[Richard Jones]

Hi,

Following the advice given in my previous posts about Firewire Splitters and Analogue/Digital Convertors (and I am very grateful for your help) I have now acquired a Canopus ADVC110 and am about ready to attach an external monitor to help me with my editing using Sony Vegas 6.

I know that a Broadcast Standard monitor is the ideal but the cost would be hard to justify given the amount of editing I do (basically family and holiday films) so I'm now looking for advice and recommendations about a suitable alternative monitor.

The size would need to be 17 inches or less and, given that the smaller LCD TV sets are now relatively cheap, I was thinking of using one of these. On the face of it this seems like a good idea as my DVDs are shown on an LCD set anyway but does this make sense? If so what attributes should I look for in the set and, equally important, is there anything I should avoid in the specifications?

If anyone can recommend a suitable make and model as well this would be appreciated. I am thinking of a budget of £150 or less but might be persuaded to go up to £200.

Very many thanks.

Richard Jones

[MarkE19]

My suggestion would be to get a bog standard CRT TV to use as an editing monitor - it is what I use.
The reason for the monitor is so you can see exactly what the footage will look like on a TV, and an LCD TV will give about the same results as a PC TFT monitor. The CRT TV will give a more accurate colour definition and better overall display of a composite or S-Video feed from the ADVC unit. An LCD screen will do a fair bit of digital processing on the picture to scale and deinterlace what it is receiving, CRT does none of this.

Mark.

[hopthepond]

You should easily be able to pick up a proper broadcast monitor for that sort of money on ebay,itll be an older one and well used and they tend to be big and heavy so a lot of people sell them cheap and request pickup only. Just keep an eye out for one near to you.

[mmace]

I use my HDTV with mine, I don't see the point of what MarkE19 says (no offence intended, just my opinion) as everyone I know has LCD or Plasma that I know and in a few years time there'll be very few people with CRT's.
Plus everything I do is in Hi-def so I need to see what it's like!

[Richard Jones]

Many thanks for your help.

The fact of the matter seems to be that 'bog standard' CRT TV sets are becoming increasingly hard to find - I looked around the stores in my town this morning and couldn't find one!

I'm wary about buying a used broadcast standard monitor via e-bay as it's likely to have been used professionally and may well be on its last legs or not be as responsive as it should be (and the screen might well be losing its accuiracy or responsiveness as well).

It thus seems that I'm more or less going to be forced to use an LCD (or plasma) set as an external monitor which brings me back to the question of what to look for and what to avoid in choosing such a set for this purpose.

Any ideas or warnings about the necessary specifications would be welcome as would any recommendations.

Many thanks,

Richard Jones

[senu]

If as you say your aspirations are modest,dont sweat the small stuff about this
Short of going for the cheap and not very cheerful Displays/ monitors, you wont go wrong with a decent name brand Display.( Samsung Sony Phillips ect)

I have both a 14 year old 14" Sony Trinitron Tv, and a 17" Superflat Sony CRT monitor.. both excellent.
Ironically also I have a 19" "HD ready" Samsung TV/Monitor in which is difficult to get the colours right! Goes to show .. all brands have friday afternoon models!

The argument in favour of an LCD is that it is most likely to be viewed of that otherwise a trip to your local Cash converters ect should get you a Bog standard CRT going for a song

[Andy Mack]

can i just ask, are you going to have a 2 monitor set up? 1 for doing all the fiddly bits on Vegas and the other as the preview monitor?

[Richard Jones]

Thanks to Senu and Andy Mack,

Senu - If I do go down the LCD route are there any specs to look for or avoid? Or will almost any off-the-shelf model be likely to be able to do the job?

Andy Mack - My intention is to use the external monitor as the preview, partly because it will be bigger and easier to see but more so that I can look at and try to correct any colour problems or see how an FX might be working. The computer screen itself would be used for the actual editing using the timeline, trimmer etc.

Regards,

Richard

[senu]

Originally Posted by Richard Jones

Senu - If I do go down the LCD route are there any specs to look for or avoid? Or will almost any off-the-shelf model be likely to be able to do the job?

Stay close to the brand names, Stick to your budget and get at least a 19"
With my 19" Samsung I find it is better as a TV display than a PC monitor.
I know there are those which do both with ease
There seems to be an emphasis on response time ( lower the better ) to avoid ghosting with fast moving objects and contrast ratio.
My gut instinct is that most recent LCDs are more than capable
I simply use a multi display setup with Vegas 7 , Extend the desktop and use the second monitor mainly for preview rather than use it as a dedicated monitor

[Andy Mack]

Originally Posted by Richard Jones

My intention is to use the external monitor as the preview, partly because it will be bigger and easier to see but more so that I can look at and try to correct any colour problems or see how an FX might be working. The computer screen itself would be used for the actual editing using the timeline, trimmer etc.

so how do you do that??? im really interested now! i wanted to this before but didnt really know if it was possible.

