A number of professional monitors and displays were released at NAB 2023. Here is a summary.
Sony released the update to their professional monitor for critical evaluation, color grading, live production and post-production dubbed the BVM-HX3110. This is a 30.5” dual-panel type monitor with 4K resolution, with the big improvement being the peak luminance of the display: 4000 nits. While normally such monitors specify the peak luminance for full screen white, it seems unlikely that is the case with this monitor. More likely, the 4000-nit spec is for a small window to allow specular highlights to be displayed. Also upgraded from the HX310 is an optional faster pixel response mode for reduced motion blur (likely an overdrive scheme), a wider viewing angle panel and an IP interface to support SMPTE ST-2110 signal.
The monitor’s new standard toolset incorporates Waveform Monitor/Vector Scope (WF/VS), false color, focus assist, closed captioning, 3D LUT processing, and quad and side-by-side viewing modes, among other valuable features. In addition to fast pixel response, supplemental benefits include support for JPEG-XS as well as Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) through optional licenses. Additional optional licenses enable tools such as HDR/SDR conversion and a user 3D LUT signal-output.
Sony also announced the LMD-A180, an 18.4” HD HDR wide color monitor for on-set monitoring. And it showed ELF-SR2, their 27-inch Spatial Reality Display and eye-tracked super-multiview 3D display that was also shown at CES (see video HERE). Perhaps new since CES is an upgraded high-speed vision sensor. At the booth, Sony demonstrated use cases for the Spatial Reality Display to show how 3D content aids in creation and visualization.
Hollywood announce the MARS M1 PRO, a 7” monitor that complements their existing 5” monitor. The 5” includes a transmit and receive capability and is designed to be placed on-camera whereas the 7” version is more of a director’s monitor which drops the transmit capability. There was no mention of the resolution or wireless protocol support, but it does have HDMI in/out ports. The prototype should be available in Q3.
The S5 from Vaxis is another wireless monitor shown at NAB. It is an upgrade of their Atom A5 monitor that adds SDI support and doubles the WiFi antennas from 2 to 4 to enable 2.4 and 5GHz Wi-Fi auto-switching transmitting/receiving. It can support transmission to multiple monitors or tablets. It should be available in 3 months for an MSRP of around $619.
Swit has released a 31.5” 4K HDR monitor called the BM-U325MD. Specs include a 10-bit panel, 1500 nits of luminance and 1M:1 contrast ratio with 2300 dimming zones. It can support 8K signal via its four 12G ports in and out and multiple color gamuts can be selected, although the native color gamut of the display is not stated (nor the window for the luminance level). It has waveform, vector, histogram, false colors and eye pastern display options as well as HLG and PQ EOTFs. The price is $18,000.
Stepping down in capability is the Swit K7 Cine monitor. This is a 7” 1920×1200 resolution display with 1,500 nits and 1200:1 contrast ratio. The interfaces include 3G-SDI in and out along with HDMI in and out. It covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut.
A novel implementation of a camera electronic viewfinder was demonstrated by Accsoon and Zacuto. The idea is to use an Apple iPhone as the monitor but scale the camera image down to perhaps two-thirds of the screen size. You then attach a viewfinder magnifying optical eyepiece. This low-cost option allows the camera operator to use the viewfinder in a normal manner while limiting ambient light that might make it hard to see the iPhone image without the eyepiece. The other part of the screen is used for control of the camera or image (zoom, waveforms, peaking, etc.) and is visible (and in focus) with the other eye. This works well as the iPhone screen is high resolution and has very good color accuracy. Very clever.
SmallHD showed their Smart 5 5” monitor in multiple varieties (indie 5, cine 5 and Ultra 5 RX and Ultra 5 TX. These last two integrate a Teradek Bolt 6 Wi-Fi receiver or transmitter (SmallHD is part of Teradek). They highlighted their Page O/S as being very easy to navigate and use the tools available on their monitors. Page O/S 5 is the newest version and includes a spot exposure level option to reveal the full range of exposure in the highlighted area. It is like a digital light meter inside the camera. The Ultra 5 is very bright supporting up to 3,000 nits with a 10-bit 4:2: DCI-P3 pipeline and FHD resolution.
Asus was very active at NAB with talks and introductions of a new monitor and LED display. For example, the ASUS ProArt Cinema PQ07 is a 135-inch 4K HDR microLED display featuring an ultra-small 0.78 mm pixel pitch, 2000-nits peak brightness, high contrast and a 95% DCI-P3 color gamut. The large-screen display is well-suited for home cinema, virtual productions, or broadcasting.
The ProArt Display PA24US is the first ProArt model with SDI connectivity and is designed for real-time on-set previews and playback. This 23.6-inch 4K HDR display has a maximum brightness of 600 nits, true 10-bit color, 99% Adobe RGB, 95% DCI-P3, and Delta E < 1 color accuracy. PA24US supports multiple HDR formats, including HDR10 and HLG, and includes a built-in motorized colorimeter for self-calibration, 12G-SDI, and a full-function USB-C port with 80-watt power delivery.
Finally, Asus was showing their eye-tracked super-multiview glasses-free 3D display developed in partnership with Dimenco. On display was a protype laptop with a 16” 3D display using an OLED display. This was first shown privately at CES 2023 in the Dimenco suite (see CES 2023 video). It is powered by the 13th Gen Intel Core i9-13980HX processor alongside the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 laptop GPU and includes a stylus-supported haptic touchpad. At NAB, it was used to show 3D VR 180° VR content captured with the Canon EOS R5 camera and the RF5.2mm F2.8 L Dual Fisheye lens.