# Experiences with using tablet to upload & display in the field



## macroman1 (Apr 30, 2014)

Hi Wise Ones
Forgive my ignorance. I'm dipping my toes in the professional waters, having sold a few motorsports images, had some published in car club mags, and had great feedback. I've come to the conclusion that I need to be able to display my work to drivers at the circuit, preferably on the day, to illustrate my point-of-difference. I've been researching tablets, but the reviews I've read don't match my brief: 
very good display, even in sunlight, decent disk capacity, reasonable cost, and (the kicker it seems) fast jpg upload from CF (I have a usb3 card reader, so usb3 input would seem logical -wireless is unlikely due to remoteness, even cellphone coverage is patchy).
As you'll have inferred, I'm a total novice with mobile computing.
Can anyone out there advise (preferably from actual experience)?
Thanks in anticipation.


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## KKCFamilyman (May 8, 2014)

Well for usb and decent screen. There is the surface pro 2 it starts at 128gb for $999 
Sony tap 11 has close to rgb coverage display and usb 128gb for $649.99.
There are probably others but for full windows and a decent screen these are the 2 best I have found. Both can go up depending on bigger ssd space or specs jump. Both can be calibrated. Good luck


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## privatebydesign (May 8, 2014)

The Eye-Fi cards can do jpegs very well, they can set up their own AdHoc network too so no reception needed, just customize the jpeg capture to your tablets display size to save time and space and you are golden.


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## dcm (May 8, 2014)

Most tablets and laptops have high gloss displays to produce better images, but these typically don't work as well in sunlight. Matte displays can be better in sunlight, but lack the image quality. Most tablet displays are only slightly better than the camera LCD when working with an audience of more than one. They are just too small. 

I don't have motorsports experience so this may not be totally applicable, but your solution may depend on the size of your audience, how far out in the field you are and what facilities are available on the location. You might be surprised what is available on site, in the pits, or team vans/trailers. If an HDTV is available, I can display directly from the camera via HDMI - no tablet/computer is necessary. The key is being able to quickly construct a slide show from the best images you wish to display. Then offer to share it with them on their HDTV.

When available I will upload to my iPad and display on a 1080p HDTV using the HDMI output from the iPad or use AirPlay from the iPad to an Apple TV if a router is also available. There is much more impact if you are comfortable with the technology and setup. When traveling I carry the apple TV, power cord, and hdmi cable with my iPad so it is readily available if I need it. Family vacations are a good opportunity to try it out - the kids enjoy seeing a slideshow of themselves at the end of the day and many of our destinations have HDTVs with HDMI ports and WIFI.


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## macroman1 (May 11, 2014)

Thanks for those replies. DCM, that'd be great, but hardly any of the competitors even have access to electricity, let alone HDTVs (it ain't F1 by a long chalk). PBD, as I understand it Eye-Fi cards are only available as SDHCs, not CFs. KKC, thanks I'll check those out at a local stockist. Failing that, I guess a lightweight laptop may be the best solution - I won't be carrying it around that much.


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## jrista (May 11, 2014)

I use my Microsoft Surface Pro out in the field. It's a full blown computer, weighs about a pound, and runs Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CS6/CC quite nicely. The battery life is the biggest problem, but that's largely been solved with the Surface Pro 2.

The screen is pretty good, I think my photos look quite nice on it, although just ever so slightly less saturated than on my desktop screen. I haven't tried to calibrate the Surface Pro yet...but I bet some calibration would probably fix the saturation problem.

You can even shoot tethered with the Surface Pro and Lightroom. You can plug in either a high capacity memory card or a USB drive, and write images to that. I've also set it up using an "offline files" folder that automatically syncs up to my NAS at home when the tablet connects back up to my home WiFi, but there is limited space on the SSD drive.

Anyway, if you want a nice way of showing your work to racers at the track, I really don't think you could go wrong with a Surface Pro 2 tablet. You could shoot tethered, immediately apply some basic processing in Lightroom, and it's a touch-based device, so sliding through a gallery of your shots for a race car driver would be not only easy, but full screen and beautiful.


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## Don Haines (May 11, 2014)

I got an iPad so I could download photos in the field and select the good ones. It was a mistake.

In my workflow, all images pass through lightroom or photoshop.... I can't do that on an iPad. I ended up getting a decent laptop instead.


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