Brian Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 Hi all, I really would like some advice from the group here. I am starting to do more second unit/splinter unit work in the union. I have some cheap SD monitors that have served me very well in commercials. We always have video to send me SD in comercials but now that I am doing second unit and Splinter units with the union, they never have a guy giving me a feed. They never broadcast either. I wonder what you guys are using. I have a budget to spend but I am tied between getting new monitors and carrying around coaxial cable, or getting down converters and running cat 5? Any experiences would be great. I am stressing please that we stick to the topic. Yes it's been discussed before so if you have nothing good to say, please refrain from saying it at all. Thanks in advance. B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPSharman Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 I use the cheap Haier monitors. When they broadcast, I have it. When they don't, I run a cable (I have a pretty thin snake with 3x BNC and one XLR). I always "confirm" with production that they will have downconverters. The hint of expectation usually tips any scale. I have yet to be on a union show without them. I do own a RedByte, but have only used it on "favor" jobs, where a downconverter wasn't included with camera. I don't need to watch HD, so I don't want to buy HD monitors or another downconverter and CAT5 system. I'd rather spend the money on sound gear. Dave Yaffe uses a cool fiber optic system. HD all the way. But quite an investment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted June 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 I find that some of the others mixers I visit on set have a bad signal when they broadcast. I would hate it. I have exisiting sd monitors that I love and are very compact. They actually are care monitors so they fold away very nicely. I might bite the bullet and get a redbyte or ask production to include a downconverter with the package. Either way I know cable can be a hasle but not getting picture or gettting fuzzy picture to me is out of the question. Thank you Robert. I always enjoy your feedback. B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 Not cheap, but covers all bases, SD, HDMI, SDI: http://www.trewaudio.com/store/Ruige-TLS701HD-Rackmounted-LCD-Monitor.html I bought a black magic converter so I can keep using my SD monitor and cover my butt. The price is much less than buying an HD monitor. It works well. I already had invested in my monitor and an Ethernet system. This way I can keep using what I've got and not be out a lot of dough. The Ethernet system Trew sells can carry 2 video signals, so you'd need 2 down converters, but one Ethernet system. A quick story, I boomed on a low budget horror film and they shot on the Alexa. There was no video assist. Saving money I guess. When the mixer asked about a down converter the DP said, "You should have one." He didn't care so long as he could see his image on the HD monitor. I also boomed on the series Nashville, and we had no video assist with the second unit. Also shot on Alexa I think. I don't recall what the mixer did, but he'd have needed his own down converter. Just some words of caution. I believe we are more memorable and therefore more hireable if we have tools to solve problems rather than being unprepared. Of course, as stated above, ask as many questions about a video assist and what will be at your disposal beforehand. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 " I believe we are more memorable and therefore more hireable if we have tools to solve problems " I pretty much agree, on proper productions, paying a proper kit rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted June 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 Am I looking at this? My video monitors have one yellow input on RCA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 " My video monitors have one yellow input on RCA. " is that the only color you want to see ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted June 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 Did you read the my initial post? Are you so lonely that you troll this site just to say you said something. Please don't post here unless you have a positive contribution to the thread. "Any experiences would be great. I am stressing please that we stick to the topic. Yes it's been discussed before so if you have nothing good to say, please refrain from saying it at all" Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minister Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 I believe he was making a joke. 1 yellow colored RCA input mean "Composite". And maybe you are looking at that. You'd need to send out the Y or NTSC/PAL output set to composite and get a BNC to RCA adapter. I use a cheapy Digital Prism 7" monitor with a "yellow" in. I had an AJA HD-->SD convertor that I no longer needed in the studio (when HD first came out, we only had one HD monitor and several SD's off of the same system.). It very rare that it is really used. Though, on one shoot, the Director and DP watched the monitor and Producer got to listen to my (good) audio and (crappy) picture. She liked that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Durfy Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 I use the Delvcam Dual SD Monitors. Only $269 and they have dual inputs, so I can route a third or fourth camera feed in and switch back and forth with a switch. It also has a loop out for both monitors so I can feed the light board operator on the show I'm on which gets me some bonus points with the Gaffer. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/660503-REG/Delvcam_DELV_RCLCD_DELV_RCLCD_Dual_7_Rack.html Update: It's only $227 at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Delvcam-DELV-RCLCD-Dual-Rackmount-Monitor/dp/B00A0G6O36 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 I got a used Marshall that takes HDSDI. The pic is great (and very bright in direct sunlight etc) but it takes some juice and needs SDI capable cabling. I dislike dealing with the cable so much that I often forget the monitor and work old-school, ie pre-video. I would vote for a used SDI monitor instead of a convertor--one less thing to power and have making stray RF on the cart. I got mine from a DP who wanted the latest and greatest and sold it cheap. philp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPSharman Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 If I use a downconverter, it lives on video village. The cable I use (CAT5 systems too) can't run HD down the line. Down-conversion needs to happen first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S Harber Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 I'd stay away from the Black Magic version as it has board mounted BNC connectors rather than chassis mounts like the AJA or Decimator downconverters. The Black Magic stuff is mostly designed for being used in an edit room and not plugged into several hundred times. I've used the Decimator for 3 solid years and they've held up well and were about 1/3 less than the AJA at the time. They've been wet, dirty, hot, tugged on and they're still doing what I bought them for so... and the guy who designed the RedByte