Firmware Friday: New features for Canon pro displays, camcorder bugfixes; also Ricoh Theta, Nikon DSLRs

This week's Firmware Friday roundup is a pretty lengthy one, encompassing eight pro-oriented Canon video cameras and four of the company's reference displays, plus eight Nikon DSLRs and two Coolpix long-zooms, Panasonic's Live Production Center accessory and the Ricoh Theta V 360-degree spherical panoramic camera.

Without any further ado, let's get right down to the roundup!

 

Canon Cinema EOS C200, C200B, C700, C700 PL, C700 GS PL, VIXIA GX10, XF400 and XF405 video cameras; DP-V2410, DP-V2411, DP-V2420 and DP-V2421 reference displays

Starting off with Canon's cameras, we have a raft of updates available or on the way for various of the company's Cinema EOS and VIXIA-branded professional video cameras. The VIXIA GX10 will soon get a fix for incorrect white balance in Auto, Portrait, Sports, Night Scene, Snow, Low Light or Spotlight modes, a change it will share with planned firmware for the VIXIA XF400 and XF405. The firmware for these latter two cameras will also include another change not applicable to the GX10.  (It is, however, to be shared with upcoming firmware for the Cinema EOS C200 and C200B. None of these updates are yet available, however the prior releases have already been withdrawn from Canon's website.

Moving along, we have firmware version 1.0.6.1.00 for the Canon Cinema EOS C700 and C700 PL, as well as firmware version 1.0.4.1.00 for the closely-related Canon C700 GS PL. In all four cases, the list of fixes is much the same, as you'll see below:

• Fixes a phenomenon in which a yellow border appears along the edges of the footage when recording 4.5K RAW (C700 / C700 PL); 4.2K RAW (C700 GS PL)^*1 to the CDX-36150^*2.

• Optimizes the [Black Gamma] compensation when [Normal 1] to [Normal 4] is set for [Gamma] in the Custom Picture settings.

• Optimizes color accuracy in areas of high brightness when [Normal 1] to [Normal 4] is set for [Gamma] in the Custom Picture settings.

• When using the USER or an assignable button, the white balance setting will be maintained after the power has been turned off.
  
  *1 This applies to cameras equipped with Firmware Version 1.0.4.1.00 to 1.0.5.1.00 (C700 / C700 PL); 1.0.2.1.00 to 1.0.3.1.00 (C700 GS PL).
  *2 Codex Digital Recorder module.

​Firmware version 1.0.6.1.00 for the Canon Cinema EOS C700 can be downloaded here, while the version for the C700 PL can be downloaded here, and that for the C700 GS PL here.

Moving along to the reference displays, all four models -- the DP-V2410, V2411, V2420 and V2421 -- share many of the same new features, although there are a few differences here and there. Starting off with the base-model of the group, the DP-V2410, the list of changes in firmware version 1.3 is as follows:

1. A function has been added that automatically switches the picture quality settings in accordance with the video resolution (4K/2K) and the metadata - Colorimetry bit of the video payload ID, cinema camera type (CINEMA EOS SYSTEM/ARRI/Panasonic), and HDMI. This enables more practical and efficient operation in environments that use both HDR and SDR.

2. A function has been added that displays the brightness values*1 or RGB values of the input video of the specified pixel position. This enables to check the subject brightness in greater detail.

3. A function has been added that displays the peak and average brightness values*1, or the peak and average gradation values as well as the transition in these values for the entire input video picture (frame). This enables to visually check changes in brightness during video production.

4. A comparison display function has been added that enables HDR/SDR comparison display, and CDL/User LUT ON/OFF comparison. This enables left-right picture quality comparison display with the press of a single button.

5. A function has been added that colors areas which are over the specified range. The rest of the image is shown in monochrome. This enables to visually check the brightness level during HDR shooting.

6. A function has been added to “False Color” that enables users to adjust the boundary positions of the brightness range.

7. A function has been added to “2020 Outside of Gamut View” that colors areas outside the native color gamut of the panel.

8. PLUGE and Color Bar test pattern images for HDR signals have been added to “Test Pattern”.

9. A function has been added for remotely controlling the display using a Web browser*2. This enables to use a Computer, tablet or other device to check and manipulate the displayed video and settings.

10. Functions “2020 PQ to 2020 SDR”, “2020 PQ to 709 SDR”, and “2020 HLG to 709 HLG” have been added to the “CDL/User LUT”. This enables display of PQ signals converted to SDR characteristics and display with the PQ/HLG signal color gamut converted to BT.709.

11. The ARRI cinema camera LUTs “ARRI (Rec2100-PQ-1K-100)” and “ARRI (Rec2100-HLG-1K-200)” and the Panasonic cinema camera LUT “VARICAM (V-Log to V-709)” have been added to “User LUT”.

