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Reviews (4)
Nov 02, 2016
Like most BMD products, so close, but not quite there
Having a monitor that can act as a waveform monitor, vectorscope, and display different parades is certainly nice to have. And Blackmagic Design has created a product that represents an unprecedented value. However, as tends to be true with many of BMD's products, it falls short in a few key areas.
First, let me state that the scopes absolutely do work as advertised. And they refresh at full frame rate, and take advantage of the full resolution of the LCD monitor. So the product absolutely does do what it claims and is supposed to do. With that out of the way, let's address some of its shortcomings...
The LCD itself just isn't that good. It's a mediocre quality LCD with low contrast, shallow viewing angles, weak color accuracy, and its resolution isn't that high. BMD doesn't publish the actual resolution, but it appears to be somewhere in the 800x480 range. So while you can monitor HD and even 6G-SDI UHD signals, you'll be viewing them at reduced quality. Don't expect to use these monitors to check your signal for focus or color fidelity.
The second big limitation is the way the monitors are controlled. They aren't touch-screen, and there are no buttons, dials, or switches on the unit itself. Everything is done through software. Which means you need to pull up the application, then select the correct monitor before making any changes. Fortunately, changes are made instantaneously.
Third is that the scopes just don't have much by the way of legends or options to control them. There is nothing that can be controlled with the Waveform Monitor, and nothing in the documentation describes what the second scale is (where 700 whatever units = 100 IRE, for example). The vectorscope only has the targets for the main 6 colors, and no other markings indicating scale, not even the I and Q markings normally included. There isn't even a way to magnify the vectorscope view. The RGB and YUV parades have some vertical scale markings, but not enough, and there are no markings to indicate the left and right edges of the frame. The audio display is also lacking enough information to really know what is going on. Also absent is a 'single line' view on the Waveform monitor, or even a 'Two field' view for interlaced video. The displays are all extremely basic with little or no configurable options.
The last issue I have is that it is not capable of displaying a Level A 3G-SDI signal. It handles Level B just fine, but doesn't display any image when a Level A signal is input. BMD has been updating many of their products to support Level A, but their monitors have thus far been left out. Considering how long their monitors have been on the market, and how long it has been since there have been any firmware updates, they're likely holding out for a new version of the product (but that is pure speculation).
Bottom line is that the product does work, but ultimately it falls far short of what a real scope does for you. Interesting, yes, but not quite good enough for real precision video engineering.
Jun 26, 2018
Complete and total junk -- don't buy!!!
I bought three of these cables, and all three broke the first time I used them, literally within minutes of being placed into service. In all three cases, one of the connectors broke, exposing the raw glass fiber inside, and could not be put back together.
Additionally, the one that didn't break immediately was intermittent and completely unreliable. Then it broke when it was unplugged.
These are absolute junk and nobody should buy them.
Feb 15, 2011
Excellent wireless microphone, esp. compared to others
I've used wireless microphones from Shure, Sennheiser, Telex, Sony, and AKG in the last several years and all but the AKG models have given me significant problems. The AKG WMS 450 series are just rock solid when it comes to signal stability, and do it with excellent audio quality. They may not be built to be as rugged as the microphones from Shure (don't drop them from very high), but in terms of wireless performance they can't be beat, even at twice the price from other manufacturers. The C5 capsule in particular is very good, easily beating out the capsules on competitors' microphones in terms of accuracy, especially if the PB1000 presence boost adapter is removed. If left in place, the C5 is punchy and crisp, and a vocal easily cuts through a mix.
My only complaint is the limited frequency ranges available. AKG only offers 3 bands (1,7,8) of 30 MHz each in the United States, and in any given area each of those bands is likely to be overlapped by multiple broadcast television stations, making it difficult to find sufficient open frequencies for more than a few microphones at a time. In my own area, for example, Band 1 is basically unusable, and Band 8 is barely usable. Only Band 7 has enough open space for more than about 4-5 microphones to be used simultaneously. It would also be nice to see metal cases on the WMS 450 series microphones to make them more durable.
Sellers should take the time to list what bands their microphones use, or it makes it difficult to be sure a buyer can pick the right microphone for their geographic area.