any experience with stuck pixels and remapping on EX1? at DVinfo.net

Paul Chiu · May 22nd, 2008, 11:09 AM

Took delivery of the EX1 yesterday and saw a cluster of 4 in a square shape that were shades of gray when surroundings was black. Perfect when lighter colors.

talked to sony pro shop this morning and with instructions from Sony XDCAM support, we went through some remapping process built within the EX1.

I have yet to use photoshop and screen grabs to verify if the pixels are remapped. As the lighting of the first samples cannot be replicated just now.

Is this a good solution?

Craig Seeman · May 22nd, 2008, 11:55 AM

BTW what was the remapping process?

It seems the only way we can learn about maintenance procedures is to ask those who Sony has dared to enlighten.

Paul Chiu · May 22nd, 2008, 12:07 PM

it was done by entering into the maintenance menu of the EX1 system.
pressing menu, select/set, and cancel buttons in the back at the same time gets you there.

then there is an "auto" correct button that ran something to eliminate that the stuck pixels.

what was strange to me is that i did not tell it where the stuck pixels were, the system seemed to have found them and done something to them.

puzzled is the word.

(WARNING to all)
please don't do this as i have no idea what happened. call sony xdcam support for answers.

Craig Seeman · May 22nd, 2008, 12:14 PM

That maintenance menu also has a routine to fix back focus issues and test signal which helps examine how PP1 settings have impact.

Sony should really should provide software maintenance manual at least. Some of us are experienced engineers.

Paul Chiu · May 22nd, 2008, 12:19 PM

we can buy a service shop manual for our cars, i am sure there is one for the EX1. wonder how we can order it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig Seeman

That maintenance menu also has a routine to fix back focus issues and test signal which helps examine how PP1 settings have impact.

Sony should really should provide software maintenance manual at least. Some of us are experienced engineers.

Craig Seeman · May 22nd, 2008, 12:46 PM

If memory serves me, Sony charges a small fortune for their service manuals (I'm a former video engineer). In this case I'd wish/hope that there would be a "limited" one just for the software functions in the maintenance menu and maybe something basic like firmware upgrades. I'm not optimistic since Sony doesn't even seem to allow local Sony Professional Authorized service centers to handle the EX series (yet).

Eric Emerick · May 22nd, 2008, 01:18 PM

I had the same prob. with my 350, i black balanced 2 or 3 times and that took care of it.

Paul Chiu · May 22nd, 2008, 02:04 PM

i have been taking shots all afternoon, from 2800k to 4500k and i cannot see anything in that pixel region.

what in the world did that built in software do?
i can't get them to exchange it now, as the problem seem to have gone away.

i wish i could do this on my 30" cinema displays

any reason for this?

paul

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric Emerick

I had the same prob. with my 350, i black balanced 2 or 3 times and that took care of it.

George Kroonder · May 23rd, 2008, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Chiu

what in the world did that built in software do?

Well, if it was a defective pixel element on the sensor than it didn't magically fix it!

Purely speculation, but it probably ignores the pixel and fills in the gap with infomation from the surrounding elements. This could be done on several places in the camera I suppose.

I'm curious if it is still there on HD SDI or component.

George/

Paul Chiu · May 23rd, 2008, 12:39 AM

george,
what is strange about the software is this.
it ran automatically and took about 2 seconds or less.
i didn't tell the EX1 where these clusters were.
i looked at details of objects and other areas looked fine even under photoshop of screen grabs at 800%. at 800%, the bad cluster is gone, under many colors i checked. after many checks, i got bored but still puzzled.
is it filled things in, shouldn't the eyelashes of subjects be weird as how does the EX1 knows what to fix and what to leave alone?

i did connected via component output and the cluster look good that way, albeit the colors were warmer with component out

i have no aja iohd to connect to my MBP pro, so cannot check SD-HDI. would love to

so, only check SxS output files for that cluster fix.

any ideas?

paul

Quote:

Originally Posted by George Kroonder

Well, if it was a defective pixel element on the sensor than it didn't magically fix it!

Purely speculation, but it probably ignores the pixel and fills in the gap with infomation from the surrounding elements. This could be done on several places in the camera I suppose.

I'm curious if it is still there on HD SDI or component.

George/

George Kroonder · May 23rd, 2008, 02:50 AM

Who nows how Sony does it's magic, but it takes ~1/30 of a second fo rthe Camera to scan the CMOS array and detecting always on pixels could be easy; it could check the output at closed iris or something.

That's my guess.

How and where they compensate for it I don't know, but aparently they do it well enough! (and isn't that all that matters)

George/

Sean Donnelly · May 23rd, 2008, 04:20 AM

Was the option perhaps auto black shading? The F23 and Genesis use the auto black function to deal with "stuck" pixels. The procedure takes about 30 seconds at most and sometimes has to be repeated 2-3 times before it works. The reason I'm thinking this is it is because your bad pixel is white. That would mean correspnding pixels on all 3 sensors would have to go bad at the same time. The pixel concealment menu on the ex1 is just like the F900, where you select a color channel (sensor) to target, use a crosshair to pinpoint it, and select the averaging properties.

