Teletest Cyclops HD

[Phil Thomas]

Hi,

 

I've been looking at getting a new brighter and better resolution monitor for my Archer 1 than the one that came with it.

 

I've found the Teletest Cyclops HD which seem to be just the trick from the specs and cheaper than the transvideo ones. Apparently its a 1000nit screen that's been enhanced somehow to make it equivalent to 1200-1400 nits.

 

http://www.teletest.tv/3d-portable-lcd.aplos?type=category

 

Just wondering if anyone had used one on a Steadicam and if they are any good.

 

Not sure whether to get the SDI model or send the boat out to sea and get the HD-SDI model to make it work with REDs. Any body got any suggestions for down-converters that work on a rig and might be a cheaper option as the actual resolution of the LCD isn't HD.

 

Cheers

Phil

[James Davis]

Hi,

 

I've been looking at getting a new brighter and better resolution monitor for my Archer 1 than the one that came with it.

 

I've found the Teletest Cyclops HD which seem to be just the trick from the specs and cheaper than the transvideo ones. Apparently its a 1000nit screen that's been enhanced somehow to make it equivalent to 1200-1400 nits.

 

http://www.teletest.tv/3d-portable-lcd.aplos?type=category

 

Just wondering if anyone had used one on a Steadicam and if they are any good.

 

Not sure whether to get the SDI model or send the boat out to sea and get the HD-SDI model to make it work with REDs. Any body got any suggestions for down-converters that work on a rig and might be a cheaper option as the actual resolution of the LCD isn't HD.

 

Cheers

Phil

 

Hey Phil Redbyte Decimator works just great with the archer and most rigs, i've used one with mine no problem at all.

[Phil Thomas]

Hi,

 

Thanks James, I've decided to go for the HD-SDI version to avoid the need for external conversion. So it seems like no-one has used one of these monitors on their rig. Well I get it next Friday hopefully so I'll use it a bit and report back.

 

Phil

[Frank Schwaiger]

Hi Phil,

 

did you find out sth about the hd-sdi version of the monitor? could you compare brightness and the viewability of the screen to other models? just curious.

 

best,

 

frank

[Phil Thomas]

So.. I bought this monitor and have finally got it fully installed on the rig and all I can say is that it's excellent. Just been using it composite at the moment and the brightness and resolution/sharpness are a massive improvement over the stock one that was on my Archer. Can only expect it to be even better with HD-SDI and SD-SDI pumped in.

 

I took it out yesterday on possibly the sunniest day of the year so far here in Cardiff and could still see my picture even in direct sunlight. No matter what angle I placed myself compared to the sun I could always see my image.

 

Only two little things I can fault with it so far, viewing angle below straight on isn't great but viewing angle above straight on is very good and that's the angles I usually look at it, so that doesn't matter. Secondly, unlike the Transvideos that Tiffen sell/recommend it doesn't have an 8pin lemo connection for video/power/tally so I've had to have a breakout box made to split to a BNC and 4pin XLR and make my own tally light system which is a bit of faff but not that bad.

 

It also doesn't have frameline generator or artificial horizon for people who want that but does do picture flip for low mode.

 

If anyone wants any more info on this monitor, or how to make the tally system give me a shout.

 

Phil

[John E Fry]

Hi Phil,

 

So how is the monitor after a bit of use? Any further comments?

 

A suggestion made to me recently about the viewing angle: have you tried mounting the monitor upside down? I did this with the Master's Ultrabrite 2 & the difference when operating was really noticeable, especially when boomed or tilted down. Try it!

 

I'm seriously considering the Cyclops HD & should be going down to Teletest next week to have a look at one. Be great to use it on the EFP & Flyer LE.

 

Has having the HDSDI input made a big difference to you so far? Did you have to run another BNC through your rig for HD or did the existing line cope with the signal? It shouldn't, technically, but I guess it depends on how well the loom is shielded.

 

Due somewhat to living 20 minutes down the road from the factory, I've had Teletest monitors for years & occasionally used one on the EFP, but only indoors. If the Cyclops is up the their usual high standard of no frills, rugged & practical monitors it could turn into a Steadicam favourite, especially if the claimed 1500 nits brightness actually is that much brighter against other monitors in the same price bracket.

 

Image quality is of course a factor though, & not something the Teletests of old have been especially well known for. What's your thoughts on colour accuracy, sharpness & resolution against the stock Archer monitor?

