camera behind lcd screen free sample

The idea of embedding cameras in a display is not new. From the earliest days of videoconferencing it was recognized that the separation of the camera and the display meant the system could not convey gaze awareness

A second challenge has emerged more recently. The desire to maximize screen size on small devices such as cell phones leaves little room outside the display to locate a camera.

Placing cameras behind the screen could solve these problems, but doing so tends to degrade the image. Diffraction from the screen’s pixel structure can blur the image, reduce contrast, reduce usable light

In this project we investigate how machine learning can help overcome some of the image degradation problems associated with placing cameras behind the display, and can help frame remote conversations in

Locating the camera above the display results in a vantage point that’s different from a face-to-face conversation, especially with large displays, which can create a sense of looking down on the person speaking.

Worse, the distance between the camera and the display mean that the participants will not experience a sense of eye contact. If I look directly into your eyes on the screen, you will see me apparently gazing below

your face. Conversely, if I look directly into the camera to give you a sense that I am looking into your eyes, I’m no longer in fact able to see your eyes, and I may miss subtle non-verbal feedback cues.

Relocating the camera to the point on the screen where the remote participant’s face appears would achieve a natural perspective and a sense of eye contact.

With transparent OLED displays (T-OLED), we can position a camera behind the screen, potentially solving the perspective problem. But because the screen is not fully transparent, looking through it degrades image quality by introducing diffraction and noise.

To compensate for the image degradation inherent in photographing through a T-OLED screen, we used a U-Net neural-network structure that both improves the signal-to-noise ratio and de-blurs the image.

The ability to position cameras in the display and still maintain good image quality provides an effective solution to the perennial problems of gaze awareness and perspective.

Isolating the people from the background opens up additional options. You can screen out a background that is distracting or that contains sensitive information. You can also use the background region to

Human interaction in videoconferences can be made more natural by correcting gaze, scale, and position by using convolutional neural network segmentation together with cameras embedded in a partially transparent display. The diffraction and noise resulting from placing the camera behind the screen can be effectively removed using U-net neural network. Segmentation of live video also makes it possible to combine the speaker with a choice of background content.

For decades, we’ve lived with an inconvenient technological truth: Cameras and other sensors cannot occupy the same space as our screens. It’s why, increasingly, smartphones rely on the dreaded “notch” as a way of maximizing screen-to-body ratios while preserving the front-facing camera and other sensors.

Some phone makers, from Oppo to OnePlus, get around this problem by using motorized pop-up cameras, while others have resorted to punching holes in displays to provide the camera with its own peephole. It’s also why even the latest high-end laptops still have pronounced bezels around their displays. The webcam needs a home and it seems no one is willing to live with a notch or hole-punch on a computer.

But it turns out that cameras and screens aren’t quite as incompatible as they seem. Thanks to improvements in manufacturing techniques, these two adversaries are about to end their long-standing territorial dispute. This isn’t a far-flung prediction; it’s happening right now.

Complaining about a phone notch, hole-punch or a large screen bezel is the very definition of a first-world problem. And judging from Apple’s stellar sales numbers, none of these side effects of forward-facing cameras are dealbreakers for buyers.

First, it lets you make phones that have true edge-to-edge screens. Videos and photos look better, and app developers can make use of every square millimeter for their designs — all while keeping the phone’s body as small as possible.

Second, from a design and manufacturing point of view, if cameras and sensors can be placed anywhere, with fewer restrictions on their size and visibility, it redraws the map for phone design. Bigger batteries, thinner phones, more sensors, and much better cameras are all potential upsides.

Cameras placed in bezels or notches create the now all-too-familiar, awkward downward gaze that happens during video calls. “Most of the time, you’re not actually looking at each other when you’re talking over video chat,” Michael Helander, CEO at Toronto-based OTI Lumionics told Digital Trends. “The current placement of videoconferencing cameras in all of these devices is really suboptimal.”

Helander has probably thought about this problem more than most. His company creates specialty materials that enable what was once impossible — making displays transparent enough that you can place a camera behind them.

Once a camera is sitting behind the display, it will finally make our video interactions look and feel like real, in-person interactions — a game changer that couldn’t come at a better time in our COVID-restricted world.

Screen technology is dominated by two kinds of displays. The most common are liquid crystal displays (LCD), which include LED TVs and QLED TVs. The second, organic light-emitting diode (OLED), dominates smartphones and tablets, and is growing in use in laptops and even desktop monitors

LCDs are actually transparent when not in use — that’s why you see a gray background on a calculator screen wherever the black digit segments aren’t active. But taking advantage of this transparency to take a photo poses big technical hurdles, especially once you factor in the need for a backlight.

One solution favored by Xiaomi and Oppo in their UDC prototypes is to rely on an OLED pixel’s inherent transparency. When an OLED pixel isn’t being used to emit light, it lets light in. So you can place a camera behind an OLED display and it will be able to gather enough light to capture images. But there’s a catch: You still need to place the camera at the top or bottom of the screen, because when the camera is active, the OLED pixels above it must be shut off, which creates a temporary black area on the screen. That approach is a solution to the notch and hole-punch problem, but it does nothing to solve the downward gaze issue.

The first commercially available phone with an under-display camera — the ZTE Axon 20 5G — uses this technique, but it also suffers from a less-than-ideal compromise. Modern smartphones have incredibly densely packed pixels. The iPhone 12 Pro has a 460ppi (pixels per inch) display, which means that there are more than 200,000 pixels in one square inch. Sony’s Xperia XZ Premium had a whopping 807ppi screen (more than 650,000 pixels per square inch).

Punching holes in between those pixels, even with a laser, is so tricky that ZTE had to remove some pixels from the area above the camera to buy some extra room. The result is a noticeably lower-resolution square on the screen.

A lower-resolution section of the screen might not bother you when it’s near the top, in an area that’s used mostly for inconsequential information. But few people would accept such an obvious reduction of resolution in the center of their phone’s display, which is what we would need to counteract the downward-gaze problem.

Helander claims the self-assembly process works on any screen size, and lets manufacturers decide how many openings are needed — from just one to 1 billion.

As exciting as it is to think that we’ll soon be able to have much more natural video calls, placing a camera under a display puts an even bigger onus on manufacturers to provide trustworthy privacy measures.

