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The Great Transmitter Debacle 2011


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So it's time to start organizing the HD transmitter shootout for reals.

 

Let's assume that the goal is to limit this to transmitters that are within a price range that an operator might actually own (so no $25K systems).

 

Current lineup to include:

 

Boxx Meridian

Transvideo Titan HD

IDX Camwave

 

If there are any ready-for-market cheapo HDMI type solutions out there, we can look at that too, however I think it appropriate to limit this to devices that can transmit without any visible latency.

 

We'll do an interior test in an RF rich environment with plenty of walls (Pana Woodland Hills, for instance), a city exterior and maybe a remote/rural exterior. It would be great to put all of the transmitters on the same rig and send it off then watch to see which drops out and how, but I imagine there could be interference issues with each other, so I think we'll have to shoot the same course one at a time and use references to figure out where the dropouts occur relative to each other.

 

While we are at it, and since we'll do exterior stuff, let's also compare a few daylight-viewable monitors...I'm thinking Nebtek, latest Marshall offering, Cinetronic and a TB6 for reference.

 

I'll work on particulars and attempt to schedule a date, probably a Saturday. In the meantime, please post thoughts, suggestions etc. for consideration. Any other transmitters? Any specific tests?

 

Jens, I'll bet you can bring your Camwave--I have a Meridian--does ANYONE in LA have a Transvideo? and can anyone furnish an answer as to why we haven't seen one here yet (c'mon Chris Fawcett, you are the poster boy...spill the beans!)

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interesting thought.

 

While no-one will be excluded from attending, this one will be better accomdodated in an intimate fashion--imagine 40 guys all trying to watch a monitor at once...anyone have a daylight viewable 42" screen?

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Please can we include the Terradek cube within this test, would love to see how it holds up, I just took delivery of a camwave which I have had good experiences with in the past, so not getting another set-up right now.

However the whole 4G/livestream functionality in the terradek cube units could present some interesting functionality/capabilities especially considering the price range they are available within.

 

Cheers

 

James

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post-79-0-49372500-1304277877_thumb.jpg

So it's time to start organizing the HD transmitter shootout for reals.

 

Let's assume that the goal is to limit this to transmitters that are within a price range that an operator might actually own (so no $25K systems).

 

Current lineup to include:

 

Boxx Meridian

Transvideo Titan HD

IDX Camwave

 

If there are any ready-for-market cheapo HDMI type solutions out there, we can look at that too, however I think it appropriate to limit this to devices that can transmit without any visible latency.

 

We'll do an interior test in an RF rich environment with plenty of walls (Pana Woodland Hills, for instance), a city exterior and maybe a remote/rural exterior. It would be great to put all of the transmitters on the same rig and send it off then watch to see which drops out and how, but I imagine there could be interference issues with each other, so I think we'll have to shoot the same course one at a time and use references to figure out where the dropouts occur relative to each other.

 

While we are at it, and since we'll do exterior stuff, let's also compare a few daylight-viewable monitors...I'm thinking Nebtek, latest Marshall offering, Cinetronic and a TB6 for reference.

 

I'll work on particulars and attempt to schedule a date, probably a Saturday. In the meantime, please post thoughts, suggestions etc. for consideration. Any other transmitters? Any specific tests?

 

Jens, I'll bet you can bring your Camwave--I have a Meridian--does ANYONE in LA have a Transvideo? and can anyone furnish an answer as to why we haven't seen one here yet (c'mon Chris Fawcett, you are the poster boy...spill the beans!)

 

 

 

I'm in.

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A stabilizer expo is in the works for this year.

 

 

J-Labs has an $8k transmitter they were advertising at NAB 2011.

Maybe Boxx can provide a Meridian and an Atom for comparison?

 

If I have some future success with my wireless system, I'd love to show off what a few hundred bucks and an overzealous soldering iron can achieve. I know I'm not alone in the "consumer product gone bad" market.

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Some other thoughts:

 

- Two monitors per system in each environment: tethered and transmitter (simultaneously) so we can see latency.

- mounting at camera and mounting at battery options.

- testing for range, image stability, image quality, weight, cost, power consumption, powering options, latency, components replacement cost, customer service experiences.

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I think this is a great test of the transmitters and monitors; I'm down for it and will help especially if it is tied into CineGear week / weekend.

 

For the last month I've been inches away from pulling the trigger on a Boxx or CamWave. The last time I saw a Transvideo HD system up close was two NABs ago.

 

Robert

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I think there should be at least a few categories...

 

 

1. Pocket crunchers (ProSumer) <$1K

2. Indie $1K - $5K

3. Pro $5K - $10K

4. Network $10K+

 

That way, its fare to us and the manufactures that are being compared to each other... lets face it, each level has certain expectations and tolerances.

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ugh...that's a boatload of work to get all of those pieces of gear wrangled and do the same test that many times. Let's not go with category 4, and let's combine 1 and 2 as I think they are all sort of that way anyway (Teradek/Briteview) etc. Essentially, H264 products and uncompressed products.

 

Let's assemble a team on this. Who wants to help?

 

The only regret I had about the monitor shootout was that there were no pictures to post after the fact for people who couldn't be there. But that was due to the fact that the photographer who did the work turned out to be a complete flake and never got back to me after a certain point (she had already done the hard work, taking the pix--have no clue what happened there). So this will be rectified.

 

In case you were wondering what the "debacle" part of this will be--let's just say that I have designs on this particular outing being anything other than scholarly. The only way to ensure proper results will be for us all to drink heavily throughout the day.

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