I am a proud owner of four eCinema displays.  From the moment I first saw the product and learned that it was a native 1920x1080 display and had brightness correction to equal a CRT I was hooked. As I began to use the product in my production work, my client's reactions confirmed my initial excitement.

It is of great importance to use a large monitor on the set in HD production, not only to check focus and make sure that no one has left their gloves or tape roll on the table in the background, but to approximate the viewing conditions that the final product will be seen in.  These days it's not uncommon to find 50-60 inch displays in the typical home that has a HD set, so it would not suffice to have anything smaller than a 23" production monitor.  To have a CRT of that size is a logistical nightmare, not only the hundred pound plus bulk, but in the shipping case, it often requires another truck because there's no room in the regular trucks for such a large additional package.  The problem is compounded when multiple monitors are required.

The reason I have four eCinema's is because most of my work in multicam. I have four Varicams and do all kinds of productions with them; news magazine interviews and specials, music videos, commercials, host wrap-arounds, low budget features, etc., and critical monitoring of all four cameras is paramount.  The footprint created by the four eCinemas is very manageable; we'll usually put two on a Magliner cart and two more on stands just behind the cart.  Some DIT's that I work with have built carts to accommodate all four monitors and it's a pleasure to move them when required, although we try to avoid moving!  This is possible because my kit includes a fiber camera cable system, so we just spool out more cable.

Building a proper viewing environment is very important, regardless of the monitor types, but the dark "house" that's required with my four eCinemas is much smaller and more hospitable than that which would be required if we were burning four 24" BVM monitors.  The thing that ultimately convinced me to go with the eCinemas was a side by side comparison to the 24" Cine Alta monitor; there was no comparison, the eCinema was sharper, with more resolution hands down, and at a fraction of the size, weight, and cost.  Now, traditionally the drawback to LCD's has been reproduction of black, but Martin's has been working away in his monitor lab late many nights and apparently has advanced the technology towards a solution of that problem.  His new monitors have much better blacks, again approaching the gold standard set by the CRT's of the past, and I'm very excited about the prospect of upgrading soon!

John Sharaf
John Sharaf Photography