Upgrade Wishlist (updated with HD200/250 results)
 

When I exchanged my HD100s at JVC HQ in Toronto, I had a chat with the GM of Pro Sales for Canada. I told him some of my woes with the camera and wishes for a firmware update. He asked me to please write it all down and send him an email because he is in constant contact with the engineers in Japan.
They designed this camera based on suggestions from working cameramen, so it stands to reason that JVC wants as much input as possible from the end users.

I just sent the email with my top-10 firmware wishlist, and then I thought that maybe I should post it and ask if anyone else could think of any other ideas (within reason for a firmware update.) I'll send the link for this thread to JVC if anyone comes up with anything else. Please don't bother posting frivilous posts about the split-screen problem. There are a multitude of those on other threads and JVC are well aware of that problem!

Here's my top 10 most wanted firmware updates:

1. LCD & EVF active at the same time option. This would be ideal for shoots with a 1st A.C./focus puller. The operator could use the EVF, and the focus puller could keep an eye on the framing with a flipped backwards LCD. I know it would draw more juice, but I think that any pro user is going to go with the AB or IDX battery solution.
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2. TC SLAVE ability DV TC can be slaved for recording backups (TC DUPLI.), but I would like to be able to jam code for a two camera shoot (including my 3D setup I will explain later.) Another idea might be a menu option to route TC IN and OUT to the YB or YR jacks?
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3. TC PRESET & LOAD SCENE FILE shortcuts assignable to USER BUTTONS. I find that I spend too much time going into the menus for common things like preset TC. Also, I would like to see the 4 scene file limit on the SD card removed.
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4. Quicker RESET of TC and an auto hour advance feature. Currently, once I navigate to the TC/UB/CLOCK menu, I need to press the selector 5 times and then scroll down 2 times just to get to ZERO PRESET. On most professional cameras there is a physical button to reset the timecode quickly. I also think it would be handy to have a function to automatically advance to the next TC hour when a new tape is inserted. This could be part of the HEADER REC function.
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5. Higher bitrate recording to external HDD device. The HVX200 offers the ability to record outside of the HDV spec. I would love this ability for green screen compositing work. It would be great if a HDV version could simultaneously be recorded to tape.
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6. 720p60 capture. I love the ability to capture at 60p for "overcranked" slo-mo - however I wish it didn't have to be in 480p! This feature would also silence the proponents of the 1080i "reality" look. It would also open the camera up to sports broadcasters like ABC and FOX who broadcast in 720p60.
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7. Custom positionable burn-in TC only on video out. When I'm shooting I need all of the display information in the EVF, but director and continuity person only need to see TC - not a cluttered mess of displays.
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8. HDV to DV firewire downconversion. I would like to be able to "offline" with the DV codec on post systems that may not have HD capabilities. This would help bridge the gap for early adopters who want to shoot HD now for archival purposes, but use their legacy post-production gear to edit the material in NTSC or PAL.
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9. FLIP (inversion) Option for LCD and EVF. Many people are designing homemade versions of the P+S Technik "mini35" without conversion prisms. The resultant image is of course upside down. The common solution on most cameras is to add a magnet to the LCD to trick it into reverse mode. This is fine for shooting, but the footage still needs to be flipped in post. Obviously the electronics of the camera can do the flip, but it would be great if it was a user selectable option for recording to tape. BTW, I noticed that a LEFT/RIGHT LCD flip option is available in the advanced menu.
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10. Better representation of 720p24 frame rate while shooting. I find that the motion of the live output when shooting seems to be at a higher frame rate than 24fps. It almost feels like the live uncompressed output is actually 720p60 without pulldown. Everything looks very filmlike once you digitize the HDV footage, so I'm not sure exactly what is going on here. EDIT: We now know that the CCD clocks at twice the frame rate and displays the clocked frame rate to the live outputs. Therefore, when shooting 24P, we actually see 48P live.

