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GH2: big loss of bitrate after 3.64 update
  • wildlarkwildlark

    Newbie here again. Followed all the instructions for updating firmware 1.1 and 3.64 to the letter. Then I shot some cinema 24H footage which all looked fine but showed 11 mbps - instead of 44 mbps in the 3.64 update checked box. (Did not check any other boxes) So instead of doubling my bitrate, it was halved.

    I tried several times with different exposures and lenses, same result. So then I did a clean reinstall of firmware 1.0, same problem, likewise with firmware 1.11 and finally back to 3.64 with one check box marked against AVCHD for increase bit rate to 44. I went carefully through the entire process twice with all the firmwares, uninstalling and reinstalling so cannot figure out what happened.

    I note that both 24H and 24L in cinema mode came out the same - 10-11 mbps. (Should be respectively 24 and 17 according to the manual.) On the last try after the second reinstall I got 15 mbps on cinema 24H and 12 mbps on HBR mode. The camera is a week old, working fine, the footage looks OK, so is there something I am missing with the camera settings or interpretation of the data?

    I noted in another post somewhere here (cannot find it now) that someone else had a similar problem but managed to retrieve the bitrate after reverting to firmware 1.0. I am not sure if they did that working with V1.0 and 3.64 or just reverted to the factory settings of V1.0.

    What should I do? Thanks in advance.

  • 8 Replies sorted by
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Normally such complains are result of very non-systematic testing and trying to compare things that you can't compare.

  • wildlarkwildlark

    can you suggest what I could do that you would regard as 'systematic testing'? thanks....

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Change only 24H bitrate setting. Use standard test patterns or similar approach.
    And post each and every INI used (save, and use PTool export feature).
    And, reset all camera settings after upgrade.

  • stoneystoney

    Google it.

  • KeithLommelKeithLommel

    I think part of the problem is the expectation that the camera will always record at the maximum possible bitrate, when in fact, the actual recorded bitrate is highly content dependent. The bitrate specs (both for stock firmware as well as most custom settings) are maximums, not necessarily what you'll get with everyday shooting, especially if you're just panning around your apartment from your computer desk right after updating the firmware. You need to have a well lit, sharply focused, highly detailed scene with lots of movement to really max out the bitrate... try taking the camera outside during the daytime and film a bush with lots of tiny leaves blowing in the wind, or maybe a fast running stream over rocks.

    Or if you don't want to bother leaving the house to use your camera, try shooting the various "death charts" posted elsewhere on this site.

  • wildlarkwildlark

    @Keith, got me on that one! - yep very dimly lit apartment from the computer desk. Even under those conditions, I noticed that the rates increased and were more variable - after I had hit the the reset button as Vitaliy suggested. Reset is not such a prominent instruction in the original directions for installing 3.64. Will give your suggestion a try. My main concern was that I somehow lost my factory settings of 24 mbps that I might not be able to retrieve.

  • wildlarkwildlark

    fixed this problem, I did not change the bitrate in the ptool program to 42, duh! sorry to waste anyone's time. Perhaps a suggestion for software challenged people like me, we need to have it spelt out for us in some instructions, as those who write these things take what is obvious for them, for granted. So, one step of the instructions could read something like,

    "If you check the AVCHD 24H box, don't forget to enter the bitrate value (42 etc) in the window below, before you save."

    Once again, many thanks for all your input.

  • TomasoTomaso

    @wildlark Actually I got the same problem with in Ptool suggested values 24p = 42/35 and FSH/FH / SH/H = 42/42. Simple settings. With 24p = 44/35 and FSH/FH / SH/H = 35/24 works fine. I will shoot more tomorrow in daylight with this simple bitrate only settings. Well I added AQ=4 and audio settings as well.

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