chris bangma

The price for the monitor is $4800. The yoke and mounting options will be supplied by Skipps Engineering. I believe the new mount fits Pro, XCS and MK-V.

The Screen has been flipped 180 internally, to provide the operator with the best viewing angle. The viewing angle from the top is 60 degrees, from bottom and both sides is 80 degrees. This allows the screen to be easily seen when tabled, even at fairly extreme tilt angles. The 7" screen has an 80 degree viewing angle all the way around.

I wish to thank everyone for the glowing reviews. At the moment, we understand that the housing is a bit bigger and heavier than we would like it to be. This is due to the controller we are using. We have decided to invest in our own custom controller, which will allow us to offer many more features, and cut the size of the controller dramatically. The new controller will be smaller than the screen itself, and much thinner than the housing you see currently. Anyone who purchases the monitor now, will be able to upgrade to the new controller and housing when it is finished. We anticipate showing the new controller and screen at Cinegear. We will also have a 7" widescreen available for demo in 1-2 weeks. The 7" will be the same brightness, but with slightly better contrast, and 85 degree viewing from all angles. Here are the planned features of the new controller: -3G Hd-SDI -Image Flip and rotate -Adjustable Framelines -Focus Peaking -False color -On screen level -6-36 volt power input

All in good time. Just trying to make sure everything is in place. We will have info up on the website this weekend, and the operators will step forward shortly. We will also be building up another demo unit for those who want to give it a try for a few days.

The monitor has come along well. We currently have several operators using the monitor on a daily basis, with great results. We are ramping up production, so they will be readily available. The monitor with be on one of the steadicam rigs at NAB.

Just to update everyone, the testing of the monitor is going well. Everyone that has seen it has been extremely impressed. We sent the monitor out this week with Jerome Fauci, and he was overjoyed with it. He said that in a way it is too good, since the director insisted in looking over his shoulder all the time, since the steadicam had the best picture. If other operators in the Los Angeles area would like to test the monitor, please let me know, and we can make one available for you to test.

The monitor has a zoom function, so you can zoom both in horizontal and vertical, and reposition.

I also attended the monitor shootout, and wasnt happy with many of the monitors I saw there as well. This gave me the determination to try to come up with something better. Some of the monitors seemed flimsy in their build quality, some were just plain ugly, and too many had fans or holes to let dirt into them. The monitor housing that we are building is machined from solid blocks of aluminum. I know this will scare everyone away thinking it will be too heavy, but we should be able to keep the weight down to 4 pounds, or maybe a little less. The monitor will also be sealed with o-rings, to keep the dust and dirt out of the monitor.

We are still working the price out. Once we settle down, and see what everyone wants, we can figure out what the total price would be. We will be testing both the 7" and 6.5" with a few operators in town, and see what their responses are.

The 6.5" that we will be working with is a transflective display, that we will boost to 1600-2000 nits. This should offer the best of both worlds. This is essentially the same screen as the hummingbird, but a newer higher resolution version that has a high brightness backlight added as well.

The on screen level would work in any video mode, so SD composite, HD-SDI, or whatever you happen to feed into it.

Afer 10 years of steadicam assisting, I think I have a pretty good idea... I primarily only worked with film though, so I dont know what some of the video operators are looking for. The main questions have to do with the weight etc. After speaking to Jimmy Muro, he commented that if its too light, it can be a bit difficult since the rig gets longer to balance out the heavier cameras. We are trying to figure out what someone would consider the ideal weight for a montitor, so both the video and "Film" guys are happy. We have already taken care of the basics, like passive cooling, and a sealed design. This will prevent any water or dust from entering the monitor. The top is completely sealed, with o-rings, so operation in light rain, should not pose any problems. A post mounted digital level will be next. This could be integrated either two ways. It could either be an LED array across the bottom of the monitor, or an onscreen bar that would move. I think we could provide a higher resolution for the level by using an led array, similar to what was one the Preston hand unit 2. Also what adjustments would people like to the digital level? Would you want it to always be absolute, or would you like to be able to offset it? I could also integrate a sensitivity adjustment, so you could adjust how quickly the level responds. Let me know what you think.. At the moment we are targeting for around 4lbs for the monitor, which should put is about a pound below the TB-6. We will have samples available in a couple weeks for operators to borrow and test, and offer their feedback.

I am currently in the process of building a HD lcd monitor for steadicam. So far, the specs are as follows: 6.5" 4:3 screen, or 7" widescreen Composite and HD-SDI inputs Passively cooled, no fans or openings 2000 nits brightness. Please let me know what features your would be interested in, or any suggestions you might have. I am working on integrating a digital level, and framelines as well.