We’ll need some kind of reliable indicator of when the camera is active and an equally reliable way of disabling it. Because it’s under the screen, there’s no way to physically block the lens without blocking content on the screen as well.

Apple recently updated iOS to show a small green dot near the notch when its forward-facing camera is in use, and an orange dot to show when the mic is active. That’s a good way to inform us of what’s going on, but we need something more.

Smart speakers like the Google Nest mini ship with physical switches that can be used to disable the microphones. Assuming that there’s no way to remotely overcome the switch’s position, it provides a very good level of trust. A similar mechanism on TVs, monitors, and laptops should come standard once cameras become invisible.

OTI Lumionics already has agreements in place with several Chinese smartphone manufacturers, but due to confidentiality restrictions, these companies can’t be named just yet. “Many of them have prototype phones that have been built and everything looks great,” Helander notes, “but none of them want to disclose anything publicly until they’re ready for their actual official product announcements.” He’s confident that we’ll see these new under-display camera models sometime in 2021, although they may remain a Chinese market exclusive until 2022.

Tv news studio, television broadcast room interior with round table and earth globe on screen. video channel studio with newscaster desk, lighting equipment and camera, cartoon vector illustration

In a perfect world, everything would fit under the surface of smartphone displays. That’s been the principle behind the past few years of phone design, at least, ever since the iPhone X escalated the bezel wars with its conspicuous notch. From in-display fingerprint sensors to pop-up selfie cameras, we’ve seen phone manufacturers take creative approaches to achieving the highest possible screen-to-body ratio.

The latest advancement in the bezel wars is the ZTE Axon 20 5G, which goes on sale today and is the world’s first phone to integrate its front-facing camera underneath the screen. While in-display fingerprint sensors are commonplace now, doing the same for selfie cameras has proven to be more difficult. Companies like Oppo and Xiaomi have been showing off demos for years, but ZTE has beaten them to the punch with the first commercial device.

In theory, the advantages are obvious. You get an unbroken display that doesn’t need to account for a notch or hole-punch, and you don’t have to build in a motorized mechanism for a pop-up camera module. Again, if the world were perfect, the camera would just magically exist under the display without compromising image quality on either end.

Before we talk about the camera, we should talk about the display that lies on top. I doubt this has anything to do with the camera technology itself, but the fact is that the Axon 20 5G is one of the biggest smartphones I’ve ever seen. The 90Hz OLED panel is a massive 6.92 inches diagonal, which means its 1080p resolution is a little less sharp than you’ll find on other phones. It’s not a problem in regular use, though, and the screen generally looks pretty good beyond some rough off-angle color shifting.

What does not look good is the comparatively huge “chin” bezel at the bottom. Even though it would have been considered extraordinarily slim just a few years ago, it really stands out on the Axon 20 5G considering the supposedly breakthrough nature of the device. I’ve seen phones that have managed to integrate conventional selfie cameras into thinner bezels than this, which kind of undermines the point of putting one under the display.

That feeling only intensifies when you go through the Axon 20 5G’s setup process, which shows the camera in the worst possible conditions. The under-display integration is extremely noticeable on light backgrounds, like what you tend to see on settings screens. There’s a square patch of the screen that exhibits a clear dithering effect, making it appear much lower resolution than the rest of the panel. I will just say right now that I think it looks worse than a notch.

In more general use, it’s harder to notice. If you’re viewing photos or a full-color wallpaper, you can see the lower-resolution area if you look closely, but it isn’t quite as distracting. And as with other companies who’ve shipped Android phones with notches or hole-punches, ZTE’s default software uses a black background for the top part of the screen where status and notification icons are displayed, which does make the camera near-invisible. But really, if you need to resort to the same old notch-hiding techniques to disguise your under-display camera, what are we even doing here?

Of course, the next obvious question is how the camera actually performs. The news here is not great either. I don’t want to diminish the technical achievement of getting a halfway functional camera under an OLED screen at all — it involves new types of transparent materials, pixel filters, and demosaicing algorithms to make sense of the light that hits the 32-megapixel sensor. But the result, unfortunately, is a bad selfie camera.

This under-display selfie camera is merely functional, and that’s being generous. It can capture images through the screen, yes, which is indeed a minor miracle. But you probably wouldn’t want anyone else to see them.

This isn’t the most effusive compliment I can give a phone with a supposedly breakthrough selfie camera, but the ZTE Axon 20 5G is actually a much better proposition if you don’t care about selfies or video calls. It’s otherwise a pretty credible phone for $449, though despite providing a dollar price ZTE says it won’t be available in the US or Canada for now. (It’s €449 in the EU and £419 in the UK.)

Other specs include an optical in-display fingerprint sensor that works fine, 30W fast charging over USB-C, and a headphone jack. There’s a 64-megapixel main camera and a 16-megapixel ultrawide, along with 2-megapixel macro and depth sensors that you can probably ignore. The main areas where ZTE has cut corners are its mediocre haptics system and an unimpressive downward-firing speaker.

The fact that ZTE finally got a phone like this onto the market is a notable milestone, but I’m not sure who the device is really for. The under-display selfie camera often looks worse and more distracting than a notch, and the image quality is clearly compromised. It’s ironic that a phone might be more appealing to an audience that actively doesn’t care about its key selling point, but that’s where we’re at with the Axon 20 5G.

PlexiCam is the perfect video platform. No matter what camera or computer you"re using, PlexiCam scales with you, from your laptop and webcam to a widescreen desktop monitor with a professional mirrorless camera.

With PlexiCam you will always be able to look directly at the person you are speaking with while also looking at the camera because you can easily move your camera to anywhere on your screen.

Built-in, top-, or bottom-mounted webcams make it nearly impossible to create a human connection. You are either looking at the person on your screen and look disconnected to them, or you’re looking at the camera and can’t see the person on your screen.

Webcams are changing so rapidly that the last thing you want is to be tied to any particular model. With PlexiCam, you can use the camera you like best.

The Feelworld Lut7 monitor is a great find for this price. The 2200nit Touch Screen is a MUST HAVE. I have been able to use it on bright, sunny, beach days without the need for an additional sun-hood because of how bright it gets. That brightness will also save you on those cloudy, overcast days. On-camera monitors tend to throw back a harsh, almost mirror-like, reflection where the Feelworld Lut7 is clean and easy to see (see video for an example and an unboxing). The 7inch screen is nice because it allows you to pull up other items like RGB Parade, Vectorscopes, Grids, Audio Levels, etc. and still have plenty of room to monitor your video (again see video example). This monitor has a lot of the professional features you would find on much pricier models at a more affordable price. False Colors, RGB Parade, Wave, Vectorscope, Audio Bars, Audio and HMDI Out, LUT support...I could go on an on. Again, for this price range it is a great monitor!

