Setting up production monitor

M

mikecost

Active member
Hey all,
Alright, im shooting a short film with a dvx100a i just bought(Very excited) and will be using a JVC( i think) production monitor from my school to view the footage. I've only used the cameras lcd or viewfinder on other shoots so my question is, whats the easiest way to connect the camera to monitor? What type of cable do i use? Best method of calibration? and any other things i should know when using a production monitor. Thanks alot!
 
A BNC cable would be my first choice. Add a BNC-to- RCA male adapter ( Radio Shack has 'em, I don't know about Best Buy)-attach to camera. Attach other end BNC directly to monitor. Some people might choose to go the whole rca cable route...
 
For calibration you'll want to output color bars from your camera to the monitor and set the monitor up by those do a google search to find the instructions on how to do that as it is a semi-involved process and I don't feel like writing it all down.
 
filmat - why would composite be preferred to y/c (s-video) ? I know at least as far as tv is concerned, svideo is a superior format..
 
Thanks Lighthouse, I too didn't have time to describe all of the procedures for setting up and matching color bars and registration.....cableing.
 
The only thing that I can add is that you need to be aware that any monitor needs to properly terminated (75 Ohms) or your white/black levels will be wrong. Some monitors have an automatic terminator feature, other's will have a switch that needs to be set. If you are running multiple monitors (using something like a BNC T-adapter) only the last device on the chain should be set to terminate the cable.
 
Or throw a physical terminator on the open end. Production monitors with loop-through will either self-terminate or have a switch like the one described above.

I'm going to link to a good calibration instruction set - the process is too long to write out....

Serious has a nice one with accompanying graphics to show what words can't easily describe.

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The broadcast monitor isn't going to do you a lot of good after the footage is already shot. If you're just using it for viewing you may as well adjust it for whatever compliments your footage. If you're going to use it at the acquisition phase;
1. Connect via s-video it's more accurate than composite.
2. Set the pluge level first(brightness/blacks)
3. Adjust chroma saturation(color)
4. Adjust chroma phase (hue)
the specifics of all these techniques are easily found with a mild search, However, who knows how to set CONTRAST ? The old school glowing -I Q model doesn't cut it.
 
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