Ikan v5600 - The Review
Hi Everyone,
I have promising this for a while and so here it is.
Please note that I am in the UK, so my review relates to the PAL system.
http://www.ikancorp.com/pages/monitors/V5600/index.html
I was offered one of the new v5600 to test on PAL systems as the company wanted to make sure that it worked over here. First and foremost, it works great.
I have tested the unit with a few different cameras using the HDMI and YUV component inputs (which is fed via a USB port on the back).
Obviously the HDMI input gives a sharper image, due to the added resolution, but later on I will discuss why the YUV input is also useful.
Specs:
Diagonal 5.6" TFT - LCD
Resolution: 1024 x 600
LCD Brightness: 165cd/m2
Contrast Ratio: 200:1
Viewing angles: 80/80(R/L), 55/55(U/L)
Operating Volts: DC 12-24V
Dimension: 5.75 ”x4.625”x0.82”
Weight (lbs) 0.7
This monitor is small and very light. In fact I was so suprised at its weight I found myself double checking the model number on the back to make sure they had sent me the right one!
The initial look around it shows a matte screen which I prefer to glossy, but a slightly cheap feel to the build quality. I suspect if it was dropped without any protection on it then it would be it's last day.
Ikan do sell a rather nice looking hood for this monitor though, which would definately make me feel better about handling it.
Also, the screen is very easy to mark with finger prints and quite hard to clean.
I did notice that the metal mounting thread on the bottom inside was a little misalligned with the hole in the plastic casing, meaning the first few times I put it on a screw thread a small amount of plastic came of the housing. Nothing major though.
The image of on the screen is pretty damn clear. I have been using with my twoneil for a week now and been able to accurately pull focus with * no real problems. (see further down for issues)
The image isnt quite as crisp as i thought it would be, but its not soft in any way. It just seems a little smooth. Its a hard one to explain.
It's completely useable, lets just leave it at that.
When you plug the monitor into a power source the LED will light up red to let you know it has power. When you turn the monitor on the red led turns green.
When I turned on the monitor the first time it was defaulted to YPbPr (denoted by red letters in the top left of the screen). You can toggle through the modes with the input button.
The modes are:
AV
YPbPr
HDMI
When in HDMI mode the actual image takes about 2 seconds or so to appear. This worried me at first as this lead me to believe that it would not work with PAL, however the image appeared leaving a big smile on my face.
If there is no input signal the monitor will display a blue idle screen with the Ikan logo indefinately. There does not appear to be a power saving option in the menu either. In fact there are no menu options when in the idle screen.
The menu only serves to change image characteristics.
In HDMI you can adjust (defaults in brackets):
Brightness (50%)
Contrast (50%)
Saturation (50%)
Language (English)
Reset
Exit
In YPbPr your menu options are:
Brightness (50%)
Contrast (50%)
Saturation (50%)
Sharpness (0%)
Language (English)
Red (50%)
Green (50%)
Blue (50%)
Reset
Exit
I could list AV, but who is really going to be using this monitor in AV mode?
I found the best settings to get a decent from the HDMI mode image is:
Brightness (58%)
Contrast (76%)
Saturation (50%)
N.B. Leaving the menu on the Reset option for more than a few seconds causes the Reset to occur. This took me a few times to figure out how to do when I assumed by toggling reset and pressing one of the directional buttons would activate I finally stumbled across the answer by being a bit slow and not pressing anything.
Something I am VERY happy about is the fact that the monitor shows ABSOLUTELY NO overscan.
The guide markers show the edge where overscan would occur and an action safe area too. Great stuff.
From looking at the v5600 side by side with my desktop monitor there are colour differences, but this is presumably due to the fact that ikan have set the monitor up in NTSC colours. Also, my desktop monitor has not been calibrated.
As for using the monitor, I found that its about as bright as the HV20's screen when used in partial cloud. *When in direct sunshine its quite problematic to view, so the hood would be a requirement for that sort of weather, and indoors its absolutely fine.
On the whole I am happy with little little monitor, as I require a lightweight unit that will allow me to hit my critical focus. Once I have the hood I will happier still.
The downsides that I would like to see improvements on is for the next model to have a brighter screen, with options to change the individual colour settings for Red Green and Blue on the HDMI mode and or the overall colour temperature.
For this test I powered the monitor using an Anypower AB-N12v power pack, which ran the monitor for about 4-5 hours constantly. I got the power pack from the very nice people at DogCam:
12v 8400mah
The battery cost about £60 with UK delivery and VAT, which is a bargain in my book considering how light and small it is. The batterys output is a USB port, which you use a USB to DC jack. Two are supplied of varying sizes. As a bonus, the battery comes with it's own charger that supplies 8.4v, which is what the HV cams use, meaning I now have another charger!
Here is a link to download the original images in a zip file.
The filesize is 23mb.
Hope this helps. Questions expected.
Rumple.
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(LED light) 
Originally Posted by Rumple
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