This item is everything users claim. I have tested on one long drive and the resulting video and audio were of excellent quality, the field of view was satisfactory, the automatic iris adjusted for varying light levels from bright sunlight overhead to low ambient light at sundown. I"m very fastidious about video quality as a 40-year veteran of audio-visual enterprises. I won"t attempt a technical review as most potential buyers are interested in key features and whether the device works reliably and has any downside or limitations. Surprisingly small, it is relatively easy to set up once you"ve installed a micro-SD class 10 card. 32gb is best because any video file is big, and these are hi-definition. Throw away the small, inadequate instruction booklet included in the box, and go to the rexingv1.com site and download and print the more detailed, comprehensive update. It"s well worth it. Can"t comment on reliability until I"ve used it more over time, but it seems well-built yet I worry exposure to the notorious Florida high ultraviolet light content in unremitting sunlight might take a toll. Another tip. I installed my unit using Velcro tabs until I"m sure of the device and it proves reliable. Just DON"T fail to use alcohol on a microfiber towel to clean the installation area (behind the mirror) before attaching the 3M tab supplied or Velcro. This will better assure the adhesive won"t come loose from high windshield temperatures. You won"t be disappointed by the high quality images. They are standard .mov files. I haven"t tested the parking feature or motion detection features and because they require accessing the menu selections, I expect few will use them, except in cases where theft and damage incidents in their communities warrant their use. The limitations I found included the power cord, while long, required some compromise because it isn"t quite long enough for the run from mirror to lighter plug-in on my Honda Odyssey. Another added foot would have been perfect. The 3M adhesive pad is permanent and will be destroyed if you attempt to remove it. Two pads included for this price are not ideal if you plan to use the device in multiple cars or you make a poisoning mistake on first try, as I did. I mounted it to be unobtrusive, hidden mostly by the mirror. But, windshields reflections from attached GPS unit or cellphone cast shadows in the Rexing unit"s camera"s field of view. In summary, this dashcam is the best I found after review and research of more than a dozen I seriously iinvestigated from a long list of Amazon offers. It is easy to install, set-up and operate, complete with a tilt-adjustable lens for the perfect balance of panorama and horizon, produces high quality images and audio, and is lightweight. 4 1/2 stars.

Measure a seller not just the product but also by the after-sales support. I bought two of these dashcams, and installed one. The other is a Christmas gift and we"ll soon know if my experience will be repeated. So far, this little device has performed superbly. If you want to move it to other cars you own, you need additional strips of adhesive and the attachment plate. As other customers have noted, Velco tabs CAN be used, but only until the heat builds on the windshield and you find the dashcam hanging by the power cord. One email to Rexing did the trick and my request was met with quick dispatch of extra adhesive strips via first-class mail. This is the way to stand behind a great product. Let"s hope Rexing continues that winning philosophy because if/when the item experiences a problem, and is out of Amazon 30--day warranty, buyers still influence potential buyers based on their experience, called "back-end sales". Already, I"ve recommended this product to friends and family. I"ll update this when the second unit is installed. ( My only improvement recommendation is to add another plate and 3M adhesive strip to the product package and lengthen the power cord by a foot. And, a tip to future buyers. Clean the installation area on the windshield glass with alcohol beforehand)

After the allure fades, some electronics develop issue or problems due to inherent flaws or use. Here is my experience after 7 months of use for one V1, and 6 month for the other. Again, as a reminder, the high UV content and heat of the Florida sun will zap, degrade, deteriorate almost anything over enough time. Anything exposed to sun, form PVC, plastic pool liners, car dashboards, paint, home siding, you name it. Some, when I bought these V1 models, I knew to be skeptical that they would last, as consumer electronics are not built to fully withstand direct sun exposure on windshields or interior heat build-up when you park your car. Surprise. Neither show any problems. The video and audio still function as new, and the cameras and housings look factory-new, with no plastic curdling or dimpling from heat or direct sunlight. In fact, a review of video files of my wife"s month long trip from Florida to Tennessee and on to South Carolina to see her mom, and a stop to see our grandchildren were a perfect record of her daily travel. One downside, however, which I have addressed to Rexing. The adhesive tabs don"t hold up to the heat and UV I described. Yet, when applied, the 3M tape is very sticky and adheres well. Just try talking it off, and you"ll understand. But, in time, they seem to dry out and become less tacky, and the weight of the V1 - although slight - causes it to come loose, and you find the V1 dangling by its power cord. So far, this effect seems to only result from abnormally hot summers and mostly in Southern states, and could be a factor when a buyer is looking at competing models. To its credit, Rexing has willingly, quickly replaced the tabs with new ones. If this experience continues to occur ever 4 months, it could become a tedium. My cost-benefit analysis tells me the performance of the V1 far outweighs the small aggravation of replacement of the tabs, and buyers affected are not all in Florida. This all depends on the goodwill of Rexing, until a better 3M adhesive can be found.

One of my V1 dash-cams failed. The battery became defective, as it turned out, and would cycle on then off, crashing the device and eventually corrupting the micro-sd card and not allowing the camera to show any video even when connected to power. When powered on, only black appeared in the display screen. I removed the card and reformatted it in one of my other V1s, which rehabilitated use of the card. When connected to power through a PC, I tried upgrading the firmware in case that was a solution. Now, the defective V1 showed video using the built-in camera, but the low battery icon showed a red "X", and a message, "low battery" although I had followed Rexing"s instructions to try to charge it for at least 3 hours. But, the battery icon still showed the red X and when the V1 was disconnected from my PC to operate on battery power, it displayed the "Red X", and crashed from low battery.

Because the camera monitor plays such a crucial job, it is important to find a reputable installer to help you set up your company or home system. A full CCTV camera system has the following items to help do its job. These are: Security cameras can be analog or digital

Typically, most CCTV cameras are hooked on various areas and can be transmitted to a video recorder to keep a permanent record, which can act as evidence in case something untoward happens. It can also be hooked to a CCTV monitor. The data transmitted can be either be audio and video combined or just plain video only.