And now to my Mac software wishlist (for JVC and APPLE):

• SCENE FILE MANAGEMENT TOOL: It would be great to have an application similar to Nikon's "Capture Control" for the D70 that would allow upload/download of custom gamma curves. It would also be great if you could visualize the resultant gamma response curve on a graph as you live control the camera gamma/matrix settings remotely via firewire.
  EDIT: I have tested loading saving and copying the actual 4 scene files from the SD card - and it works fine. The problem is that the camera limits the SD card to 4 scene files. How about 16? That would be a good number for me!
  -
• LOGGING & DIGITIZING APPLICATION: I would like a simple application that could display and capture the HDV stream (with TC) to a powerbook via firewire (triggered REC by the camera) while the 2nd A.C. can simultaneously log each scene/take, "circle" takes, or make log notes. The resultant logs and files could be directly imported into FCP and printed on a portable printer to look like standard Lab camera reports. An application like this would create a very efficient workflow. There is a similar application for windows called "DVRack," but it seems to cater more to video engineers and D.P.s than camera assistants or assistant editors.
  Maybe LumiereHD will add this function?
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• Update to Final Cut Pro 5. I know this one is on its way, but I hope they are able to automatically remove the pulldown frames during capture. Also, I hope they intend to support capture of the 480p60 and 576p50 HDV formats. LumiereHD is a good intermediate solution, but I'd prefer to have native support.

That's all I can think of for now.

Tim

EDIT: Please click here to see the new features implemented in the HD200 and HD250.

Please add your requests in the same format so it will be easy to read if a JVC engineer happens to be browsing.
Use the following format for lists (replace brackets with square brackets.)

(list=1)
(*) (b)Wishlist item 1 title(/b) Detailed description of how the function would work and why it would make the camera better.
-
(*) (b)Wishlist item 2 title(/b) Detailed description.
-
(*) (b)Wishlist item 3 title(/b) Detailed description.
(/list)

The list will look like this:

1. Wishlist item 1 title Detailed description of how the function would work and why it would make the camera better.
   -
2. Wishlist item 2 title Detailed description.
   -
3. Wishlist item 3 title Detailed description.

Tim,

Thanks for offering to help make this cam even better by providing JVC with user suggestions.

The first things I noticed, could be implemented with the user buttons.

1. Add a quick link to the preset white balance. 3200 OR 5600. It's a pain to navigate to the menu and select the presets in fast moving shots. Sometimes you just know it's tungsten or daylight. Or at least close enough when you can't white balance.

2. Quick link to TC presets. Almost all professionals use timecode hours to set tape number and we start at 01:00:00:00. So even the reset to zero has to be modified in the menus. It would be nice to hit a button to get to the preset menu.

While black stretch, black compress are nice quick links, these are even more important IMHO. I like the bars option BTW.

Dave B

Dave,

That is already built in. Just set one of your USER buttons to "PRESET TEMP." and you have a 3200K/5600K toggle.

Tim

More suggestions for JVC and the HD-101 update
 

Forwarded this Thread to Head of JVC China
 

The head of JVC China is on his way to Japan to consult with the head honchos about what to put into the new camera. I've forwarded this thread to him. Hopefully he'll take it to them and we'll see some of this great stuff in a new model down the road.

Actually, no. The MPEG encoder doesn't support it, reportedly.

Also, I don't have a good resource at hand, but my quick calculation just now tells me that uncompressed 1280x720p60 at 8bit is 888mbit/sec...not suitable for firewire.

Alexei.
That one is already built in (sort of.) However, it doesn't work like pro viewfinders on rods.
Instead, just loosen the ring on the viewfinder and then pull the column out, retighten. You can adjust back almost 2 inches, but cannot go forward.

That one is there too. Just set the CH2 INPUT switch to INPUT 1 and then set your manual level controls at two different levels.

The 24-bit idea is good, but I suspect the 16-bit 48Khz PCM stereo tracks are already recording. They just need to create a method to digitize them in sync.

