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5.6" 1280x800 on camera monitor with peaking, aka H056
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  • Cool, thanks for the feedback guys.

  • I got the monitor today. Its great as a focusing tool, but i wonder why it stretches the image. How hard can it be to letterbox it?

  • If the "H005" is indeed an H056 with just a firmware update to allow peaking, it would be interesting if we could track the company down to see if

    1. an H056 to H005 firmware update could be made available, and
    2. a firmware update for both to letterbox 16:9 images to the proper aspect ration rather than stretching could be made available. Or perhaps the extra 80 pixels could all be placed at the bottom, and used for some sort of status display or histogram? Maybe audio meters if audio is passed through HDMI? That would be really nifty.
  • @Strangways

    No such thing as H005 exist, except in sellers imagination.
    Believe me, as we offer this in current deals (and do so dealing with their manufacturer).

    I think answer for both question is no. As for letterboxing, we are talking about this.

  • Mine arrived yesterday, really happy with the monitor especially the resolution. Much easier to see the focus. A solution for the letterboxing would be very much appreciated, also for 2.35:1 if possible :)

  • I understand that the image is stretched to 16/10, but can anyone tell me if any of the image is cut off? That was a problem with the Leadstar monitors: what you saw was not what you got. Other than 16/10 (which is too bad, but definitely not a deal-breaker), is there any way in which the framing is off?

  • but can anyone tell me if any of the image is cut off?

    No, it does not cut anything.

  • Anyone know if the 16:10 thing is fixable with the gh2? on ebay it says it's switchable between "full screen", 16:9 and 4:3... Assuming that "full screen" is the 16:10, that is.

  • Monitor doesn't do 16/9 only 16/10, cant imagine its too hard to alter with firmware? I love the resolution, weight, battery option, included extras & price of this monitor. Would be amazing if someone could play with the firmware and add 16/9 and a few more guildline options, it would make this a perfect match for the gh2.

  • +1 Jon. Vitaliy? wink wink :D

  • @Jon2323

    It is task for manufacturer.
    Do not worry, we'll be talking to them about it.

  • My "H005" arrived today, and like others is still labelled as the H056. It's a cute little unit, nice size and weight... but unfortunately it doesn't turn on. Powered from AC, with HDMI input, Video input, or no input, it gets power and the power light turns red. Pressing the power button the light turns green, the screen flashes on blank for a fraction of a second, then it goes back to the red standby light. I just can't get the darn thing to start up.

    Does anyone know of a reset function, or is this thing going straight back to China?

  • @Strangways

    Try to use battery first. May be you have issues with your power.

  • I used the XLR adapter and it worked fine on the first try. As Vitaliy said, i would try a battery first, before sending it back. Maybe you only have a problem on that power connector.

  • I managed to borrow a battery and it ran just fine on that, and following starting up with battery, it now starts up just fine with AC. Strange. In all cases, the AC adapter was plugged into an uninterruptable power supply with excellent power conditioning, so I have no idea what happened.

    First impressions: The peaking is not SmallHD quality, but it's similar to the white sharpening type peaking on Panasonic video cameras that I'm familiar with. I fed it colour bars over the video input and with the blue only mode I was able to get a pretty good colour calibration. Tomorrow I'll check it with colour bars over HDMI and see if my calibration (and therefore the video processing) matches.

    Feeding the monitor a 4:3 composite video signal works perfectly well, and if that's a squeezed 16:9 image, setting the monitor to 16:9 stretches it out to 16:10.

    Video out looks to be a straight pass-through of video in, as no menus appear on the output, and in case anyone had unrealistic expectations, no it does not downconvert the HDMI output to the video output.

  • I used this monitor yesterday outdoors but found it terribly reflective even with the hood, and ended up just using my Sony z7's LCD. Anyone know of any fixes for this, maybe a matte overlay or a way to remove the glossy front? Cheers

  • @Jon2323

    If it is glossy, just buy matte antiglare film. Plenty are available.

  • "Video out looks to be a straight pass-through of video in, as no menus appear on the output, and in case anyone had unrealistic expectations, no it does not downconvert the HDMI output to the video output" -Thanks for that info, I was curious about it.

    I think we can assume the HDMI-in can display the GH2 1080 signal as 800x1280 (and there is no video-out at that resolution).

    Any ideas what the resolution of the video-in is? SD: 480x720 in GH2 NTSC mode? So the the only output from the monitor is via the video-out and in that resolution?

    Therefore if, you need a video-out from the monitor you must monitor in that lower res or use an HDMI splitter and split the signal before the monitor's HDMI-In. Correct?

    Many thanks.

  • The GH2 doesn't output composite video in standard-def when recording, so it's rather useless to monitor that way. An HDMI splitter is the way to go.

    For cameras other than the GH2, I'd say the H056 is fine for framing in standard-def on the composite video in, but peaking doesn't work with that input, so it's virtually impossible to use it for focusing.

    In HD, however, the H056 has fantastic resolution, and with peaking it makes focusing a breeze. I could easily focus the 20mm f/1.7 wide open with great precision and confidence of where it was focused, something I could never do before without using the zoom-in function on the camera that only works when not recording.

  • I talked to the seller on ebay about the 16:9/16:10 issue. He offered two solutions to me: either i send them my monitor and they send me an upgraded one, or they send me a usb drive like device that you plug in and it upgrades it. I went with the latter, but it will take about a month until i get it.

  • @mk47

    I really suggest to ask them to place firmware on some site :-) So you can download and use it (as others also)

  • @VK

    I suggested it to them. Will keep you guys posted.

  • sweet, good skills @mk47, good to hear it actually is upgradeable

  • Got the monitor from P-V deal. What is the mount type for monitor arm? Maybe I'm just noob but I cannot screw standard 1/4" screw in.

  • @tonalt It's a 1/4" 20 pitch, completely standard stuff.

    To everyone else: I've calibrated my monitor to my GH2 by playing back a JPG of SMPTE bars on-camera. It's not perfect, but it's better than the factory default. I tried calibrating with each of the three color temperature settings for the monitor, and found 6500K to be the best starting point.

    Your monitor will vary, but in case anyone needs a starting point, I ended up at:

    Brightness 44 (coming down from 45, as going up from 43 there seems to be bug that it doesn't change as much as it should.) Contrast 60 Saturation 45 Hue 50 Color Temp 6500K