Standing for “closed circuit TV camera”, this device is fitted on many different areas of commercial and residential facilities for surveillance purposes, to track movement, and keep the people and property secure. The CCTV system can either be used to document things and record them for later inspection or to keep track of things in a live setting for monitoring purposes.

A TV can actually be used as a CCTV Monitor as long as the camera output and the TV input match. For example, the camera can provide an HDMI output and the TV is capable of accepting an HDMI input, so they can be easily utilized together. Even if the output and input do not match, there are steps that can be done and equipment that can be added to make them compatible.

With a compact design, clear video, and two-way audio, this camera from Arlo matches our top pick on features and performs reliably well. It can sit on a shelf or be wall-mounted, has a privacy shutter that comes down when the camera is not in use, and stores video in the cloud.

For folks with video doorbells or other cameras from Arlo, this camera is an obvious pick to keep things in a single app. But the price and lack of local storage will be a turnoff for some.

If you"ve just started out in video, on-camera monitors may seem like a luxury. Experienced videographers will tell you otherwise. As well as enlarging the display to make recording easier, lots of on-camera monitors can also improve your camera"s video output. Whether you"re shooting on a cine camera, a mirrorless, or a DSLR, an external monitor is a necessity if you want to get serious about filmmaking.

You might think you don"t want to add weight to your setup or make it any bigger but an on-camera monitor is worth it. The extra big display means when you"re shooting you can see a more accurate, live representation of your footage. Should there be a speck of dust on your lens or sensor, you"ll be able to tell much easier on a 7-inch screen rather than a 3-inch screen.

Some of the more high-end on-camera monitors not only increase the size of your display but can improve your camera"s video functionality. For example, when shooting with a Panasonic Lumix S5(opens in new tab) and an Atomos Ninja V external recorder, you can shoot 12-bit RAW instead of 10-bit 4:2:2 with its internal recording option. On-camera monitors are also great additions if your camera lacks features such as a fully articulating screen such as the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K(opens in new tab).

Even if you have features turned on such as focus peaking, zebra lines, and false colors, an on-camera monitor lets you apply frame monitors which can reveal flickers that smaller monitors might not. They also enable you to proof content and show other people on set without having to cram around a small screen.

If your camera doesn"t support 4K, the Ninja V might be a bit overkill as you won"t make the most out of the features you"re paying for. If you"re just after a monitor so that you can view your video easier, the Atomos Shinobi would be a better option and it will save you money. Alternatively, if you"re shooting some serious projects and need something even bigger, the Atomos Shogun(opens in new tab) which appears later in this list sports a massive 7-inch screen, perfect for using with the best cinema cameras.

With the built-in camera control for various Canon, Sony, Panasonic, Blackmagic, and even Z Cam cinema cameras, this is a great option for anyone wanting a monitor that will help a filmmaker get the shot and be a very helpful visual aid in the composition process.

If you"re just looking for an external monitor and don"t need recording capabilities, the Atomos Shinobi delivers the display quality of the Atomos Ninja V but at a fraction of the price. It"s the perfect choice for vloggers who shoot with a camera with limited screen articulation such as the Sony A7 III(opens in new tab) or the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K(opens in new tab) which has a fixed display.

The Blackmagic Video Assist 5-inch is the only recorder in our round-up that can capture Blackmagic"s own RAW code video introduced on its Pocket Cinema Camera Range and is an ideal option for any editors who use Davinci Resolve to grade and edit.

Announced at IBC 2019(opens in new tab), it excited video enthusiasts given its potential to tap into the RAW potential of compatible Canon and Panasonic cameras - Blackmagic is in talks with both manufacturers to ensure Video Assist works well with their products.

This is the big brother of the original Shinobi, offering a much larger 7inch display - and billed as the movie directors and focus directors, but also as a great presentation screen for vloggers wanting to see clearly what they are recording. Its bright 2200-nit screen is the key attraction here - but it also does much more than just monitoring your image. With HDR capability - it offers built-in Log conversion, so you can see what your raw footage is likely to look like when edited, and you can even load up your own LUTs via the built-in SD card slot.

An articulating or vari-angle LCD – commonly called a flip screen – is a useful addition to a camera. The screen is mounted on a swivel, allowing you to flip the screen away from the camera body and rotate the LCD 360 degrees.

Flip screens have traditionally been useful for taking photos at unusual angles. For instance, framing a bug’s-eye view from ground level used to mean setting your camera down low and awkwardly trying to see through the optical viewfinder. There was usually a lot of guesswork involved.

With a vari-angle, or flip screen, you can now set the camera up at ground level and angle the articulating LCD up towards you and frame the scene in live view.

Likewise, a flip screen allows you to shoot overhead by swivelling the screen down. Street photographers might also appreciate a swivel screen because it can let you shoot more discreetly. Shooting from the hip is a lot easier with a flip screen and gives you more control. Hold the camera against your body and angle the swivel screen upwards so you can frame your shot, then shoot discreetly.

Despite all these advantages for shooting stills, it’s probably the rise of vlogging that has seen the popularity of cameras with flip screens soar. Like shooting self-portraiture, vlogging requires placing yourself on the other side of the camera, and before flip screens were a thing this required a lot of careful setup and trial and error.

But swivel LCD touchscreens mean you can now place your camera in front of you, frame your shot accordingly and simply tap the screen to take a picture or start recording. If you have even modest ambitions to post videos on YouTube, a camera with an articulating screen will undoubtedly be the best option for you. In this guide we’ll round up the best cameras with flip screens.

The Canon EOS R5 leaves little doubt that Canon is now serious about the mirrorless camera market. It has phenomenal specification with features like a 45Mp full-frame sensor, phase detection autofocusing that covers the whole frame, eye AF for humans and animals that works in video and stills mode and a class-leading viewfinder paired with a vari-angle touchscreen.

The Canon EOS R5 is built to a similar standard to the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV and has a magnesium alloy construction along with weatherproof seals. Its handling is also similar, but the control arrangement has changed to accommodate the vari-angle screen.

It’s great to have a vari-angle screen on the EOS R5. It makes it much easier to shoot video from above or below head-height while keeping the kit size and weight down. Also, as the screen is touch-sensitive you can control the camera with a few taps.

