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D7 and D5 monitors from ikan
  • au8ustau8ust

    http://cinescopophilia.com/ikan-d7w-monitor-d5-d7-small-form-factor-vh8-monitors/

    The D7 specs:

    • 1280 x 800 IPS panel
    • Aluminum case with 4 reinforced 1/4 20tpi threads
    • HDMI loopthru / 3G SDI loopthru
    • Peaking
    • False Colour
    • Pixel to Pixel
    • Supported Inputs: 1080p 24, 25, 30, 50, 60p / 720p 30p, 50i, 60i

    • 4 adjustable function buttons and scrolling menu wheel

    • list price = $1099.99

    Ikan D5w:

    Model: D5w
Features
1280 x 800 HD panel
Waveform, Vector Scope, & RGB Parade
False color with adjustable under luminance and over luminance warning
Clip guide with adjustable threshold
Peaking with red outline
DSLR Scaling
Video Inputs
HD-SDI
HDMI

    Actually I'm looking forward to get the TV Logic 7" but it seems to have only SDI loopthru. So this one would be better with lower price.

    ikan-D7-Monitors.jpg
    503 x 519 - 25K
    ikan-D7-Back.jpg
    740 x 376 - 43K
  • 30 Replies sorted by
  • vicharrisvicharris

    Two updates here.

    1. I had no idea what I was talking about before and the monitor actually performs very well.
    2. I had some problems with the screen and it developing some white spots on it. Sent it back to Ikan for them to have a look, as well as get a firmware update and they replaced the screen for free! Said sometimes it happens but not as bad as mine though. Great customer service. If you can afford it, sometimes it pays.....to pay more :)
  • bannedindvbannedindv

    Were you monitoring in BMD film or BMD Video Gamut? I would actually contend that it's the "fault" of the camera showing you what's clipped and not clipped, not a fault of the monitor. As far as color accuracy and gamut, if you have a monitor calibrated to Rec709, and you feed it a Log or "film gamut" signal and the viewing image is clipped, then likely it's clipped in the camera, if not, then the camera needs to do a better job of representing what is clipped and not clipped out of it's SDI port. I know this is a lot to try to understand, but like, putting a convergent design Oddyssey, or even a $30k monitor on a camera that is sending out just one "interpretation" of the raw via a gamut transform, and there is actually more information in the raw than what you see is not the fault of the monitor, or won't be solved by using a different monitor. Does that make sense?

  • vicharrisvicharris

    Ok. I do get that but if you're shooting RAW and want to use your monitor for all the scopes, you're screwed. Everything will be off. And I am going to disagree with the clipping statement. If my image is clipped in 709 it is not close to being clipped in RAW. So that's an incorrect statement. I know this as a fact from my past shoot. My D5W showed clipping all over the place and over exposure and Kholi told me not to worry because we weren't near clipping and we were shooting in ProRes, not even RAW. I'll look into the dp7 though. Think Odyssey might be the only "affordable" solution here.

  • bannedindvbannedindv

    Which doesn't necessarily mean this monitor is any better or worse, but viewing space is almost always rec709, so when you send a log signal to it you are still seeing a flat image, unless you provide a viewing lut transform.

    Sounds like you want a smallHD dp7 though. This thing has all kinds of lut and viewing space control.

  • bannedindvbannedindv

    You "always" want a monitor calibrated to rec709. It's the scopes you don't want a transform on.

    Most pro monitors are rec709 for broadcast/film evaluation.

    Having a wider viewing gamut won't save your shot...

    Meaning if your image is clipped when viewing through a rec709 transform its going to be clipped.

    I hope this makes sense.

    Look at a Sony BVM oled for instance.

  • vicharrisvicharris

    @Vitaliy_Kiselev Well it's not HDMI, its SDI. But you're probably right. It isn't an $80,000 Alexa where people will rent expensive monitors for shoots, the BMCC is aimed at guys like us who use the cheaper stuff and I guess $1000 is the cheaper stuff now :)

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @vicharris

    If you ask me, it is camera manufacturer who need to properly convert HDMI output.

  • vicharrisvicharris

    Kholi will know for sure. It just sucks because I really can't use this monitor to it's potential now.

  • vicharrisvicharris

    Well if you record in REC 709 you're fine but who wants to do that. I record in Log on both ProRes and RAW which is way different than REC709. Smallhd prob isn't good as well. Odyssey maybe? Even TVLogic sees REC709.

  • tinyrobottinyrobot

    What color space is the BMCC outputting? Any recommended monitors for the BMCC? How about the Smallhd?