-Sean

Paul Chiu · May 24th, 2008, 11:19 AM

sean,

i spoke in detail with someone at the Sony business XDCAM support line yesterday afternoon and what he said made sense.

what that function did was a check for the voltage level from all the sensors. when one is different from the rest, levels are charged back to reference.
i asked why some would be different in the first place and environmental factors was the answer. so, upon the proper level sent to the sensors, another voltage check is made. when that is the same for all and matches reference, the test is finished.

of course, if the pixel is really burned or dead, this would not fix anything.

according to the rep, only the Cinealta line has this function to self check and self correct.

it sounded like it made some sense and i'll go along with it as long as no other stuck bright points are seen from now on.

paul

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sean Donnelly

Was the option perhaps auto black shading? The F23 and Genesis use the auto black function to deal with "stuck" pixels. The procedure takes about 30 seconds at most and sometimes has to be repeated 2-3 times before it works. The reason I'm thinking this is it is because your bad pixel is white. That would mean correspnding pixels on all 3 sensors would have to go bad at the same time. The pixel concealment menu on the ex1 is just like the F900, where you select a color channel (sensor) to target, use a crosshair to pinpoint it, and select the averaging properties.

-Sean

Paul Chiu · December 21st, 2008, 01:50 AM

well, the other day while filming more piano stuff, saw a cluster of white dots on a black grand on my macbook pro 17 notebook.

i thought it was the dead pixels i spotted back in may.

false alarm as it was stuck pixels on my apple notebook.

too bad apple does not have the fancy remapping function of the EX1 built in.

paul

Steven Thomas · December 21st, 2008, 07:24 PM

No big deal..
This is exactly how it's done with my JVC HD100.

It's accessed through the service menu too.

May 22nd, 2008, 11:09 AM	#1
Paul Chiu Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: new york Posts: 231	any experience with stuck pixels and remapping on EX1? Took delivery of the EX1 yesterday and saw a cluster of 4 in a square shape that were shades of gray when surroundings was black. Perfect when lighter colors. talked to sony pro shop this morning and with instructions from Sony XDCAM support, we went through some remapping process built within the EX1. I have yet to use photoshop and screen grabs to verify if the pixels are remapped. As the lighting of the first samples cannot be replicated just now. Is this a good solution? Attached Thumbnails

May 22nd, 2008, 01:18 PM	#7
Eric Emerick Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Melbourne, FL Posts: 171	Black Balance I had the same prob. with my 350, i black balanced 2 or 3 times and that took care of it. __________________ esquared

December 21st, 2008, 01:50 AM	#14
Paul Chiu Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: new york Posts: 231	8 months later well, the other day while filming more piano stuff, saw a cluster of white dots on a black grand on my macbook pro 17 notebook. i thought it was the dead pixels i spotted back in may. false alarm as it was stuck pixels on my apple notebook. too bad apple does not have the fancy remapping function of the EX1 built in. paul

May 22nd, 2008, 11:55 AM	#2
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	BTW what was the remapping process? It seems the only way we can learn about maintenance procedures is to ask those who Sony has dared to enlighten.

May 22nd, 2008, 12:07 PM	#3
Paul Chiu Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: new york Posts: 231	it was done by entering into the maintenance menu of the EX1 system. pressing menu, select/set, and cancel buttons in the back at the same time gets you there. then there is an "auto" correct button that ran something to eliminate that the stuck pixels. what was strange to me is that i did not tell it where the stuck pixels were, the system seemed to have found them and done something to them. puzzled is the word. (WARNING to all) please don't do this as i have no idea what happened. call sony xdcam support for answers.

May 22nd, 2008, 12:14 PM	#4
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	That maintenance menu also has a routine to fix back focus issues and test signal which helps examine how PP1 settings have impact. Sony should really should provide software maintenance manual at least. Some of us are experienced engineers.

May 22nd, 2008, 12:46 PM	#6
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	If memory serves me, Sony charges a small fortune for their service manuals (I'm a former video engineer). In this case I'd wish/hope that there would be a "limited" one just for the software functions in the maintenance menu and maybe something basic like firmware upgrades. I'm not optimistic since Sony doesn't even seem to allow local Sony Professional Authorized service centers to handle the EX series (yet).

May 23rd, 2008, 02:50 AM	#11
George Kroonder Major Player Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Utrecht, NL \| Europe 3rd Rock from the Sun Posts: 612	Who nows how Sony does it's magic, but it takes ~1/30 of a second fo rthe Camera to scan the CMOS array and detecting always on pixels could be easy; it could check the output at closed iris or something. That's my guess. How and where they compensate for it I don't know, but aparently they do it well enough! (and isn't that all that matters) George/

May 23rd, 2008, 04:20 AM	#12
Sean Donnelly Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: New York, NY Posts: 188	Was the option perhaps auto black shading? The F23 and Genesis use the auto black function to deal with "stuck" pixels. The procedure takes about 30 seconds at most and sometimes has to be repeated 2-3 times before it works. The reason I'm thinking this is it is because your bad pixel is white. That would mean correspnding pixels on all 3 sensors would have to go bad at the same time. The pixel concealment menu on the ex1 is just like the F900, where you select a color channel (sensor) to target, use a crosshair to pinpoint it, and select the averaging properties. -Sean

December 21st, 2008, 07:24 PM	#15
Steven Thomas Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Gilbert, AZ Posts: 1,896	No big deal.. This is exactly how it's done with my JVC HD100. It's accessed through the service menu too.