SmallHD DP7 Pro LCD review?

[Josh Bass]

Hi. I am not desperate YET, but I would like to get a small monitor at some point. Due to how I want all the features anyone's ever invented ever, and due to general word of mouth/brand reviews from colleagues and around the web, I'm down to the Odyssey7 (no q) and the Small HD DP7. Obviously the O7 isn't out yet, and the myriad complaints (sorry just sayin' what I be seein') about the Q have me concerned about that, though the many features and OLED display have me intrigued.

On the other hand, SmallHD seems much beloved everywhere, but I can't find squat about the DP7 Pro LCD (SB)--this is the NON hibrite, NON Oled model. Anyone have it/used it/have feelings about it?

I want something I can light to with confidence, and even though everyone SAYS "oh I would never light to one of these tiny monitors" many people do (based on the sets I've worked on) and furthermore I know top guys in town who trust the DP4 and 6 when lighting to them. So, how do we feel about the DP7?

Thanks.

 

[Michael Carter]

Trusting a monitor comes down to a couple things - does it have blue-only (and do you have a source of color bars to calibrate it)? Do you have any other options to verify your exposure & lighting decisions, like histogram, wfm, etc? And does testing of a given monitor make you feel confident with it, so you know what not to trust (color casts, etc). Another big issue is viewing angles - a lot of the vehicle panels converted to shooting use (some lilliputs, a lot of cheap chinese ebay stuff) can just kill you with viewing angles that wildly change apparent exposure with the slightest change in your angle. I'd think most higher-end models have wide viewing angles though.

When it comes down to it, you should put most of your trust in the data itself - what are histograms, zebras, and other monitoring tools showing you?

 

[Run&Gun]

There probably aren't a lot of reviews because there probably aren't a lot of them out there. The OLED version was released first(last July) and a lot of people may be like me and once they get a taste of a quality OLED monitor, the don't want to use or buy another LCD. A fellow shooter was on the pre-order list last year for the LCD version and switched to the OLED after he saw mine(also didn't hurt that the LCD wasn't available).

Im not saying anything negative about the LCD version, and in fact I've actually heard great things about the high-brite LCD version, but speaking from the viewpoint of someone who owns multiple LCD and OLED monitors, except for budget concerns, I don't know why someone would buy an LCD monitor over an equivalent OLED version.