In today's video, we're going to talk about this Seetec Multiview monitor that was made
specifically for the ATEM Mini.
Hi, I'm Aaron Parecki.
I just discovered the Seetec Multiview monitor, and I wanted to show you a little more
about what it does. First, quick disclosure.
I did get sent this monitor from Seetec to review, but everything I say in this video is
my own opinion. And they don't get to watch this video before I post it.
So, with that out of the way, first of all, what is this monitor?
Well, you might notice that it is showing me four different images.
It's actually a multiview monitor built into this device.
Now, you may remember I did a video a while ago, actually, before the ATEM Mini Pro came
out, where I actually added a Multiview setup to the ATEM Mini because it didn't have
multiview built in.
It was only the Pro that added that feature.
And in that video, it took several devices, HDMI splitters and a whole mess of wires to
actually make that work.
And the end result of that video was a big pile of wires on my desk.
And I could then see each camera before it was fed into the ATEM Mini.
It did work. However, I definitely do not recommend doing that because of just how many
different devices it takes and how much of a mess it is.
But shortly after that video came out, Blackmagic actually released the ATEM Mini Pro,
which added multiview built in which everybody was wanting.
And I'm very glad they did that.
And now with the Pro, of course, you have the ability to use that HDMI output as a
multiview instead of showing your program or preview.
So even with the Pro, if you are using HDMI for multiview, that means your output is
limited to the H264 encoded version, either over the streaming output or recorded to
disk, and you lose the ability to get a high quality recording from the HDMI.
So getting back to this monitor, what exactly is this?
Well, it's basically the entire contraption I set up, but built into one box.
So this monitor itself actually has four inputs and four outputs on the back.
And you can connect for different input sources and it will pass those through back out
the outputs. That basically makes it perfect for using with an ATEM Mini.
You can run your cameras through the monitor and then out from the monitor into the ATEM
Mini. So you plug each of your four cameras into the input of this monitor and then you
can run a short cable from the output into the ATEM Mini sitting just next to it.
And if you need a recommendation for a short HDMI cables, I'm going to leave a link to
these ones I'm using in the description below.
I really like these.
They're only about a foot long and they're nice and flexible and they are perfect for
this kind of situation. And that's exactly what I have set up here.
I've got a camera in front of me that I'm talking to.
I've got this camera off the side getting a shot of this desk and I have an overhead
camera so you can see what I'm doing with ATEM.
Now, this monitor actually has a few different modes.
This four up display is just one of the modes.
You can also have it show you full screen from just any of the individual inputs.
So it's kind of like a switcher itself.
So if I just press this HDMI 1 button on the front, it's going to now reconfigure itself
to show me just the large view from this main camera.
Similarly, I can switch over to HDMI 2, which is showing the desk over here.
I can press F4 and that switches back into this multiview setup.
Now, you might notice that it is taking a couple of seconds each time I do this because
it isn't actually a switcher, it is a monitor.
So it's not doing this sort of seamless switching you get from the ATEM, it's actually
having the devices have to renegotiate HDMI when I switch.
So one of the little tricks I did with this is because I don't actually have four cameras
here. I actually am using this fourth output as the program out of the ATEM Mini.
So this particular setup of using the fourth input as your program out of the Mini is
probably best suited if you are, for example, live streaming in OBS.
So if my computer was using OBS, this shows up as a webcam.
Now I can actually see the program out of the HDMI here.
And what you're seeing here is, of course, the still I can now switch to any of my inputs
and you'll see that the program changes.
So for example, if I have a picture in picture effect setup, I can press picture in
picture on and now you see the picture in picture program out from the ATEM Mini.
So if you're using this with an ATEM Mini Pro, you probably aren't going to use the HDMI
out back into the monitor, but you could feed that into a recorder, for example.
One of the other very useful features this monitor has is a headphone jack so you can
plug in your headphones.
And actually choose which of the four inputs is sending you audio so you can monitor
individual cameras if you want to hear the audio from specific cameras, or you can
actually if you're using it like I've got it set up here, go and choose the audio source
of the ATEM itself.
And that means now whatever audio is in the ATEM Mini is what I'm now hearing through the
headphones, and this can get around a limitation of the fact that there is no headphone
jack in any of the ATEM Minis.
So that's another really good use for this, especially in this configuration where I've
got the HDMI output into the fourth slot of the monitor.
So this monitor is also a broadcast grade monitor.
So it has a lot of the familiar things you would expect to find like false color and
guides. So, for example, I can just go into the menu and turn on false color and it shows
across all of the inputs as well.
That's, of course, very useful to be able to get your exposure right without setting up a
separate monitor for each input.
The monitor also has some picture in picture modes where you can actually choose to just
have one full and then one smaller image.
But personally, I feel like it's most useful as the four up display as a proper
multiview. I should also mention that this is actually a very useful monitor, even if you
aren't using it with an ATEM Mini.
I've actually really enjoyed using this monitor on my desk here, even just for filming
these kinds of videos.
I don't use the ATEM for filming these.
I just record in camera and edit later.
I can have it off at the corner there and have two or three cameras on the display.
Even if those cameras are just recording internally, I don't have to worry about looking
at the tiny screens or looking over there.
I can just see all of them on one screen, side by side and know what all of my shots are.
So are there any downsides to this monitor?
I guess maybe one is the price.
It's not cheap.
It's actually more than the ATEM Mini, but it's less than the ATEM Mini Pro.
So it's somewhere in the middle and it's definitely an investment compared to just buying
the ATEM Mini. But if you do need a good quality monitor for monitoring your four
different inputs is a pretty good deal.
Still, I guess one of the other downsides is that it does take a minute to resync that
video signal when you change the monitors layout from four up to one up.
I do find it useful to while I'm framing or exposing a shot, go into one of the close ups
of one of the cameras.
And that way I can see a bigger version of the picture and make sure I'm in focus and
things like that. So then it does take a few seconds to switch back into the 4-up mode.
But unless you're doing something live, it's not really a big deal because it really only
takes a few seconds and we're back in business.
Other than that, I really have enjoyed this monitor and I'm looking forward to keeping it
around as part of my studio here, so I definitely can recommend it.
The picture looks fantastic.
It's great colors, good quality, nice and bright.
So who do I think this is for?
Well, obviously, with the addition of the multiview in the ATEM Mini Pro, it's no longer
strictly necessary to run all of your inputs before the Mini in order to preview them.
But again, by using the HDMI out of the Pro as your multiview, you then lose the ability
to have your program out going through that HDMI.
And I think that kind of workflow is really where this thing shines.
So the ability to see all of your inputs before they go into the ATEM is really powerful
and really opens up a lot more flexibility for you to use that HDMI port from the ATEM
for other purposes. And that's true regardless of which ATEM Mini model you have.
Well, I hope you found this video helpful, and I hope you enjoyed getting a little sneak
peek of this pretty neat -- and I hope you enjoyed getting a little sneak peek of this
pretty neat monitor. I've been enjoying it a lot, and I'm looking forward to having it
stick around as part of my studio setup here.
Please give this video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it and subscribe to this channel for
more videos like this.
Thanks for watching and I will see you in the next one.