  • vicharrisvicharris

    Ugh, that sucks. I'm actually having a problem with it on my BMCC. It's stretching out the images vertically. When I have all the scopes running on the bottom of the screen it's fine but otherwise, not good. Also realizing that these monitors are not too good for judging exposure with the BMCC. The monitor only sees in REC 709 so it's showing blown out highlights and overexposure when it's really not there. Fun times! :) So I pretty much have a $1000 viewing monitor :)

  • QuickHitRecordQuickHitRecord

    Ikan has changed its tune and told me that no firmware updates are planned. Forget about anamorphic monitoring with this monitor. Very discouraging.

    Otherwise, it's still a solid monitor.

  • QuickHitRecordQuickHitRecord

    Very Nice. Let us know how it works out for you.

  • vicharrisvicharris

    Just pulled the trigger in the D5W. Sure it will be fine as we have a bunch of projects coming up. I'll hopefully be able to split the hdmi out to a 7" monitor so I don't have people looking over my back.

  • QuickHitRecordQuickHitRecord

    @vicharris I've been using the D5W almost exclusively since I got it. I only break out the DP4 to monitor anamorphic shots. I find that the screen is a good resolution for looking at the scopes all at once, at least for my purposes. This is about as big a monitor as I'd ever want to use with a DSLR (in my case, a GH2).

    A note about the scopes: before I bought the monitor, I read of some concerns on another forum that the waveform was too "intense". I didn't really understand what this meant until I got it. The waveform seems to register every pixel of noise, so sometimes it can be difficult to look at it and see your subject's exposure properly. I do know that a fix is in the works (along with possible anamorphic stretch, fingers crossed) via firmware that is supposed to be released within the next two or three months.

    The D5W doesn't have HDMI pass through. I don't think that the D7W does either. I know that the D7W can input an HDMI signal and output that signal via 3G-SDI (a capability that the D5W lacks).

  • vicharrisvicharris

    @QuickHitRecord Just wondering how the monitor is working out for ya? I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on something here and just not sure this one is large enough. Is the screen size fine for checking all the scopes at once or does it even really matter? Also, this doesn't have an hdmi pass through does it?

  • QuickHitRecordQuickHitRecord

    This inexpensive neoprene case fits the D5w (without shade) perfectly: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0061GJJCW/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i01

  • QuickHitRecordQuickHitRecord

    @vicharris Yes, I paid $900. I bought mine from B&H, which got me a free battery plate.

  • vicharrisvicharris

    @QuickHitRecord I've been looking at the same one for a bit now and think I'll pull the trigger on it when a little more cash comes in from my last job. It has everything I want and I'm tried of throwing away $200 here and $300 there on monitors that just squeak by with basic functions. What did you pay for yours? The standard $900?

  • QuickHitRecordQuickHitRecord

    I ordered the D5W. After extensive research, it was the smallest viable option that offered waveform monitoring, HDMI in, 3G-SDI loop-through, and enough brightness for my needs. The DP7 looked great, but it was $700 more.

    Some first impressions:

    • The image is comparable to my SmallHD DP4, but expectedly it is sharper because it's a higher resolution monitor.
    • It is surprisingly lightweight; it does not have the heft of the SmallHD monitors that I have used. It's plastic, not milled aluminum like my DP4. There are vents on the back -- you can look through them and see some of the circuitry. The SmallHD might survive a drop onto a concrete floor, but I feel like something in the Ikan would shatter.
    • I'd forgotten how much I have I missed red focus peaking on black and white. I find it a lot easier to use than SmallHD's focus assist. I bought this as a focus monitor and I believe that it will do very well.
    • The three assignable function buttons are very welcome (most other lower end field monitors only seem to have two), and you can cycle through them. For instance, if you have Waveform selected, you can hit the button again to pull up Vectorscope, and then again for RGB parade.
    • I miss having an anamorphic mode, or at least a custom stretch mode so that I can fake anamorphic for monitoring, but Ikan has informed me that they are considering adding it for the next firmware update.
  • QuickHitRecordQuickHitRecord

    I did find this:

  • QuickHitRecordQuickHitRecord

    These seem like a better value than the current SmallHD AC7 and DP7 offerings (the waveform and 3G-SDI loop through isn't offered at this price by anyone else) but I really haven't seen anyone else than Rick Macomber talking about these. I'd love to hear some more feedback if anyone has used either of these (especially the "W" waveform-enabled versions).

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

  • mlysbakkenmlysbakken

    Any idea how these stack up against the new series of Marshall monitors, like the V-LCD56MD and V-LCD70MD?

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

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