While the R6’s viewfinder is the same size as the R5’s (it’s a 0.5-inch type), its resolution is lower at 3.69million dots instead of 5.76million. That’s the same as in the EOS R and on par with the electronic viewfinders in the Sony A9 and Nikon Z7. It’s a great EVF specification for a camera of this level.

There’s also a 3-inch vari-angle touchscreen with 1.62million dots. We’re a fan of vari-angle screens because they make shooting portrait or landscape format images from above or below head-height much easier than a fixed screen. And a tilting screen is only of help with landscape format images.

Both the viewfinder and the screen provide an accurate preview of the image as it will be captured. Overall, Canon’s control arrangement on the R6 and use of touch control is excellent and the vari-angle screen is a real asset.

After we reviewed the Sony A7 III, a flip-out touchscreen was at the top of our wishlist for improvements we’d like to see on the next iteration of Sony’s full-frame all-rounder. Sure enough, Sony has given the A7 IV a vari-angle screen that can be flipped face forward or be angled to help compose low- or high-level shots in either landscape of portrait orientation.

What’s more, the A7 IV’s 3-inch 1,036,800-dot screen is touch-sensitive and users can now navigate the menus and settings with a tap. In previous Sony touchscreen LCDs, you were limited to setting the AF point via touch.

Sony has also carefully thought through the design, as well, placing the A7 IV’s mic port just above the screen on the side of the camera so it can still move freely when an external mic is plugged in.

OM System has given the OM-1 a very bright 1.62-million dot vari-angle touchscreen. It’s a 3-inch screen and like on the OM-D E-M1 III and OM-D E-M1X and it’s mounted on a vari-angle hinge. This vari-angle hinge means the screen can be angled for clear visibility whether you’re shooting in landscape or portrait orientation.

Like the screens on existing Olympus Micro Four Thirds cameras, the OM-1’s screen is touch sensitive. It responds quickly to a tap and it’s a shame that OM System’s hasn’t extended the touch control to the new main menu.

In overcast conditions and indoors, the OM-1’s screen gives an excellent view it also performs well in brighter conditions. my toughest test for this was when skiing on a bright sunny day trying to video my companions ahead of me. Keeping them framed as we all moved over the piste was challenging, but thankfully, I was able to see them on the screen.

Although Panasonic Lumix S5 is smaller than the GH5, it has a well-proportioned and ergonomically shaped grip. A rubber-like coating also ensures that the camera feels secure in your hand. It’s also weather-sealed so you don’t need to worry if the weather changes when you’re out on a shoot.

Despite the shrinkage in size and weight, the Panasonic Lumix s5 has both a 3-inch 1,840,000-dot vari-angle touchscreen and a 2,360,000-dot OLED electronic viewfinder built-in.

The Panasonic GH5 has a vari-angle screen and it was high on the request list for the S-series camera when their development announcement was made. However, the S1 and S1R have 3-way tilting screens. These are useful if you’re shooting in landscape and portrait format images, but they’re not as intuitive or flexible to use as a vari-angle screen and they can’t be seen from in front of the camera.

Happily, the Lumix S5’s screen delivers what many were hoping for and it can be flipped around to face forwards. It means that the S5 could also be a good full-frame vlogging camera.

Further good news is that, like the viewfinder, the S5’s screen provides an excellent preview of the image. If you’re shooting outdoors in bright conditions it’s worth activating the Live View Boost to brighten screen to make the scene easier to see. The screen is also very responsive to touch.

The Panasonic GH6 has a 3.0-inch 1,840K-dot tilt and free-angle touchscreen with an aspect ratio of 3:2 on its rear. The tilting aspect of the screen isn’t immediately obvious, but pressing the button underneath the monitor’s bottom left corner releases the mechanism so the screen can be tilted up from the bottom.

There are two stop points in the screen’s tilt movement. The first one is at the right point to enable the screen to be flipped out to the side of the camera without catching on the viewfinder while the second one at about 45° gives a more comfortable viewing able when shooting at waist-height.

To the uninitiated, the tilt and free-angle combination may seem a bit over the top but it means that the screen can be flipped out and twisted to face forwards, up or down, without fouling on any of the cables that may be connected to the ports on the left side of the camera (mic, USB-C and full-size HDMI).

With 1.84-million dots, the 3-inch screen gives a good view of the scene and doesn’t suffer to badly from reflections even in sunny conditions (at least not in March in the UK). However, even when shooting video, there are times when it’s preferable to use the 3,680k-dot 0.76x OLED viewfinder. This has a contrast ratio of 10,000:1 and gives a sharp, accurate preview of the scene.

The GH5 is Panasonic’s flagship compact system or mirrorless camera and it has a mini-DSLR design, featuring a high-quality electronic viewfinder and vari-angle touch-screen. As a Micro Four Thirds camera it’s compatible with an extensive collection of Micro Four Thirds mount lenses from Panasonic and Olympus as well as third-party manufacturers.

Panasonic has also upgraded the rear screen and it now measures 3.2-inches across the diagonal and has 1,620,000 dots. It’s still a vari-angle unit but instead of an OLED screen it’s an RGBW LCD. It provides a nice sharp view and the revised menu, which has fewer pages but more lines, is clear. The screen also responds quickly to tap of your finger.

The GH5 is a complex camera and it will take some getting to know, but all the main controls that you want on a shot-by-shot basis, for example to adjust exposure and white balance or to set the AF point are within easy reach. There are also plenty of customisable buttons to help you get it working as you want.

As well as a host of improvements to its video specification, the Sony A7S III introduces the highest-resolution electronic viewfinder we’ve seen to date and it’s the first Sony A7-series camera to feature a vari-angle screen.

According to Sony, the 3-inch vari-angle screen wasn’t a request for the A7S III, it was a demand. It’s certainly something I’ve mentioned on many occasions.

In the past, the argument against one has been that a vari-angle hinge is less robust than a fixed screen and that ‘most dedicated videographers use an external monitor’. Those two points may still be true, but one of the key benefits of using a camera like the A7S III is its small size. If you start having to add an external monitor it makes it bigger and heavier.

It’s good to see that there’s an option to show a red outline around the on-screen image when the camera is recording. There are times when this is more useful than the usual flashing red dot.