Since I do both multicamera live-switch field productions as well as single camera work, I'd like the version that was shown at NAB where they removed the tape transport and replaced it with a 26 pin camera cable connector so you could control the camera from a CCU. I think a lot of studios now using the old GY550s would consider upgrading as well. The only problem is that the NAB prototype utilized the firewire output for the 26 pin which meant that you didn't have the option of using a HDD for single camera work. I could easily give up the VTR, but the loss of the HDD option would be a deal breaker and probably force me over to the XL-H1.

Yeah, I'm looking for the forward part. :) . A lot of people say it's comfortable as-is, so I might be in the total minority on this one.

Do you know if the JVC editing deck has the ability to capture these PCM tracks? Somewhere else on this forum I read that they're outside of the firewire spec, so there's no conceivable way (outside of capturing from the analog audio jack) of capturing that audio. Is that true, or is the information going down the firewire cable and being discarded by the NLE?

No one really knows yet, and there is no official word from JVC except the statement on page 4 of the ProHD brochure. Quote: "MPEG-1 Layer 3 audio tracks are encoded at 384 kbps, which is approximately CD audio quality, while PCM tracks are sampled at 16-bit 48kHz and recorded without compression in exclusive PCM audio sector on a separate part of the track." This statement is in reference to ProHD as a "concept" and not the actual functionality of the HD100.

I think Steve Mullen is the only one who has actually tested for PCM audio, with mixed results.

I thought the Canon HD X1 does it over firewire...?

... You can move the shoulder-pad backwards....

No, the Canon only outputs DV or HDV over firewire. The uncompressed video is output over HD-SDI.

"Quicker RESET of TC and an auto hour advance feature."

You can zero reset the time code data by simoultaneously holding down the USER2 button and the STOP button for about 1 second. Not very easy to do with one hand only, but better than using the menus.

Tim - I have a feeling this thread will be a great resource, as you've already pointed out a number of things to users that already exist on the camera. I take it when you said firmware, you meant hardware, because many requests address things at a hardware level.

1. Capture application Mac/PC A basic HDV capture application probably should've been included with the initial release. Relying on 3rd party NLE solutions is fine, but here we are nearly 3 months down the track and very little support, nearly all of it beta.
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2. A JVC frame based editing codec As Panasonic have done with DVCPro, having your own codec sure simplifies things when it comes to NLE's. Something that could transcode at digitise from the long GOP.
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3. Large tape shell support May not be feasible but I thought I'd throw it in as desirable.
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4. Pro battery standard I second this one as an essential
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5. Automatic VTR switching Would like the camera to automatically switch to VTR mode when using the VTR buttons. currently you have to open the LCD door and press a switch - not very ergonomic.
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6. Make HDV/DV switch for IEEE port automatic when switching modes The current manual switch would not be necessary
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7. Manual record button for IEEE in I think currently this is only supported when using a computer to control the camera? Would like the ability to manually record.

Actually, at the time I started this thread I did want to solicit FIRMWARE update ideas. Something JVC might be able to offer as a downloadable firmware update to its existing HD100 customers, much the way Nikon updated the D70 firmware to version 2.0 a few months ago, and offered it as a free download.

However, HARDWARE and SOFTWARE ideas are obviously welcome. It doesn't hurt to think about the next generation. I'm sure that Panasonic's development of the DVX100A and B were aided by forum input.
You never know when a JVC engineer might drop by to get some inspiration!

1: Full auto button is positioned behind your head nearly at the back of the camera, making it VERY VERY difficult to switch it on while shooting on the shoulder. DV500's position is much better.

2: Try and clean the gain up a bit more (as always)

3: VMount Plate on the back as standard... (even though I now have some decent power JVC mount batteries that should provide about 3+ hours run time)

4: Option for LCD to display levels and timecode when flipped and recessed into the camera like on DV5000.

5: Option to have viewfinder and LCD on at the same time.

6: Redesign the back I/O panel to look like this
http://www.glasseye.com.au/hd101e/hd...de2_custom.jpg
(ie Full size audio connectors not mini phono connector)

7: Realtime downconvert of HDV material to DV via 1394. Make that 1394 IEEE switch do what everyone thought it would do!

