Here's a short test of a tiny 10-inch surveillance monitor bought from a Chinese mail order site. Here I will measure its power consumption and test its performance with a single PAL camera. How much does it cost to use such a monitor? Will it be suitable for the Raspberry? Let's find out!
The device is available for between £100 and £200, depending on promotions and where you buy.
The kit turns out to be quite rich. We even get a remote control. In addition, we have a 12 V 2 A power supply and a full set of cables, including HDMI, VGA, RCA and even BNC.
Instructions:
The monitor looks surprisingly solid, I expected the cheapest plastic.
The device has a bit more functionality than I thought. There's USB support, you can view photos, play music, movies, etc. You can change picture settings, aspect ratio, colour temperature, similarly there are sound settings. There is also a clock available along with on/off and sleep time. The OSD language can also be changed.
This is what Elektroda.co.uk looks like on the monitor, loaded via HDMI.
The viewing angle is not bad:
Immediate response time (comparison against laptop screen, connected via HDMI):
And then there's the foot - it could be heavier, but it still holds up:
Test with photos on USB:
Test with camera on BNC connector:
Power consumption in standby and when switched on:
In summary , the monitor seemed a bit pricey to me, even though I ordered it at a bargain price - I see it's even more expensive now, but surprisingly the kit and its construction compensates for this to some extent. You get it with all the cabling, power supply and leg. I also rate the image and viewing angle as acceptable. A purchase can be considered.
And what is your opinion, what small monitors do you recommend?
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