ON-SET MONITORS GE AR .
Compare this to a company like TVLogic, which promotes not only large displays for post-production, but also a field series in 5.5-inch, seven-inch and ten-inch sizes. For a while, TVLogic’s VFM series was the camera assistant’s best friend. Its effective replacement, the LCD- based F-5A, is brighter, at 500 nits. However, it lacks the contrast of an OLED. With 3G SDI and HDMI ports, the display supports 1080p images and useful colour spaces, including P3 and Rec. 2020. If we want a huge, 30-plus- inch reference display, TVLogic offers the 31-inch LUM-310X, which it describes as a ‘4K master monitor’, and for which CVP dare not state a price. Again, it’s an unlikely candidate for on-set work, although there is an interesting subtext. These high-end displays represent a limited market that doesn’t support a huge number of completely separate, ground-up design efforts. As such, we might deduce that the TVLogic LUM- 310X, Sony BVM-HX310 and the XM310K from Flanders Scientific, among others, have shared technological lineage. This is likely the case with numerous displays, although the electronics package can make a major difference to how any particular glass panel behaves. Finally, let’s look at the other end of the scale, that’s potentially a useful option for the cost-conscious, or even a backup for high-end. Portkeys’ diminutive PT5 appears to be a relatively straightforward five-inch, 500-nit monitor with an HD display – albeit supporting 4K input signals. What it lacks in SDI ports, being an HDMI-only device, it makes up
PRICE RANGE TVLogic’s F-5A 5.5-inch monitor (above) offers a bright option for £938, or see the F-7H (below) for £2019
“There have never, in the history of film and TV, been better options at lower prices”
for in features. It offers a huge raft of test and measurement displays, as well as 3D LUTs. None of this would be spectacular if it wasn’t for the rock-bottom price tag of £154. With regards to keeping ever more capable cameras in focus, it’s tricky. Certainly, five- or seven-inch displays will never be a practical way to view 4K images. Although, SmallHD’s Cine 13 seems likely to be popular with focus pullers. There’s a mismatch between the portability we demand, the capabilities of cameras, and the ability of humans to see detail on small objects – although manufacturers seem keen to push up against those barriers at almost every level. There have certainly never, in the history of film and TV, been better options at lower prices.
Seeing is not believing Research into how humans remember colours has often held bad news for fans of colour accuracy. The human brain literally can’t recall accurate colour references from one minute to the next. Our visual system is good at differentiating them when we see them simultaneously, but terrible at remembering what colour something was a few seconds ago. This has implications for monitoring. Most of the devices used as on-camera monitors for operators and ACs are not really intended to be precision- reference displays; they just need to be visible. Even so, when we stroll from the camera and look at a higher-quality display on a stand nearby, if it’s more than a few seconds away, problems arise. The colour reproduction would have to be different enough to really offend a piece of calibration software before even the most golden- eyed expert in the world would notice a change. None of this is a reason to eschew accuracy. We’d all prefer to be as near to ideal as possible. It’s clear, though, that the frailties of human perception have a huge impact.
53. OCTOBER 2021
Powered by FlippingBook