After the 8K-capabilities of the Canon EOS R5, the Sony A7S III might seem a bit of an anti-climax. We’re sure some videographers were hoping for a big jump in resolution from the 12mp A7S II. However, Sony already has the 61Mp A7R IV and the 24Mp A7 III, so sticking with 12Mp means that the A7S III has even better low-light capability than its predecessor but with a much better autofocus system, a vari-angle screen and the highest-resolution viewfinder around.

As with Canon’s full-frame mirrorless cameras, including the flagship Canon EOS R3, the R7 has a vari-angle touchscreen. This is great for composing low- and high-level shots in landscape or portrait orientation. Because Canon has embraced full-touch control, it’s also useful for changing camera settings with a tap.

Overall, Canon’s new flagship APS-C mirrorless camera has a layout and design all of its own, yet it retains some of those signature Canon design marks that will help people quickly adapt to using it.

Although the 0.39-inch 2.36million-dot electric viewfinder on the Canon EOS RP doesn’t match those in recent high-end mirrorless cameras for resolution, it still provides a decent preview of images. And let’s not forget, the RP is much more affordable than other new full-frame mirrorless cameras.

With Exposure Simulation activated, you get an accurate view of the final image’s brightness as well as the colour. However, if you want to see the depth of field, you’ll need to customise one of the camera’s buttons to that purpose. Or of course, you can take a quick shot. That could be avoided, however, if Canon showed the preview with the selected aperture applied.

Like the EVF, the 3-inch screen’s 1.04-million-dot resolution doesn’t really wow these days, but the fact that it’s mounted on a vari-angle hinge is great. That means you can twist it around to give you a clear view whichever angle you’re shooting from. And unlike a tilting screen, it’s useful if you’re shooting in portrait or landscape orientation.

We love that Canon has enabled the RP’s touchscreen to be used for browsing the Quick and main menu, selecting settings and browsing through images as well as setting the AF point. It really speeds using the camera and makes it more intuitive. It’s also good that this isn’t at the expense of physical buttons and dials.

Among the many improvements Fujifilm put into the X-H2S over the X-H1 is an upgrade of the LCD screen. Instead of the 3-way tilting screen of the X-H1, the X-H2S has a vari-angle screen that can be flipped out and rotated to face forward for vlogging. This means it’s useful when the camera is above or below head-height in landscape or portrait orientation.

There are a number of handling changes in the X-H2S in comparison with the X-H1, and anyone looking at the camera with fresh eyes cannot fail to be impressed by its build and capability.

The Sony ZV-E10 is a 24MP APS-C mirrorless interchangeable lens camera aimed at vloggers. It features an articulating selfie screen with touch capability, 4K video capture, headphone and microphone ports and a variety of add-on accessories to assist in video capture, including the handgrip seen in the photo above (sold separately) and a range of sophisticated microphones.

Unlike the a6100, the ZV-E10 gets Sony"s Cinema Picture Profiles, of which there are ten different options. These profiles offer the ability to shoot a low contrast look for grading in post. The camera also offers S-Log 2 and 3, as well as HLG capture. But keep in mind, this is an 8-bit camera, and S-Log 3 and HLG footage will more readily fall apart a bit when graded, compared to a 10-bit camera.

A multi-interface shoe on the top left of the camera body supports digital audio. And Sony has several different microphone options that work with this proprietary means of connection, including the recently announced ECM-W2BT wireless mics, as well as several shotgun-style options.

Additionally, the camera has a built-in directional 3-capsule microphone, which provides pretty decent quality audio (when vlogging in selfie mode), for those wishing to avoid the purchase of additional accessories. Furthermore, the ZV-E10 ships with a hot-shoe-attachable windscreen (also known as a "dead cat").

Setting up a USB livestream from the camera is fairly straightforward. On the first page of the second shooting menu, you"ll find a "USB streaming" option. Simply turn this option on, connect the camera via USB-C to a smart device or computer and open your livestreaming platform of choice. I was successfully able to get a livestream from the camera set up and was broadcasting in minutes by connecting the ZV-E10 to my MacBook Pro and using Facebook Live.

Speaking of Imaging Edge, it can be used to view and transfer movies and stills (including Raws) from the camera, even when the camera is turned off. The ZV-E10 will also save metadata with vertical video clips, so if you do transfer them to a mobile device, they"ll display correctly.

The Product Showcase feature was first introduced in the ZV-1 and is pretty darn handy. When switched on, the camera will automatically prioritize nearby objects, over its face detection system, resulting in a smooth focus shift from face to product. It"s a simple and effective way to create a slick effect while vlogging. You can see a demonstration of the feature in action in the video above.

By default, the "C1" button on the top of the Sony ZV-E10 toggles the "Background Defocus" function on and off. This feature, aimed at beginners, simply opens up the aperture all the way when pressed. Unfortunately, in bright light, this will often force the camera to use a fast shutter speed to compensate, resulting in somewhat choppy, jarring-looking video footage. Furthermore, this is not a function you"ll want to switch on during capture, because there"s an exposure "flutter" when the button is pressed.

Both the Canon EOS M50 Mark II and Fujifilm X-T200 are strong competitors in this market segment. Let"s see how the three cameras stack up against one another across a variety of specifications. And for the sake of comparison, we"re also including the ZV-E10"s two nearest siblings in the a6100 and Sony ZV-1:

On paper, the ZV-E10 has a lot going for it: It offers the best battery life of the bunch, shoots uncropped 4K/24p, and is the only camera listed with a standard 3.5mm microphone and a headphone port. It also offers the best video AF, alongside the ZV-1, including a vlogging-specific focus mode. Of course, if having an EVF matters to you, the Fujifilm X-T200 will probably be a better choice.

Next to the hot shoe there"s the built-in microphone, on/off switch and a button that allows users to quickly switch between stills mode, video mode and high-speed video mode (called S&Q mode for "slow and quick") with a tap of the finger. Unfortunately, all camera settings carry over when you change modes, meaning you may find yourself adjusting your shutter speed or aperture fairly dramatically if you"re using manual controls. The camera also has an oversized record button in addition to a separate shutter button.

Around the shutter button, there"s a zoom lever with 8 programmable zoom speeds: this is the first Sony consumer ILC with a zoom lever since 2014"s a5100. You"ll also find the programmable "background defocus/C1" button on the top plate: pressing it simply forces the camera to shoot with the widest aperture possible. For more advanced users that are comfortable controlling aperture themselves, this button"s function can be reassigned to something more useful.

