28" 1080p HDMI monitor... 400 bucks?

[Tom Lowe]

Sheesh. I was at Costco today and ran across this thing...

http://content.costco.com/Images/Content/Product/236036.jpg

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11236988

I paid like 500 or 600 for my Dell 24", and it doesn't even have HDMI.

I was thinking that this Hanns G 28" might be a great second monitor for editing, and possibly a great field monitor.

[Pietro Impagliazzo]

Thanks Tom,
You speak my language (low $$$).

Sometimes I blush with so many pros here talking about $2k monitors and that stuff.

:)

Anyway, does it have 1:1?
Because LCDs running on non-native res looks kinda odd.

And does it scale or letterbox when feeded 1080p? My guess it's it just let black bars, to be advertised as 1080p, otherwise the image would be funny slightly stretched.

[Jim Brennan]

That looks like a great deal. THe contrast ratio is a little lower than some of the 720P HDTVs I've been looking at.

Hmmmm, res vs. contrast ratio....what to do?

[Pietro Impagliazzo]

If you're using it for R1 1080p is not a big deal, am I right?

So go for better contrast.

[Jim Brennan]

It is for the Red One. I usually edit 1080P ProRes.

[Kwan Khan]

Fellas Check following links for cheapest 1080p,
42" $599
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=LT-4202&cat=TVS
42" $699
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=LCT42Z6TM-R&cat=TVS

[Tom Lowe]

At what point do these things go from being a monitor, to a TV? The ones Kwan linked to, for example, have speakers and look more like TVs. But is there really any difference?

That 28" Hanns G I saw at Costco was hooked to a PC, and it definitely seemed very usable for that purpose.

[Radoslav Karapetkov]

Thanks Tom and Kwan.

Great links here.

Low-budget dreamers of the world, unite!

[Thom Steinhoff]

Onboard Speakers would be nice.

Red, I believe, pumps audio through the HDMI so it would be great for playback.

[Steven M. Bailey]

a lot of the lower price lcd tv's have dvi and hdmi inputs making them great for pc use.

The problem you run into is color accuracy and contrast ratio. Dynamic contrast is a scam, and sometimes they won't tell you if the contrast is dynamic or not. I think they pull their numbers out of a hat.

Pioneer's kuro is one of the leading developers of panels with incredible real contrast, but some times you get what you pay for.

[Steven M. Bailey]

kwan,
The shipping cost of 150$ is often offset by a local purchase or a free shipping amazon deal.

[Kwan Khan]

I agree,
Second and cheaper option will be to use your FedEx/ups account.

[Shawn Booth]

The problem you run into is color accuracy and contrast ratio. Dynamic contrast is a scam, and sometimes they won't tell you if the contrast is dynamic or not.

Just a thought - on 35 sets, monitors usually show a really shitty image chalk full of signal distortion, really bad color, uber grainy - usually sucks, but everyone is use to it. They get to see "something" from the crappy video tap.

Even with wireless signal from Steadicam (it is spelled with an i not a y) the signal and image quality blow.

Now in the world of HD/RED - things changed. Everyone "wants" to see the perfection right away and how can anyone blame them.

[Steven M. Bailey]

I have a friend that bought a 50" pioneer kuro 720p tv as well as a visio 1080p for video games. I was amazed at what was in the shadow detail of the kuro even at less resolution there was so much more to be seen.

We watched a blueray movie on both monitors side by side with a scene shot over a foggy lake. On the visio you could see that a shoreline was in the fog but it was hard to tell as to the features of it. On the kuro you could make out individual rocks and features way up the shore. I was shocked at how much data is lost in just the monitor alone.

It made me want to re-watch all the good movies that I have seen on a crappy tv so that I could look for unknown things lurking in the shadows. Maybe there are crew members in the dark that thought they would never be seen.

[donatello b]

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=125&Itemid=68

[Tom Lowe]

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=125&Itemid=68

That's a good review! Keep in mind that this baby is only $399 at Costco right now. I think Costco also doubles any manufacturer warranty free of charge. So if Hanns G gives a 1-yr warranty, you effectively get a 2-yr warranty free of additional charge. Not bad at all!

It's bigger than the Dell 24, but like the reviewer says, side by side, the 28" does not dwarf the Dell 24 by any means.

[Steven-Marc C.]

This Hanns-G 28" is a very good deal for the price, but you should know that it does not have a 1:1 pixel display option. Therefore, if you plug in the R1 or any other 16:9 device into it, the image will be slightly distorted vertically. It should however be a very cost-effective solution for editing, though you might prefer the higher pitch of a 24", especially if you work close to your screen.

[Mike Harrington]

one thing to check though is if it works with red's HDMI

my sharp 1080p has never worked, and crashes my Red every time
some TV's are not compatable

My Sharp is also dynamic contrast....which is BS
any time the contrast ratio is like 10,000- 1 in a LCD you know the number is crap
dynamic contrast just adjust's the brightness according to the scene so if the contrast is say 800-1 (which is decent) and there is 20 levels of brightness....they will rate it with dynamic contrast at like 16,000-1

the best contrast ratio out there is http://www.dolby.com/promo/hdr/technology.html

16 bit display....200,000-1 contrast....it's the real thing
Canadian company aquired by dolby
made for displaying high dynamic range images or HDRI

I think there about $40,000 US

[Tom Lowe]

This Hanns-G 28" is a very good deal for the price, but you should know that it does not have a 1:1 pixel display option. Therefore, if you plug in the R1 or any other 16:9 device into it, the image will be slightly distorted vertically. It should however be a very cost-effective solution for editing, though you might prefer the higher pitch of a 24", especially if you work close to your screen.

Good points, Steven-Marc.