Firmware Friday: New features for Ricoh Theta V, Canon ref displays; Panasonic, Sigma updates, too

Our Firmware Friday roundup this week consists mostly of gear other than cameras, although we do still have one 360-degree camera and one entry-level pro video camera on the list as well. On top of that, we've also got news of updates for six reference displays, one lens, two lens mount converters and two flash strobes.

As you can see, we've a lot to discuss, so let's get right down to it!

Canon DP-V1710, DP-V1711, DP-V2410, DP-V2411, DP-V2420 and DP-V2421

We'll kick things off this week with Canon. The company has updated six of its reference displays, making it the most prolific firmware creator of the past week. All six share most of the same changes, although a few tweaks are reserved only for certain models. In all, the list of changes are as below, according to the official release notes:

• All displays:

  1. "Wave Form Monitor" and "Vector Scope" can now be simultaneously displayed within the screen.

  2. The video display position can now be adjusted using "Top", "Middle" and "Center" in 2-picture or 4-picture display mode.

  3. SDR video picture quality settings (contrast adjustment, color temperature, gain adjustment) have been added in HDR/SDR comparison display mode.

  4. Display picture quality settings are automatically detected and switched by Transfer Characteristics (PQ/HLG/SDR), Bit Depth, and ICtCp of the Payload ID.

  5. The picture quality and channel settings of multiple displays connected via a LAN can now be switched simultaneously.

  6. Settings can now be exported and imported between multiple different models when connected to the same LAN.

  7. Warning display is available for input signal errors such as no signal or unsupported signal and for incorrect 2-Sample Interleave signal connection order.

  8. When inputting 8K video (2-Sample Interleave signal) with four 12G-SDI cables, it is now possible to sequentially switch and display the video of each input terminal at regular intervals, and to display a warning when the video signal of a non-displayed terminal is incorrect.

  9. A setting has been added that switches terminal order sorting ON and OFF according to the Payload ID when inputting a 2-Sample Interleave/3G-SDI Dual Link signal.

  10. "Luminance Graph" display (which uses gradations to express the brightness distribution within the maximum brightness) and "HDR/SDR Ratio Graph" display (which expresses the brightness ratio of HDR areas and SDR areas) have been added to the "Frame Luminance Monitor".

  11. The peak and average brightness values and time codes obtained by the "Frame Luminance Monitor" can now be output to USB memory.

  12. The brightness signal histogram of the input video can now be displayed. In addition, the HDR/SDR ratio and the peak and average brightness can be displayed. The HDR signal area can be colored with the same color as that used for "False Color", and areas that are in the HDR range or higher can be colored with a warning color.

  13. "False Color" display and operability have been improved, by adding HDR area and SDR area brightness boundary settings and enabling color-coding of SDR areas using two different colors.

  14. A function has been added that automatically sets the HLG signal system gamma according to the contrast value.

  15. The display size settings "Large", "Middle" and "Small" have been added to the "Wave Form Monitor".

  16. The display size settings "Large", "Middle" and "Small" and the target setting "75+100%" have been added to the "Vector Scope". In addition, a function has been added that changes the target frame to the BT.2020 position during BT.2020 YCbCr signal input.

  17. A function has been added that displays a function list when the jog dial is pressed or moved (up/down/left/right or rotated) while the OSD is hidden. In addition, a function can be selected from the function list and the detailed setting screen for that function can be displayed or the function can be executed by pressing or moving the jog dial to the right.

  18. A function that adjusts the brightness has been added to the "Audio Level Meter".

  19. Display settings such as picture mode display have been added to the "Banner".

  20. A function of "Half" has been added to the "Separator".

  21. A function has been added that allows the 2-picture display of the entire image and the enlarged image to be viewed simultaneously during zoom display.

  22. A function that creates a HDR/SDR comparison file has been added to the "Screen Capture".

  23. A function that performs Wi-Fi connection by the access point method has been added.

  24. Functions that perform operations such as LUT import and setting import/export via the Internet during remote control by Wi-Fi or LAN connection have been added.

