· Get a Cloudy Nights T-Shirt · Submit a Review / Article Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums Privacy Policy | Please read our Terms of Service | Signup and Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu… uh, User You are not logged in. [Login] Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online FAQ · Calendar Equipment Discussions >> Video and Electronically Assisted Astronomy Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Pages: 1 robininni professor emeritus Reged: 04/18/11 Loc: Stephenville, TX Best way to look at Malincam Xtreme video feed?       #5745061 - 03/20/13 12:36 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Please don't throw tomatoes if this gets asked a lot and I confess, I didn't use search first. So... What's the best way to view the feed for quality of image (crisp, good color, etc.)? I have used a dinkly 10" LCD and it wasn't that great. Thanks, Rob Post Extras:       ahopp sage Reged: 05/24/12 Re: Best way to look at Malincam Xtreme video feed? [Re: robininni]       #5745147 - 03/20/13 01:29 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I use a Mac Book Pro w/Retina display, and a Black Magic capture device, this device is ThunderBolt connected. I capture the S-Video feed. The composite feed goes to a 12VDC/120VAC 9" tube TV. Tony Post Extras:       mclewis1 Thread Killer Reged: 02/25/06 Loc: New Brunswick, Canada Re: Best way to look at Malincam Xtreme video feed? [Re: robininni]       #5745150 - 03/20/13 01:29 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   1) Speco 905c color crt monitor with an S-Video connection back to the Mallincam. The Speco should also have it's black level tweaked slightly (simple adjustment, instructions are on the Mallicam Yahoo group site)... as they come from the factory their not adjusted for the absolute best possible faint DSO viewing. In general though this little color monitor represents one of the best values for high quality video viewing. Sure there are better and bigger CRT video monitors out there but they are getting very rare and are generally much more expensive. 2) A PC with a good quality LCD (fine resolution and good black levels) and the Mallincam MCV-1E frame grabber. The MCV-1E is an off the shelf USB frame grabber that uses a good chipset (limited compression) and has also been modified for video astronomy use with an adjustable black level. There are now some very nice LCD video monitors but they tend to lack the appropriate video connections for direct connection with a Mallincam Xtreme. Upconverting from composite or S-Video to HDMI or other connections is possible but at a cost. Good quality up conversion isn't cheap (but does seem to be coming down in price). Post Extras:       GlennLeDrew Postmaster Reged: 06/18/08 Loc: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Re: Best way to look at Malincam Xtreme video feed? [Re: mclewis1]       #5745469 - 03/20/13 03:49 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I use a 15" Dynex (cheap) LCD with very good results. It has just about every possible connector on the back, too. Including S-video. And my wee little netbook with the MCV-1 capture device does well when I'm out in the sticks or otherwise collecting images. I have an 8" Sony Trinitron monitor/TV, but its display is not as nice as either of the above. Post Extras:       dragonslayer1 sage Reged: 02/25/12 Loc: SLC, UT Re: Best way to look at Malincam Xtreme video feed? [Re: GlennLeDrew]       #5745686 - 03/20/13 05:14 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   CSS led me to an awesome little Sony portable DVD player that has excellent battery life and great color display.. Could not be happier... Sony DVP-FX970,,,,, bought two it is so good Kasey Post Extras:       robininni professor emeritus Reged: 04/18/11 Loc: Stephenville, TX Re: Best way to look at Malincam Xtreme video feed? [Re: dragonslayer1]       #5792019 - 04/11/13 09:53 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I have a Speco VM905C 9" monitor ordered because I have read it gives excellent pictures for Mallincam use, but I am cancelling the order because the business I ordered it from still hasn't shipped it in 2 weeks now and it was supposed to go out yesterday at the latest. So.... this gives me some time to change to something else if there are even better recommendations or just reorder the same thing from somewhere else. I have read somewhere that Marshall monitors are excellent but I am kind of worried about an LCD type monitor versus a CRT. I probably should have stated in the first place what I am using and therefore trying to improve from. My current monitor is a 15" 720p Coby monitor and the pictures really look horrific on it. Is it because it is 15" and this is too big? I am using composite video to it (although it does support S-video) but it just looks ugly with blocky stars, etc. Thanks, Rob Post Extras:       wolfman_4_ever Pooh-Bah Reged: 07/15/11 Loc: El Segundo, Ca, So. Cal Re: Best way to look at Malincam Xtreme video feed? [Re: robininni]       #5793189 - 04/11/13 08:02 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   You can buy my used speco VM905C 9" I don't use it much. It is a better video feed but I use a thunderbolt connection to different feeds for convenience. Post Extras:       ccs_hello Postmaster Reged: 07/03/04 Re: Best way to look at Malincam Xtreme video feed? [Re: robininni]       #5793201 - 04/11/13 08:07 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Rob, I am assuming your are viewing the astro video feed "not stretched", i.e., two vertical black bar regions one in far left and one in far right. Then your 15" WIDE (16:9) LCD TV is just 12.26" size in 4:3 mode. Either way, if you view the screen in WIDE mode, the proper viewing distance for SD (Standard Definition) TV is 4.8 ft. if view the screen in Standard mode, the proper viewing distance for SD TV is 3.9 ft. (For each 10" diagonal size, take distance of 3.2 ft.) Calculator here: http://myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html Bottom-line: standard definition does not a high spatial resolution thus should be viewed just like viewing a SD TV. Clear Skies! ccs_hello Post Extras:       Pages: 1 Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Extra information 7 registered and 10 anonymous users are browsing this forum. 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