Once regarded as a luxury reserved for tentpole films, flagship TV shows, and big-budget commercials, dedicated on-camera and on-set monitors have become indispensable for productions of all sizes and creators at every stage of their career. If you’re shopping for a new monitor, you probably already know that it’s not a one-size-fits-all decision. Today’s monitors come in a dizzying variety of shapes, sizes, brightnesses, resolutions, screen types, contrast ratios, and integrated software platforms—a lot of information you need to unpack to make an informed investment.
In this article, we’ll review features and terms you should know, explain how different monitors can enhance workflow for different shooting styles, help you identify the best solution for what you need right now, and look at factors to consider as your career evolves.
Investing in a monitor is a big deal, and you want to be confident in your choice and happy with your decision. We’re going to provide as much detail as possible in the sections below to make sure you have all the information you need to find the monitor that’s right for you. So buckle up—it’s going to be a long, scenic ride!
Let’s start with the basics—the main features to consider when shopping for a new monitor:
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Size and user interface design are probably the most obvious considerations—ones you can see before you even turn on the power. Begin by thinking about how you’ll use your monitor. Will you be shooting on location where portability is key? Will you need additional screen area to pull focus? Will you mount your monitor on the camera? And if so, how big is your camera? Answering these questions will help you identify your personal checklist of must-haves, nice-to-haves, and not-for-me-thanks.
Here’s a helpful guide to finding your ideal size:
Beyond screen size, the form factor—or external design—of your monitor is also critical if you want the ability to customize your setup with optional accessories like handles, extra power, or additional mounting points. When shooting out in the field, being able to connect accessories directly to your monitor can prove game changing for your workflow. Adding additional power, connecting wireless receivers or lens control hand units that can be powered through your monitor will help to ensure that your setup is as efficient as possible.
These accessories all factor into the overall size, weight, and functionality of your rig, so be sure to consider the durability, construction materials, and functional design of the monitor to make sure it can adapt to your shooting style and production needs.
The camera you use is also a key factor in what kind of monitor best suits your needs. Different cameras offer different connectors—usually High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), Serial Digital Interface (SDI), or a combination of the two. If your camera’s connectors aren't HDMI or SDI, you’ll likely need adapters to convert to one of these standard signal outputs.
Many monitors offer both HDMI and SDI connectors, but some, especially entry-level monitors, are HDMI-only. The best way to maintain signal integrity is to ensure that your monitor has the same connectors as your camera. This will avoid interrupting your signal path and save you money on adapters. If you’re looking to future-proof your setup, you’ll want a monitor that has both HDMI and SDI connectors. This will ensure that your monitor can handle all your current work while being able to adapt to any shoot you book in the foreseeable future. Aim for versatility—especially when starting out as a freelancer, like most filmmakers do—so that you can connect to any camera and work with both signal types.
While we’re on the topic of signals, you might want to get acquainted with the term "looping,” also referred to as "pass thru." This refers to taking the SDI or HDMI input signal into the monitor and passing/looping the same signal out again. For example, you could use the pass thru/loop thru on your monitor to share the input signal with a Teradek transmitter. One way we use looping in our studio is to connect two 17" monitors via SDI. The video feed goes IN one monitor and that monitor shares the signal by passing it OUT via SDI to the next monitor. The difference between "looping" and "cross-conversion" is that the latter "converts" HDMI to SDI (or vice versa), meaning you could send an HDMI signal to your monitor from an HDMI-only camera and output SDI to your SDI-only downstream device. This knowledge is valuable as you start to connect additional devices to your workflow.
Let’s take a look at the difference in signal outputs between HDMI and SDI:
Your monitor should ideally offer options for both external battery and AC power. Some monitors offer hot-swappable battery plates, allowing you to quickly replace drained batteries so you can get back to shooting. Other monitors can centralize your power supply with pass-through ports that allow your monitor battery to also power your accessories, like the SmallHD Cine 13, which has 2x 2-pin locking power outputs for powering external devices.
Let’s talk about batteries for a second. Typically, large, professional Gold Mount or V-Mount batteries from a leading company like Anton Bauer will have a higher capacity than batteries that come standard on monitors, which is why these industry-standard batteries are better for shooting on location. Portable, lightweight monitors often use either the Canon LP-E6 or Sony L-Series battery. For larger professional production monitors, you'll want either Gold Mount or V-Mount batteries, or even a block battery like Anton Bauer’s VCLX that can run uninterrupted from the first shot to lunch. Gold Mount batteries get their name from the round gold locating pins and V-Mount batteries get their name from the v-shaped locating mechanism. The term “hot-swappable” indicates a dual-battery input that allows you to swap out a dying battery for a fresh one without interrupting the power supply.
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HDR is the acronym for “High Dynamic Range.” The dynamic range is defined as the difference in luminosity between the brightest and darkest areas of your image. “High Dynamic Range” enables you to see a larger range of colors on your screen. These colors appear more vivid, the highlights are brighter and clearer, and the shadows have more depth. Some monitors, like our Vision Series, can display True HDR images while others offer excellent HDR Previews, like our OLED 27.
The goal of HDR on set is to match the final image seen by the viewer as closely as possible. Nearly all content today is finished to HDR specifications in post-production, so the closer your on-set monitor renders detail the way you’ll see it in post, the less likely you are to miss crucial details that might require a reshoot. In a world where content is viewed on larger and more capable home televisions, notebook computers, and even HDR-capable mobile displays, HDR monitoring on set helps ensure that no unwelcome surprises are lost in the shadows.