8: Two models only, one with 1394 out only (for your Euro market) and one 1394 In and out, everything else the same (ie no PAL NTSC models, just make them all PAL and NTSC via menu options)

9: 4pin XLR 12v DC power connector.

10: Internal focus lens.

11: User Firmware upgradeable (keep calibration data in separate flash area to survive user firmware upgrades). We are happily flashing firmware on all our stuff now, get over it, its normal part of life now, it shouldn't be a factory service option only. Enhance the product firmware updates without forcing users back into service centres.

Now to dream:

A: 1/2" not 1/3", drop 1/3" here and now...

I'd like the option of a full resolution LCD viewfinder (probably only as an option - because of the price)...

My wish list addition
 

Focus Assist output option I'd like to be able to route the focus assist to a video assist monitor on the camera.

JPEG2000 encoder 4:2:2 8/10bit instead of mpeg2

and with HDD and P2 support.

P2 will not happen. That's strictly Panasonic territory.

Yes, I'm aware that 50% of JVC is owned by Matsushita, a parent corporation which also wholly owns Panasonic, thus some folks like to believe there is a connection. But the fact is that JVC and Panasonic are competitors in this market. JVC is committed to the HDV tape format and Panasonic is committed to P2 flash memory, and their paths will not cross.

HDD support will exist thanks to the FireStore and similar options, as it already is with the HD100.

Mpeg2 is an integral part of the HDV format, so that isn't going away either.

Hope this helps,

Forget P2, but what about 1.8" hard drives. They have pretty high sustained throughput, up to 80GB and are only the same size as a P2 card.

5GB PCMCIA
http://www.toshiba-europe.com/storag...odel=MK5002MPL

80GB Embedded
http://www.toshiba-europe.com/storag...odel=MK8007GAH

While the standard PCMCIA drive is only 5GB but JVC could put the embedded drive into some form of open standard slot if they wanted too, establishing a new media standard...

What about CMOS instead of CCD'S?

Ok this may sound stupid...

A recording mode kind of like the SD 60p mode but where it records in the stream 1280x720i 60i.

The reason for this would be to have a way to gain 60 fps and HD and still be able to fit in 19.7 Mb/s.

During playback and capture the camera could convert this 720i into a 720p 60p.

This would give us a lower resolution image than straight 1280x720p but with double the framerate for those who really need the 60 fps.

Compared to the SD 60p mode this new mode would have a much higher horizontal resolution but a slightly lower vertical resolution.

1280x360 compared to 720x480

Plus on playback and capture the stream would be deinterlaced and scaled to 1280x720 so no scaling will need to be done in post.

I think this would be much more usefull than motion smoothing.

So when shooting there would be a tradeoff. Sharp 1280x720 but only at 30p or a slightly softer 1280x360 at the full 60p. This will give shooters more options instead of having to switch to SD to get smoother motion.

Gy-hd101
 

I hope they will put B&C conectors and genlock on the NEW Gy-hd101.

HD100 Upgrade Wishlist
 

I just ordered one, because I need it now, though if I had the option, I'd have waited for the Mark II to deliver (NAB '06?) With any luck, these features will be included:

1st (and foremost): Access to an uncompressed HD-SDI signal that avoids the MPEG-2 compression required to get images onto HDV tape.

2nd: DIGITAL component out, for the HD-SDI signal. Keep those nasty D/A conversions out of it, please. If analog is necessary for in-field monitoring, then how about making the jacks switchable? This would be a feature as elegant as your overall design.

3rd: RS-422 deck control, so one can use an HD-SDI capture card like those from Black Magic Designs without having to go through an expensive 3rd party box like the Miranda HD-Bridge for high bandwidth media ingest.

4th: 3-chip CMOS - I understand that the HD-100 has real problems in the power-management department. I also understand CMOS is far more efficient in terms of power use, not to mention improved picture quality, so it seems like the way to go. Given the cost, weight, and hassle of charging and carrying a ton of spare batteries, this is especially important, and is worth a few extra bucks (okay, several extra bucks.) I don't know if a CMOS array would also address the low-light performance issues, but that's another obvious weakness that a different chip type may mitigate.

