Review Tvlogic F-7h mkI: F-7H monitor TVlogic By Carlos Cañal on 7/8/19, 8:27 PM • 1,249 views My partner Fabio Giolitti and I decided in February to move on from Tvlogic 058W (production of that model was over) and we decided to invest in the new F-7h MkI, we did a quick test and were convinced right away, but of course there are some pros and cons! We were sure we wanted to get a 7” monitor, bigger and bigger sensors are coming out and we both already worked with the Small HD 703 Ultrabright and loved the size (specially when working in anamorphic and wide formats) and how you can work in very sunny exteriors with it with no sunhood. Pros Ultra ultra bright: 3600 nits is a LOT. Once you try a high bright monitor for focus pulling I think there is no turning back. I personally don’t use it the highest brightness and I move in between level 2 & 3 (indoor 2 and outdoor). In maximum brightness the color of the monitor shift to blue, so its not accurate at all for color control. Brightness in low key situations: to me it makes a great difference to see things that in a normal monitor would be black and keep a good level of contrast, It saved me several times already because I was able to see better my depth of field and focus point.
Price: as said before I love the 703 Ultrabright, but I don’t like its price that much. I am not saying at all that is overpriced because is an amazing monitor and has a great image quality and exposure tools but to do focus pulling I think it is just too expensive. F-7h mkI sits in the middle and for what it gives you I think is the best deal out there. Though brand: my first impression was that this monitor was not so rugged as 058W (F-7h continues the design of 055) and I still think that is not... But after using it a lot since February is performing great and I heard some major electronic problems from 058W are solved so I think Tvlogic has develop again a GREAT monitor for us.
& the best one: after the release of MkI version they release a MkII version with frontal user buttons and saying that this version was specifically designed for focus pullers because It has enhancing sharpness and a new focus boost. I was shocked and 😡 BUT Tvlogic has been very comprensive and they released some weeks ago a software update that gives the MkI the focus tools of MkII 🙌🏻. No more aperture, now its a matter of finding the balance you like between sharpness and focus boost (It makes some image noise but its OK) and I have to say that I love my balance hehe and this monitor helps me now even better than a 058W!! Customs luts: I have to dive into this, Ill try to make this week some for different light situations and let you know... Cons: Size: its bulky, The sides of the screen are big. Maybe too big to have it for long days mounted to the LCS in handheld mode. It gets very hot & is batterie hungry: of course that amounts of nits make your batteries go down faster. The new nano bats maybe are not the best partners of F-7h (unless you have several!) It gets very hot, almost like a Teradek! In between them you can surely cook your sandwich (that is good actually... no?) Slower software: a bit slower than its predecessors, it doesn’t bother me. Last thing: open question for F-7h owners/users. Which setting you like most for sharpness/focus boost/Focus assist level? Thats it for now. If you want any other information just let me know. Cheers!
Nacho Guzman On 10/12/19, 3:24 PM Thanks for this review Carlos, it gets hard sometimes to find some information about monitors for film purposes. Im thinking in upgrading like you my 058w to a 7" option. SmallHD's are really making a difference in the market. I own a 703 Bolt (more for directors) but the fact that you mention that this new F-7H has no aperture anymore... its really a downer. I personally believe that this option was worth all the money in the world. Ive been very loyal to TV Logic for years, but this... Do you think Tv Logic would eventually release a software update in order to bring back this option? I keep reading mixed reviews about the new "focus boost" Its been a few weeks now since you release this review so maybe you have now some updates? I would be great to hear about it.
Hi @Carlos Cañal,
thanks for your Review. I bought the F-7H right away when it came out, as it is basically everything I've been waiting for since the 058W. I used it for a few projects now, under all conditions and I have to agree: It is indeed an amazing monitor, also for big sensors.
At first I was a afraid of the lower pixel density caused by its size, but with the focus boost update it's definitely on eye level with the 058W in matters of sharpness. And in my opinion it beats smallHD, to be fair I have to say I never used it much cause I didnt like it from the beginning.
The higher weight of the F-7H you feel though when it gets to steadicam and running around all day long. I separated the video rx and battery to carry in a belt pouch, works very fine then.
But. There are two things that are terrifying annoying to me and TV Logic said they're gonna work on the first and for the second they stopped answering my questions.
The brightness sets everytime in these four steps from 500 to 3600 nits when having it on the function button. You want to have it bright for rehearsal and shoot, in the meantime it is supposed to stay on, but as dark and less attracting as possbile. But there is no option to set the function button to like "F3= 2500nits". It is only "Brightness" like one the 058W the "max bright". But caused by the different brightnesses it makes me click three times that function button, everytime I wanna get to 2500nits while waiting after each time for the monitor to process the next higher brightness step. I wrote TV Logic a day after unwrapping the thing and they said it's gonna be forwarded to the guy who's in charge but nothing ever happened. I can't be the only one with the need to change that?
I can't import LUTs since the last firmware update. Can you? It just doesn't take em, no matter what stick, format, or LUT-Format I use. I tried everything, it just doesnt eat it. Then I called at a TV Logic service shop, guy told me that he can see in the internal info's that there was a fuckup with the firmware before "F-7H_CPU_V17_190516" but the issue should be solved by the actual one. It's not for me. I did a factory reset and all the stuff you do, didn't work out. TV Logic isn't responding anymore since last September. Does it work for you as intended?
Best,
Ramón
I bought the f7h Mk2 here in Vancouver and within 2 days i requested a refund. Now i hate the new OS of the small HD, ( i use a DP7Pro primarily), but i hated the OS of this F7h more. It was slow and poorly designed in my opinion. I still have a 071W and its a beast. The 074 and 5 inch versions where great too. But i foudn the Mk2 a step back... the "CUSTOM" buttons setting things where it took literally 5-7 secs to LOAD presets is unusable.
And now the build quality... The bevel is HUGE. its more a 9" inch monitor with a 7" screen. and the AB or GOLD plate that you can add to it is trash. It screws to the back and the plugs in like a dirty cheap chinese knock off.. and its not in flush to the monitor so rain or dust will just get inside..
I think this monitor was rushed out and really lacked finesse that could make it a truly great focus monitor to compete with small HD.
Hi Luke,
I am sorry you had such a bad impression of the F-7H. I didn't get my hands on a mkII with those custom buttons youre talking about, but 5-7 seconds for a preset sounds really scary and indeed unusable. The mkI has that kind of slow processing too, like it takes 2 seconds after you adjusted the brightness to the next level before it accepts the next click, it is very annoying but not so bad as you describe it. I wonder how the could mess up the mkII so much instead of eliminating the issues from mkI.
I think you won't go for it again, but there are some V-/Goldmount plates that fit on quite nicely, what they offer with it is ridiculous. The ones I mean are from bebop, the whole series is called "micro" including batteries and adapters. I mentioned them in your Transmitter-post more detailed.