Unlike the a6100, the ZV-E10 has a fully articulating rear display (3", 1.44M-dot). It"s touch-sensitive, but not all that responsive. While vlogging, I found it hugely helpful that a large red rectangle appears around the frame on the LCD, to indicate video capture is occurring. The camera also features a front video record/tally lamp to make sure you know when you"re "rolling" (this can be turned off).

For the most part, touch capability only works when shooting video and stills. Users cannot use the touchscreen to browse the menus, select options from the function menu, or browse images/videos in playback. It can, however, be used to zoom in to 100% on an image in playback, by double-tapping the screen.

On the side of the camera, beneath a somewhat flimsy-feeling plastic door, you"ll find the majority of the camera"s connection points including a USB 3.2 Gen1 port (which can be used for charging), a micro-HDMI port, and a 3.5mm headphone port. Beneath a separate door, above, you"ll find a connection point for a 3.5mm microphone jack.

The microphone socket is well-placed and having a unit plugged in does not get in the way of articulating the screen; the headphone, HDMI and USB ports, however, do.

The battery and memory card are accessed via the same slot on the bottom of the camera. Power comes from an NP-FW50 battery and users can expect a CIPA-rated 440 shots per charge or 80 mins of continuous video capture. In real-world use, we found you can easily surpass both of those figures by about 1.5X. The card slot supports UHS-I speed cards; UHS-II cards are compatible, but you won"t get any additional speed benefit from using them.

When using the camera for vlogging in selfie mode, the grip is quite comfortable: I was easily able to slot my thumb into the indentation next to the lens for a stable grip. Holding the camera in this way also makes it easy to reach the oversized record button with your index finger.

Video capability is obviously the biggest selling point of this camera. Below, we dive into the various video captures modes and we"ll take a look at video quality.

Both the camera"s 1080/120p capture and 4K/30p capture come with slight crops, 1.14x and 1.23x, respectively. All the other video settings use the full width of the sensor (unless "Active" IS is turned on). Below you can see just how extreme the crops are (thankfully, they"re not too bad):

Overall, the camera handles pretty well as a vlogging tool. The onboard microphone provides decent quality audio, even as I stepped outside near a very noisy highway. The 4K/24p video + Standard IS combo uses the full width of the sensor, so I was able to leave the kit lens zoomed all the way out to a 24mm equiv. I also left the camera in its Program exposure mode with the default "Wide" AF area option (AF-C). The camera handles the changing light conditions with ease: there are no jarring aperture flutters. And I remained in focus throughout the clip, with minimal hunting, despite moving around quite a bit.

In our opinion, the ZV-E10"s closest competitor is the Fujifilm X-T200. Seeing as it offers the same video performance as the higher-end X-T30, we"ll use that camera as a stand-in for comparison purposes. UHD 4K capture from both these cameras is impressively detailed, across the whole scene. Though it"s worth noting (and not obvious from our studio scene), the Fujifilm has a faster sensor scan rate than the Sony and thus doesn"t suffer from the same distracting jello effect.

Unfortunately, the camera"s Full HD footage is less than spectacular (which has been par for the course with Sony APS-C cameras for some time). Detail capture is nowhere near the level we"re seeing from Fujifilm cameras. And 1080/120p footage, which uses a crop of the sensor, looks even more mushy.

For vlogging purposes, when using the default "Wide" focus area and AF-C, the camera does a good job adjusting focus and keeping human faces sharp; face and eye detection are on by default. You can also tap the screen in the Wide focus mode to initiate tracking during video capture. The tracking is fairly sticky and reliable. To disable it, press the button in the center of the rear control dial.

There"s quite a bit of control offered over video AF behavior from within the menus. Users can adjust both the AF transition speed (how smoothly the camera changes focus from one subject to another), as well as the tracking responsiveness (how likely the camera"s AF will stick with a subject, even if they briefly leave the frame). There are seven degrees of adjustments to choose from for each setting.

As a vlogging platform, the ZV-E10 has quite a bit to offer: good quality oversampled and uncropped 4K/24p capture, headphone and microphones ports, a selfie touchscreen, a high-quality onboard vlogging microphone, industry-leading video AF performance, painless livestreaming capability and best-in-class battery life. But it also falls short in two key areas regarding video quality: poor rolling shutter performance in 4K and subpar Full HD footage, both of which are complaints we"ve leveled against every recent a6000-series camera.

Let"s return to the good before jumping back to the bad: from a body design and control standpoint, the ZV-E10 makes a lot of sense. The camera offers excellent customization and handles fairly well as a videomaking tool. The onboard microphone offers pleasantly good audio. And though the touchscreen is not the most responsive and somewhat limited in its use, as a means of quickly selecting an AF point, it works well enough.

Speaking of AF, the camera"s face end eye detection work extremely well during both stills and video capture. The product showcase feature is also really cool/useful for vloggers. And though there are a lot of autofocus options built into this camera, the default settings, including the Wide area mode should serve most folks quite well.

Image quality is a match for Sony"s more stills-oriented a6100, which is to say, quite good. And though there"s no in-body stabilization to speak of, the camera does offer two degrees of electronic IS when in video mode (one comes with a crop, but is also more effective). The kit lens also has optical stabilization to assist in handheld shooting. 4K footage is oversampled and shows excellent detail; there"s a 1.23x crop in 30p mode but no crop when shooting 24p.

Now back to the bad: When capturing 4K footage with any sort of movement (like walking with the camera), there"s quite a lot of rolling shutter, resulting in a distracting jello effect. Full HD footage can be captured up to 120p ( also 24/30/60p), but unfortunately, the quality of the camera"s 1080p detail capture is, across the board, among the worst in its class.

So where does that leave us? It leaves us with a camera that"s really close to being a vlogger"s dream, both in terms of price and feature set. Sadly, for folks wishing to shoot anything but a static shot, there"s no video mode on this camera that"ll produce problem-free footage: jiggly 4K or subpar 1080p, pick your poison. Of course, if you"re happy to swallow both those pills, the ZV-E10 is a heck of a camera.

