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664 LCD screen outdoors


Derek H

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I'm sure SD is looking into it. Their website boasted how the screen was great in direct sunlight.

My Nomad has been fine since the modification. The Nomad jabs by SD users were silly because SD didn't yet make something with a color screen, so none of them had experienced anything like it. The B&W screen in the 700 series are fine in sun, though you can't see the red "recording" backlight in the sun (which I find irritating). Compare a B&W kindle to an iPad out in the sun. The Kindle looks amazing on a sunny beach, but it's B&W and needs a backlight in dimmer locations. the iPad is hard to read and subject to glare, but it's a super high resolution color screen. 

Cameras and monitors have used hoods forever, so why would they even think twice about a sound mixer using one? I've done cart based jobs outdoors in the summer and had hoods on my 7" monitors. I used to have ones that a grip buddy made for me while he was bored with scrap corrugated black plastic board and gaf tape.  



I found the solution. Wireless monitor from mixer to sunglasses via SN-WiFi.

 

:DD

 

Google Glass? 

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I may not be getting what you mean, but as I read I doubt it's true. LCDs and LEDs are completely different technologies and one is not made up if the other. I should mention though, that I'm not a screen expert.

LCD screens do not emit light, they always need some kind of back lighting. This used to be CCFL lights but nowadays is usually LED.

A "LED TV" is actually just an LCD with LED back lighting and often has a poorer color temperature than CCFL... 

OLED or AMOLED on the other hand does emit light by itself.

 

Hm going slightly off topic here... 

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What a dissapointment. SD used to be the unique company that did everythying right. This is a sad day. I just got off the phone with SD tech support, asking about this issue... Now they sound like every other company out there - "we're looking into this issue". Yea, right... Thanks. We all should have gotten together and refused to buy the 664 untill they fixed the display. Too late now... Next time!!!

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I guess companies that innovate are no longer allowed to be "looking into it" anymore when it comes to these things.

We are an industry where we get to use devices that are the bleeding edge of technology... With that come the fact that we are sort of beta testers for new products because our niche market is so small. Look at zaxcom and how some of their product releases have gone. No one is boycotting them.

SD make solid usable equipment... Give them a chance to work out their bugs.

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Well, Steve, you are certainly entitled to your feelings of disappointment, but to declare that Sound Devices "used to be the unique company that did everything right" is patently ridiculous. I have been using gear from just about every company that has ever produced equipment for our industry for the last 43 years and I have never, ever found a company that has "done everything right".

 

This is a sad day for sure when you find yourself proposing a boycott of a product from any of the companies that have been major players in our world.

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We all should have gotten together and refused to buy the 664 untill they fixed the display. Too late now... Next time!!!

Every device we use has its problems, espiecially new ones. I am sure they are actually looking into it.

Maybe you should wait longer to buy newly released equipment, or stick with the tried-and-true. Personally, I will continue to use Soud Devices because I have been able to rely on ever recorder and mixer they have released in the past. The 664 is a great machine, and, while screen brightness is very important, one problem is not enough to stop me from buying a piece of equipment, let alone boycott an entire company. There is no perfect machine.

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There was a perfect machine (ok near perfect) it was called a Nagra 4STC. ;-). However never an early acquirer be. ;-)

Hardly.  I had endless trouble with them--firmware issues, strange OS, weird little TC control drawer that you couldn't use if you in a bag.  Those problems were why Harvey W did his IV-S mod--better in every way than the IV-S TC.  But you still had to reload every 30 min (or, if you rolled 15 ips, every 15 min).  I miss the little markup I got on 1/4" tape.....And way readable in all lighting conditions (loved the illuminated meter with the little mechanical shutters for the bulbs--so Nagra).

 

 

philp

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I just did a 2-day gig, run & gun bag based kit, for a NASCAR sponsor in garage & pits. SD664 - 2-lavs, 1-pit crew wireless radio feed & 1-boom. Recorded ISOs & fed 2-trk mix to RED EPIC via 2-senn G2 (thank you very little, RED, for using wonky pin assignments on your sound inputs, but at least they aren't expensive Lemo connectors). I mixed in grey overcast, bright overcast and bright sunlight.