[senu]

Originally Posted by Andy Mack

so how do you do that??? im really interested now! i wanted to this before but didnt really know if it was possible.

If you look at the preview window in Vegas, there is a little icon that allows you to select preview on external monitor. (alt+shift+F4) to specify which monitor you want to use you select that under Options
Preferences: Preview device you can specify which you want to use
If like me you have a multidisplay setup you can choose the
secondary display
It can be a bit fiddly to set up but it really isnt hard

[Richard Jones]

Originally Posted by Andy Mack

so how do you do that??? im really interested now! i wanted to this before but didnt really know if it was possible.

I've not done it yet but know that you need an analogue/digital convertor (some but not many cameras can be used for this pass-through function - i.e. firewire in as well as out) and a firewire connection. Then I understand that you select Option/ExternalMonitor and then click the "External Preview" button just above the preview screen (i.e. you have effectively selected OHCI Compliant IE1394/DV as the preview device) and it should work if the TV is set to the right channel.

At any rate this is what the guidelines say and I only hope this is the way it will work when I attach my LCD set.

Regards,

Richard

[senu]

Originally Posted by Richard Jones

I've not done it yet but know that you need an analogue/digital convertor

Or even graphics card with TV out..
As I stated I just use my second monitor. This method also works for Avid Liquid even though it uses the video overlay property of the Graphics card feeding a second monitor rather than any external output device.
I do have the "Pro" breakoutbox for Avid Liquid 7 (USB2) which outputs anything ( component, DV, composite ,S video , even DD 5.1 audio) but I dont always hook it up to the PC. It works with Vegas via the firewire

At any rate this is what the guidelines say and I only hope this is the way it will work when I attach my LCD set.

I imagine it should TBH

[Andy Mack]

Originally Posted by senu

Or even graphics card with TV out..

can you not get graphics cards with 2 bits for monitors? am i making that up? would that work?

[MarkE19]

Yes, I've been using a duel headed graphics card for about 7 years.
The card in my new PC also has duel head capabilities along with TV out (Component, S-Video & composite (and HDMI via one of the DVI ports)). The TV output though would be the correct resolution and colour space for standard TV, and by default be full screen video. VGA or DVI output would be set for PC display and would need to be configured as a video only display.

Mark.

[senu]

Originally Posted by Andy Mack

can you not get graphics cards with 2 bits for monitors? am i making that up? would that work?

You can, and most do now ( called dual head) .that is what Ive been trying to explain that I use in a multi monitor setup

It hard to explain the difference but the point though is that in using that, you would be extending your desktop in windows and then Using the graphics cards video overlay to produce a second Full screen Preview monitor. You can control output( resolution, colour, contrast, gamma ect) to the monitors independently
In fact I use it to watch video clips on the PC in full screen whilst retaining use of the main monitor
The Use of a "TV out" or an external box is to use a "TV" or LCD being used as a "monitor".


Im at work , I link a picture when i get home.
The

[Andy Mack]

Originally Posted by senu

You can, and most do now ( called dual head) .that is what Ive been trying to explain that I use in a multi monitor setup

any recommendations for one then? I think my video card is a bit roapy at best. My whole PC is a bit of a shanner now to be honest but still does the job.

[senu]

Originally Posted by Andy Mack

any recommendations for one then? I think my video card is a bit roapy at best. My whole PC is a bit of a shanner now to be honest but still does the job.

Graphics card. or monitor?

My only advice would be to spend wisely .You will Im sure eventually move on to a better PC so upgrading wisely ( watch the pennies) is to be recommended. With a monitor you can certainly use it with the new PC and save a bit but if it comes as a package you'll have a 3rd spare monitor on your hands
For monitors I favour the larger the better especially as they are now very affordable. 19" of any brand name ( not generics from QC rejects..) should be OK. Word like "high resolution Mulitisynch" suggest better output

The affordability of gamers cards has pushed down the cost of decent cards for the rest of us. The main players are ATI and NVIDIA and most recent offerings from them (or based on thier technology) will be fine
I recently had to use an (older agp) ATI radeon X1650 pro (mediocre by gamer standards) with 256Mb of ram (HDTV disp-lay support capable) for £70 in order to play "virtual" HD DVD discs on my system

[Andy Mack]

i'll tell you what i have an then you can tell me how rubbish it is and how i should just buy a whole new system.

Windows XP SP2
AMD 2000
1.25GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce2 MX/MX 400
SoundBlaster 24bit
Maxtor 120 GIG HD
Seagates Baracuda 200GIG HD
LG DVDRAM
Sony CD-RW
NEC OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Controller
and a Videal 14 inch monitor(its on its last legs)

I will need to buy a new monitor soon so could use the 1 i have as a the preview monitor(i dont need defined colours so much as being able to look at the video to see when to start and stop things.