Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Video Devices PIX-E Series Delivers Flawle Quality When Temperatures Rise in West Africa

02/12/2016

--

The Republic of Ghana is a sub-Saharan nation on the West Coast of Africa with a diverse culture. Filmmaker and co-founder of Lastminute Productions, Joseph Pelegreen, has traveled there numerous times over the past dozen years and has come to know and care for the people of this nation. So when he and associate, Matthew Lang, decided to do a documentary that explores education and its significance in changing third-world countries, Ghana was the obvious choice. Mamakrom - named for a village in Ghana - became the latest passion project for the Texas-based filmmakers, but it was a project that took planning. We had two trips to Ghana to shoot, Pelegreen says. One was in the southern region and one was in the north.

Prior to their initial trip to Ghana, Pelegreen and Lang knew they wanted a separate video recording monitor that could provide a clearer view than their camera's monitor - one that would help alleviate worry about glare affecting the shots. Portability and power were also important, but first and foremost, they needed equipment that could withstand the high temperatures of Africa without overheating.

Joseph Pelegreens Video Testimonial

The humidity in Ghana gets up in the 98th percentile, explains Pelegreen. The days are already as hot as they come, but when you factor in the humidity, the temperature is over a hundred. Its very, very hot. So we needed something that was going to hold up in heat. We needed something that wasn't going to shut down on us while we were shooting.

While still in Texas - a southern state known for its own high temperature ranges-the filmmakers tested some popular brands of monitors. Pelegreen says, That was where we kind of figured out the overheating problems and began looking for an alternate solution. A lot of the camera recording monitors we were looking at all had overheating disclaimers on the bottom, except for the PIX-E5 and PIX-E5H. So we did a little more digging. The sturdy design and material makeup of the PIX-E Series of 4K recording monitors were the deciding factors in choosing to go with Video Devices, so for their first trip to Ghana, they rented a Video Devices PIX-E5.

We loved it. It held up excellently. Obviously the device warms up after running, but it never once had to shut down or anything. We didn't have any issues with it, Pelegreen says. That was very reassuring to us, because there were times when we'd set up the cameras literally in the sun. One interview lasted an hour and a half, and obviously being outside, it was very hot, but we knew it wasn't going to overheat on us or melt anything internally, which we would be concerned about with other monitors. I never had to worry while I was talking to the subject and Matt was checking the cameras. We never had to worry about the monitor itself being an issue.

For their second trip back to Ghana, the filmmaking duo chose to take along two PIX-E5H camera-mount monitors.

Because the E5 had worked so well, Pelegreen says, we were very excited to have the PIX-E5H with us. The reason we chose the E5H instead of the E5 on the second trip was because we only needed the HDMI input.

The PIX-E Series of 4K recording monitors comes in three models. The PIX-E5 has a 5-inch touch-screen LCD, SDI and HDMI I/O, and a suite of monitoring tools and scopes, as well as the ability to record ProRes and H.264 codecs. The PIX-E5H is the HDMI-only model with the same size screen and feature-set as the PIX-E5. The PIX-E7 is the 7-inch model with even more flexible I/O options.While the monitor's rugged durability was the original deciding factor for Lastminute Productions, other features soon impressed the filmmakers while on location in Ghana.

Number one was the ability for us to record 4K, which was very nice. The variety of ProRes options available was a great option we had, Pelegreen says, Also the ability to apply the LUTs to our images. We used a Picture Profile 9 on the A7Sii cameras, and we were automatically able to use the S-Log 3 LUT that comes with the E5H to see a preview of what our color would look like. Obviously that helps as were shooting to determine what we're shooting and how were shooting it.

For the documentary, the team had to travel to some of the more isolated villages in the African nation. Pelegreen says, A lot of the people we see in northern Ghana, they dont have access to what we consider everyday commodities. A lot of them are still living in huts that are made of mud.

These remote locations challenged the crew, who carried with them a gear bag full of high-end equipment. In addition to the Sony A7sii cameras and PIX-E5H monitors, they had a Canon 24-to-70 as their primary lens, a secondary Canon 100-to-400 lens, a Sony 16-to-35 for use with a glidecam, a Switronix PowerBase-70 battery pack, and a DJI Phantom 4 drone.

Media storage and battery power were crucial commodities, especially during the lengthier shoots. This was where the innovative SpeedDrive and the hot-swappable, dual battery mounts of the PIX-E5H proved most useful.

