Good BNC to VGA/DVI Converter

[Prodman22]

I have purchased a Panasonic WV CP504 CCTV camera with a wide angle lens for use in the orchestra Pit focused onto the MD. My aim is to feed our 24 inch LCD VGA monitor which I'm rigging on the dress circle.

I need to convert the BNC to VGA or DVI and wanted to know of a recommended device. There are lots on ebay for around £15 and they say they do the job but I'm always reluctant at such cheap prices.

Can anyone recommend one please. I have a budget of up to £100 for such device.

[david.elsbury]

Look at CPC- but you'll find that there is latency introduced by such a connection and conversion - possibly enough to warrant the solution unusable for cuing!

 

I would recommend changing the monitor for something with composite in. Is this an option?

 

David

[Stuart91]

I have a budget of up to £100 for such device.

 

As David says, for £100 you should be able to buy a perfectly serviceable flatscreen of similar size with a composite input. (BNC will go into a phono input with just a simple adaptor, no processing needed)

[dbuckley]

As David says, for £100 you should be able to buy a perfectly serviceable flatscreen of similar size with a composite input.

 

And you should lose the latency of the converter into the bargain, always good when its the MD on the screen. There will still be latency, just that of the LCD internally, but you would still have some latency even if you use the DVI input.

[Nick Mawer]

The only way to avoid latency would in fact be to find an old CRT display.

You have to question how good/fast a scaler in a £100 flat screen would actually be. Quality may not be an issue, but I am sure latency would be.

[Prodman22]

Ok thanks everyone, I took the advice and went for an old CRT. Its heavier and bulky but there's no latency at all.

[Malcolm Gordon]

Apologies for reviving this old thread.

 

Can anyone give me an idea of the latency one might expect in a bnc/vga converter? It presumably depends on the quality/price of the converter.

[sleepytom]

Firstly a BNC/VGA converter isn't a thing. The device you're talking about is called a Composite to VGA Scaler.

 

High-end ones like the Folsom Image Pro have around 1 frame of delay (40ms in PAL)

Mid-level ones from the like of TVOne might have 2-3 frames.

Some of the very cheap ones have bigger delays.

 

There may be other delays in the system depending on various factors, a typical worst case scenario follows!

 

HD Camera -> Composite (in camera delay of 2 frames)

composite ->VGA converter 800x600 (2 frames)

VGA -> HD Monitor (1 frame in-monitor upscale)

 

Total latency = 5 frames (200ms)

 

Is this too much? This kind of depends on the application, for a prompter monitor in theater then its fine, if its a conductor monitor for musicians then it is a total disaster!

 

hope this helps

 

cheers

tom

[Malcolm Gordon]

Many thanks. Your detailed info is very helpful. I took my expression from the thread title. The usage is as your first option, and I am using the camera mentioned further up the thread. It will be interesting to check the actual latency when I put everything together.