For vlogging, we"d take the Fujifilm X-T200 over the ZV-E10 because the rolling shutter is much better controlled during 4K capture. Neither camera shoots jaw-dropping Full HD footage, but the Fujifilm"s is a bit better. The X-T200 also offers an EVF. On the other hand, Sony offers better video autofocus on the whole; there"s no subject tracking option during video capture with the Fujifilm. It also offers a better onboard microphone for vlogging.

Compared to theSony ZV-1, it"s a bit of a toss-up, but we"re leaning toward the compact camera: The rolling shutter is much better controlled on the ZV-1 and its built-in lens is arguably more versatile than the kit 16-50mm lens that comes with the ZV-E10. The ZV-1 sensor is obviously smaller, but the video quality is still outstanding (though it lacks a headphone jack).

For a one-stop-shop vlogging solution, we"d take the compact. But if you have hopes of building out a system / acquiring a second or third lens, the ZV-E10 is the obvious choice. After all, there"s plenty of fast-aperture prime lens options available for Sony crop sensor cameras, at affordable prices. And you"ll ultimately be able to get a much more shallow depth of field look with the ZV-E10 than the ZV-1. It"s also a better choice if you plan to shoot in less-than-perfect light.

Scoring is relative only to the other cameras in the same category. Click here to learn about the changes to our scoring system and what these numbers mean.

As a vlogging platform, the ZV-E10 seemingly has a lot to offer: it shoots oversampled 4K/24p video using the full width of its sensor, features a selfie touchscreen, a good built-in directional microphone, headphone/microphone ports and class-leading video autofocus. Battery life is also top of its class and the camera is livestream ready, out of the box. Unfortunately, 4K video capture results in a distracting "jello effect" for clips with movement and/or fast action. And Full HD video shows poor detail capture compared to the competition.

*The services offered cover cleaning and maintenance of external components of the camera or lens, as well as the following internal components of the camera: image sensor, mirror (if applicable), and focus screen. If, upon inspection, additional services are necessary which require the camera or lens body to be disassembled or parts to be replaced, this will be considered a repair and you will receive a repair estimate. In this case, any payment made previously for the Canon Maintenance Service will be refunded. If you do not approve the repair estimate, repairs will not be made, your camera and/or lens will be returned to you and you will not incur any charges for Canon Maintenance Service.

Services available on eligible Canon Digital SLR/Mirrorless cameras and EF/RF lens models only, for residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico who purchased and use their models there. Canon cameras and lenses that are past their supported service life are not considered eligible products.

Sometimes, a manufacturer provides a signal, usually uncompressed, via different ports on the camera. These signals are not thrown out haphazardly, but are arranged in a very specific way, in the same sense letters are arranged according to the rules of grammar and spelling.

You might be forgiven for thinking: If a camera has a specific standard, say SMPTE 292M (HD-SDI), and an external recorder has the same standard in its specifications, then they’ll be compatible, right?

These standards are just packaging, nothing more. More often than not, it hides the dirty sampling and inefficient digital voodoo within the cameras themselves.

Or, even more sinister, you can have 8 okay-ish eggs in a 10-bit crate, but they sell you the 10-bit crate at 10-bit prices. If you wonder why the 10-bit signal from a lot of cheaper cameras are barely better than their highly compressed 8-bit 4:2:0 internal videos, this is the answer.

A lot of monitors now give you the option of SDI or HDMI. If you’re forced to pick, pick for the camera you are using now. In today’s world, new cameras and monitors are announced yearly. By the time you’re ready to change your camera there will be a newer monitor, or the older monitor at a cheaper price.

HDMI is a consumer standard, great for when things don’t move around (like your living room). But that’s not what a video production monitor is about, is it? Still, you can secure the HDMI cable to your monitor and camera nowadays, and you can make it work if that’s all you have.

The bigger the monitor, the further away you have to go. 4K is great in this regard, but with smaller monitors you lose the resolution advantage. Sending a 4K signal unnecessarily will increase battery consumption on both camera and monitor.

RAW signals are proprietary sometimes, and all rules go out the window. E.g. Red has their own connector for their Red LCD. On the other hand, many mirrorless cameras output RAW over HDMI.

One of the most popular mistakes people make is assuming two cameras with Rec. 709 will display the same color. That’s not always true. High-end broadcast cameras are designed to match each other, but cheap mirrorless cameras with Rec. 709 won’t match each other.

Also, in different weather situations a touchscreen will be inadequate. Extreme cold with gloves on? No touchscreen. Humid, sweaty, environment? No touchscreen.

E.g., if your audience is going to watch on LCD monitors, don’t judge on OLED. The same applies for color grading as well. You’ll only end up disappointed.

Either you’re dumbing down the monitor (or yourself) so you can match things, or you’re always sad why it looks great on OLED but not LCD. What’s the point?

When in doubt between data and vision, always rely on your eyes. Even with cheap mirrorless cameras plus one monitor, if both show the same image, then there’s no harm believing the image.

If you know your camera, lighting and lens inside out, you don’t need an external monitor. I find its presence more therapeutic than essential. Seeing an image in its final form on a monitor is a relief to those who can’t envision it in their head. It’s also a safety net so people less informed (directors, actors, producers, etc.) can rest assured they hired the right person.

On the flip side, if you walk in midway into a film shoot, or rent gear that you don’t have experience with, or are using a camera for the first time, etc., a good video production monitor is essential.

Technical accuracy is directly dependent on the monitor’s ability to analyze the incoming video signal. This analysis must then be presented to you in a form you can understand quickly. You make a change in camera, study the impact on a monitor and then take action if necessary.

The image is pretty instructive. You place the probe on the screen (monitors, laptops, TVs, all good), run the software and calibrate to a known standard (Rec. 709, DCI-P3, Rec. 2020).

Resolution – It must be able to take the native resolution and aspect ratio of the signal, even if it doesn’t display it in the same resolution. E.g., based on the distances mentioned above, if you decide a 5″ monitor is good enough for you, then a 1080p signal is good enough. If the camera only outputs 4K, the monitor must be able to convert 4K to 1080p.

Atomos has two advantages – it’s cheaper, and, many models can record video as well. However, build quality and exposure tools fall way behind the other two. This article is only for monitoring.

Then you need a monitor mount. SmallRig makes popular mounts that work great with most cameras. However, I would buy the mount offered by the monitor manufacturer for best results. E.g., Atomos AtomX for Atomos monitors, SmallHD mounts for SmallHD monitors, etc.