Tagged with 100mbps - Personal View Talks

GH2: MJPEG 100Mbps Low Light 1080p Settings

LPowell — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 16:53:31 +0000

UPDATE: This MJPEG patch is compatible with the latest version of PTool 3.65d. The standard non-anamorphic version is also included in Flow Motion v2, which is available for download here:

http://www.personal-view.com./talks/discussion/3337/gh2-flow-motion-v2.02-720p-reliability-in-auto-exposure-modes/p1

As numerous GH2 owners have discovered, Vitaliy's recent updates to PTool have enabled the newly hacked GH2 to sustain remarkably high bitrates in MJPEG HD mode. What's even more impressive is that the GH2 maintains error-free recording stability at bitrates significantly exceeding those that can be used reliably on the GH1. And where the GH1 struggled to produce FHD-size videos in MJPEG mode, the GH2 can be readily patched to record in any MJPEG frame size, all the way up to 1920x1080p.

The MJPEG encoder's most valuable asset has always been its ability to record each video frame as a JPEG-encoded key frame. This enables it to track high-speed action at 30fps without any of the smeared motion artifacts that plague low-bitrate AVCHD videos. To produce high-quality, detailed key frames at 1080p, however, an Intra-frame encoder must work at higher average bitrates than the GH1 was able to sustain. With PTool's support of the GH2, it is now possible to use MJPEG HD mode to produce reliable 1080p videos at an average bitrate of 100Mbps in sharply-focused, highly-detailed scenes.

The MJPEG encoder also excels in difficult low-light conditions where the AVCHD encoder cuts down its bitrate to minimum quality levels. On the GH1, MJPEG HD mode could be relied on to produce bitrates over 24Mbps even in dimly-lit scenes. With patch settings optimized for consistent bitrate production, the GH2 can maintain high bitrates of up to 100Mbps across the entire exposure range, producing high-quality images under any and all illumination levels. Combined with the GH2's low-noise image sensor, MJPEG HD mode can render clean, gradable images in conditions that the GH1 would have found hopelessly underexposed.

MJPEG image quality with exposure bracketing

Below are 100% crops of two series of four bracketed exposures I took in MJPEG HD mode, patched to 1920x1080 resolution. For each shot, I set up the GH2 on a tripod with a fixed aperture at ISO160, and varied the shutter speed from 1/60 to 1/500 second, producing videos bracketed at one-stop exposure steps. Frame grabs were then composited in Photoshop and saved at maximum JPEG image quality. These scenes were selected as typical outdoor subjects shot in natural lighting, as opposed to shots of extremely detailed foliage. The GH2 exhibited no reliability issues whatsoever, and recorded all videos at impressively consistent bitrates of around 90Mbps.

iPad compatible MJPEG VGA video mode

In addition to MJPEG HD mode, recent versions of PTool have provided patches for adjusting the frame size and image quality of MJPEG VGA mode as well. Unlike the HD 16:9 aspect ratio of HD mode, VGA video mode records with an SD aspect ratio of 4:3. I've optimized VGA mode to produce 960x720 videos at consistent average bitrates of about 30Mbps. These videos are compatible with the maximum-quality download specifications of the Apple iPad, with its 1024x768 screen resolution.

GH2 Patch Considerations

Patches for the GH2 are currently in active development by numerous testers, and Vitaliy has updated PTool several times with exciting new features. The patches in the downloadable PTool INI settings file below have been systematically tested using PTool version 3.61d and have produced no reliability issues to date. This patch is designed and tested only for the fastest Class 10 SDHC cards currently available.

Additional points of interest:

* The 100Mbps GH2 Low Light MJPEG 1080p Patch is compatible with all GH2 cameras, and is switchable between NTSC and PAL modes.

* I recommend using the camera to format your SD card at the start of each shoot, to guard against SD card memory fragmentation.

* Peak bitrates are obtained only with sharply-focused, highly-detailed subject matter. Average scenes will produce average bitrates.

* High bitrate MJPEG videos may not play back reliably in-camera or on low-powered computers.

* If shutter speed is set longer than the frame rate (e.g. slower than 1/30 at 30p), low-quality video files may be produced.

