Smokin' Hot Pixels at DVinfo.net

Brandon Freeman · July 26th, 2007, 08:08 AM

Okay, just had to make that interesting enough to click on. :)

I'm going to be hitting the warpath at my church soon, trying to convince the board to give me the budget to purchase 5 XH-A1 systems (including tripods, remotes, etc.). However, in a previous life, I shot with the GL-1 a lot, and recall a bad pixel becoming apparent early on. Also shot with an XL-1, and remember two bad pixels becoming apparent there (more off and on).

So, question: is your typical XH-A1 going to have the same tendencies?

Or to put it another way, how many A1 users here have (had) bad/hot/funky pixels?

Bill Pryor · July 26th, 2007, 08:58 AM

The GL1 was famous for dead pixels and head alignment problems. Those pretty much went away with the GL2, and with the XL2, I didn't hear of any problems. The XL H1 has been out for nearly 2 years now I think, and I haven't read a single dead pixel story; same for the XH A1/G1. Apparently Canon's quality control in chip selection is better.

Josh Chesarek · July 26th, 2007, 09:01 AM

All my pixels are still working on my A1 after 7 months.

Steven Taylor · July 26th, 2007, 09:40 AM

are there post production solutions to hot pixels?

Matthew Nayman · July 26th, 2007, 10:12 AM

My question is... a church needs FIVE a1's?

Anyway, yes, I had a dead pixel a while back on my XHA1, but it was only with 6db of gain and 1/24 of a second shutter, so technically it was a HOT pixel.

Brandon Freeman · July 26th, 2007, 10:32 AM

Matthew, how easy/difficult was it to fix the problem?

And yes, we're a church that does a lot of video, and it's going to pick up quite a bit more this next year, as we run several schools under VCOM, or Vineyard College of Mission. My school that starts September 2008 is Worldview Video, and will be a full-fledged 9 month course equipping students in narrative and documentary styles of filming. There's my little plug...

Anyway, we've also got needs for new cameras in the sound booth for Sunday, new production cameras for our weekly "Advent-ure" video series, and of course our weekly Children's Ministry videos... Right now we've just been using pretty much whatever old gear I donate to the church. I want to step it up, as our Senior Pastor has been hammering excellence heavily.

So that's why I feel we need five. :)

Don Palomaki · July 26th, 2007, 02:47 PM

Quote:

...are there post production solutions to hot pixels?

One simple option is to mask the hot pixels in your NLE to something close to black or what ever color you want. That would make it less visible in the image.

Hot pixels are commonly caused by the dark current of the pixel, and become apparent when using high gain and/or slow shutter speeds and shooting flat, dark subjects, with a limited gray scale, especially in shadows.

Steven Taylor · July 27th, 2007, 04:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don Palomaki

One simple option is to mask the hot pixels in your NLE to something close to black or what ever color you want. That would make it less visible in the image.

Hot pixels are commonly caused by the dark current of the pixel, and become apparent when using high gain and/or slow shutter speeds and shooting flat, dark subjects, with a limited gray scale, especially in shadows.

Yeah that makes sense. I was wondering if there was anything which would mask it based on the colour of the neighbouring pixels. Not a problem i have luckily, just wondering.

Brad Tyrrell · July 27th, 2007, 06:38 AM

I found that masking a very small area around the bad pixel with a duplicate of the track with an NR filter applied works very well. That little area will appear "fuzzy" but it's unlikely anyone will notice.

Those hot pixels were what made me finally upgrade my XL-1 to the XH-A1.

Matthew Nayman · July 27th, 2007, 10:06 AM

It wasn't too bad. I sent it into canon, they didnt see a problem sent it back, problem came back, sent it into canon, no problem, sent it back, I made proof (more video, pictures, contacted a higher-up on the chain) they replaced the CCD block for free and sent it back with apologies... just have to be persistant :P

Only took 2 months.