Put simply, Rec. 709 is the color space used for the HDTV transmission standard, and DCI-P3 is the color gamut originally created for use in the theatrical film industry, particularly for digital cinema projectors. The main difference is that DCI-P3 displays deeper green and red tones than Rec. 709, but blue tones appear with the same consistency.
The best way to decide which monitor’s color space best suits your needs is to consider how your audience will watch your content. If you’re shooting web content or for broadcast television, Rec. 709 is usually the way to go. If you’re shooting a movie that will screen digitally in theaters or on HDR televisions, DCI-P3’s larger color palette will be more appropriate. Seeing what the audience sees is a clear advantage when your creative vision depends on nuanced color balance. While post-production includes color grading and VFX, the more closely your on-set monitor reflects the final product, the fewer unexpected surprises you’ll encounter in post.
For HDR finishing, the color space question becomes much more complicated. But if there is a ‘most-common’ finishing standard for HDR, it’s the DCI-P3 color gamut with its D65 white point and PQ curve. That said, HDR transmission is nowhere near standardized, and many studios currently have their own unique finishing specifications for final publishing.
Some monitors leave it to you to figure out your monitor settings and make sure that you’re operating in the right color space for your production. But SmallHD has a unique feature called “Color Pipe” to simplify your color space setup. Just tell Color Pipe what type of signal is coming in each input (usually Log-based), and then set it to display in HDR or SDR for complete control of your monitoring color space and curves.
Video resolution indicates the amount of detail in your video and how realistic and clear it appears. When comparing monitors, resolution is the most obvious visual differentiator along with brightness. In terms of pixels, HD resolution is pixels x pixels; UHD resolution is pixels x pixels; and DCI 4K resolution is x pixels. If your camera outputs a 4K signal, a 4K monitor will give you the most accurate image representation. If your camera outputs 4K and your monitor displays at a lower resolution, depending on your signal workflow, you may need to configure your camera output to downscale to HD.
If you’re not quite ready to pull the trigger on 4K, look for a monitor with at least full HD resolution that has some 4K video input options. Even when purchasing a Full HD monitor, look for 4K-compatible monitors like the Smart 7 Series. While they’re Full HD monitors, they can ingest a UHDp30 signal via HDMI and employ 1:1 Pixel Mapping to let you utilize the full video signal resolution. 1:1 Pixel Mapping displays an input source without scaling it, so each pixel received is mapped to a single native pixel on the monitor. The ability to zoom in 100% allows you to maintain image integrity, ensuring that your image is always crisp and in focus.
As a side note, our Cine 7 is a 7” monitor with Camera Control functionality, allowing you to view and adjust the settings of popular cameras through the monitor’s UI—specifically RED® RCP2 (KOMODO®,V-RAPTOR™), RED RCP (for DSMC2® and most features on DSMC), ARRI (ALEXA MINI, ALEXA MINI LF, AMIRA), and Sony VENICE. To learn more about camera control watch this video.
The brightness of your monitor can make or break your shooting day when you're on location or anywhere with unpredictable lighting. As a rule, high-brightness monitors are ideal for shooting outdoors. The sun is the biggest, best key light on the planet, but it can also be your worst enemy when you’re trying to review your shot.
Monitor brightness is measured in nits. One nit is equal to one candela (one candlepower) per square meter. nits of brightness is considered daylight-viewable, so if you shoot outside a lot, aim for this or higher. If you already have a low-brightness monitor, say around 300nits, you may want to purchase a compatible accessory like a sun hood to help you review shots in brighter environments.
Note of caution: keeping your monitor consistently at the highest brightness will drain your battery’s charge more quickly, so remember to adjust brightness as needed or keep extra batteries nearby. Brightness can also impact image quality and color reproduction, so you’ll want to find quality monitors—like SmallHD—that retain reliable image integrity and color reproduction on their daylight-viewable displays.
You’ll also want to compare contrast ratios when researching new monitors. The contrast ratio is the difference between the brightest white and the darkest black of your image. A contrast ratio of :1 means the brightness of a completely white image is times greater than the brightness of a completely black image. Dynamic contrast ratio is when the blacks and whites are measured at different brightness levels, producing a range of contrast as opposed to a static number defined at a specific brightness level.
Viewing angle is another important consideration (it’s not exactly brightness-related, but we’re going to squeeze it in here anyway). Just imagine a scenario where you can't view your monitor head-on or you’re reviewing a shot with other people and you’re all looking at it from a different angle. Simply put, the larger viewing angle your monitor offers, the easier it will be to see a quality image representation from the side. Ideally, your monitor’s viewing angle should be as close to 180 degrees as possible, but depending on the display technology in the monitor, a perfect viewing angle may not be possible, nor is it always necessary. One more note: Even though a spec sheet may claim a 180-degree viewing angle, it does not mean there is zero color shift when viewing off-axis.
The software tools available on today’s monitors are game-changers. Common tools like focus assist and false color now come included on many entry-level monitors, and it’s impossible to imagine a world without them. But just because a monitor has a tool does not mean that tool is accurate or useful. For example, you might buy a monitor with a waveform tool, but its slow refresh rate renders it practically unusable. It’s important to make sure that whichever monitor you invest in, it includes the tools you need and a user interface that aligns with your workflow and can evolve with your career.
SmallHD prides itself on powerful, accurate software tools and UI/UX integrated into every monitor we manufacture. To learn more about our intuitive toolkit, learn more about the latest PageOS 5.
Here’s a look at the most common monitor tools:
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