Sony PVM-740 Service Manual Ad 3

I rely 100% on the studio monitor for

“

framing and composition, rather than
the camera’s viewfinder or flip-out LCD.

”

A Sony® OLED monitor beats the
competition in a side-by-side trial.

Doug Jensen knows what he wants from a production monitor. As a veteran producer of training
and promotional videos, he specializes in documentary and film-style video field production for
broadcast and corporate clients. His client list ranges from broadcast networks and major cable
channels to documentary producers and corporations that need high-end video shooting.

He’s used almost every type of monitor. Recently, when he had the chance to try out
Sony’s new OLED PVM-740 monitor, he was impressed, to say the least.

“I didn’t want to send it back,” Jensen said.

In his line of work, high-quality monitoring is especially important, especially when
shooting in the studio.

“I rely 100% on the studio monitor for framing and composition, rather than the
camera’s viewfinder or flip-out LCD,” he said. “Usually that camera is mounted on a
teleprompter system and not very easy to get to, and usually up too high to see into
the viewfinder without standing on apple boxes. So having a high-quality monitor in the
studio is pretty important to us.”

PVM-740 OLED Monitor

continued

➔

He used the PVM-740 on two recent projects, and in a side-by-side
comparison with a competing 17-inch studio monitor that he has
been using for the past few years.

“I wanted to get a feel for which monitor I liked best,” he said. “I kept
them both side-by-side on C-stands, to see which one I naturally
gravitated to.

In addition to the brilliant image quality, the monitor also includes
several features that Jensen found useful, such as its built-in stand
and the ability to be powered on or off while running on battery
power. “When I was in the studio shooting, I never plugged it into AC
power,” he said. “It ran all day on a BPL-G90 battery.”

“I loved the picture on the 740,” he continued. “It looked fantastic. In
our studio shooting, generally our typical set-up is a high-key, white
background. That’s the way we do a lot of our training videos.”

“Sometimes other monitors can’t handle the contrast and flesh
tones when the talent is against that kind of backdrop,” he added.
“We really have the white lit so that it’s almost blown-out, and
sometimes the talent’s flesh tones don’t look that great on a
monitor. What the camera is picking up is a different story, but on
the monitor, the flesh tones usually look a little dark.

I wanted to get a feel for which

“

monitor I liked best. I kept them both
side-by-side on C-stands, to see
which one I naturally gravitated to.

“On the OLED, it looked great. It looked just like I expected it to look
in post, and it handled that contrast of the bright and the darks so
much better than other monitors I’ve used.”

”

It feels like a rugged monitor.

“

It’s perfect for the field.

Jensen added, “I was also impressed by how easy the menu system
was to use, with the assignable buttons. I programmed all those to
be able to change the menu setting quickly. I never have taken the
time to do that with other monitors.”

In the end, his one critique of the PVM-740 is its current size, which
at 7.4 inches is not very practical for studio use. However, in the
field, Jensen reports that the OLED monitor can be the perfect field
companion.

“It feels like a rugged monitor,” he said. “It’s perfect for the field. If I
was shooting out in the field on a regular basis, I can guarantee
you I’d have that thing in a case and take it everywhere I go. And
from a contrast and image-quality standpoint, it looked fantastic. I
knew it was going to look great even before I got it, and I was not
disappointed.”

”

Sony Electronics Inc.
1 Sony Drive
Park Ridge, NJ 07656

DI-0228

Doug Jensen is an award-winning video production professional with more than 30 years
of experience as an HD cinematographer, producer, director, editor, and consultant. As a
member of Sony’s Independent Certified Experts (I.C.E.) team, he frequently teaches HD
workshops around the U.S. and in other countries.

© 2011 Sony Electronics Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without

written permission is prohibited. Features and specifications subject to change without

notice. Sony, “make.believe” and their respective logos are trademarks of Sony.

Printed in USA 2/11