will HD footage play out to SD monitor?
by Vanessa McDonnell
on
Jul 2, 2009 at 8:23:13 pm
Greetings,
I am editing 720p HD footage (23.98 fps, 960 x 720) in final cut pro. I want to buy an SD external video monitor (because the HD monitors are cost prohibitive for me). I'm wondering if I'll be able to view the HD footage on it though. If I simply hook up the monitor and change my final cut settings to play out to an external video monitor, will my HD footage be automatically downgraded to SD in real time? Or would I take some extra step such as buying some kind of card or creating a duplicate NTSC timeline and viewing that? This is an example of the kind of monitor I would be buying:
Re: will HD footage play out to SD monitor? by Kevin Monahan on Jul 3, 2009 at 1:24:50 am
You'd need a video card to accomplish that. Color grading in SD for HD projects is only slightly better than flying blind. Better to save the money, then just buy an HD monitor.
Re: will HD footage play out to SD monitor? by Chris Poisson on Jul 3, 2009 at 1:24:54 am
Vanessa,
You would need to do the downconvert to an NTSC timeline in order to play in realtime via Firewire to this monitor. Or you would need a Kona or Decklink or somesuch card.
Re: will HD footage play out to SD monitor? by walter biscardi on Jul 3, 2009 at 1:55:22 am
I think you're throwing away $500 for that monitor. Go to your local electronics store and pick up a 42" Panasonic Plasma screen or order one online. The Pro model is about $900 or so. Full HD and the image will be about 10x better than that monitor you've linked in your post.
Regardless of whether you go SD or HD, you need a video card or external video device to get your signal to the monitor. Look at AJA and Matrox products.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author.
Credits include multiple Emmy, Telly, Aurora and Peabody Awards. Biscardi Creative Media
Creative Cow Forum Host:
Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple Motion, Apple Color, AJA Kona, Business & Marketing, Maxx Digital.
Re: will HD footage play out to SD monitor? by Arnie Schlissel on Jul 3, 2009 at 3:17:32 am
It's 2009. IMO, buying any piece of gear that's only SD is a waste of money. Especially if you're already working in HD.
For around $500 or $600, you could buy a used Sony PVM-14L5, which is an HD CRT monitor with analog component inputs. It's fully compatible with HD analog outputs from capture cards like the AJA Kona series, the Black Magic Decklink series and the Matrox MXO series.
Arnie
Post production is not an afterthought!
http://www.arniepix.com/
