NTSC Monitors

Hey all,

What kind of external NTSC monitors work the best by everyone's experience? I have a dual 2.5 G5 and need to view some of my work on the external monitors before spending the time exporting it...is this possible?

In the past, the easy answer would have been Sony's PVM line. But I don't know if they will sell you one today. If they do, they are still the best option. Make sure to choose one with 4:3/16:9 switchable aspect ratio, blue check, and component I/O. A 14" PVM with those features costs about $1200-1500, if available.

Both Sony and Panasonic are migrating to LCD technology, which is currerntly much more expensive and they don't even claim it to be better in terms of color fidelity, but "just as good" in the best case! Of course, they are usually HD capable and all.



Adolfo Rozenfeld
Buenos Aires - Argentina
www.adolforozenfeld.com

Sony gave us a weenie there. They stopped making the tubes for their PVM line which has been the mainstay of the commercial people. Our whole building runs on PVM 1954Q, PVM 20M and the 14 inch versions.

I don't know what we're going to do when they start to die. The LCD replacements are far too expensive and don't work as well.

Koz

Let's hope that by the time our PVM monitors die, LCD (or another technology) has progressed in terms of fidelity and price. Technology usually works that way, right?



Adolfo Rozenfeld
Buenos Aires - Argentina
www.adolforozenfeld.com

<<<Technology usually works that way, right?>>>

Technology does, but Sony doesn't. Sony tends to drive around everywhere inside a Sony Bubble oblivious to the outside world.

Koz

Well, if they slap the name "Trinitron" on one of those LCD's, I'd probably jump. But right now, I'm using a decade-old 14" Trini bottle and it's been great. It's the image anchor in the studio.

- Loren
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Do the LCD-type monitors give you that famous "jiggle" when parked on a video frame with motion. i.e., is it an interlaced display? In other words, if price weren't an object, would one of these take the place of a traditional NTSC monitor. What do you mean by "they don't work as well"?

Scott

<<<What do you mean by "they don't work as well"?>>>

We go around regularly and balance all the 'Fire Bottles" to match each other and our white point standard. You simply can't do that to a panel (that I know of).

In addition, there's the range / black level thing. You can get a tube to do an excellent black and white range and most panels aren't there yet.

Then, there's the speed. You really need to be able to see each television field in order to avoid flicker and other undesirable artifacts in the show. If somebody rang a bell and everybody went to panels at the same time, this wouldn't be a problem.

Remember, the object of a production monitor is to make the video look as bad as possible in order to catch errors before the client does. If your monitor hides errors, it's not helping you.

Koz

<< Then, there's the speed. You really need to be able to see each television field in order to avoid flicker and other undesirable artifacts in the show. If somebody rang a bell and everybody went to panels at the same time, this wouldn't be a problem.>>

I believe you are saying here that LCD panels won't show you the flicker and artifacts, but that wouldn't matter if every TV in the land were a flat panel. Did I get that right?

So a CRT is the only video output device that can show the flicker and other interlace artifacts?

Scott

I like my PVM-20M2 U. 19 inches is much nicer than a 14" if you can afford it. Try and get one with an SDI option.

Best,
Kevin Monahan
Author, "Motion Graphics and Effects in Final Cut Pro"
Last Chance to Sign Up for My FCP FX Seminar, coming to LA this Weekend!

<<<So a CRT is the only video output device that can show the flicker and other interlace artifacts?>>>

So far. They just don't go fast enough...yet. This is especially a problem if the panel has to adjust the scans of the incoming video. You have *no* idea what you have.

On the color of the panel thing, you can walk into an edit session with your iBook and cut stuff on Somebody's Panel with the G5 in there. If you put the same black and white picture up on both, they will be different. Who's right?

Right now, we can point to the Sony Fire Bottle in the corner and say, "That one." I know because I calibrated it with these hands about an hour ago.

Please understand we will be right there with our checkbooks when they get this straightened out, but until then, it's just throws more and more mud in the game.

Koz