*** WARNING ***

The 100Mbps GH2 Low Light MJPEG 1080p Patch will not work properly with previous versions of PTool. My thanks once again go to Vitaliy Kiselev, for his pioneering work on PTool, and to cbrandin for his invaluable Stream Parser tool.

The best way to insure that you have the latest PTool release is to download it directly from the following link:

Download PTool here: https://www.personal-view.com/faqs/gh2-hack/ptool-software

100Mbps GH2 Low Light MJPEG 1080p Patch Settings File:

For use with PTool v3.62d and above, I've prepared anamorphic as well as standard aspect ratio settings files:

* For use with standard lenses, the standard patch will produce two types of MJPEG 30p videos:

HD mode: 1920x1080 HD videos, with peak bitrates up to 100Mbps.
VGA mode: 960x720 iPad-compatible videos, with peak bitrates up to 30Mbps.

* For use with anamorphic lenses, the anamorphic patch supports two different squeeze ratios:

HD mode: 1920x810 videos for 1.33X anamorphic adapters, with peak bitrates of 100Mbps.
VGA mode: 2160x810 videos for 2X anamorphic adapters, with peak bitrates of 100Mbps.

These zipped INI files can be used to apply complete patch settings to firmware loaded into PTool. To use, unzip the INI file into the same folder as the PTool application. Launch PTool and load the firmware for GH2 v1.0. The settings contained in the INI file will automatically be installed in the "C" button at the bottom of the PTool main window.

Note that with the following PTool Settings files, you may at any time re-install the original Panasonic GH2 v1.0 firmware into the camera. You may also copy each type of patched or original firmware to separate SD cards, and use them to quickly switch between patches as often as you like.

GH4 All-inta 200mbps file size smaller than IPB shooting mode

DirectorDuncan — Sat, 17 Jan 2015 07:14:42 +0000

Does anyone know why the file file size is smaller when shooting in All-intra 200mbps, as opposed to IPB 100mbsp on the GH4? I shot 25 seconds of test footage in each record mode. All the other setting remained exactly the same, I only changed the record mode.

The MP4, 24p 1080 All-Intra 200mbps file size was 148.7 MB The MP4, 24p 1080 IPB 100mbps file size was 291.8MB

Any suggestions?

100Mbps Flow Motion v1.11 Failsafe Patch with HBR 25p & 50p modes

LPowell — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:26:51 +0000

This patch has been upgraded and superseded by Flow Motion v2

For more info, see the following link:

http://www.personal-view.com./talks/discussion/3337/gh2-flow-motion-v2-100mbps-fast-action-performance-reliability-for-all-class-10-sd-cards/p1

GH2 100Mbps Flow Motion v1.11 Failsafe Patch with HBR 25p & 50p modes

Released below is a minor revision to Flow Motion v1.11, tuned and tested for failsafe operation in all PAL video modes, including ETC zoom mode. In addition, it also supports failsafe operation in all NTSC modes except for ETC mode in HBR 30p and FSH 60i. As an alternative to using ETC in HBR 30p mode, I recommend using ETC with either 80% Slo-mo 24H mode, or MJPEG HD mode, both of which produce high quality results at 1080p30. To download the Flow Motion v1.11 Patch INI file, select the last attachment at the bottom of this post.

In short, this is the 100Mbps GH2 version of my Reliable In-Camera Playback Patch.

Congratulations once again to @Vitaliy Kiselev for cracking Panasonic's recent firmware v1.1 update for the GH2! PTool v3.64 now provides support not only for the new HBR 1080p25 and 1080p30 video modes, but for custom Quantizer Scaling Tables as well. Custom tables enable patch developers to tailor the compression properties and image quality of each of the AVCHD 1080p, 1080i, and 720p video resolutions. In addition, @cbrandin's invaluable Stream Parser and Scaling Table development tools have made it possible to quickly take advantage of these new PTool features, providing an unprecedented level of control over the GH2's video recording functions. Combined with the capabilities of Panasonic's v1.1 firmware, this has resulted in numerous improvements to the reliability and motion picture quality of Flow Motion v1.1. Here is a concise list of its features and specifications:

