CRT vs. LCD

[Larry McConkey]

I think it is worth noting that the time it takes for visual perception is directly related to how easy an image is to see. Especially brightness and resolution make a difference and this is not just an observation without substantiation.

 

I once shot a series of videos with the Rolling Stones on their Steel Wheels Tour using the "Priticken Effect" (spelling??) for 3-D. This method depends upon a never ending track from right to left or left to right. (For me this meant never stopping a circular track around one or more members of the band on stage throughout a song). The viewers then wear glasses that consist of a simple ND over one eye and nothing over the other eye. The eye that has the slightly darker image takes more time to perceive the images frame by frame and therefore experiences a delay. This means that one "eye" sees what the camera shot from a particular position on stage while the other "eye" is seeing what was shot from a preceding position on stage (having experienced a delay in the act of perception due to the darker image). This causes a 3-D effect if the track direction is correct for the placement of the ND filter. In fact, you can watch any tracking shot in the movies or on TV with this setup, and any time the speed and direction is appropriate you will see 3-D.

 

After this experience it became very evident to me that the easier it is to see an image on a Steadicam monitor, the faster I see it. It is much faster "seeing" with a bright, sharp, large image than the opposite. It makes sense that a better monitor WILL unavoidably make you a better operator simply because of the more immediate perception that is possible. Many, many other factors come into play so it can be difficult to distinguish what is affecting your operating, but I have no doubts about this aspect, which is one reason I take so much trouble to get the best possible image to operate from.

 

Larry

[SergeiFranklin]

I think OLED and other related technologies will be able to match CRT performance. They are not backlight. With the same type of filters/ coatings as a TB6 they should achieve the same performance with less weight.

Check out http://www.universaldisplay.com/ , http://www.ifire.com/

Sergei

[JamieSilverstein]

Jeff;

Need is a very subjective term. People who own more than one guitar will know what I mean. I need what is best for my operating. If I feel that the LCD that I use is what I need then so be it. Clearly Erwin, Alec, and Larry all need the TB-6. Do you need it? It seems to me that you have a fine and steady career going using your Transvideo..........

I like LCD's and I like the idea of the technology. Would I own a TB-6 if I were not so concerned about my childrens' educations? You bet your A#@. Would I own several of them? Why of course. The point is, is that my need is focused around the college funds of the kids not the TB-6. The disposability of LCD's (great ones can be had for around $3000) is a tremendous incentive for the support. If I can buy 3 for the price of one CRT and they all are really good, NOT great, mind you, then that is an incentive too.

Price, function, need, security, priority.......... How many guitars do you have?

[Peter Abraham]

Although I am currently using a fairly low-end monitor ( compared to my other rigs in my career, and compared to monitors used by our fellow ops ), I would offer yet another take on this.

 

I use a 7" LCD. It's a fairly decent image outside, wonderful inside. It does nicely in overcast light ( the single worst situation for an LCD that always is tipped up to the sky when in use ). It cost $ 375.00 at B&H, it's a DigiMedia. It far surpasses the image quality of the older 6" TransVideo monitors.

 

I used one like this on my Master Series Elite as well. There is amount of information, and quality of that amount of information. Here's what I mean. If you have a spectacular video tap and a Steadicam Model I on, the video tap's quality is meaningless. You're working with a tiny image. If you have an equally spectacular video tap and you have a TB-6, you have an extremely sharp image of reasonable size. Incredibly sharp.

 

If you have that same killer tap, and an immense LCD the type of which Tiffen is now marketing, you have a lot more eye/brain data to make use of, with a highly crisp sharp image. Is it the TB-6? It is not. Is it larger, color, crisp and detailed? It is. My point here is that if you accept the idea that you can make subtle choices in operating because your brain is given more data, step by step as you move through a shot, then the resolution issue rapidly fades away in importance.

 

I have only seen one system in my career where the elements were so perfectly matched, as to make the TB-6 the perfect monitor ( so I thought at the time ). Larry McConkey owns a 35mm camera with a VidiFlex tap built in. The unsurpassed resolution offered by this tap, plugged into the TB-6, creates a situation where you can see subtle shifts in focus even with wide lenses. It is remarkable. It is also, as far as I've ever heard, the ONLY system of its kind of the planet. And, Larry's using LCD some too now.

 

Since the rest of us cannot ever trust with absolute surety the clarity and sharpness of a video tap image, why obsess over that? Why not accept that the new generation of LCD's offers such an increased amount of data to the eyes and brain, that it's well worth the shift in resolution from a TB-6's image to the new LCD's.

