Accurate, critical high-resolution video monitors have always been expensive. However, a new generation of professional-quality HDTV monitors is challenging that trend—keeping quality up while lowering costs.

Panasonic’s Model BT-LH2550, a new 25.5-inch high-resolution LCD HD production monitor priced at $5,995, is a good example. With a full 1920 x 1200-pixel In-Plane Switching (IPS) panel, this new Panasonic features an expanded color gamut, exceeding the NTSC standard, for critical monitoring at a cost far less than premium-priced reference monitors.

Panasonic said the LH2550 offers six color space settings—SMPTE, EBU, ITU-R BT.709, Adobe 2.2, Adobe 1.8 and D-Cinema—to expand the range of colors that can be viewed onscreen for high-end applications. The monitor’s image processing engine has a three-dimensional look-up table (LUT) that calibrates it to reproduce content according to the specific color standard selected.

At $6,245, Sony’s BVMA14F5U 14-inch, 4:3 aspect ratio CRT monitor supports multi-format input, accepting a range of SD and HD signal formats, with the added capability of dual-link HD-SDI input to monitor top-quality images up to 1080/50i and 1080/60i 4:4:4 RGB.

Part of Sony’s newly-upgraded BVM-A series monitors, the BVMA14F5U is configurable with three different option slots in which the user can choose any combination of the three available input option boards. The monitor also incorporates an all-new Ethernet based control system, allowing standard network cables and hubs to be used for easy configuration, high reliability, and good communication speed.

For on-camera mounting, a Houston, Texas-based company called Ikan has introduced the V8000HDe field monitor kit. The new V8000HDe is an eight-inch camera-mounted monitor that works with both SD and HD formats in 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratios. The kit works with Sony, Canon, Panasonic and JVC camcorders and is priced at $945.

For more information, visit www.panasonic.com/productiontough;

pro.sony.com/;

and http://www.ikancorp.com/.