100Mbps AVCHD in 24H 1080p24 and SH 720p50/60 at 8-10 keyframes/sec.
75Mbps AVCHD in HBR 1080p25/30 and FSH 1080i50/60 at 8-10 keyframes/sec.
50Mbps AVCHD in 24L 1080p24, FH 1080i50/60, and H 720p50/60 video modes
100Mbps MJPEG 1080p Patch maintains high bitrates regardless of light levels.
Full support for all NTSC and PAL video modes.
In-camera playback of all AVCHD video files. (MJPEG HD videos not playable in-camera.)
4GB AVCHD file-spanning in all video modes with 95MB/sec UHS-1 SD cards.
File-spanning in 24L, FH, and H modes supported on all Class 10 SD cards.
ETC zoom mode with failsafe operation in all modes except NTSC HBR 30p and FSH 60i.
80% Slo-mo 24H video mode with ETC and file spanning in 24L mode.
Combines optimal I-frame size with compact, 3-frame GOP file size (GOP-6 in 720p modes).
Customized Scaling Tables produce P and B-frames that match I-frame quality.

As with any complex video camera, there are a number of considerations and limitations to bear in mind:

Listed bitrates are the maximum seen in practice, filming well-lit, sharply-focused, highly detailed scenes. Average shots will produce average bitrates. In low-light conditions, I recommend trying MJPEG HD 1080p30 mode for its ability to maintain high bitrates in near dark conditions.
If shutter speed is set longer than the frame rate (e.g. slower than 1/60 at 60p), low-quality video files may be produced. High shutter speeds will reduce motion blur, which may force the encoder to operate at higher bitrates.
ETC zoom mode increases the bitrate and puts significant stress on the encoder. With Flow Motion v1.11, Failsafe ETC mode is now supported in all PAL video modes, and in all NTSC video modes except HBR 30p and FSH 60i modes. ETC actually does work in all modes, but I've found that with Panasonic distortion-correction lenses, it's not 100% failsafe in HBR and FSH modes under the most extreme conditions. With manual-focus vintage lenses, it has so far proven to be failsafe in all modes.
Flow Motion v1.1 has been tested extensively at ISO 3200. It is not tuned to work reliably with PTool's extended ISO patch, but higher ISO can be used reliably in underexposed, low-light conditions.
Panasonic Lumix distortion-correction lenses are now fully supported in Flow Motion v1.11. For smoothest results, I recommend using these lenses with a mild diffusion filter to reduce their over-sharpened edge artifacts. My favorite is the Tiffen Black Diffusion FX3.
The 24L, FH, and H video modes make use of a special "Trick Mode" that ensures reliable file-spanning at 50Mbps. It does this by setting the video file's transport stream bitrate to a much lower level than the video stream's bitrate. These files play back correctly in video editors with no need for post-processing. However, MediaInfo and Windows will report incorrect duration and bitrate for these files when examined on the desktop.
I recommend using the camera to format your SD card at the start of each shoot, to guard against SD card memory fragmentation.

This Is Our Market

pchristoph — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 11:37:46 +0000

Hi friends.
This community is fantastic and with much respect and gratitude for all testers I am very happy to share a short docu-film I made using the GH2vk and the GOP3 100mbps Driftwood patch (which is now ancient LOL!) - I am currently using Driftwood's newest GOP1 AQuamotion V2
It was done over this past summer and really shows the incredible improvements to quality all made possible by Vitaliy with the hacked firmware.
GH2vk
Super Takumars : 135 2.5, 50 1.4
Tamron 17-50 2.8 (steadicam)
Manfrotto Monopod 561bhdv-1

I recorded the music at my studio using various instruments and using Logic 9 software

How to get higher bit-rates and true 24fps with Gh13?

kronstadt — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:57:42 +0000

Howdie comrades,

(long time reader, first time joiner/poster)

So I came back from London with 4 hours worth of lens-test footage - mostly night-shoots and hand-held. This was my first shoot with my Gh1 re-born as a Gh13 after I applied the hack with LPowell 100mbps settings, with Overall Bitrate set at 108,000,000. I shot everything in FHD AVCHD, on 32GB class 10 Transcend cards. As far as I can remember, my Gh13 never crashed or frose.

The footage looks great, but it's not as "mind-blowing" as I expected.

Once I came back I got a software called Mediainfo (free from SourceForge), so as to check bit-rates, fps etc (great simple software). And I was pretty upset to find out that most of my videos are in 25fps (NOT 24fps or 23.976fps as I expected) and have bit-rates ranging from 15 to 20mbps. Is this normal??? I mean where's the 100mbps? or at least the 50mbps? Am I missing something?

