Small field monitor that does 720p --- viable for 4K?

J

Josh Bass

Veteran
Hi folks. Been thinking about this.

I do not yet have a small HD field monitor, but in thinking about the future-proofing of various pieces of gear, I wonder how viable, once/if/when 4K acquisition becomes something people demand from me, will a small monitor (7") that does 720p be for use a with a camera that shoots in 4K? That's about 33% resolution compared to what I'd actually be recording. Can you still judge focus, color, contrast (assuming you trusted your monitor for HD) on a small monitor like that when shooting 4K? Are there small 1080p monitors out there yet? Would they be any better? What I'm saying is, let's say you have a small field monitor now, with an HD cam. Later you upgrade to a 4K cam. Is that field monitor now useless?

Thanks.
 
Divide the horizontal pixel resolution of the display by the screen width. If the result is greater than 300 pixels per inch, then you essentially have a "retina" display, higher pixel density than the eye can resolve. For a 1280x720p resolution display that is essentially a 4.3" wide monitor screen. So yes higher resolution on a 7" would be useful, if not strictly necessary. With 4k the optical resolution limits of the image are more likely to be determined by the lens than the camera.
 
The screen on the Odyssey7Q is 1280x720 (really 1280x800, but the extra resolution is for the menus). With our focus assist and pixel zoom functions, clients get excellent results in 4K. But it is important for the monior to be able to actually accept a 4K signal, not just a 1080 downsample. That is downres heaped on downres, and artifacting can occur. Plus with a proper 4K capable monitor, the pixel zoom will actually show you the true resolution, not a uselessly blocky image.
 
so youre saying the odyssey and 4k are a good match?

as far as the lens vs whatever, assume for my query that the camera is fine, just wondering if a monitor like that can tell what the cam is actually doing/seeing. good to know about it taking a real 4k signal vs downsampling
 
Another issue is whether or not you use, or are willing to use, focus peaking. I find that with focus peaking I can manually nail critical focus every time on even the little GH4 swing-out screen. And beyond that, peaking also makes is possible to control how the available depth of field is arranged in the scene. It also makes it possible to know which way to go for best focus. All that stuff is making me love peaking. Of course there is a price, which is that peaking somewhat obscures the image. OTOH you don't have to have peaking on when setting up the scene, and during the actual shot the most important cameraman issue is always focus.

Where a bigger monitor would be nice is for composition, lighting, looks, etc. For that, 1280 is more than OK on a 7" monitor. And I'm sure a 7" 1280 monitor would also give you more than enough resolution for focusing, with or without peaking. Focus is somewhat of an approximation with even slightly moving subjects, one rarely gets to scrutinize exact focus in normal practice, which is kinda OK since getting too picky during a shot leads to focusing hunting.
 
Am i WILLING to use peaking? I wish every cam/monitor had it! Cant get enough! Its the doughnuts of monitoring options!

anyway does the above post refer to working with a 4k cam?
 
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