There were situations where we were definitely thankful to have the SpeedDrive because the camera records 4K internally, but shooting straight out of the camera, the A7sii gave us a cap of about 30 minutes, and that wouldve been a major problem during interviews, just stopping and breaking the flow. With the PIX-E (and its SpeedDrive) we were able to just run through it without stopping.

As for powering the monitors, Pelegreen adds, We were able to smoothly switch batteries when the need arose without needing to interrupt our subjects or our shots. It was just a quick transition as opposed to stopping everything and replacing batteries.

The monitors playback feature even came in handy when interacting with villagers. They dont have mirrors, Pelegreen says, so a lot of them hav
LINK: https://news.creativecow.net/story/883787...
See more stories from creativecow

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

14/02/2026

Cineverse Acquires TV Monetization Platform IndiCue

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/02/2026

ESPN's Audiences for College Basketball On Track for Major Growth

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/02/2026

TCL Display Technologies Deployed at Winter Olympics

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/02/2026

Boston Conservatory Orchestra Helps Peter and Leonardo Dugan Complete Their Dream Piece

Boston Conservatory Orchestra Helps Peter and Leonardo Dugan Complete Their Dre...

13/02/2026

OBS Accelerates Shift to Cloud

Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) has provided an update on its adoption of the cloud as it continues on its journey to fully migrate to IT-based systems by 2...

13/02/2026

France Tlvisions Launches France 2 UHD with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos to Max out AC-4 Experiences for Winter Olympics Fans

France T l visions has successfully launched France 2 UHD featuring Dolby Vision...

13/02/2026

OBS Expands Athlete Moment,' Family Reunions to Capture Human Side of Winter Games

Partnering with Worldwide Olympic Partner TCL, OBS deploys connected Athlete Mom...

13/02/2026

Men's Figure Skating Photo Gallery

The men's figure skating long-form program is tonight, and it promises to be an exciting night for fans in the stands, fans at home, and even the production...

13/02/2026

Entertainment Takes the NBA Court in a Big Way

With new partnership between the league and NBC, workflows distinguish more between live, broadcast sound There'll be a lot new for the 75th NBA All-Star W...

13/02/2026

SVG GameDay, Episode 3: Sean Tabler - Producing Hockey in the City of Angels

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level have one major thing in common: the intensity and attention to detail ramps up dur...

13/02/2026

Teradek Introduces RF-X, Revolutionizing Mission-Critical Signal Redundancy

Teradek announces the launch of RF-X Auto Switcher, a revolutionary appliance designed to deliver flawless, uncompromised signal integrity for the world's m...

13/02/2026

Synamedia & Globecast Selected for FA Cup Cloud Distribution

Globecast and Synamedia announces that Pitch International (Pitch), the leading London-based sports marketing agency, has gone live with cloud-based distributi...

13/02/2026

Ratings Roundup: NBC Sports' Legendary February Hits Record Viewership Levels

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...

13/02/2026

NBC Olympics' Amy Rosenfeld on the Drone Craze, Friends & Family Moments, Stamford's Role for Milano Cortina

Far from the action in the snow and on the ice, the team controls the production...

13/02/2026

2026 Daytona 500: FOX Sports' Mike Davies, George Grill on Working Within an IP-Based Compound, Solving the Ops Puzzle of the Super Bowl of Racing

The Daytona 500 is called The Super Bowl of Racing for a reason. Whether it's the culmination to five days of action on the track, the sheer size and scop...

13/02/2026

OBS Expands AI-Powered Content Workflows

For the Milano Cortina Games, Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) is delivering more than 6,500 hours of content, with more than 900 hours of live action, sprea...

13/02/2026

NBC Sports Director Pierre Moossa Previews NBC's First NBA All-Star Production in 24 Years

After 24-year absence, NBC Sports returns to NBA All-Star Weekend with unique ca...

13/02/2026

Film Festival Watch: 18 Sundance Institute-Supported Projects To Watch at the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival

By Jessica Herndon We may have just wrapped an unforgettable 2026 Sundance Film...

13/02/2026

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Amanda Kramer, the Writer-Director Behind By Design

By Jessica Herndon One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Fest...

13/02/2026

Women in Podcasting Craft New Connections at Spotify's Galentine's Day Celebration in LA

This Wednesday in Los Angeles, Spotify brought together a group of podcast creat...

