Hollyland Cosmo M7 7″ High-Brightness Wireless Monitor Introduced

by Jeff LochMay 22^nd, 2020

We had a conversation with Lawrence Leigh from Hollyland during our cinema5D Virtual Show to talk about their all-in-one wireless monitor: the Hollyland Cosmo M7. This 7-inch touchscreen features a built-in wireless receiver and is a straightforward director/client monitor or for a focus puller. Let’s take a closer look!

Image credit: Hollyland

Hollyland Cosmo M7 Features

Lately, we’ve seen more and more wireless all-in-one monitors in the market, like the SmallHD Bolt series or the Vaxis Storm Focus, for example. Hollyland is joining the competition with its new Hollyland Cosmo M7. These wireless monitoring solutions are exquisite because the wireless receiver is built-in the monitor, which means you just have to power it, and the monitor connects automatically to the wireless transmitter on the camera. Right now however, it is only officially compatible with Hollyland transmitters.

The Cosmo M7 features a 7-inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1200. The screen has a maximum brightness of 1500 Nits and a viewing angle of 178°, which should be enough for outdoor use. As I previously mentioned, everything is built-in the Cosmo M7, so it is very compact at 19.2cm x 12cm x 2.5cm (without external antenna and batteries) and lightweight at only 1.65lbs/750g.

Image credit: Hollyland

On both sides of the monitor, there are wooden handles for a comfortable grip. Also, on the right side of the display, you’ll find three customizable buttons and one channel button.

Image credit: Hollyland

Monitoring Tools

You can assign each of the three buttons to any of the monitoring tools, including:

• False color, Zebra, Histogram, Waveform.
• Aspect ratio, Audiometer, Screen rotation.
• 3D LUT.
• Zoom, Pixel-to-Pixel zoom.
• HV Delay, Mono color display.

As you can see, the Cosmo M7 is packed with a lot of monitoring tools and options, which is essential to analyze your image on set.

Image credit: Hollyland

Image Transmission

The beautiful thing about the Hollyland ecosystem is that you can connect one Hollyland Cosmo transmitter to multiple Cosmo M7 receivers. This is very useful on a commercial shoot, for example, where both the director and the client have to view what’s being shot.

Image credit: Hollyland

According to Hollyland, the Cosmo M7 features a 600ft/182m maximum transmission range, with a “close to zero” latency, which makes it usable by focus pullers. The Cosmo M7 works on the 5GHz bandwidth, and it features a smart channel scan that automatically selects the best channel available for a reliable and stable wireless transmission.

Image credit: Hollyland

The Cosmo M7 can take resolutions of up to 1080P at 60 frames per second. Also, for ARRI Alexa mini users, the M7 supports playback with no blackout.

Image credit: Hollyland

Ergonomics and Powering Options

The Cosmo M7 is powered via two Sony NP-F batteries. According to Hollyland, you can run the monitor for around 3 to 4 hours with two Sony F970 batteries. At the moment, there is no V-Mount or Gold Mount options available. However, there is one 2-pin Lemo to D-Tap cable included in the package if you want to power the Cosmo M7 via an external battery. We hope that Hollyland will come soon with an alternative battery brackets for the M7.

Image credit: Hollyland

Talking about ergonomics, there are not a ton of input/output ports or buttons. Keep in mind that the M7 is a simple and straightforward solution that you can give to your client. Still, there are:

• Three 1/4-20″ mounting holes at the top and sides.
• One power switch and power indicator at the top of the M7, as well as a menu scroll wheel and exit button.
• A USB port at the bottom for firmware upgrade and loading your custom 3D LUTs.
• A 3.5mm headphone jack at the bottom to monitor your signal.
• Two neck strap hole at the front.

Image credit: Hollyland

Pricing and Availability

The Hollyland Cosmo M7 will be available at the end of May 2020 for $2999.00. It comes with a hard case, two wooden handles, a neck strap, a sun hood, a 2-pin Lemo to D-Tap cable, mounting screws, and a user manual.

At this pricepoint, it is one of the most affordable 7-inch wireless monitors on the market if you compare it to a SmallHD 703Bolt monitor, for example, which retails for $4199.00.

What do you think about the Hollyland Cosmo M7? Do you like having wireless monitors on set and how do you use them? Let us know in the comments below!