Vitec Group acquires SmallHD

$hit, d@mn and hell… I must be clairvoyant, because I was just thinking the other day what a tragedy it would be for Vitec to buy them(I've seen what has happened to other companies that have been acquired by Vitec and I get to hear some of the behind-the-scenes stories from one of my sales reps who is a good friend and has seen the changes over the years and how it is dealing with them, now). Vitec has dropped the quality of many once great companies. I still give them a lot of money, but the companies and equipment are not the same. They are a large conglomerate concerned with the bottom line more than the product and end-user. SmallHD has always had world class customer service. Besides the early days of Convergent Designs, how many other equipment manufacturers would reply to communications at 11:00pm and actively seek out customers constantly for feedback and input on their products to make them better for us?

It's great for Wes and the guys. They're living the current version of the "American Dream", create a small start-up and grow it and have it bought by a large corporation for $$$$. But on the completely selfish side, I hate that it happened, because smallHD will become just another logo under the Vitec umbrella… Hopefully they can still maintain their high standards of taking care of us, the customers and putting us and the product first. That's why they are so successful today.
 
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Hopefully this will help improve their products, perhaps bring prices down in what has become a very competitive area. With all the people shooting 4k there is a definite lack of higher res viewfinders so maybe NAB this year will be the Small HD coming out party for that product. As for other monitoring options, I feel from recent research that they were over priced for some of their products who you consider what you pay for an Odyssey 7q and what you get. But this is not to be negative, I bought a Manhattan monitor to support those guys, was very disappointed and kept it waiting for Small HD to release their products and bought the DP when it came out. It was a significant improvement in build and technology from what the Manhattan people built. As well their customer service and how they made it attractive to Canadians to buy was very smart. Just have not been impressed with the DP and as a result didn't buy another Small HD product.
Becoming a world based company is a good thing and will probably result in us getting better products and prices, and if not, there will always be other small designers and innovators to shake it up. Let's face we all must understand what a risk it must be to design and build something then take it to market. If the product has legs, more that likely it's being reverse engineered the second day it is on the shelf.
 
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BrianMurphy said:
...Just have not been impressed with the DP and as a result didn't buy another Small HD product...
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Which DP? The 4, 6 or 7(PRO LCD, PRO OLED)? Never used a 4. I own two 6's and they are good for focus. Color wise, not so much. But the 7 PRO OLED is bad @$$. It is my most used and favorite monitor. Gorgeous picture. In fact, the picture is a little too good(OLED is just flat out superior to LCD tech). The only problem with shooting/viewing on a good OLED monitor(I have the Sony 1741, too, and both have been calibrated by AbelCine) is you are a little disappointed when you see your footage later on, because more than likely you're gonna be seeing it on an LCD.

Yes, it's a little pricey for it's size, but I don't regret buying it. In fact, I'm debating buying a second while they are offering a discount, right now. If you haven't tried the newer DP7(especially the OLED), I highly recommend it. Don't use the DP6 as their watermark.
 
How long before they sue other LCD video monitor manufacturers for infringing on any patents that they might have on using LCD panels for professional video monitoring? If you don't know what I'm talking about, recall the Litepanels (another Vitec brand) patent suit that sought to ban importation of LED lights used for video: http://news.doddleme.com/equipment/litepanels-win-led-patent-case/

Not that I was in the market for one, but this makes it less likely that I would purchase a SmallHD monitor if I can find suitable alternatives.

For reference, here are the other Vitec brands: http://www.vitecgroup.com/Aboutus/Worldclassbrands.aspx
 
Run&Gun said:
Vitec has dropped the quality of many once great companies.
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Please elaborate. As is, it seems like your post was mostly just yelling about the man & how bad the man is. I know Vitec has purchased a lot of other companies (they started as Vinten & expanded from there), but I don't really think of any of those brands as providing horrible products / service.

Shenan said:
How long before they sue other LCD video monitor manufacturers for infringing on any patents that they might have on using LCD panels for professional video monitoring? If you don't know what I'm talking about, recall the Litepanels (another Vitec brand) patent suit that sought to ban importation of LED lights used for video:
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Does SmallHD have any patents? More specifically, patents that would be an umbrella for anything camera monitor?

How many of SmallHD screens are their own from the ground up? I believe the 5.6" screen in the DP6 is the same one found in monitors made by Ikan, Marshall, TV Technologies (more?). If SmallHD was sourcing from a lot of other parts makers (like many companies in many businesses do), then I would think they wouldn't have any omni-patents that Vitec can use as a club to beat down the competition.

When do we go from speculative musings to incitement of a mob to burn SmallHD at the stake?

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I like many Vitec products. I've been pleased with SmallHD. Neither are perfect, neither are brands that I would tell others to avoid.

Personally, I'm going to wait & see how this unfolds to see if this will be good or bad for the us, the consumer.
 
Does SmallHD have any patents? More specifically, patents that would be an umbrella for anything camera monitor?
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My post was more sarcastic in nature (I should have included a rolleyes smiley), however, since you ask, they do have a few patents:
http://patents.justia.com/assignee/smallhd-llc
http://www.patentbuddy.com/Company/Profile/SMALLHD-LLC/1942828

How many of SmallHD screens are their own from the ground up? I believe the 5.6" screen in the DP6 is the same one found in monitors made by Ikan, Marshall, TV Technologies (more?). If SmallHD was sourcing from a lot of other parts makers (like many companies in many businesses do), then I would think they wouldn't have any omni-patents that Vitec can use as a club to beat down the competition.
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The actual LCD panels are not the issue. Litepanels did not have any patents on LED manufacturing technology, AFAIK, but asserted their patents on using LEDs as lighting for film and video. Here are Litepanels' patents, for reference: http://patents.justia.com/assignee/litepanels-llc

When do we go from speculative musings to incitement of a mob to burn SmallHD at the stake?
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We don't. These are my personal feelings and thoughts on the matter and I feel that they are reasonable, so I don't think it was out of place to mention them in this thread even if it's not very likely to happen (especially since their corporate and brand image took a beating last time around).
 
zijital said:
Please elaborate. As is, it seems like your post was mostly just yelling about the man & how bad the man is. I know Vitec has purchased a lot of other companies (they started as Vinten & expanded from there), but I don't really think of any of those brands as providing horrible products / service.
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Let's not make things seem overly dramatic, now("...yelling about the man & how bad the man is")... I never said anything about horrible products or service. I simply said a drop in quality. Something can decline in quality compared to how it was in the past and still be good in it's own right and better than a competing product. Do not put words in my mouth.

I also stated that I still buy Vitec products. Vinten heads are all that I've ever owned, four currently(and 3 sets of Sachtler sticks). I also own seven LED fixtures from LitePanels. And Anton/Bauer has been the only battery system I've used on any of my ENG cameras. Plus pepper in a lot Petrol bags, which I really like.

But I stand by my comments that things do change after companies are acquired by them. I've been in this business for approaching 20 years and have seen it. I also have been told by people that deal directly with Vitec and their lines how things have changed. It doesn't make them evil by any stretch or mean the products are complete junk, because neither is true. I also don't have to turn a "blind eye" or not express my opinion.

I'm not trying to start a fight with you, that's not my intention, but don't try to misrepresent what I say.
 
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A few comments:

The whole LitePanels patent determination was a real disappointment and has stifled much of the LCD lightning market.

Thinking about customer service: ever called up Manfrotto to order parts? Try it some time. Many of their parts schematics are just comical.

Vitec owns so much of the market it is hard to avoid them even if you wanted to.

Grant
 
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