smallHD DP6 calibration

J

jgardner

Active member
I've had my DP6 for a few days now and I must say that it's a pretty darn nice monitor! Out of the box I have viewed my AF100, a Sony Z7, and 7D and of all the cameras the image appears to be a bit warmer on the DP6 than the cameras LCD. I'm wondering if DP6 owners have had to tweak the settings to be more correct? Or should I be trusting this warm image? I'll say that the image from the Z7 was really really gold and just didn't look right, a little less with the 7D and AF100. I'm interested in others experience.

I put this in the AF100 thread because it seems like there has been a bunch of talk about smallHD here and of course I have a AF100 that I've been using it on.
 
Yes, I've had to tweek the settings on my DP6 as well because it does display warm.

1) Drop the red in RGB
2) Drop the backlight to about 95 (100 adds too much white).
3) Bump up sharpness

Also, the flip out screen on the AF-100 is "close" the real image after you've updated with the latest firmware so you might want to tweak the DP6 image and compare it too the flip out screen as well.

... that will be a good starting point for you...
 
It would be nice if small hd added video-standard controls to the monitor like phase/chroma/brightness/contrast.

All of these other ones are arbitrary.
 
Agreed! I know how to calibrate a monitor with those controls. That's why I posted cuz I'm not sure where to start with smallHD.

Thanks kindredmachine I'll start where you suggest.
 
Hey there,
A couple things I've learned about the DP6.

It's a nice little monitor and VERY sharp. Great for focus. I've been beta testing the new firmware for them and they've made quite a few improvements. I think the folks at SmallHD have phenomenal customer service and do listen to their customers.

Anyway, one thing I learned recently from them is that the monitor changes color QUITE A BIT after warming up for awhile. They said it gets bluer (which is good) after being on for 30 minutes to an hour and suggest leaving it on for a bit, if possible, before you need to shoot with it. I DO find when you first turn it on, that it is more yellow than what I think is real.

I was hoping to use this monitor as a judge of a more color accurate picture than camera LCDs (any camera really) but I don't think the color is that accurate even with some tweaking. I think it's an ok representation but I actually trust the LCD on the AF-100 more for color.

The other thing I've figured out is that it's a 6-bit display so while the image is sharp it's not as smooth as the real image that's being recorded.
 
I've found the stock settings of my DP6 to be very close to what I see with my own eyes and very similar to the updated firmware LCD, and then I'm rarely surprised when viewing the footage on my FSI later. I think I might drop the brightness a tad to make it even better, but other than that it's pretty awesome.
 
EidolonFilms said:
I've found the stock settings of my DP6 to be very close to what I see with my own eyes and very similar to the updated firmware LCD, and then I'm rarely surprised when viewing the footage on my FSI later. I think I might drop the brightness a tad to make it even better, but other than that it's pretty awesome.
Click to expand...

That's very interesting because I DEFINITELY don't find that to be the case and am wondering if my unit may be a dud. It's pretty obviously different in the color.
 
Brian@202020 said:
Maybe, but only after the last AF100 firmware update that fixed the green in LCD. I personally think the DP6 is more accurate to what is actually recorded than the LCD.
Click to expand...

Yes, the firmware made a huge difference with the LCD.

Again, I really need to get side by side with another SmallHD, because I really think it's quite different than my final output. Good to hear other reports. Maybe I'll bring it with me to NAB so I can try it against some others.
 
jgardner said:
Brian I'd love to know your monitor settings
Click to expand...

Ok this is what I currently have. It is close, but could probably be closer with a little more tweaking.

Contrast = 47
Brightness = 65
Hue = 44
Saturation = 45
Sharpness = 50
RGB Control:
RGain = 80
GGain = 120
BGain = 160
ROffset = 127
GOffset = 127
BOffset = 127

It is a tad more saturated than the AVCCAM footage but I believe it's the 422 output in the SDI stream that is making the difference, because the Nano files I have match up almost perfectly to these DP6 setting. Now if only I can make the AF100's LCD this close I'll be in business.
 
you know, anyone who talks to Small HD customer support should tell them a ffirmware update (if possible) should have a resolution setting for HDMI input from 720p/1080i. I know SDI will always pop up on a DP6 as 1080i but I swear before I updated the firmwares in the monitor and Af-100 my HDMI output was interpeted as 720p on the DP6 and looks a tad sharper than the 1080i signal.

Also, is anyone else starting to get burn-in on their DP6? I've only shot about 30 hours with it and I already have a slight imprint of the battery graphic and safetly lines in the screen.
 
I haven't experienced it, but some say leaving it off for a bit can help get rid of the effect on any lcd, or perhaps turning off the menu items for a bit so the little crystals can get all mixed up again...
 
So I've adjusted it as close as I can. It still looks warmer than the AF100 LCD (I'm current on firmware) I can't get greens to produce properly. My test is not the greatest. I took a magazine ad with a woman wearing a colorful outfit, normal skin tones, standing on green grass and lit that. I need to get a hold of some charts or sometime....maybe...it's pretty close though.
 
this was the main reason I decided to go for the TV logic over SmallHD
I love the look of smallHD and their aluminum casing, but this yellow tone they can't even seem to fix with their firmware updates... it's a shame
 
I know there are certain arbitrary expectations everyone decides on what they should get for their money, but this monitor is for critical focus and framing, it is NOT for critical color calibration. If you want that then you'll need to spend 3x more.

By the way, is everyone saying the TVLogic is more accurate color wise?
 
It's the same panel, just better controls on the TV logic.

And yes, a $1200 monitor SHOULD be accurate in it's color representation.
 
mcgeedigital said:
It's the same panel, just better controls on the TV logic.

And yes, a $1200 monitor SHOULD be accurate in it's color representation.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. I'm not expecting it to be perfect but I should be able to adjust it closer. The RGB controls just aren't doing the trick. I may be switching to the tvlogic. Bummer though because I love everything else about this monitor. I bought it because of it's update capability but it doesn't seem like they're getting close to fixing the color. Any DP6 reps cruising dvxuser? I heard their customer service is great. I'll be writing them today to ask some questions about the issue.
 
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