 

I'm shooting jobs that are only video right now, and the 7" LCD I use offers me a lot to look at. I can work with greater care around the edges of the frame, where it matters a lot. When I put up my first Aaton XTR, or Aaton A-Minima, I will see how a film tap looks in this LCD. I have no doubt but that it will deliver a fine image for me to shoot by.

 

Peter Abraham, E.M.T.

[JamieSilverstein]

Jeff, I too am an LCD user. I have used them on pictures and live concert stuff and everything inbetween, so you are preaching to the choir. However in the realm of Steadicam and Camera operating, the line between need and want are not very clear. What one needs to successfully operate a shot is what one is comfortable with in a given situation. So if Erwin and countless others who use the TB-6 (The best monitor out there bar none) say that in order to perform to their best they NEED the TB-6, then that is what they need.

Would you question a DP who says that in order to get a certain shot we need to have a certain lens, when you know that you have another that is perfectly fine? I most certainly wouldn't, and I wouldn't question the needs of any craftsperson/artist when they feel that they need something to make the process work for them.

[dankneece]

I own both a TB-6 and a PRO II monitor. I have to say although they both are very fine monitors I prefer the PRO II. I don't own an lcd monitor, but if I were to buy it would be the Tiffen Ultrabrite. That big picture is the bee's knees and ,in the times I've flown it, the physical monitor size has never been a problem.

[TJ Williams]

Hi I'm TJ Williams an operator living in Seattle WA USA

I've recently signed a deal to sell the IMP Hummingbird monitor in the US

I have received my IMP Monitor and am testing it.

This looks to me like the real deal, Large screen, color, very bright.

lots of controls. under-scan, mono or color, menus to control screen, etc.

IMP is in process of building a more serious top end LCD Monitor.

 

I have a picture of the current LCD (enclosed) taken in full sunlight at midday (yes it does sometimes sunshine in Seattle!) The picture is taken well off the monitors axis with the monitor brightness set at 60 percent. The picture can be clearly seen all around the sun reflection in the middle of the monitor. The image quality is very comparable to my PRO CRT Monitor. Well technology changes who knows maybe next week a new and different technology will come out. I used to think it was the glasses, boy that didn't work!

 

Send me an e mail if you want more pictures or specs or other info. tjsteadicam@qwest.net.

 

Price list for the current monitor is $3500US Imp will be making a more expensive monitor with bubble and overlays in a more sober case for about 7K list.

 

Weakness of the current monitor include:

1. No bubble or overlays. Although they are available from several third parties.

2. Color washes out in very bright light like sunlight without a hood.

3. At high brightness setting there is quite a noticeable jagging on diagonal lines.

4. The style of the current case although rugged looks like it fell out of a bad SciFi movie. At least its not bright colored.

5. Inputs are 4 pin canon and BNC so your lemo connector etc will not work. You will need a cable with a breakout from your lower box.

6. Of course this is not widely adapted yet, and repair may take some time coming from the UK. I'm working with some local folks and starting to negotiate with IMP to see about in country repair.

 

Strengths INclude:

1. Bright and usable in all conditions without a hood

2. Color

3. Larger screen than the top of the line CRT Green screens

4. Lighter weight and more robust than the CRTs

 

TJ :D :D :rolleyes:

[Peter Abraham]

That big picture is the bee's knees and ,in the times I've flown it, the physical monitor size has never been a problem.

Ahh, Dan. You remind me of a shoot I did years ago, in Newark, New Jersey. We were shooting in a working police precinct stationhouse. We staged a "morning call", with officers seated around a long table. I carry in talent through the door ( iris pull...Heden motors...eh...), then the talent turns, and I head to farside of table, turn and track with talent, with the table between us in the lower part of the frame.

 

For reasons I cannot fathom, we had a few real Newark City police officers with us in the scene, in addition to extras in uniforms.

 

I had my Frankensled at the time, a Model II with single post, monitor hung OFF the front of the sled, Anton/Bauer in the back. I slam into a guy sitting there, dressed as a cop. I cut it too close, and was doing a sorta Don Juan as I moved.

 

I clocked the guy in the shoulder with the Model II monitor, but hard. The room goes oh so very quiet. I looked down and said, " Please tell me you're an actor?"

 

The guy looks up, rubs his shoulder and shakes his head no. :o Then, fortunately, bursts out laughing and told me I was the rare man to get a free shot at him! He stuck around for the rest of the work, and was a good egg about it.

an

Tough, to operate a Steadicam with a full diaper............

 

Peter "Fear Is Our Friend" Abraham, E.M.T.