More News from NAB: Small Monitors Redefine Sharpness

For live productions, especially those that use a single camera, there’s a lack of high-resolution options for on-camera monitoring. HD video cameras have, for all intents and purposes, video monitors or LCD screens that don’t measure up in size or pixels per inch (PPI) to the resolution of the video capture. Why is this important? Turns out that, while size is the primary consideration when it comes to monitors, resolution is equally important.

Most video cameras use a small monitor that is lower in resolution than the camera sensor that is capturing video. This lower-resolution monitor throws away image information as it scales content down to fit the smaller monitor.

The actual image information isn’t lost, since it’s recorded on a tape or chip that can do full-resolution. It does, however, make it difficult to check for sharpness and potential blemishes in an image if the monitor isn’t a pixel-for-pixel match to the capture sensor.

Think about it this way: a camera that shoots 1080p content should have a pixel-for-pixel equivalent monitor. Yet most 1080p monitors are at least 24 inches in size, which isn’t practical for event videography, unless you’ve got an assistant who stands side-by-side during every shoot and holds the monitor.

As much as that option is appealing (the side-by-side assistant, not the 24″ monitor) there’s been little progress in HD monitors at a portable size small enough to accompany a camera.

At the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) 2010 show, a company called Small HD revealed what may be the first 720p pixel-for-pixel monitor that can mount on a camera’s hotshoe. This 5.6″ monitor, called the DP-SLR, has a 1280 x 800 resolution, more than enough for  the 1280 x 720 pixels needed for 720p review and capture.

Small HD says the unit is 10 ounces and has a pixel density of 270 pixels per inch (PPI) which is sharper than a desktop monitor.

The monitor itself, 4 inches high and 6 inches long, fits comfortably in the hand, and has an aluminum finish and black bezel akin to the Apple iPad. In fact, both the DP1 and the DP SLR are smaller than the iPad’s slightly larger monitor, but offer much higher resolutions for the size.

“I’m sure, you have never seen a monitor this sharp, this light and this tough,” a press release stated, adding “it has a dpi 2.5 times higher than the highest resolution Apple monitor.”

Small HD has some prior success with small(er) HD monitors. While the company has only been in existence less than a year, its original product was the DP1 – an 8.9” monitor—was the world’s smallest 720p HD monitor. “The DP1, an 8.9” 720p monitor, is currently the world’s smallest HD field monitor,” a company press release stated, before NAB began last Saturday. “That record will be smashed on April 12.”

The monitor comes with USB and HDMI connectors, so it can be connected to a laptop or monitor, although that’s not its intended purpose. This makes it an interesting choice as a potential “confidence monitor” for live event streaming, or just for field editing.

There are also component analog connectors, including RGB component, and a flexible DC input voltage rating of 5-18 volts.

Base price in this configuration is $899, with an additional two BNC connectors adding third-generation, high-definition serial digital interface (3G HD-SDI) for an $1,199 price.

The DP SLR is available for pre-order, with a suggested ship date of less than 75 days from the date a pre-order is placed. To avoid the need to send the unit in for firmware upgrading, which was required with the DP1, Small HD has also made the DP SLR field firmware upgradeable.

Tim Siglin (tims [at] braintrustdigital.com) is chairman of Braintrust Digital, a digital media production company specializing in training, corporate communication, government, historical preservation, documentary, and business marketing and development. He is a contributing editor to EventDV and Streaming Media.