5th: A flip-out monitor with pixel-to-pixel accuracy between it and the sensor. I know there's a focus-check option that allows you to do on-the-fly spot checks, but this really isn't adequate for real-world shooting scenarios - especially the kinds of handheld work that the ENG style camera design lends itself to. And having to use an outboard monitor to get a decent focus pull really defeats the purpose of the open lens design.

6th: Genlock, and a remote control. One thing I did like about the Sony Z1 is that, in a multi-camera situation, you can line a bunch of them all up, set TC to free-run, and hit start from the RC so that TC matches across the board. JVC should do the same.

7th: A companion deck that supports 720p HDV. It would be nice if I could avoid wear & tear on my heads by not having to use the camera as and edit deck as well.

Here's what I'm NOT worried about:

1st: 24p ingest support - this is nice, but I think it's better for the NLE folks to add direct support (this means you, Apple) instead of expecting a third party (JVC, Lumiere, etc.) to supply a plug-in that - even if conflict-free - automatically slows system performance. All I expect from the camera is the cleanest image possible. Compatative NLE's should be able to take it from there.

2nd: 1080i acquisition - I'm very happy with existing hardware-based downstream format conversion options (Teranex, if the budget allows, my G5 Quad if not, and a Miranda HD-Bridge if the $ are somewhere between.) Since I like doing a lot of color-correction, what I REALLY want to avoid is excessive compression at the acquisition stage, and given that 720p HDV has a ratio of 27:1, vs. 47:1 for 1080i, the HD-100 has a real advantage. When I need to deliver a 1080i master, I'd prefer to start with the 720p signal, carry it through post, and deal with cross-conversion immediately prior to mastering, when I've got more robust hardware options available. (Sports guys, and fans of the 'video look' may disagree, but I'm not one of them...)

Finally, a few things JVC absolutely nailed (i.e. a VERY big thank you.)

1st (and again, foremost): ENG over-the-shoulder design. The most 'sumer' thing about the 'prosumer' range is the silly handycam layout. The Z1 is the worst offender, and the XL-H1 isn't much better (unless you're committed to using a tripod more often than not, or spend all your free time at the gym doing bench presses and curls.)

2nd: A detachable lens. This is 'pro', where the Sony and Panasonic designs are totally 'sumer' - this weakness really hits home when you want to use a 35mm lens adaptor, and find that the inferior Sony & Pana. designs force you to go through the built in lens, instead of going direct to the sensor. This may reflect a lack of awareness regarding consumer needs, or perhaps they're just protecting their D-Cinema product lines, in which case they're simply putting their needs ahead of their customers, and don't deserve to be rewarded with your hard-earned money. This is not surprising for Sony, but we expect more from Panasonic.

3rd: Honest-to-goodness square pixels and REAL progressive capture. This really simplifies post workflow. I'm not surprised at the fast-one Sony pulled here, though I can't figure out why Canon made a similar move with the XL-H1 since they don't have a pro line to protect. In any case, thank you JVC.

4th: That wonderful headphone-wire-free earpiece. It's obvious, yet brilliant, and just goes to show that if you start from the right place in terms of layout (unlike Canon and Sony, which seem anti-ergonomic in the extreme) the rest of the details start falling into place. Very nice touch.

There you have it. I'm sure I'll have more wants and needs when my camera arrives. In the meantime, I hope JVC is listening - you've made a FANTASTIC start, and should be able to leave everyone else in the HDV dust if you're smart about building on it.

Hope this helps.

Alex

one more thing
 

Color sampling for that uncompressed HD-SDI out should, of course, be 4:2:2, not 4:2:0. Canon's got it, and if you want to do decent key effects, it makes a big difference.