  25. The "x1.8" setting has been added to the "Anamorphic".

  26. Some TSL ver5.0 Unicode (Japanese/Chinese, etc.) can now be displayed in "In Monitor Display".

  27. Some setting defaults have been changed, such as the function button defaults and the User4 mode "DCI PQ D65", etc.

• All except V2410

  28. A function that adjusts the OSD brightness has been added.

• All except V1710, V2410, V2420

  29. GPI control type settings have been added. Some functions now support level control that turns the functions ON and OFF according to short-circuit/open, and short-circuit edge control that turns the functions ON and OFF at the short-circuit timing.

• All except V2410, V2420 and V2421

  30. Warning display is available for SDI signal CRC errors.

  31. 2-picture or 4-picture display of 12G/6G-SDI 4K video signals and 3G/HD-SDI 2K video signals can now be performed with a single display.

  32. The audio level meter of multiple terminals can now be simultaneously displayed in 2-picture or 4-picture display mode.

  33. Waveform monitors of HDR video and SDR video can now be simultaneously displayed and the waveform monitors after LUT conversion can now be displayed in "Compare View" mode.

  34. Four different LUTs can be viewed simultaneously in QuadView display mode.

You can download the updates for your monitor(s) at the links below:

• Canon DP-V1710 firmware version 1.3

• Canon DP-V1711 firmware version 1.3

• Canon DP-V2410 firmware version 1.4

• Canon DP-V2411 firmware version 1.2

• Canon DP-V2420 firmware version 1.3

• Canon DP-V2421 firmware version 1.3

Panasonic AG-AC30

Moving along to Panasonic, the company has updated its AG-AC30 video camera. Firmware version 1.06, which you can get here, squashes a single bug which could cause sharpness or color adjustments to be lost if you power-cycled the camera while in manual focus mode.

Ricoh Theta V

Firmware version 3.00 for the Ricoh Theta V, meanwhile, was predicted by a previous roundup two weeks ago. It's quite a biggie, as the name would suggest. Perhaps the most significant change is the addition of manual or priority-mode exposure for video capture, but the full list of changes is as follows:

1. Improved a function which corrects rotational shake when shooting video, when transferring to a smartphone with zenith correction turned on.

2. It is now possible to set ISO priority mode, shutter priority mode, and manual mode for shooting video.

3. Display lamp visibility has been improved.

4. Still image quality has been improved.

5. The differences in brightness in the stitched sections of the image during interval shooting has been reduced.

6. Bug fixes

The update can be applied using the Ricoh Theta app for Windows or Mac OS devices following the instructions here.

Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 for Canon; MC-11 EF-E and SA-E; and EF-630 for Canon / Nikon

And finally for this week, we come to Sigma. There are updates for a total of five products this week, counting variants for different camera brands. Firmware version 2.01 for the Canon EF-mount variant of the Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM (S013) lens fixes a bug that could cause changes set in the custom mode using the Sigma Optimization Pro app to be ignored.

Firmware version 1.18 for the SA-E version of the MC-11 mount converter, as well as firmware version 1.25 for the EF-E version of the same converter, each improve autofocus speed when using Sigma's 135mm F1.8 DG HSM | Art lens with either the Sony A7 III or A9 camera bodies. The EF-E mount version of the converter also gets compatibility with the aforementioned firmware for the 120-300mm F2.8 lens.

Finally, firmware version 1.04 for the Canon variant of Sigma's EF-630 flash strobe adds support for the EOS R and RP mirrorless cameras, while firmware version 1.02 for the Nikon equivalent of the same strobe adds support for the Z6 and Z7 mirrorless cameras, and squashes a bug which could cause overexposure in wireless shooting.

To update your gear, you'll need Sigma's USB dock accessory or Flash USB dock accessory and its Optimization Pro software, which you can download here. Those of you who own the mount adapters can update them using the same software and your supplied USB cable.

And that's all for this week. Check back next time for more firmware news!

 

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(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.)