[Lumix GX9] Enabling high bitrate 1080p up to 100mbps

searockicesnow

Hey guys,

not sure if this was known yet, but I thought this might be useful for some people.

I found a way to enable recording video to a *.mov file format using higher bitrates on my Lumix GX9. Specifically recording 1080p (up to 60p) in either 50 Mb/s, 100 Mb/s (or even 200 Mb/s, which is not very useful though since the GX9's UHS-I SD interface only supports write speeds up to 104 Mb/s).

The method I used is very similar to the Cine-D trick for the GX80/GX85 back then. It shouldn't break your camera since it is only accessing hidden settings implemented in the camera anyway.

I did not compare the footage against the standard MP4 4k or 1080p modes provided by the GX9. In theory this should enable up to 4x higher bitrates when shooting 1080p, which I could confirm after analysing some test footage. The documented options from Panasonic only include 1080p recording up to 28 Mb/s.

Here is a html tool that you might use to try it yourselves. https://pastebin.com/mHG1T5Ph Just copy the code into a *.html file and open it using any browser.

I posted this on reddit already, but I thought its maybe better put here :) Enjoy.

Knotbar

Great, thank you very much. It would be interesting to see the real difference in the footage. I'm thinking, for example, how increasing the bitrate in Magic Lantern doesn't increase the actual quality. I wish it could be implemented on the G85 / 80, sometimes it is a hassle when I have to deliver the video to colleagues with old equipment who have trouble handling 4K.

aldolega

If the GX9's write speed is indeed capped at 104mbps, it's not because it's UHS-1. There are plenty of UHS-1 cameras which can write much faster than that.

Either way, pretty cool to learn. It'd be great if this could be implemented on the other 28mbps Panasonic cameras, the only thing that was disappointing about my G85 was the low HD bitrate, which didn't hold up all that well with high-motion shots, which is unfortunately mostly what I shoot. The GH4 it replaced handled these shots well, its IPB HD was 100mbps I believe. The 200mbps intraframe mode looked even better.

Grimor

This hack already works with G80/85. Camera gives OK commands to request and show the unknown mode. But resulting files are corrupted .MOV files. Unable to playback

searockicesnow

Well, in case of the GX9 it does work. The camera is unable to preview the files, but they are perfectly fine once you put them on a PC.

I tested 1080p60p and 1080p24p now. Both show >90mbps when you analyze the file.

Grimor

My files from G80 seen to be corrupted at "Offset 0" so probably is just the header that is wrong or corrupted, and the whole video is just fine. If some one want to take a look in order to recover those headers, i can upload the files, because it really brings higher bitrates: 25p from 20Mbps to 91Mbps. 50p from 28Mbps to 75Mbps

inter9800

searockicesnow, please give short 5-10 seconds samples of mov files with different bitrates.Thank.

Knotbar

@Grimor if you don't mind uploading one, I would like to take a look at some of those video files from the G85 / 80, please. :)

inter9800

Knotbar, the lumix gx800 is also recording at a given bit rate, but mov is not playing. I'm trying to recover files, but the video is silent and looks more like a slideshow. We need files with gx9 to restore files correctly. Sorry for the English, this is google translate

searockicesnow

The files are quite big, but I attached some screenshots showing the mediainfo of both, the mov24p100mbps and mov60p100mbps.

inter9800

Thank you, no more. Found a software that perfectly recovers mov files, video and sound in place. Look for Digital Video Repair 3.5.0.1. Thanks to searockicesnow for the html tool, now my gx800 has FHD 100mbps !!

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