It's called the BR-HD50. It was released at the same time as the camera.

http://pro.jvc.com/prof/Attributes/f...l_id=MDL101540

Focus Assist
 

Okay, scratch that previous request about pixel perfect monitoring on the camera for focus assist. I just got the camera yesterday, and the focus assist feature is amazingly good. I've been doing head-to-head tests on a CRT monitor, and the results are stunning. Kudos to JVC.

16:9 Letterbox on output during DV shooting
 

I was shooting anamorphic DV the other day and looked for a way to display the output letterboxed on our field monitor that's 4:3 only. We can do this in HDV downconvert mode, it would be nice in DV mode as well.

Firmware request for Waveform and Vector scope.

Currently I'm using succesfully DVRack on my laptop. But still it would be nice to even leave the laptop at home or any other equipment and to be sure about the video levels.

I was about to request that...:-) If my Nikon D70 can have a histogram, video cameras could have some form of an image analysis too, even if it was available only when in a standby mode.

I agree it would be cool to have waveform and/or histogram overlay in the LCD, but that would require alot of processing power that I doubt the HD100 has. My brain has now been "trained" to think in histogram terms since I bought my D70. The histogram on the D70 can be misleading sometimes though because it only represents the green channel, not RGB.

A second set of zebra would be nice though - maybe a zebra you could set to trigger at levels below 10IRE ! Then you could set one zebra for 100, the other for 10, and have a really good idea of what areas are completely "safe."

Simple Things
 

Having used the camera quite heavily in Africa for a couple of months...

- A solid DC power setup, the mini DC in is not going to last, JVC managed to put a full size Firewire so why not power. Canons setup is way more rugged.

- Ditto the above with the rubber covers for such things, mine have virtually all been broken, detached, repaired and broken again. We use the cameras not stroke them. Sensitive slots like the SD card need protecting from the elements... the technology is available.

- User programmable WB so that you can dial in as many Kelvin as you want.

- 3/8" tripod mount hole

- A sensible rubber eyecup

I am sure that none of this is really very difficult to organise.

James

[QUOTE=James Ewen]Having used the camera quite heavily in Africa for a couple of months...

- A solid DC power setup, the mini DC in is not going to last, JVC managed to put a full size Firewire so why not power. Canons setup is way more rugged.


Amen. 4-pin XLR would be ideal.

I was wrong about letterbox NTSC output during shooting. The camera does not do it, everything is anamorphic when shooting 16:9. So for those of us trying to monitor HDV on NTSC reference monitors that are 4:3, the image is sqashed. I want the option to letterbox, crop or show it anamorphic in SD. You would think this would be an important feature for monitoring in the field. The BR-50 deck has it.

I was also looking for a way to access the timecode preset value without having to surf the menus.

Sometimes menu items are so hidden in the manual. I found this helpful item about timecode. Yet it doesn't address setting the hour for tape number: Read the memo.

Zero-resetting the Time Code or User’s
Bit Data
This is performed with the TC or UB PRESET item on the TC/
UB/CLOCK menu screen. (Performed separately for the time
code and the user’s bit data.)
1Rotate the SHUTTER dial to align the cursor (K) with the
TC or UB PRESET item, and then press the SHUTTER
dial.
2Rotate the SHUTTER dial to select ZERO PRESET as the
setting value, and then press the SHUTTER dial.

MEMO
When a menu screen is not being displayed, you can zero
reset the time code data by simultaneously holding down
the USER2 button and the STOP button for about 1 second.

Actually, it's not anamorphic, it is TRUE (native) 16x9. The difference is that anamorphic images are captured to a 4x3 sensor/film format via an optical adaptor that makes them look vertically elongated. When projected, it needs to be reformatted back either optically again (anamorphic adaptor in movie theatres) or electronically (NLE).

I agree, it would be nice but I think that the assumption is that most current monitors are either switchable or already moving into native 16x9 format.

What I meant was the NTSC output is squashed on a 4 x 3 monitor...what's it called when 16:9 is recorded to NTSC? We have 3 nice Sony 8020 field monitors without a 16:9 switch setting. It would be very useful for people to be able to view the image letterboxed to 4 X 3.

Dave B