Help with Vixia HF G40 and External Monitor!

[Tonofuns]

Hello all, novice here just recording soccer for colleges.  Camcorder LCD screen is way to small so I use a Lilliput 5D-II 7" monitor that is hooked up to my new G40 via HDMI.  This worked perfectly on my older Sony CRX550v.  The problem is, the Lilliput monitor does not capture the full view of the G40s lcd screen.  All 4 edges are cropped out some.  Example, the Lilliput does not capture the photo tab on the G40s lcd screen so I'm missing quit a bit when I look into the Lilliput monitor.  I hope this maks sense.  I have the Lilliput set to 16:9. Full view has same issue.  Tried everything.

  Is my Lilliput to cheap/weak and upgrading to a better field monitor will fix this issue?  I don't want to spend $300-$500 on a new monitor if it won't help.  Canon rep was zero help.  He hooked it up to a tv and stated that there are zero issues and said that the camcorder was not ment to used with an external monitor so he couldn't help.  Wow, this isn't rocket science.

  B&H blames the G40 which makes no sense to me.

    I am sorry to say that what you are facing is not an issue with the monitor, but a limitation of the 5D Mark II itself.  That camera does not have a completely clean HDMI output that can send out a full signal in the same way as the G40.  No monitor is going to correct this situation.

  All I want is to be able to connect an external monitor to my G40 so that when I'm recording a soccer match and looking into the larger screen, it is equaling to what is on the LCD.  I shouldn't have to guess my distance when I zoom or pan away because I have to take into account the differences of the 2 screens.  I can't believe we are creating self driving cars and I can't have 2 monitors equal each other. Sigh...  

  By the way, regardless of what I see on the external monitor, when I play it back on a TV it shows what is being seen on the G40s LCD screen.  So the camera works great, just need an external monitor to work properly.  Did Canon drop the ball here?  I tried to post a pic but it sent my post to subscription...not sure how to post pic here.

Thanks...

[Tonofuns]

Hello all,

  I want to pass on my findings so that it may help others seeking the same question since no one replied.  

I was unhappy with the response I got back form B&H Photo and Canon.  Lilliput only stated that the 5D-II's  native resolution is 1024x600 and A7 is 1920x1080.  Since I was unhappy with all the responses, I went ahead and took the plunge and bought the Lilliput A7 external monitor.  

  The A7 fixed all my viewing issues.  What is showing on the G40 monitor is equal to what is showing on the A7.   They mirror each other perfectly and now my eyes don't have to work so hard.  I believe this is because the lative resolution on the G40 LCD is HD 1920x1080, so if you use an external monitor with a lesser native resolution such as the 5D-II (1024x600), the larger external monitor wont be able to capture the Full screen of the smaller but more powerfull G40 LCDscreen (1920x1080).   Hope that makes sense and I was able to pass on some usefull information.   I may be wrong as to why it works but it works and somehow the professionals didn't know the asnwer.

B&H explained that it would never work and blamed Canon for not having a clean HDMI output. ????? I couldn't accept this. makes no sense.

Canon customer support only would say that it works on large screen TV's perfectly but since it wasn't intended for small screen monitors, he was not incllined to answer.  ????? Pretty crappy service and knowledge from the company that makes the camcorder.

Lilliput only stated the obvious, that the A7 had a stronger native resolution of 1920x1080.  ????  This company makes the extternal monitor and  can't tell me for certain if it would work?

Almost 200 views on these Canon forums and not one person could help or suggest ideas?   Wow....

  Thanks all for nothing, hope I was able to help someone....

[jnptruck]

Hi Tonofuns, Thanks for your post, I have the same isue have the G40 but the display is to smal and Im looking for a external monitor, I have try everything with out any results. I like to record my grandsons football games and having hard times with this isues the display on the G40 to small. any susgestions will be greatlly apriciated.

[Vanon66]

Hi Canon Community,

I would like to know what you finally came up with that worked with your G40.  I have an HF-G20 and am looking into getting an external monitor so I am trying to find out what is going to work and what isn't.  Unfortunately, I too got a lame answer from Canon stating that they can't respond with information about third party accessories.  Sigh...

Looking forward to hearing back from anyone with advise.

[VideoGeek]

"I went ahead and took the plunge and bought the Lilliput A7 external monitor. The A7 fixed all my viewing issues.  What is showing on the G40 monitor is equal to what is showing on the A7."

According to the previous poster the Liliput A7 worked.  

I have a G20 as well and have an inexpenisve external monitor that I have to try with it.  I will connect it and let you know whether or not I think it is adequate for monitoring.  Do you have a price range or budget in mind for the monitor?

[Vanon66]

Hi VideoGeek;

Thanks for the response.  I found an online YouTube tutorial done by Canon talking about using a computer as a monitor so I messaged them via that video and they responded quickly and even several times as I asked other questions.  They assured me that external monitors will work with the G20, which I naturally assumed also as I have also seen YouTube videos of people who own Canon camcorders using monitors. 

I have done a ton of research online over the weekend and really liked a monitor review video done by DSLR Shooter.  With what he said along with people on other sites, I narrowed my search down to a Neewer NW759 and ordered one today on ebay.  According to the reviews, i am understanding that this monitor gives you the best bang for the buck as it has a very high resolution, one of the more high tech screens, and the menu is easier to navigate due to the buttons being physically on the bottom of the unit.  

I am hoping that I did the right thing and will keep you posted on how it works after I get it.  Please keep me posted on what you are doing too.  I am setting out this spring to do an extended project so I am sure I will be learning a great deal via experience.

[VideoGeek]

Looking forward to reading the updates. I will let you know the experience I have and the monitor used.  

[Vanon66]

Hello again VideoGeek;

Thought I would touch base.  I got my Neewer monitor in and have run it through the basic tests.  Since it is my first monitor I don't have anything else to judge it by, but I love what I have.  It is really great to step up from the small screen on my G20!  My budget was only in the 100 dollar range so I knew that I would have to make some compomises, but I honestly don't think that I have settled.  This 7" monitor does everything that I needed it to do meaning, allowing me to compose, and carefully focus.  At at this price range, it is VERY crisp and sharp.  The other BIG bonus for me is that it has an option to give you a box framed in a thin red line to help you frame your shots according to the format that you want to use and I was thrilled to discover that one of these is 2:35.1 which I love using.  I was figuring that I would probably have to put masking tape over the screen to help me with framing for that format.  

I paid $90.00 plus a small shipping fee and also got two batteries, a charger, and a 'Y' shaped cold shoe accessory mount that allows me to use three accessories.  The ball head that came with it was a disapointment and I am having to shop for another one, but, at that price point, that is to be expected I guess.  The small ball head clamps down tight to the cold shoe, but the main part of the head that is connected to the monitor is still loose and wiggles.  

It turns out that I have a small Pelican case that is the perfect size for all of it to fit in so I think I am set!

[VideoGeek]

Great news!  I am glad to hear the Neewer monitor is working for you.  I will that in mind should I need to purchase another one. 

[jaschiang]

Hi Tonofuns,

I happen to have the exact same setup as you do, HF G40 and Lilliput 5D-II 7" monitor. However, I didn't have the issues you experienced. I tried both 1080p and 720p HDMI output from G40 and the image on Lilliput 5D-II all seemed fine under either 16:9 or full view mode, no crop-out. The only situation that I would see a partial image is when I turned on pixel-to-pixel mode, and that is as expected. Also, the manual of Lilliput monitor stated it supports 1080p or 720p HDMI input. So I wonder if your Lilliput 5D-II could be defective.