Question about 7" 12G HDR Monitor focusing

Concerning the 7" 12G HDR Video Assist:
I understand the screen is 1080 but,
When I zoom in will the VA be using 1080 image or 4K image? (hooked up to 12G SDI)

I'm pretty sure that if you're feeding a 2160 video out of the camera to the VA then when you zoom in 2X the resulting image portion you're seeing is 1080. Otherwise, the pixels are being upscaled if you're feeding a 1080 signal into the monitor.

Overall, might be better for a BMD Engineer to give a specific answer.

Good question. Just guessing here but it might be the same technique as employed on the 4K or larger cameras like the 12K. If the 4K camera monitor is only HD resolution and one zooms in in a UHD frame, does the sharpness of the camera monitor look nearly identical whether it’s 4K UHD downscaled to HD or showing pixel for pixel on the camera monitor with 2x zoom? Afraid I’m not the best judge of that.

The answer might be more obvious with the 12K perhaps shooting 8K as that could be zoomed 4x. Certainly when zooming 8x on the BMPCC4K, there may not be any fancy interpolation going on as I find the image on the camera monitor very soft at 8x, but usable at 2x and 4x zoom.

I did a test using the UltraStudio 4K Mini, Resolve, and my Video Assist 4K. So I output the 2160 signal from Resolve through the UltraStudio to the Video Assist. Some key notes is that I had to have Video Monitoring set to Single Link for the SDI Configuration and then in Desktop Video make sure SDI Output Color Space is set to "Video is converted to Y, Cb, Cr, 4:2:2" for the image to appear on screen. Timeline was set to UHD resolution, then Video Format for Video Monitoring was also UHD.

I went to the Deliver page to export the timeline in and out as a short 12 second example for someone. I set the export to HD MP4. So while it was previewing on the Video Assist 4K the HD image was smaller on the monitor. Thus, when I hit the zoom on the Video Assist it filled up the entire screen. This was the full HD image, and it looked fine. Looked exactly as sharp as a 1080 output signal would have looked.

So I would say from this quick experiment I proved that a 2160 UHD output signal from a camera to the Video Assist 4K will result in you being able to see a 1080 HD image when you tap to zoom on it.

Thanks for looking into that, Tim.

Yes Tim thanks.

I am looking to get the 7" 12G HDR Video Assist to better help with focusing as opposed to my 3G SDI 7" monitor. With the 3G SDI the magnification is not much of a help. But if as you find the 12G SDI will zoom in to the 4K (not limited to just 1080HD) this could provide me a better look at what is in focus. And since I am now using the URSA 12K with a Zeiss Otus lens this becomes an important aspect for me.

I plan to order the VA tomorrow (B&H closed today) and let you know how it goes.

Yes Tim thanks.

I am looking to get the 7" 12G HDR Video Assist to better help with focusing as opposed to my 3G SDI 7" monitor. With the 3G SDI the magnification is not much of a help. But if as you find the 12G SDI will zoom in to the 4K (not limited to just 1080HD) this could provide me a better look at what is in focus. And since I am now using the URSA 12K with a Zeiss Otus lens this becomes an important aspect for me.

I plan to order the VA tomorrow (B&H closed today) and let you know how it goes.

Just remember, my test was with the older 7" Video Assist 4K from 2016. Those units had 6G SDI. https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/ ... 0160418-06

I've held off updating because I want the next Video Assist I get to be mainly a monitor without the recorder features. I would love for it to have wireless camera control also so that I can use the on screen controls to control the camera settings. That's because if I'm using it to view the image and operate I'd like the ease of using it to make changes as well. But I would use it for operating, so the 12G VA with their brightness is a start, then I'd love for them to be a little lighter and less bulky by eliminating the recorder features, but the wireless control may hinder that as the bulk may be needed.

Not sure how much bulk or weight you would save as you would still have to provide for two of the largest batteries as that bright monitor (when used outdoors) consumes most of the power I suspect.

I am not concerned about battery weight on the monitor because I power the monitor and the Nucleus-M from a brick strapped to the tripod. I really don't need the recorder, but the only other 7", 12G SDI, bright monitor I have found in price range is the Lilliput Q7-12G which is only $100 less.

I do appreciate the ability to record BRAW or CinemaDNG or ProRes in camera and have the ProRes HQ from the BMVA12G7 as a production backup. Although I don’t have a photography camera which can feed the BMVA12G7, I think it’s a good feature for those that do.

Well I got one and nope, it does not give a 1:1 cropped 4K image just a 2X of 1080. Sending back also because of inaccuracies of waveforms, histogram and false color. Oh, well. I've heard bad things about the Atomos $1300 12G-SDI monitor/recorder. Although they do advertise it will view 4K 1:1 pixels on their 1080 screen. Back to my 3G-SDI Lilliput for now.

Well I got one and nope, it does not give a 1:1 cropped 4K image just a 2X of 1080. Sending back also because of inaccuracies of waveforms, histogram and false color. Oh, well. I've heard bad things about the Atomos $1300 12G-SDI monitor/recorder. Although they do advertise it will view 4K 1:1 pixels on their 1080 screen. Back to my 3G-SDI Lilliput for now.

Interesting. My test wasn't exactly a scientific one. And, I for the most part don't use my Video Assist 4K for anything these days. I use my SmallHD 702 a lot more.

I think BMD could update the Video Assist firmware to show 1:1 zoom on the BMVA12G7 SDI if the feed is 4K and ‘magnification’ is requested.

My final solution for this can be found in the post:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=152851