14May Smallhd DP4 over heating problem solved

Over the last year or so, i have basically stopped taking the SmallHD DP4 out on jobs. The reason is because it would usually start to fail on me after a few hours of use. The monitor would start to get warm, then suddenly it would shut down. I’d change out batteries and get no response, but if I left it alone for an hour or so it would eventually turn back on.

After all this time, I decided to contact SmallHD to see if they had any solutions to offer. The first thing they said was, “It’s probably your battery connector plate”. While I knew there were multiple options for battery power with the DP4 I didn’t realize this was a point of failure. The rep instructed me to thread a 1/4 20 stud into the side of the monitor and use it to pry the back off of the unit.

Apparently the power from the back plate comes in on these two pins. He said it was a good idea to clean them off every once in awhile, if they get too dirty it can create a bad electrical connection between the monitor and the battery plate casing the monitor to fail.

The guy from SmallHD also told me that my heating problems were probably due to these spring clips on the battery plate itself. If these pins aren’t properly seated against the back of the monitor, heat can cause them to pull back a small amount as the plastic plate they are attached to expands, which in turn causes the screen to lose power. He said the best thing to do was to clean the ends of the pins and lightly pull on them so that they apply more pressure to the contacts on the back of the monitor.
I left the screen on for 2 hours yesterday in the heat and didn’t have any problems. I might risk taking it with me on next week’s shoot to see how reliable this fix really is. Hopefully this simple trick solves the problem.
May 15th, 2013 at 1:57 am
Interesting that they seem to know exactly what the failure is. Do you think the DP4 is worth buying despite this issue? Wonder if they’ve fixed it? I’m tempted to pick up their package deal with the viewfinder.
May 15th, 2013 at 5:44 am
The display on the DP4 is slightly brighter and the colors are slightly more accurate than Sony’s CLM V55 and the focus peaking is slightly better. However the difference is so small I usually recommend saving a couple hundred dollars and buying the sony or even the Viltrox DC-50 only ($180).
May 15th, 2013 at 12:48 pm
Thanks for the reply Deejay. My issue is that on my last shoot, I was shooting in very bright daylight so was having a tough time focusing even with an LCD hood. It seems like the viewfinder would have been a great help. Supposedly, the Zacuto evf nails color even better but I hate the idea of buying/using a small monitor that’s the same size as my LCD. I’m sure it’s better but I’d still feel cheated.
May 15th, 2013 at 2:57 pm
I know it’s kind of cheap, but I normally use 4 sheets of that black art foam and some velcro to build a 8 inch hood around my monitor if I’m working in bright sunlight. That usually does a fine job of keeping the sun off the monitor and it allows you to use both eyes.
May 15th, 2013 at 4:37 pm
I noticed that SmallHd sells their basic 7″ for the same price as the DP4 package. That’s a true HD monitor and it comes with a pretty deep hood. Think that would be worth getting? Kind of big for a field monitor but I could make it work. SmallHD even has a truebright model in their pro series that allows you to see everything in bright daylight but it’s 2K. Sounds perfect, though.
May 15th, 2013 at 7:16 pm
I’ve tested the truebright unit, it’s very impressive, works great in direct sunlight, but it’s out of my price range. If you don’t mind the 7″ form factor it might be a good option, or you could hunt down a used DP6 for around the same price.
May 15th, 2013 at 6:46 pm
If they know exactly what causes the heatup you’d think they’d do a recall. Or come out with a upgraded unit. If I had the money I’d buy the Zacuto EVF, it’s just so convenient to have a loupe you can position anywhere plus a nice field monitor.
May 15th, 2013 at 7:19 pm
I’ve tried EVF’s and I honestly can’t stand them. Using one eye throws me off and screen door look of a magnified LCD screen is painful at best.
May 30th, 2013 at 12:49 am
My smallHD DP4 is a great little monitor. Its easy to handle and carry around. I haven’t had this problem you mentioned so far, but I noticed it gets quite hot after an extended period of time. I try to turn it off in between shot changes but the heat is always a concern. Also, I get burn in issues of the menu systems. I don’t know if anyone has this issue, but I though this problem would go away after using the monitor for a while after purchase. I still seem to get it quite a bit, but at least its all temporary.
All in all, I love its functionality and sharpness. The quality, I feel, is so much better than the plastic feel of the Zacuto.
June 5th, 2013 at 2:34 pm
Can anyone tell me or link me to the hotshoe adapter in the photos that the monitor sits on?
June 5th, 2013 at 6:17 pm
You can find the nicer version here and the cheap one here.
July 5th, 2013 at 9:16 pm
Great article, and good to see all the replies. I like my unit because of the size and battery life. About the hood, i thought i saw in a video that you can extend the length of the included hood via the velcro strips.
I also own a ZEVF, and it’s great in it’s own way – definitely better color than the DP4 –