So , how can I make those videos be capturing in TRUE 24fps with bit-rates as high as 40, 50, or even 86mbps, or even higher???

Many Thanks in advance for your advices and suggestions.

PS: a personal message to Vitaliy Kiselev:
Vitaliy, ti GENIJ!!! Molodchina chto smog vzlomat' Gh1, Gh2 itd. Ti dal mnogo vozmozhnostei massam, snimat nastoyaschee KIHO. Tak derzhat', bratuxa! Salyut ot byvshego Sovka. i ogromnoe SPASIBO!

VIDEO: Panasonic GH1 - 100Mbps Hack Test

tomb — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 03:59:41 +0000

I just posted this over at Vimeo. Thought I would post it for everyone to see, here.
Thanks for all your hard work Vitaliy!!!

This test was filmed using an "unhackable" Panasonic GH1. The model GH1 I had was "unhackable" until its firmware was recently hacked again by Vitaliy Kiselev. The hack was made available on May 29, 2011, using PTool 3.55d.

The hack profile settings I used for this video allow the camera to record file speeds of up to 100Mbps. This setting is not meant to be used all the time as it may cause the camera to cease recording when filming extremely detailed scenes like foliage. So to test this, I filmed...some foliage.

Most of my foliage shots (and a few shots of my beagles) were under 30 seconds. Some people report that their camera shut down after only 6-10 seconds of filming foliage with the 100Mbps patch. My camera did not give me any problems at all with the 100Mbps patch, though.

I checked out the video MTS clip files with MediaInfo and the "Maximum Overall Bitrate" is listed at 108 Mbps. Keep in mind that this doesn't actually mean that the file actually ever hit 108Mbps.
LPowell explains this :
"The 108Mbps figure that MediaInfo reports is metadata recorded in the file header by the AVCHD encoder. This tells the decoder in advance the maximum bitrate it must be prepared to decode. In practice, I have only rarely seen peak bitrates exceed 100Mbps in test files I've shot with the Max Latitude Patch. The 1-17Mbps readings are running average bitrates, which can range up to 40-50Mbps. The GH1's AVCHD encoder begins each clip with a key frame encoded with a low bitrate which then increases over time, and varies depending on the complexity of the subject matter."

Also - I wanted to test the GH1 with my Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L zoom lens. I attached the lens to my GH1 via a $30 Fotodiox EOS-MFT lens adapter.

Note that my copy of the Panasonic GH1 has some banding issues. The serial number on my camera starts with WE0G****, which means it's manufacture date was July 2010. Supposedly, the GH1 can be purchased brand new and with manufacture dates as recent as March 2011. The newer the manufacture date, the less the banding is supposed to be.

The next 2 tests that I will do with my newly hacked GH1 and it's 100Mbps patch are the following:
1. Grass shot, locked down on tripod.
2. Star chart test.
For both of these high-detail tests I will let the camera roll for as long as it will roll. I will also be using a sharp, wider Canon L series lens. My goal is to see how long of a shot I can get before the bitrate goes too high for the camera, buffer or SDHC card to handle.

Also - soon I will be posting some footage with the Canon L Series lenses and my Panasonic GH2. Then we can compare the quality of the hacked GH1, and the unhacked, newer GH2.

Then finally, when Vitaliy hacks the GH2, I'll post footage of the hacked GH2!

- - - - - - - - -

EQUIPMENT, Etc:

Camera: Panasonic GH1
Serial: WE0G****
Hacked Firmware: 100Mbps Max Latitude Patch V2
Film Style: "SMOOTH" (-2, -2, 0, 0)

SDHC Card: 32GB Transcend (Class 10)

Lens: Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L
Aperture: 2.8 (because the Canon EOS lens system does NOT have a MANUAL aperture, the aperture has to be set on a Canon EOS camera body...then taken off and attached to the GH1, and used with whatever aperture was set on the EOS body).
Shutter speed: Varies due to having to keep the aperture at 2.8
ISO: 160 exterior shots...between 400-640 indoor shots

CC: FCP 3-Way Color Correction (only used to correct exposure...I didn't have my LCD brightness set proper when recording)