13/02/2026

Spotify and LoveShackFancy Bring Galentine's Glam to NYC, Featuring Special Performance by Joshua Basset

Yesterday, Spotify and LoveShackFancy hosted a Galentine's and Gents Lunch a...

13/02/2026

L3Harris Successfully Completes First Phase of P25 Transition for Florida SLERS

The upgrade to a Project 25 network provides state agencies communicating on the Statewide Law Enforcement Radio System flexibility to tailor the network to the...

13/02/2026

Riedel Opens Kuala Lumpur Office to Strengthen Global 24...

Riedel Communications has officially opened a new office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, marking a strategic expansion of its global Customer Success and IT software...

13/02/2026

ES Broadcast Hire duo celebrate 10-year anniversary with...

Two of ES Broadcast Hire's longest-serving employees recently celebrated a decade working for the company. Annie Breislin, Operations Manager, and Charles ...

13/02/2026

Disguise Opens Experience Center and Office in Atlanta

Disguise, the award-winning technology company powering global experiences, today unveils a new 8,000-square-foot office and Experience Center in Atlanta, creat...

13/02/2026

Mavis Expands External Camera Support with Accsoon SeeMo...

At BSC Expo 2026, Mavis announced full support for the Accsoon SeeMo series of iOS camera adapters across Mavis Camera and Mavis Monitor apps. This new integrat...

13/02/2026

Butcher Bird Studios Keeps Signals Flowing Seamlessly Acr...

Executing technically ambitious live streams, virtual productions, and immersive media today requires talent, creativity, and the right supporting technology. L...

13/02/2026

LTN makes key appointments and introduces new Technology...

Michal Miskin-Amir, Jonathan Stanton and Bobby Bond to lead technical advances amid surge in demand for LTN's IP video transport services as satellite capac...

13/02/2026

NATO Upgrades Broadcast Studio with Grass Valley Cameras

Grass Valley, the pioneering media and entertainment technology innovator, has won a competitive NATO-wide tender to provide the new camera system for NATO'...

13/02/2026

Digital Azul strengthens remote production strategy with...

Wireless IP intercom underpins agile, multi-location live production workflows Digital Azul, the independent production powerhouse specialising in complex liv...

13/02/2026

Actus Digital Sets a New Standard for QA Monitoring and C...

Actus Digital, a LiveU company, will unveil major new enhancements to its Actus X Intelligent Monitoring Platform at NAB Show (LiveU booth N1740), reinforcing i...

13/02/2026

FA Cup goes IP with Pitch International plus Synamedia an...

Globecast, a worldwide leader in broadcast services, and leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that Pitch International (Pitch), the leadi...

13/02/2026

Rai Selects Imagine Selenio Network Processor for IP Migration

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/02/2026

CIMM Details Research Plans for 2026 and New Board Appointments

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/02/2026

Teradek Unveils RF-A Auto Switcher

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/02/2026

Spectrum Launches 'Invincible Wifi'

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/02/2026

Actus Digital to Introduce Actus X Platform Enhancements At NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/02/2026

Sennheiser Wireless Spectera Solution Tackles Super Bowl LX With Ease

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/02/2026

Nate Bargatze to Receive 2026 NAB Television Chairman's Award

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/02/2026

UKTV Highlights Saturday February 14th - Friday February 20th 2026

What can I watch on UKTV this week?What can I stream on U this week? This guide highlights romantic dramas for Valentine's Day, alternative relationship t...

13/02/2026

New RT series tells stranger-than-fiction stories of Irish con artists

New RT series tells stranger-than-fiction stories of Irish con artists Swindlers airs Wednesday 18 February, 9.35pm on RT One and RT Player Swindlers, a...

12/02/2026

Chyron Merges Live Web Content and CG Graphics with PRIME 5.3

Chyron unveils PRIME 5.3, the latest software release of the company's powerful engine for live production graphics. PRIME 5.3 delivers the first official i...

12/02/2026

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Interra Systems' Anupama Anantharaman on Protecting Live Sports Quality Across IP and OTT Workflows

The vendor's VP of Product Management explains how quality assurance, monito...

12/02/2026

LTN Makes Key Appointments and Introduces New Technology Organization

LTN announces the appointment of three experienced executives to lead its new Technology organization: Michal Miskin-Amir as EVP and Head of Technology, Jonatha...

12/02/2026

Riedel Opens Kuala Lumpur Office to Strengthen Global 24/7 Software and IT Support

Riedel Communications has officially opened a new office in Kuala Lumpur, Malays...