 

Happy flying & thanks for alerting the board to the Cyclops!

[John E Fry]

Hi all,

 

Keen to see for myself, I went down to Teletest yesterday to take a good look at their Cyclops HD monitor.

 

Yes, it is BRIGHT! We took it outside & it was easily viewable on the overcast day, very well viewable at almost every angle. It is supposed to be 1500 cd/m or 1500 nits, or at least equivalent too, and it is certainly one of the brightest monitors I've seen.

 

However, the picture itself I have to say was pretty awful. There's a distinct colour shift, the contrast seems just too high which I couldn't adjust to claw back the details without underexposing the camera, and the sharpness & detail is really poor. The Teletest man had a TV Logic LVM-071W on hand to compare the brightness with, but I couldn't help noticing how different the pictures were too! I took my Flyer LE with me so took a few shots to compare the three monitors. All these were taken with an iPhone 4, and I haven't edited them at all except resizing. The full size originals are at the bottom of the post.

 

- TV Logic LVM-071W, Teletest Cyclops HD, & Flyer LE standard monitors

 

 

So, all in all I was disappointed with the Cyclops HD. It is definitely bright, one of the brightest I've seen, but to be honest if a director was looking over my shoulder he or she would complain that the picture was out of focus, and a DP would say the white balance was off. I'm looking for a bright monitor that I can use happily on Steadicam, but is good enough to pop on top of the camera too, and sadly, this just doesn't cut the mustard as a broadcast monitor. Its a shame because I've used Teletest screens for a long time & whilst they've never been the sharpest they have proved very useful, robust and reliable, but the colour, contrast and detail level of the Cyclops was even worse than my old OZL7000. If brightness was the only consideration, I might have bought one, in fact I was quite prepared to yesterday, but not with a picture that I genuinely have no hope of exposing OR focussing correctly with.

 

I'm ordering the Marshall V-LCD70XHB-3GSDI today!

 

More pics:

 

Unedited full size pictures: (copy & paste into address bar)

 

http://www.fryfilm.c...ogicEX3LCDs.jpg

http://www.fryfilm.c...stTVLogicUP.jpg

http://www.fryfilm.c...ogicCloseUp.jpg

http://www.fryfilm.c...testCloseUp.jpg

http://www.fryfilm.c...yerMonitors.jpg

http://www.fryfilm.c...erMonitors2.jpg

http://www.fryfilm.c.../EX3CloseUp.jpg

http://www.fryfilm.c...yerMonitors.jpg

[John E Fry]

More pics:

 

 

[John E Fry]

Teletest Cyclops HD TV Logic LVM-071W

Sony EX3 LCD

[chris bangma]

Even though this is listed as an "HD" monitor, it is still using a standard def LCD panel. Just one of the reasons why it compares so poorly to the others. If you truely want the brightest, highest resolution 7" monitor, then you get the Cinetronic.

[Phil Thomas]

John is correct about Colour and Contrast on this monitor, they are pretty far away from reality and the controls although rotary only work in quite massive steps and I would definitely not use this monitor as a reference for monitor for exposure or white balance. However I would say that for focus it's OK, not as good as some, then again not as expensive as some, but in my opinion you can tell whether something is in focus or not, and it is certainly a major improvement to the one that was on my Archer. I had an AF101 on my rig and used the monitor for focusing some shots, they came out alright. And hey when you've got the sun shining on a monitor you can't rely on it for colour balance or exposure anyway.

 

Yes, the panel resolution isn't HD, the HD refers to being able to input various forms of HD signal, if you buy that version. If I had already owned a Decimator or something like that before I bought this monitor I would have just bought the composite version. However it was cheaper to buy the HD-SDI version, than the composite version and a decimator. Having put HD-SDI and composite into the monitor now I would say that I can't really tell any difference in the picture quality, which kind of gives you an idea of the limitations in picture quality of the panel. I didn't A-B compare composite to HD-SDI but it didn't seem like a remarkable difference.

 

If you can afford it there are definitely better monitors out there, but if your on a budget and you need a bright monitor I'd say it's pretty good. Better than not being able to see what your framing up, as I had had previously when outdoors with the lower brightness monitors.

 

Best bet like with anything is do like John and if you can test one, see for yourself.

 

Phil