 

I absolutely hold the 664 in very high regard. I have had it since January 2013. It is the best blend of convenience, versatility, reliability and performance I have ever experienced with a piece of production gear. It really is better, in my opinion and for multi-cam feeding, than their 788t. That being said, here it comes, the LCD screen brightness sucks (and not in a good way) when it comes to mixing in most body mounted configurations in daylight or bright overcast. I never have a problem when I’m cart based.

 

Please help us, SD (without shortening the life of the display by simply applying higher voltage to the backlight). Otherwise I'm going to have to adapt the hood off of my tektronix oscilloscope. That may get me laughed off the set.

 

I didn't know about the potential brightness gain if I turn off track names. I will give it a try when I get back in town.

 

Kent

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LCD screens do not emit light, they always need some kind of back lighting. This used to be CCFL lights but nowadays is usually LED.

A "LED TV" is actually just an LCD with LED back lighting and often has a poorer color temperature than CCFL... 

OLED or AMOLED on the other hand does emit light by itself.

 

Hm going slightly off topic here... 

Hi Michiel,

Transflective LCD screens work with a back light or illuminated by ambient light. The SMQv screen is an example. It is easy to see in full direct sunlight or utter darkness. The only drawback is transflectives aren't available in color.

Best Regards,

Larry Fisher

Lectrosonics

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Hi Michiel,

Transflective LCD screens work with a back light or illuminated by ambient light. The SMQv screen is an example. It is easy to see in full direct sunlight or utter darkness. The only drawback is transflectives aren't available in color.

Best Regards,

Larry Fisher

Lectrosonics

I really love the look of these screens. You guys pulled an Apple move where everything else looks outdated next to it. Well done!

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I really love the look of these screens. You guys pulled an Apple move where everything else looks outdated next to it. Well done!

With that said though, please don't design anything that looks like a coffee maker or trashcan please, thank you :)

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SD did put themselves out there a little with all the "visible in sunlight", which I took as a dig at the Nomad. Unless I am missing it, it looks like they removed that from the website.

I said it with the Nomad, color screens are lacking in sunlight. Sound Devices, and Zaxcom, made the decision that a color screen is worth the trouble. A B&W kindle looks amazing in full sun, but it's B&W....

There is a reason that the best monitors at video village have hoods or full tents around them. Nobody can make a sun-proof color display.

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So...this may be a stupid question, but could SD make a firmware update that gives you the option to turn your color screen black and white? As long as the meters alternated shades, it should be easy enough to mix in sunlight. On overcast days and working inside you could just use the color screen. Just a thought, but my knowledge of the subject is somewhat limited.

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So...this may be a stupid question, but could SD make a firmware update that gives you the option to turn your color screen black and white? As long as the meters alternated shades, it should be easy enough to mix in sunlight. On overcast days and working inside you could just use the color screen. Just a thought, but my knowledge of the subject is somewhat limited.

It's a shortcoming of the screen itself, not that it's color. They may be able to tweak the colors to help, but it won't look anything like the new Lectro SMQV, or a Kindle. That's probably why the 700 series SD recorders went with a B&W display in combination with high output LEDs. That said, I never thought the 788T was great in bright sunlight either. In the sun you can't see the screen turn red, and there are also glare issues with the protective covers. Ever since we moved away from analog needles they have been visibility issues working over the shoulder. I can only guess that there are a LOT of people working on this with the popularity of smartphones, seeing how this issue is a lot more widespread than our bag recorders.

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Just throwing this idea out there.

Why not inverse the colour scheme of the display to create a Direct Sunlight display option. Everything that is black on the display right now become whit and everything white become black.

My Garmin GPS does this automaticaly at night or im the mornin so it can be easier to see in the bright light of the day or dark of night.

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Just throwing this idea out there.

Why not inverse the colour scheme of the display to create a Direct Sunlight display option. Everything that is black on the display right now become whit and everything white become black.

My Garmin GPS does this automaticaly at night or im the mornin so it can be easier to see in the bright light of the day or dark of night.

It will still wash out in the sunlight as would your Garmin if you could keep it from flipping. If black washes out on white, white will wash out on black.

Best,

Larry F

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