12. “Preset Log 1”, “Preset Log 2”, “ARRI (Rec2100-PQ-1K-100)” and “ARRI (Rec2100-HLG-1K-200)” scale display have been added to “Wave Form Monitor”.

13. A function has been added to “Wave Form Monitor” so that colors appear on areas outside the ranges set by “Color Range” and “HDR Range”. This allows for an easy check for the areas outside these ranges.

14. A waveform monitor can now be displayed in both the left and right pictures during MultiView (Dual) display.

15. The system gamma can now be adjusted between 1.000 and 1.500 when “Gamma/EOTF” is set to “Hybrid Log-Gamma.

16. The auto setting operation in “Color Range” has been changed to “Full” when “Gamma /EOTF” is set to “Preset Log 1” or “Preset Log 2”.

17. A “D65-Custom” setting has been added to “Color Temperature” to enable fine adjustment of the D65 color temperature.

18. The operation when “Color Range” is set to “Limited” has been enhanced so that over-white and under-black areas can be displayed.

19. An anamorphic image can now be zoomed in the proper ratio.

20. “Gray” color has been added to the line display color setting, and “Half” bightness to the brightness setting have been added in the “Aspect Marker/Safety Zone Marker 1/Safety Zone Marker 2/Area Marker/Center Marker/Grid Marker” settings. This enables dark display during HDR display.

21. A display size setting has been added to “Center Marker /Audio Level Meter”.

22. Horizontal display position adjustment, brightness adjustment, and VITC/LTC display ON/OFF settings have been added to “Time Code”.

23. A save format setting has been added so that JPEG format capture is now possible in addition to the previous bitmap format.

24. Other UI and operation performance enhancements have also been made.
    
    *1: Only when “Gamma /EOTF” is set to “SMPTE ST 2084 (PQ) / Hybrid Log-Gamma”. (Not supported when “Gamma /EOTF” is set to “Hybrid Log-Gamma RGB”.)
    *2: A Wi-Fi adapter is required when using Wi-Fi.

Firmware version 1.1 for the DP-V2411 makes the exact same list of changes with the exception of the tweak to the limited color range operation. It also adds two further changes. A brightness adjustment function has been added to the “Wave Form Monitor”, a change shared with the V2420 and V2421. There are also two new functions shared with the V2421 alone. One now allows 4K video signals to be resized to 2K size for 4-picture or 2-picture display, while the other resizes 8K video to 4K size and displays it to enable checking of 8K content. Finally, firmware version 1.2 for the DP-V2420 and firmware version 1.2 for the V2421 make all of the changes mentioned previously herein, plus support for HDR/SDR comparison display when “Peak Luminance Control” is set to “On”.

Download the DP-V2410 update here, the V2411 update here, the V2420 update here and the V2421 update here.

Nikon Coolpix B500 and P900; D500, D750, D850, D3400, D5300, D5600, D7200, D7500

With Canon's updates covered, the remainder of the list is relatively short and simple to cover. Nikon's list of updates for eight DSLR models and two Coolpix long-zooms as listed above might look a lot, but the only change made in any of these updates -- available below -- is to only show the names of major cities in the currently-selected time zone, while in the time zone display menu, instead of all cities.

If you want to update, grab your firmware at the links below:

• Nikon Coolpix B500 firmware version 1.3

• Nikon Coolpix P900 firmware version 1.5

• Nikon D500 firmware version 1.15

• Nikon D750 firmware version 1.13

• Nikon D850 firmware version 1.02

• Nikon D3400 firmware version 1.13

• Nikon D5300 firmware version 1.03

• Nikon D5600 firmware version 1.03

• Nikon D7200 firmware version 1.04

• Nikon D7500 firmware version 1.01

Panasonic AV-HLC100 Live Production Center

Firmware version 6-5-180523 for the Panasonic Live Production Center makes two improvements, as follows:

1. When the following conditions are met, the output video is unsteady on the screen and the application is forced to end. This has been corrected.

   • IP output (1080/59.94p, 1080/50p) from NDI|HX compatible equipment is input into AV-HLC100.

   • The system video format is set to 1080/59.94i or 1080/50i.

   • The output streaming is performed.

2. The Audio Delay function is available according to the design.

You can download the update here.

Ricoh Theta V

And finally for this week's roundup, firmware version 2.21.1 for the Ricoh Theta V 360-degree spherical panoramic camera resolves a shooting bug related to use of HDR rendering. No other changes are made in this firmware update, which is available for download immediately using the Ricoh Theta apps for Android, Mac OS or Windows.

And that's all for this week. Be sure to check back next time!

(Camera parts image courtesy of Kelly Hofer / Flickr; used under a Creative Commons CC-BY-2.0 license. Image has been modified from the original.)