Australian film - Federation of Australian Movie Makers

TECH TOPICS - Winter 2009
With Joe Leon ©
SMPTE 2009 Expo - Widescreen Monitors
SMPTE Bi-Annual EXPO 2009 ...
(Society of Motion Picture Technical Engineers)
Venue: Darling Harbour Sydney NSW
Dates: 21-24 July (Tuesday - Friday)
Tuesday - Thursday: 10.00 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday: 10.00 AM - 3.00 PM
Registration for Free Entry and Information:
Go to: http://www.smpte.com.au/, select Visitor Information,
Visitor Registration, fill in personal details and your
interest in visiting SMPTE. You’ll receive an Email confirming
your Registration which includes a Barcode which
you print out and take to the Expo and is your quick access
to the SMPTE Bi-Annual EXPO 2009 .
What can you expect to see at SMPTE …
If it’s anything like previous Expos there will be plenty to
see and touch for the Video Movie Maker with demonstrations
of the latest Hardware and Software from companies
like Adobe, Canon Australia, Lako Pacific, JVC, Panasonic
and Sony Australia just to name a few.
Adobe will most likely will be demonstrating its Adobe
CS4 (Creative Suite 4) while Sony Australia will probably
show off its Vegas Video and Sound Forge Audio Editing
applications. Other items of interest will be Digital Media,
Display and Projection, Editing, Graphics and Animations
SFX, Lighting, Motion Picture & Film, Multimedia,
Video Production, etc, etc.
Although SMPTE is aimed at the High End Professional
market like TV and Motion Picture Studios, there will be
plenty for the Video Movie Maker to see, touch and enquire
about. So make sure you bring your questions along.
16:9 WIDESCREEN LCD MONITORS & TVs …
There is a very good reason to update to a Widescreen
Monitor or TV which has to do with most Video Cameras
or TVs being sold today from the cheapest to the
dearest having Widescreen as the default Format.
Therefore it stands to reason that a Widescreen Monitor
and TV is preferable to Edit and display Widescreen
movies in its Native Widescreen Resolution.
Before updating your Monitor from 4:3 to 16:9 Ratio
Widescreen there are several things you should be
aware of which have to do with Response Time, Contrast
Ratio, Size and Resolution. I’ll be using my Samsung
19” (48 cm) 4:3 LCD Monitor and LG 22” (56
cm) 16:9 LCD Monitors as reference for the article.
Samsung 19” (48 cm) 4:3 LCD Monitor …
Display Area: 38 cm Wide x 30 cm High
Response Time: 8 ms
Contrast Ratio: 700:1
Resolution Max: 1280 x 1024 Pixels
Total Pixels: 1,310,720 Pixels
Viewing Angle: 160 degrees Horizontal/Vertical
Screen Rotation: Landscape or Portrait
LG 22” (56 cm) 16:9 Widescreen LCD Monitor ...
Display Area: 47.5 cm Wide x 30 cm High
Response Time: 2 ms
Contrast Ratio: 10,000:1 Digital Fine Contrast
Resolution Max: 1680 x 1050 Pixels
Total Pixels: 1,764,000 Pixels
Viewing Angle: 160 degrees Horizontal/Vertical
19” (48 cm) 16:9 Widescreen LCD Monitor …
Display Area: 41 cm Wide x 25 cm High
A friend’s 19” WS Monitor was 8 cm narrower and
5 cm lower in height than my 22” WS Monitor and
that is why I chose the bigger size monitor as I did not
want to lose the height I was used to.
Before proceeding much further having the latest and
Fastest LCD Monitor is no good unless you have a
Video Card that can match or surpass its performance.
If your Video Card’s maximum resolution is 1024 x
768 Pixels then it can’t display 1680 x 1050 Pixels or
higher resolutions.
Response Time …
ms = Millisecond = 1/1000 Second.
Basically it means the time it takes a Pixel to turn On
from an Off state. The lower the ms number the better.
A high response time could cause blurring on fast
moving objects and produce ghosting which most of us
have seen on older LCD Monitors and TVs.
Contrast Ratio …
This is a measurement of the difference between the
darkest and brightest areas on the screen. The higher
the Contrast Ratio, the deeper the blacks and whites
will be displayed on the Monitor or TV. So it goes
without saying that a higher Contrast Ratio is better.
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