i’m interested to know how you guys explain to a non-video boss that the cost of replacing a 24" broadcast monitor is so vastly more expensive than just using a big tv.?
In my heart i can understand the reasons for having a dedicated screen, but what justifications can i use to convince people who struggle to see the difference - after all, what i do will end up on the big tv’s, so why not just use a big tv?
and on a further note - which broadcast monitors are people prefering these days?
I have a JVC DT-V24G1, which has been great for the past 6 years, but i feel like it is time to start looking to replace it…I’m just not sure with what.
In short - color accuracy. No matter how would you try to calibrate it. And if you produce some kind of materials where color is important - TVs would not fill your needs. They work fine for a client monitoring though.
Showstopper for me would be “automatic picture enhance feaures” like dynamic contrast or auto brightness. Every TV manufacturer has them, and 99% of a time you cant turn it off completely. Also most TVs have not so great uniformity across the screen. It`s a consumer device after all, what else to expect.
As for budget - if 24 inch is big enough for you, look at Eizo CG2420 paired with some kind of lutbox (like BMD sdi-hdmi converter 6G mini converter). Color wise it would work better than modern broadcast monitor from Sony, JVC or Panasonic when calibrated.
Almost, you will use SDI output from your ultrastudio, then feed signal to lutbox, then HDMI from lutbox will go to monitor. Lut box will apply calibration lut to your signal.
Compared to real broadcast monitor you will loose some features like scopes, audio levels, timecode display, which is not a big deal (well, at list for me, of course your situation may very).
Or, and is that there is no 4k support (only downscale) and no HDR.
A calibrated monitor is the center of the color universe from which all other monitors/TV’s diverge. It is as close to the “truth” as we can get.
I’m not saying that argument work with the people cutting checks for monitors.
Maybe stage a color crisis where you need to be able to say “WE GOT THE COLOR RIGHT, HERE IS OUR CALIBRATED MONITOR” to the clients. Depends on what kind of company you are at, I suppose.
Thanks Andy…They’re pretty good. Tend to get what i ask for as long as i can come up with reasonable sounding justifications. I just want to be able to give some solid answers to the questions I know will be asked.
I’m going to disagree with a few people on this one.
I’m using a 55” LG OLED for my broadcast monitor now. And I would happily use the 48” size too.
I had a Sony PVM OLED (HD SDR only) that I was usin for SDR jobs and the LG for HDR but in the end, I compared the two and I could not tell the calibration apart (nor could a couple of colourists) on SDR, we got it that close. We also have compared it in both HDR & SDR to our Sony BVM X300 and apart from the 600nit luminance peak of the LG, there was no majorly discernible difference. You do get the added benefit of a big screen seeing the smaller issues on comps too. I see no need, unless you are grading entirely in that system, to buy a pro monitor over a quality consumer OLED for a finishing suite. The caveat being you have someone calibrating the consumer OLED who can get it close.
To me another important factor is “what are your clients used to seeing?”, so there’s value to having “the same as every other facility in town”. In LA these days that could mean an LG OLED client monitor (typically the “C” series), and if you can afford it and the type of work you are doing demands it, you can’t really go wrong with a Sony BVM-X300 (no longer available) or BVM-HX310, but that’s big money unfortunately.
thanks for all the replies…
i’m in a slightly unusual position, in that I work for a large toy manufacturer and all our tvc production has been in-house for the past 15yrs. The client is the marketing dept, of which i’m one, and its very rare anyone ever sits in the edit room to view commercials. They are all happy to watch back on laptops and ipads.
HDR is something we have no requirements for, and i don’t foresee that changing anytime soon.
The choice of monitor isn’t going to win or lose a job, or cause a client to go elsewhere…its really just for my peace of mind that what i am working on and exporting is accurate.
I just did a search on the Sony BVM HX310 - holy shit!!! i cannot imagine how anyone can justify that kind of expenditure for a 31" screen. My first house cost less than that.
I second Randy’s comment. It’s all about confidence in your work.
A non-video boss will understand money. Illustrating the revenue earned or revenue lost because you did or didn’t have a proper display will be easier to explain than talking about “color accuracy” or “4k HDR”.
@AdamArcher I know of a reputable commercial post house in Toronto that is doing just as you. They are using OLED panels exclusively for both finishing and grading in their suites. Client has a 65" and artist has a 55". They rotate panels out on a weekly basis for calibration. It works for them as they have something like 20 panels and somebody doing calibration constantly.
We don’t have a need to calibrate anywhere near that weekly frequency. The LGs have been keeping their calibration really well. No worse than the PVM OLED I had previously been using.
LG has announced (and should hopefully release soon) OLED monitors (not TVs) in 27" and 32" sizes. Will be interesting to see how good they are, and how closely they could match the TVs (the OLED panel is from a different vendor).
Its the only 27-32" UHD panels I know of that are worth a damn ( I am a display snob I know)
I dislike the eizos (once you used a oled for some time you will know why… blacklevels mehhh).
The 25" OLEDs are just leftover stock (sony A250/ BVM-E250).
I really wanted something better than my A250 , that is UHD and a bit larger so thats why I ordered the LG 32". HDR is nothing to write home about though with the LG.
The A250 should still be on your list if you can find a deal , The LG one is untested as its brand new but its possibly very very good indeed(and half the price of the Sony)…
The new sony X1800/X2400 are the worst monitors I have ever seen. I had the x2400 for testing and it just completely sucked FYI.
JOLED are manufacturing these panels. Fully expect the likes of Flanders et al to eventually incorporate these into a broadcast spec version. There’s a big gap between top of the line HD panels and current 4k panels, JOLED’s panels fill the gap nicely.