ALPHADOGS HOSTS 'MONITOR SHOOTOUT'
A looping series of 4:4:4 images and test signals were fed to all the monitors allowing for a true side-by-side comparison. Vendor representatives were on-hand to answer questions.
AlphaDogs CEO and founder Terence Curren says the loss of CRTs for evaluation has been a sore spot among those who color correct for a living. “We previously held a monitor evaluation event at Editors’ Lounge in 2007. The situation has improved since then, but we still have no decent replacement for a CRT,” he notes.
“In general, I was pretty unimpressed with the monitors,” adds freelance colorist Brian Hutchings. “In two years since the last shootout, the monitors have improved slightly, with the prices dropping a little. Good monitors remain out of reach for most. Besides the upper tier of larger facilities here in LA, I don't see where production companies and smaller-tier facilities can or will afford to spend $10,000 apiece for monitors when they can buy a Panasonic plasma monitor for half that. Economics will continue to be the driving force, not quality.”
“The best thing about the experience was to be able to directly compare monitors between vendors with the same source for the display and in an optimized environment, something that just can't be done at trade shows or dealer demo rooms,” states Philip Hodgetts, president of consulting firm Intelligent Assistance. “Clearly, a lot of effort went into the presentation from the AlphaDogs staff, which was much appreciated.”
Shane Ross, who is also a freelance editor, says he did see improvements since the last evaluation, and the releases have gotten closer in terms of performance. “They were all 10-bit panels,” he notes, “TV Logic XVM-245W, FSI LM-2470W, Cine-tal Cinemage B230, two Sony models (PVM-L2300 and BVM-L231) and JVC DTV-24G1Z. The JVC was the only 8-bit panel there, and it showed.
“They were all very good,” Ross continues. “I would choose any of them to tell the truth. The FSI and the TV Logic were the same panels, but the TV Logic was darker than the FSI. The FSI seemed to be set a tad brighter than the rest, and me personally, I couldn't tell the difference between the Sony PVM and BVM, even though the BVM had a better backlight. Off axis from all was very good.
“Again, I'd trust any of them, which is what you want to see,” says Ross. “You want to know that what you see on your monitor is what someone else would see on theirs. You don’t want it too look like what you see in Best Buy — 50 monitors and nothing looking the same.”