Samuel Bilodeau compares some of the best monitors on the market to see how they stack up. Is it worth it?
High-end video monitors are usually the horse to match. I know some people swear by their Flanders, and it’s for very good reasons. You will pay more than $20,000 to get a reliable working tool. It will last a long time and is easy to integrate into the workflow.
On the lower end we have Atomos’ Neon display, which is Atomos’ first foray into a true 10-bit display. However, Bilodeau did not appreciate it. I guess that’s why the price of the 24″ monitor has dropped from $6,500 to only $3,200.
In my opinion, Atomos’ larger screens were easily overshadowed by SmallHD’s products. The operating system and consistency of the latter is a step above. Bilodeau complain about the Neon series and is not the only one to express the difficulty of calibrating the Atomos Neon display.
Interestingly, Apple’s ProDisplay XDR seems to be priced pretty well. I still see it on set, mostly used by digital technologies. The visuals are stunning and the resolution is hard to beat. Capture One certainly shines on the XDR display. However, digital technologies and DIT both complain that they cannot easily get Teradek into it. For some, this could be a deal breaker as the studio world increasingly has wireless connections.
However, Apple’s monitors are also really well priced. If you don’t need that direct SDI/HDMI input, it’s a very reasonable proposition. I explained it better This. If you are thinking of going this route, I suggest you get the VESA mount version and buy this handle to make life easier.
What screen do you use on set? Let us know in the comments.
