Another Which System Question

Hi all,

I know this is a well worn question, but I thought I'd ask it anyway since technology contines to change -- We're finally making the big jump from SD (Cinewave RT System) to HD and we're trying to sort out what the ideal Mac system set up would be, so I was curious if anyone had any suggestions?

From what I've seen searching on the forums, it looks like the Kona LHe or Kona 3 are the preferred capture cards these days - is that true?

What we're looking for is a system that can handle ingesting DVC PRO HD or Sony XDCAM and then be able to output to HDCAM or possibly HDCAM SR, the later of which is mainly due to the 12 channels of audio. Does the 8 channel emedded audio in either of the KONA cards really work?

The few vendors I've spoken to seem to think that the only Mac that's worth considering is the 3 Ghz version, other than say compressing QT files, is there any real world benefit to this as opposed to a 2.66 Ghz Mac?

Finally, I've seen quite a bit written about the Panasonic BT-LH2600W LCD Video Monitor, is this a viable solution for an HD production monitor or are we better served to go the CRT route?

Thanks in advance,
Dylan

<<<BT-LH2600W>>>

We have an LH1700WP. We keep it where nobody is ever likely to see it. It has blacks at least three f-stops too bright and contrast range way short of anything useful. I don't care what the specs say, the refresh isn't going fast enough to show you flicker in any frame rate we tried. This video:

[www.kozco.com]

...plays as a blurry smear and the two field ID numbers both appear at the same time and don't flicker like they should. This video was built to have perfectly smooth, clear rotation in interlaced NTSC on a glass monitor and the two ID numbers were designed to flicker badly.

The monitor's one attribute--besides size--is that it will play almost anything from NTSC on up, so it tends to get used as a testing tool more than a quality control device.

Koz

Appreciate the info - any other HD Production Monitor recommendations?

<<<Appreciate the info - any other HD Production Monitor recommendations?>>>

No. That's the problem. The only way to see the color quality, brightness values, and flicker is a glass montor. The only way to see the sharpness and clarity is a large flat panel.

They don't cross...yet.

Here's a thing we did earlier:

[www.lafcpug.org]

I'm hoping to goodness the SED panels come up to steam fairly quickly.

Koz

That's not exactly true. We took delivery of a Christie theatrical video projector. It's stunning and can be tuned for any of a number of different colorspaces and brightness values. It uses custom DLP chipsets tuned and manufactured to all but eliminate the bounce light and flare problem. Early this week, we installed the lightpath flare suppression tool. You can set this up next to the 35mm film projector and the only difference is the film has picture weave due to sprocket hole misalignment.

The Christie was more than $3,000.

Koz

Hey Koz
What are the approximate running costs of something like the Christie? (model #?)
What does a bulb cost and how long do they last?
$3000, even of your american dollars, isn't too bad for what you describe.
Of course it could be a typo and for $30,000 you'd want someone to make the popcorn for you as well.
What projection length are you going to be using?

ak
Sleeplings, AWAKE!

The Christie 2K, you talking about? Hell the lens alone is a lot more than 3K


The bulbs I believe are about 2K each. Least they were 2 years ago. Thats the big problem with digital projection. Prices are coming down big time but they still dont come close to price of 35mm projectors. Plus, something new and great comes out every 6 months.

Michael Horton
-------------------

I didn't say it cost $3000. I said it cost over $3000. Way over. I think the delivery price was $200,000, but I can check.

Koz

<<<but I can check. >>>

I checked. Ours came in the door for $110K. Maybe they got a good deal on eBay.

What's scary about all this is the Christie may be the only place in the building to judge real HiDef. We have a couple of nice projectors, but I don't think they have the black problem licked and all the others are either sucky flat panels, refresh challenged computer monitors, or excellent but small glass monitors.

Come on SED monitors!

Koz