Brian Findlay · July 29th, 2007, 09:41 PM

Technically they are the same thing (XH-A1 - XL-H1), so I figured it was worth mentioning. I don't know what the policy is from Canon yet, but I should find out soon. I just noticed it today as a matter fact, I loaded something up that had an all black background, so the little white dots show up in two places and stay static when everything else moves.

July 26th, 2007, 08:08 AM	#1
Brandon Freeman Major Player Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Boise, ID Posts: 226	Smokin' Hot Pixels Okay, just had to make that interesting enough to click on. :) I'm going to be hitting the warpath at my church soon, trying to convince the board to give me the budget to purchase 5 XH-A1 systems (including tripods, remotes, etc.). However, in a previous life, I shot with the GL-1 a lot, and recall a bad pixel becoming apparent early on. Also shot with an XL-1, and remember two bad pixels becoming apparent there (more off and on). So, question: is your typical XH-A1 going to have the same tendencies? Or to put it another way, how many A1 users here have (had) bad/hot/funky pixels?

July 26th, 2007, 09:01 AM	#3
Josh Chesarek Major Player Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Winter Park, FL Posts: 978	All my pixels are still working on my A1 after 7 months. __________________ Simple Thought Productions - Life @ 30,000 Words per second

July 29th, 2007, 09:41 PM	#11
Brian Findlay Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 40	I've got two on a 9 month old XL-H1 Technically they are the same thing (XH-A1 - XL-H1), so I figured it was worth mentioning. I don't know what the policy is from Canon yet, but I should find out soon. I just noticed it today as a matter fact, I loaded something up that had an all black background, so the little white dots show up in two places and stay static when everything else moves.

July 26th, 2007, 08:58 AM	#2
Bill Pryor Contributor Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 4,449	The GL1 was famous for dead pixels and head alignment problems. Those pretty much went away with the GL2, and with the XL2, I didn't hear of any problems. The XL H1 has been out for nearly 2 years now I think, and I haven't read a single dead pixel story; same for the XH A1/G1. Apparently Canon's quality control in chip selection is better.

July 26th, 2007, 09:40 AM	#4
Steven Taylor Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: London, UK Posts: 44	are there post production solutions to hot pixels?

July 26th, 2007, 10:12 AM	#5
Matthew Nayman Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Toronto Posts: 917	My question is... a church needs FIVE a1's? Anyway, yes, I had a dead pixel a while back on my XHA1, but it was only with 6db of gain and 1/24 of a second shutter, so technically it was a HOT pixel.

July 26th, 2007, 10:32 AM	#6
Brandon Freeman Major Player Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Boise, ID Posts: 226	Matthew, how easy/difficult was it to fix the problem? And yes, we're a church that does a lot of video, and it's going to pick up quite a bit more this next year, as we run several schools under VCOM, or Vineyard College of Mission. My school that starts September 2008 is Worldview Video, and will be a full-fledged 9 month course equipping students in narrative and documentary styles of filming. There's my little plug... Anyway, we've also got needs for new cameras in the sound booth for Sunday, new production cameras for our weekly "Advent-ure" video series, and of course our weekly Children's Ministry videos... Right now we've just been using pretty much whatever old gear I donate to the church. I want to step it up, as our Senior Pastor has been hammering excellence heavily. So that's why I feel we need five. :)

July 27th, 2007, 06:38 AM	#9
Brad Tyrrell Major Player Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Morristown, New Jersey Posts: 249	I found that masking a very small area around the bad pixel with a duplicate of the track with an NR filter applied works very well. That little area will appear "fuzzy" but it's unlikely anyone will notice. Those hot pixels were what made me finally upgrade my XL-1 to the XH-A1.

July 27th, 2007, 10:06 AM	#10
Matthew Nayman Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Toronto Posts: 917	It wasn't too bad. I sent it into canon, they didnt see a problem sent it back, problem came back, sent it into canon, no problem, sent it back, I made proof (more video, pictures, contacted a higher-up on the chain) they replaced the CCD block for free and sent it back with apologies... just have to be persistant :P Only took 2 months.