PV Lab report, Part 3, Monitor panel brightness and contrast.

We get 300cd/m2 Brightness, 1800:1 Contrast specs from panel manufacturer and check the reality.

100% backlight

• White field - 252,67 cd/m2
• Dark field - 0,323 cd/m2
• Contrast - 766,13

75% backlight

• White field - 182 cd/m2
• Dark field - 0,259 cd/m2
• Contrast - 702,3

50% backlight

• White field - 122 cd/m2
• Dark field - 0,183 cd/m2
• Contrast - 668,2

25% backlight

• White field - 62,1 cd/m2
• Dark field - 0,095 cd/m2
• Contrast - 651,4

PV Lab Report, Part 1, Panel measurements

Neway CT710HO panel gamut measurement, gray triangle - sRGB/Rec709 primaries

Luminance color curves (after slight user adjustment of RGB)

My review of the Neway CT710HO:

The Neway CT710HO is the least expensive 7" on-camera monitor with 1080p or higher resolution, so my expectations weren't very high. But the image looks quite nice, with pleasing and accurate color. A lot of things are highly configurable, like guides, aspect ratio, flipping, zoom ratio, and peaking sensitivity. The monitor accepts a 2160/30p signal, which is great for focusing combined with the 1:1 pixel mode or zoom mode. The monitor is very light for its size, which I really appreciate. The monitor has four quarter-inch screw holes, one on each side, but I don't trust their strength. I recommend using an aluminum L-bracket, or a pair of them to make a yoke, to mount the monitor via two or more of its holes. The backlight on my unit has a hot spot near the edge that's obvious when the image is very dark. It's not terrible, but a little disappointing for a monitor this expensive. A couple of times the display inexplicably started flickering when powered on, the flicker gradually subsided after a few minutes. I recommend the Sony L-type batteries over the Canons, because you get a choice of capacities, and your batteries will work in other things like portable LED lights. My 4900 mAh Wasabi battery lasts hours and is probably overkill. Having used a similar Neway 5" 1080p monitor before, the size of the 7" is very nice. 1080p is wasted on a 5" monitor.

Older versions of the Neway CT710HO monitor had buggy firmware that would make 30-fps and 60-fps signals jerky. It was as if the frame rate was being reduced internally. The problem was fixed in later versions of the firmware, but I don't know if any of the monitors shipping now might have that buggy firmware or if Neway actually provides firmware updates. I don't see any firmware updates listed on their web site. Assuming you get a monitor without the buggy firmware, this monitor is well worth the price and I recommend it.

Moved @AKED video to PV channel

Just some quick thoughts after using this at a wedding:

Screen is ok for price. Still hard to focus without zooming in, so I just leave zoom on and compose with camera screen. It is "better" than cheap Feelworld FW759 monitor I had but honestly I'm not sure by how much in terms of actual functionality (Neway screen has higher res and is sharper, but since you still can't pull critical focus without zooming in... I'm not actually you can do this on a really expensive monitor either since I haven't tried those yet)

Positives:

• Screen starts up relatively fast and connects to my D750 well (Aputure finehd takes forever to turn on).

• Color is ok but a bit dull out of the box (I didn't try to adjust it) but accuracy is "not bad".

• Came with screen protector on (yay!)

Annoying things:

• Hard to see in bright sunlight (as with most monitors),

• Can't adjust zoom level

• Slight screen lag, noticeable but not too terrible. Non scientifically I'd say like 50-100ms lag between camera screen and this monitor

• Can't have multiple functions on at same time, for example histogram and crop, or pixel to pixel and zoom etc... If I set p2p on, then zoom in, when I zoom out it returns to default.

• Zoom function is ok and useable, but it doesn't render sharply. You focus until it is "sharpest" if you know what I mean.

• Histogram didn't match my D750 and doesn't help determining blown highlights, also clip function didn't work well for me either.

Really annoying things:

• NO menu functions for... functions! You have to map a function (like zoom, peaking etc) to F1 or F2, then press F1 or F2 to engage. If you want a different function you have to assign a new function to the buttons... which also ties in to previous point about not being able to have certain functions on at the same time.

Overall it's ok for what I am using it for. It helps me to focus on the move. But if pressed, the 1/3 price FW759 probably does the same thing even though the screen is crap. Perhaps the even more expensive Feelworld G55/G70 will work better... but who knows without seeing the actual screen and using it.

Unlike @AKED, I didn't find peaking to be very helpful for my purposes (like most cheap monitors I imagine). It is probably fine if you are shooting at F4 on crop sensor, but for F2.8 on FF it is not helpful for critical focus.

Vitaly got it shipped to me quickly so thanks. I will continue to use it for now. I am not excited about this monitor but I do not hate it either. It helps me focus so I won't complain! I keep thinking of getting Atomos Ninja Flame just for monitoring but... I just can't justify the cost.

Good monitor. And lots of features.

I will soon do another video, where the focus peeking can be seen better. In this video, the focus picking was filmed on 12 mm 2.8, which is the reason, why so many areas are in focus.

@Neirotransformer The monitor is great is sunlight. Even with all settings only on 50% is is a good picture. Using it, I will try it on the weekend with a gimbal. We will see. On a tripod no problems. I have shoot some of the review but will do some more next week.

I have made a video of the unboxing of the Neway CT710HO

Soon there will be a video, where I show all the features of this nice monitor.

But it's not as bright as the CL76 or the CT700, right?

Yep, note that 300-450 nit is not so big difference, if you properly use monitor.

For real outdoor (with sun) or steadicam monitors you need above 600, and preferably at 1000-1200 nits.

@akhenig

As far as I know panel quality is closer to CL76, it means that it is better than other 1280 monitors.

As for contrast ratio - I think it will be so if you put panel in quite dark place (as with TVs or any other contrast measurements).

Two questions please: 1. Does it accept LUT files? 2. Does it unsqueeze 2x Anamorphic video? Thanks! Izhar