Torben Greve Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 I've read a few posts saying that even the new and nice 5.8" monitor that comes with the Pilot could have some challenges in regards to view-ability in daylight etc. So I was looking at the SmallHD DP6 as an option to replace the stock monitor. I has some nice options like peaking etc, that I could also use when going shouldermounted. However one post here stated that the screen had a bit too much glare for his taste. Has anyone else experienced this? I know that companies just want to sell their products, but SmallHD states that the DP6 should be fine even in daylight, so I'm at a loss. I can't afford a more expensive option than this. Would it be as easy as fitting it with a sunhood? If I could I would go see it in person, but noone carries it around my neighbourhood :S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torben Greve Posted June 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 I've read a few posts saying that even the new and nice 5.8" monitor that comes with the Pilot could have some challenges in regards to view-ability in daylight etc. So I was looking at the SmallHD DP6 as an option to replace the stock monitor. I has some nice options like peaking etc, that I could also use when going shouldermounted. However one post here stated that the screen had a bit too much glare for his taste. Has anyone else experienced this? I know that companies just want to sell their products, but SmallHD states that the DP6 should be fine even in daylight, so I'm at a loss. I can't afford a more expensive option than this. Would it be as easy as fitting it with a sunhood? If I could I would go see it in person, but noone carries it around my neighbourhood :S Sometimes it's best to just study and study and then study some more. I found a lot of answers here, including in the monitor shootout thread. I understand now that most lcds are too weak to work in the field. And with the luminance of 300 in the DP6 I guess this would make it very unusable in sunlight. I don't doubt that a lot of people find the DP6 a nice monitor (the glossy effect... same thing going on in Apple products). From the start I should have told myself that I could apply the same mythology to a monitor like this as I do for monitors I use for retouching, anti-glare is good :) I then noticed the V-LCD651STX-HDMI being mentioned in the monitor shootout, and decided to see what's it about. It's not that much more expensive than the DP6 and alone by the specs I like it a lot more. But thanks for letting me vent a bit here hehe... please do correct me if I'm walking too deep into the woods :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members John atkinson Posted June 24, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 I've read a few posts saying that even the new and nice 5.8" monitor that comes with the Pilot could have some challenges in regards to view-ability in daylight etc. So I was looking at the SmallHD DP6 as an option to replace the stock monitor. I has some nice options like peaking etc, that I could also use when going shouldermounted. However one post here stated that the screen had a bit too much glare for his taste. Has anyone else experienced this? I know that companies just want to sell their products, but SmallHD states that the DP6 should be fine even in daylight, so I'm at a loss. I can't afford a more expensive option than this. Would it be as easy as fitting it with a sunhood? If I could I would go see it in person, but noone carries it around my neighbourhood :S Sometimes it's best to just study and study and then study some more. I found a lot of answers here, including in the monitor shootout thread. I understand now that most lcds are too weak to work in the field. And with the luminance of 300 in the DP6 I guess this would make it very unusable in sunlight. I don't doubt that a lot of people find the DP6 a nice monitor (the glossy effect... same thing going on in Apple products). My friend uses a small HD for camera onboard. Not very bright, very small and not user friendly. He loves it though. From the start I should have told myself that I could apply the same mythology to a monitor like this as I do for monitors I use for retouching, anti-glare is good :) I then noticed the V-LCD651STX-HDMI being mentioned in the monitor shootout, and decided to see what's it about. It's not that much more expensive than the DP6 and alone by the specs I like it a lot more. But thanks for letting me vent a bit here hehe... please do correct me if I'm walking too deep into the woods :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted June 24, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 I own a DP6 and like it very much especially for DSLR shooting--but it is pretty rough outside as are any standard LCD's. I did a comparison on the DP6 against a Marshall 5" (non transflective), you can see that here. While I had some reservations at the time about the DP6, I ended up buying and liking it and definitely prefer it to my Marshall 7". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Eric Fletcher S.O.C. Posted June 24, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 Just a data Point but I do know that Cinetronic is bringing both a 5.5" and a 4.6" monitor to market very soon I would probably hold off on any purchases for the next few months until you can see what they have to offer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Afton Grant Posted June 24, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 Torben, Before you go out buying new monitors, have you even tried the stock Pilot one outside yet? Sure, it's not the brightest monitor on the block, but you might find it works for you. I've been to Haiti six times with my Pilot. That's pretty darn near the equator. Would a brighter monitor be better? Yep. Is it worth spending thousands of extra dollars? Not to me, it isn't. Especially considering an entire Pilot system comes in at under $5k. I fear this is a common trap a lot of newer ops fall into. They read or hear lots of more experienced guys talking about their thoughts on certain pieces of gear or techniques, etc. What isn't always obvious from those discussions are the thousands of hours those guys have spent working with the gear, from which comes criticism on a scale that many people would otherwise not even notice. Also, to many a veteran, function wins over price at all costs, and what a world it would be if we could all subscribe to that same mantra, but alas, we cannot. My point to all this is, try for yourself. That goes for anything. Use experienced advice as a guideline, knowledge. But always be sure to try to see for yourself what they're talking about since without that application, the knowledge is useless to you. The Pilot comes with a stock monitor. You can't buy one for slightly cheaper by requesting no monitor, so you might as well just use it and see if it's good enough for you. Best of luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torben Greve Posted June 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 You bring up a valid point of view which I hadnt thought about. I'll hold off the purchase and see how it goes. Thanks :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Mark Schlicher Posted June 25, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 The DP6, thought pricey, does have an excellent picture, DSLR-friendly auto-resizing, and a well-thought-out battery mount. It is very useful for non-Steadicam applications. I've seen it used a lot lately as a substitute for a studio viewfinder for everything from DSLRs to broadcast camcorders. The resolution and contrast are very nice, as is the weight and overall design. As for using outdoors, I would only add a little to what Afton and Charles said. Daylight viewability ad-speak and even specs tend to be meaningless. Nits, contrast, and coatings all make a big practical difference, and specs can be fudged or omitted, and routinely are by manufacturers. Everybody says their LCD's are "daylight viewable". On a cloudy day, or in the shade, just about any of them are. with direct sun beating down, for most of them, fuggedaboudit. So yeah, try it out. See how much problem you have in actual practice, given the kinds of shoots you plan to be doing. That said, the Flyer's humble 500nit coated LCD actually performs pretty well in many outdoor scenarios. I've not had any experience with the Pilot monitors so don't know how they compare. How many nits? Despite the other positives to the DP6, at 300 nits I don't think it will hold up very well in the most challenging outdoor conditions. On the brightness issue, possibly a step backwards from the stock Pilot monitor. The Marshall transflective is the only sub-$2000 monitor that performs well in direct sunlight. The Cinetronics is a beautiful piece of engineering that works brilliantly in sunlight. It is heavy (for a reason, the case is a big heat-sink.) If the smaller Cinetronics can be made lightweight enough to be practical on a Pilot, that will be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members chris bangma Posted June 25, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 We will soon have a monitor roughly the same size as the SmallHD. It will be using the same screen, and pretty much the same features. The difference is the brightness, we will have around 1200 nits VS their 300. Price point should be slightly under $2k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Mark Schlicher Posted June 25, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Great news. Will it be transflective? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torben Greve Posted June 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2011 Will it be lighter than the Cinetronic monitors on the website at the moment? 3.6 pounds sound like a lot :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Eric Fletcher S.O.C. Posted June 26, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 26, 2011 Will it be lighter than the Cinetronic monitors on the website at the moment? 3.6 pounds sound like a lot :o That weight is for the 6.5" and 7" Monitors which are replacements for the TB-6, they were not designed nor intended to be replacement monitors for the pilot. The 5.5" will be lighter since it's designed as a liteweight monitor that can be a Onboard monitor for the AC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members chris bangma Posted June 27, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Great news. Will it be transflective? The 5.6" will not be transflective. There are only a couple of companies that make LCD panels which are transflective. We might be able to convert the 5.6" panel to transflective, but will have to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torben Greve Posted June 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2011 I decided to go for the Marshall 6.5" with transflective.. visibility in daylight is a key factor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Eric Fletcher S.O.C. Posted June 30, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 30, 2011 I decided to go for the Marshall 6.5" with transflective.. visibility in daylight is a key factor. Just because a monitor is transreflective doesn't mean that it's the best in the sunlight. I would have waited to see the cinetronics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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