7'' Monitor for small price

[Christian Dressler]

Hi there,

i've found this monitor at carlights.de and i wanna know what's your oppinion about it. Here are the facts:

7" TFT Monitor with TOSHIBA Display
2400 x 480 Pixel Resolution 
Inverter: Compaq;  Modell :  TDK Invr-041-3, Inverter Tad209-3 lcd
Mikroprozessor: Winbond W78E65P-40
Encoder Chip: Philips SAA7114H
Audio Amplifier: Philips TDA7053A
Display Controller: Realtek  RTD 3001
Display 2400 x 480 Pixel
Measurements: Display BxHxT 185 x123 x 28mm
OSD (On Screen Display)
Automatic switching between PAL and NTSC
16:9 Format
Chinch-Input for Audio and Video
Power: 12 - 14V / max. 8W

And now the price: 170€ (maybe the same in $).
Please tell me what do you think.

Thanks a lot Christian

[Steven Fokkinga]

I'm not an expert on this, but it looks very similar to the lilliput and xenarc monitors. Something to keep in mind is that 2400x480 is a bit of a deceiving number, they count rgb thrice, so it is actually 800x480. Also try to find the brightness of the screen, typically 300-400 cd/m² for the xenarc/lilliput, or that is at least what they claim.

Steven

[Christian Dressler]

Hey Steven,

the brightness is the same as the lilliput. So i'm happy that i made the right decision.

Thanks a lot.

[Jon Gordon]

I may be able to source some 1400 NIT (very bright) 800*480 lcd monitors through an acquaintances factory.  HD/SDI input standard, so it's future proof (Output of choice for Varicam, XL H1, etc).   It won't be cheap though... we're talking 900-1000 USD.  12V power, 18W usage.

[Alan Dague-Greene]

Jon, I'll have to look into connector options, since my camera does not have HD-SDI out. But I would be very interested!

[Alan Dague-Greene]

Hey Jon, any update on that bright monitor? Or is it the same one you mention in this post?

I had a shoot recently where my back was to the sun. The glare made it impossible to see anything on the monitor. I had to add a piece of cardboard between the post and monitor, which turned the whole sled into a sail in the wind.

[Carlos E. Martinez]

I had a shoot recently where my back was to the sun. The glare made it impossible to see anything on the monitor. I had to add a piece of cardboard between the post and monitor, which turned the whole sled into a sail in the wind.

You shouldn't use, and now you know why, any LCD monitor (or even CRT) on a very lit place, like a studio or outside under the sun, without any shade protection.

If you don't have you should improvise one with a newspaper or cards.

The purposely designed ones are like "tunnels" through which you can see your image in full contrast. No way to avoid that shade.

[Charles King]

...The purposely designed ones are like "tunnels" through which you can see your image in full contrast. No way to avoid that shade.

Agree about the shade but using a tunnel shade is not practical when using a steadicam system, especially if you're gonna use it in Don Juan. I guess it would depend on how long the tunnel shade woud be.

[Carlos E. Martinez]

Agree about the shade but using a tunnel shade is not practical when using a steadicam system, especially if you're gonna use it in Don Juan. I guess it would depend on how long the tunnel shade woud be.

That's why Steadicam uses a very bright green screen on their systems. It's the only way to fight bright environments.

In any case, something like the Petrol shade, which is about 2" deep, should do the job. You can't take or shouldn't take a large screen on a steadicam anyway, so a fabric shade should do the job.

[Charles King]

Good point Carlos but remember lots of folks here do not have the cash for green screen monitor version. I personally would love to have the TB-6  As long as the shade is not too long than no problem.

[Carlos E. Martinez]

Good point Carlos but remember lots of folks here do not have the cash for green screen monitor version. I personally would love to have the TB-6  As long as the shade is not too long than no problem.

Neither do I have that cash or even the steadicam.

As I said, I am pretty sure a 2" deep four-sided shaded should do the job quite well, as you wouldn't be too cut-off from the screen when moving your head. What do you think?

[Charles King]

2" is not too bad but one situation where it might be a constriction is when you're doing Don Juan. Then again, most operators try to avoid the Don Juan position any ways.

[Carlos E. Martinez]

2" is not too bad but one situation where it might be a constriction is when you're doing Don Juan. Then again, most operators try to avoid the Don Juan position any ways.

Now, what is the Don Juan and the Don Juan position.

I always considered myself a Don Juan, as any Argentine or Brazilian should do 

[Charles King]

It's simply a term used to described the position in which the operator operates his steadicam. The operator faces forward as he walks and the camera or entire sled points to the rear.