The Blackmagic Design SmartScope Duo 4K Rack-Mounted Dual 6G-SDI Monitors is a monitoring solution for studio and location productions, displaying video with resolutions up to 3840 x 2160 at 30p. It features two 8" monitors each with a loop-through SDI input and output. The inputs are auto-sensing/selecting so you don't have to worry about matching the input format; the monitor will display any supported format that you feed it. You can choose to select to display either the input video or one of six scope displays, while the input video passes through the monitor to downstreamed devices.
You use the USB connector to initialize the monitor on your network; after that you can control the monitors using the supplied software via the Ethernet connector. This allows you to adjust the monitors' brightness and color as well as select the monitors display mode - video or scope view. The SmartScope Duo 4K also incorporates a Tally display around the border of the image, which works with industry standard Tally systems. The unit takes up three rack height units, but is less than two inches deep (including the connector depth), which makes it well suited for use in production trucks where space is at a premium. The unit also automatically flips the image if you need to install the unit upside down.
Note: SmartScope Duo v1 and v2 are functionally identical, with v2 containing a slightly different internal component set.
- Waveform: Displays the luminance component of the video signal on an IRE scale.
- Vectorscope: Allows you to accurately measure colors in the video signal, and is a valuable tool when matching cameras, or when you need to align the hue on the output of decks.
- Parade: You can choose to display either RGB or YUV Parade. RGB Parade lets you check for illegal colors, plotting them against an IRE Scale. The YUV Parade display shows the YUV component video as it is transmitted down the SDI cable.
- Audio Views: allows you to monitor 16 channels of audio, checking the levels and the audio phase. You can monitor the levels of all 16 channels at the same time, or monitor the stereo phase of SDI audio pairs. The stereo phase meter plots left and right audio as an XY scope display, and out of phase audio can be seen as either a left or right leaning display.
- Histogram: The Histogram view lets you see where the pixels are in your video, and how they are distributed from black to white. You can see where the overall exposure is, and if you are exposing the brighter areas of your image with enough detail.
