolution out of the HDMI output. again that is a limitation of the cameras NOT the monitors.

more expensive monitors are worth it usually IF you need what they do that the cheaper ones don't. for basic focus and framing help, a Lilliput or Ikan or Marshall will do just fine.

You can drag around a bigger monitor/TV but the decision to lug it around and deal with its powering limitations that is up to you, only you can decide if that is too much of a PITA, but YES a TV can be used, its just more hassle.
 
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