Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays the SmallHD Ultra 7 from the completion of its appointed monitoring. Finally, a monitor for Vancouver or maybe the wettest place on Earth, Mount Waialeale in Hawaii, where rainfall averages about 450 inches each year. The new SmallHD Ultra 7 has an IP53 rating. IP is for Ingress Protection. “5” is for solids and it’s pretty well protected against dust. “3” is for liquids: “Water falling as a spray at any angle up to 60° from the vertical shall have no harmful effect.” So maybe you can shoot in the rain without a monitor rain cover—although your camera probably still needs protection.
Good storyboards begin with “We see palm trees.” You might see tropical islands, sun, surf and sailing. Or maybe you see Venice Beach, above. I see an ultra good, ultra bright on-board camera monitor. This is the one I want. The new SmallHD Ultra 7 has buttons to summon up shortcuts. Weatherproof for bad weather. Rubber bumpers to endure mayhem on location. Joystick for sticky craft-service donut-encrusted fingers that don’t want to touch the touchscreen.
Ultra 7 has a 1920×1200 Quantum Dot LED Edge-Lit LCD Display that is extremely bright (2300 nits). It has 6G SDI that can ingest and output a 4K signal up to 30p. The HDMI 2.0 in and out connectors manage up to 4K 60p. Ultra 7 can be powered by Gold, V or B-Mount Micro batteries, or external power.
Greg Smokler, VP Cine Products, said, “When we set out to design our next generation of ultrabright handhelds, we knew we had to create a monitor that was a major leap forward. Ultra 7 combines the processing power of our 4K production monitors with a rugged chassis and heat-management system built to withstand the harshest production conditions.”
You can control ARRI, RED and Sony cameras by buying optional, specific PageOS licenses. It works in a similar way as the Cine 7 or Ultra 5 using Ethernet or USB connectors.
All the popular PageOS tools are there: EL Zone exposure “meter,” focus assist, LUTs, overlays, Teradek RT focus scales, frame lines, anamorphic desqueeze and more.
An integrated Ultra 7 Teradek Bolt 6 transmitter or receiver is expected soon. In other words, instead of separate monitor and transmitter, you can have just one device, with just one video cable running from the camera. And for the DP, Director, AC or anyone else wanted to roam on set, the integrated Ultra 7 Receiver provides a compact package.
SmallHD says, “Ultra 7 can be purchased with a fully-integrated Teradek Bolt 6 transmitter or receiver inside the same-size chassis as the standard model. These integrated wireless monitors will feature a new rugged antenna cap to reduce antenna damage and will be available in Bolt 6 750 and 1500 range models. Ultra 7 RX kits will ship with handles, a padded strap, and a Wooden Camera Micro Battery Plate (GM, VM, or B-mount).”
Ultra 7 has a monitor sunshade/sunhood that attaches to the monitor with magnets and flips and folds like an iPad cover. It has a micro-fiberish anti-reflective material on the inside that protects the monitor screen when you close it up for transport or for “lunch-one-hour.”
More info at SmallHD’s excellent landing page.