Decimator is the same person who designed the Black Magic downconvertor so they probably don't differ too much. Scott Am I looking at this? My video monitors have one yellow input on RCA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Constantin Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 I use a Datavideo TLM170HM, which I bought used. I have a rack-based cart and this is a rack monitor. When stored it only takes up one rackspace and when folded out it's a bright 17" screen. It's got all sorts of inputs, but it's only hd-ready. So I bought myself a converter. When I ask the production to provide one they'll usually say "why does SOUND need VIDEO?". I bought the Blackmagic one, similar to the one in the picture above. So far it works without problems. It's velcroed pretty firmly inside my cart and I only seem to be needing it on RED shoots somehow. I also use it to convert the 2nd video to SD when there are 2 cams to view both feeds picture-in-picture on the monitor. I am really happy with this arrangement, although there is a considerable delay from the converter. As mentioned in another thread, the large screen tends to attract a crowd, but I don't mind too much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boomboom Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 '' 1 yellow colored RCA input mean "Composite". And maybe you are looking at that. You'd need to send out the Y or NTSC/PAL output set to composite and get a BNC to RCA adapter. '' Anybody using the AJA D4E converter for this purpose ? comments ? I got a mini TV with the ''yellow input'' and am in the same position as to OP as to what to choose for my work-in-progress-cart... If you got one: any idea of the barrel DC connector size that I'd need to make myself a power cable ? http://www.aja.com/e...s/d4e/#overview OTOH I've been thinking about the BlackMagic Design Smartview Duo that seems a not too bad bang for the buck... there must be somebody using that one ? Mainly curious about managing the monitors from a computer ? PITA or ''once set, set for the ride'' ? Can you just light one up to save on battery ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason A Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 I use the Smartview duo. Being limited to network/usb control hasn't been much of an issue for me since I don't need to dial in the pic settings for my purpose. I have it mounted in a shallow gator rack case and its survived 4 features so far. Cant just use one side of the monitor to save juice unfortunately. I'm usually close to mains though so it works out fine. I have a hawkwoods np1 (NPR-FR2) 12v regulated cup to run off battery if needed. '' 1 yellow colored RCA input mean "Composite". And maybe you are looking at that. You'd need to send out the Y or NTSC/PAL output set to composite and get a BNC to RCA adapter. '' Anybody using the AJA D4E converter for this purpose ? comments ? I got a mini TV with the ''yellow input'' and am in the same position as to OP as to what to choose for my work-in-progress-cart... If you got one: any idea of the barrel DC connector size that I'd need to make myself a power cable ? http://www.aja.com/e...s/d4e/#overview OTOH I've been thinking about the BlackMagic Design Smartview Duo that seems a not too bad bang for the buck... there must be somebody using that one ? Mainly curious about managing the monitors from a computer ? PITA or ''once set, set for the ride'' ? Can you just light one up to save on battery ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wandering Ear Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 I'm also using the smart view duo, and I love it. Almost all the movies I do, monitors are fed HD-sdi, and no other signals are available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkautzsch Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 I use the Smartview duo. (snip) I have a hawkwoods np1 (NPR-FR2) 12v regulated cup to run off battery if needed. If I may chime in with a detail question here: Do you have any experience with voltages lower than 12 volts? I'm in the market for a Duo too, but not sure about real-world power issues. Have some gear that states "12 V" but still works fine at, say, 10.9 V, would be nice if the Duo did that too. Official Duo specs state "12...18 V" iirc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth john Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 I use the smart view duo as well, still need an up converter if your on 35mm though. I saw these on a video assist rig, 4 screen HD & composite, looked very good: http://www.globalmediapro.com/dp/A25JX3/Osee-RMS-4342-SC-4-x-43-inch-LCD-Monitor/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wandering Ear Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 If I may chime in with a detail question here: Do you have any experience with voltages lower than 12 volts? I'm in the market for a Duo too, but not sure about real-world power issues. Have some gear that states "12 V" but still works fine at, say, 10.9 V, would be nice if the Duo did that too. Official Duo specs state "12...18 V" iirc. I've never tried mine on anything other than 12v. I run off of AC most of the time, and when I need to, I have a DC supply on my cart, the monitor port has a 12 volt regulator in line, so my voltage stays constant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted July 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 I got the smart view duo and wow. I like them a lot. I ran them of the wallwart because I had no time to get a cable made to power of my DC distro. Making changes to the cart so I'll see what happens when I start running them of of DC. Thanks for all the feedback, I really appreciate it. B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Blankenship Posted July 19, 2013 Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 My cart D.C. distro is at 15v and the SVD works fine. BTW, it's not Hi-Def only, it's SDI only, so a standard def SDI feed also works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prahlad Strickland Posted November 18, 2014 Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 Re: the Blackmagic Smartview Duo Is it correct they have inbuilt converters, as long as they are being fed SDI (either SD or HD) it will convert it fine at the tv end. What do you Smartview Duo users do on indie shoots where HDMI is up for offer, do you convert HDMI to SDI at the camera or video village side of things and then run HD SDI from there to the screen? What converter boxes have you found to work well when converting HDMI to SDI for the Smartview Duo? Is the decimator a good solution with the Smartview? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Constantin Posted November 18, 2014 Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 They don't have a converter built in, they display the SDI signal natively, both at SD and HD resolutions, but they won't convert from one to the other I have never had to convert from HDMI. I always have the converter at my cart (sdi to analog and digital to digital, both for my old monitor), because they are my own. I use the Blackmagic converters - "updowncross" and "SDI - Analog". They work really well, but do get very hot during the day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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