nanoFlash Intermittent Video and Firmware 1.5.249
 

We just posted new nanoFlash public beta firmware, version 1.5.249, available for download at: http://69.15.88.17/downloads/nanoFla...sh_1.5.249.zip

The new firmware is intended to specifically address numerous issues, including:

1) Intermittent Video Source - we added an auto-correction routine to fix SDI bit-errors, which caused the nanoFlash to unlock and report an intermittent source.

2) Fixed an occasional power-up problem when returning from Stand-By mode.

3) Fixed an LTC timecode issue with 1080p24. The fix should improve LTC for all video formats, especially on long cable runs.

4) Turned off "Read Only" status on all recorded files (this will become an option in a future release).

5) Fixed audio/video sync on Playback which was previously off by 2 frames.

6) Added screen tally option which displays a red bar on the monitor screen during recording.

Best Regards-

Beta Firmware Updates
 

Hi Mike:
Great news for Nano users. This looks like a *significant fixer update. Can you gives us an ETA on the next firmware update for the XDR ?

So it looks like those monitoring via HDMI-out will not take advantage of the recording activity bar (E to E connection is required).

Is it only temporary, or is sending this indicator to HDMI-out impossible?

Dear Mark

I will check today. However, it is my understanding that we have created releases for the Flash XDR and nanoFlash simultaneously.

We just need to complete the testing for the Flash XDR version, as I understand it.

Thanks Dan :-)
 

Hi Dan:
OK. Thanks for the update on this information :-) I will look forward to the next firmware release.

Dear Piotr,

I will check this morning.

Have you tried it? I have checked the manual and it refers to SDI without mentioning HDMI.

First off, kudos to the CD team on this update. The menu organization is great. Your tweaks to the menu structure over time as you have added features still make setup straight forward for the user and keeps people in a procedural frame of mind covering off the bases as they go through the menu items.

- - - -

Knowing that I am in a minority of regular posters here that use the SDI out, I wanted to try the new firmware and do a test shoot trying out the tally bar. I did but I could not get it to show on the screen.

Activated E to E, unit triggered by camera's timecode. I will mention anyway... turned off power saving mode, tried both 1080 and 720 modes at a bitrate of 180 longGOP. In these instances, could not get the tally bar to show up at the bottom of the monitor.

The signal is going through a Decimator HD to SD downconverter. I can see the whole HD image on the SD monitor, as confirmed by my on camera HD display.

How many pixels high is the tally bar?

I'll be doing some shooting today so I will try other configurations in an attempt to get it up on the screen.

-Andrew

Dear Andrew,

I will set up my monitor right now and perform a test.

Dear Dan,

I haven't checked yet, but in the Release Notes, I read:

- Added Screen Tally option (Video->Screen Tally), which places a red bar on the output to
indicate unit is recording. Video->E to E must be turned on for Screen Tally to work correctly.

Now, E to E only works with SDI to SDI out, right?

Dear Friends,

To the best of our knowledge, the Tally Bar Indicator, as output to the monitor, is not working in this Public Beta, 1.5.249.

We had this working, so we are checking it out with our engineers now.

I was not able to make it work on my setup, nor was Mike, in the lab, this morning.

It's OK Dan - we'll wait; you're great anyways, guys!

However, please address my question:

- in the light of the above statement from Release Notes, is it at all supposed to work with HDMI-out as well?

Piotr

Dear Piotr,

I do not have an answer yet.

I first tried to get it to work with SDI, but it does not seem to be working.

I am now setting up an HDMI monitor for a test.

Dear Andrew,

Thank you very much for the kind words.

The Tally Bar, when working, is clearly visible in the monitor. Our engineers think we must have broken the code as we prepared the final release.

Some monitors "overscan" or "underscan". I checked it out with my Sony LMD-2450WHD monitor, using all of the scan options, and I could not see the record bar. Thus, I am confident, at this time, that it is not working in this Public Beta, 1.5.249.

We go through a very formal testing process before we put out each release. We probably did not add this new menu option to our test procedure.

Dear Piotr,

I have tested the Record Indictor feature with an HDMI monitor.

I did not see the red bar.

Of course, this does not mean much since I do not see it on the HD-SDI monitor either.

I couldn't get the tally to work either. I tried everything. Glad it wasn't just me.

Intermittent Source
 

Mike,

I'm still running 1.1.154 and have been seeing (inexplicable) intermittent source warnings for some time.

Will updating to1.5.126 help with this or do I need to use the public beta? I tend not to jump on the latest firmware releases...

Thanks,

Dear Eric,

We will have a new release out soon. I recommend that you test the new release.

Dear Eric,

We are getting in one of the pro cameras today so we can perform significant tests for intermittent source.

What camera are you using?

I'm shooting with an HDW-730.

When you suggested the latest release did you mean 1.5.126 or the public beta 1.5.249?

Thanks,

Dear Eric,

We will release new firmware, 1.6.6 (or higher) soon, in a few days or earlier, just as soon as we finish all fo the testing.

This new firmware is what I would like for you to test.

I head back into the field on the 24th of June. If it's not tested and available by then, do you think it makes sense to revert back to the original firmware that shipped with the Nano in late July '09? I don't believe the intermittent video issue occurred with that version. Of course, I suppose I'd lose some of the additional bit rates and features available in recent updates. Might not be a bad trade off though...

Thanks,

Eric,

If you are a fan of Russian Roulette use a version of firmware that is brand new. We found 1.5.249 to be fatally flawed and unreliable and CD agrees with our assessment based on problems reported. While CD tests their firmware before releasing it, there is no doubt that I wouldn't use it for critical footage for about a month of other people finding the inevitable bugs. If those bugs are minor, then go for it.

Just my 2 cents.

Jeff

Agree completely, Jeff. And it's a good reality check.

As I mentioned earlier in the post, I tend not to upgrade firmware too quickly. I've actually only done it once since purchasing the unit one year ago. In addition to getting the time-lapse features and higher bit rate codecs, I also seem to have picked up this intermittent video error.

I only wish I had reported earlier...laziness on my part, and for some time I've been under the assumption I had some faulty cables.

I'll be interested to hear from Dan if the best bet is to revert back to the older firmware...I never found any problems with it.

Cheers,

Dear Eric,

We are busy working on the intermittent source issue right now.

Yesterday, we got in an HDX900, since some of our HDX900 users were reporting this problem.

Our engineers are very busy testing it now.

The HDX900 has multiple HD-SDI outputs, and they can be configured different ways.

We know of many HDX900 users with a nanoFlash that never have the problem. Others do. There are many ways to setup the multiple HD-SDI outputs on this camera. Personally, I believe that the camera setup has something to go with these errors.

But, we have had this error reported on other cameras also.

What we do not know is if this is a camera problem or our problem. We, of course, are assuming that it is our problem until we prove otherwise.

Last night, recording all night with a live feed from the HDX900, we did not get any "Intermittent Source Errors". While the camera was manned, we tried starting and stopping the recording of the HDX900 many times. We could not get the nanoFlash to report the error message.

Last night, on our burn-in (heat cycling of new nanoFlashes), we were running around 50 nanoFlashes with firmware 1.6.6 (release candidate) and did not have a single intermittent source.

Background:

The Panasonic Varicam F model, had a problem, where it would send out a clean HD-SDI signal, then glitch whenever the camera went into record. This was corrected in the Varicam H model.

We believe the intermittent source problem to be real.

However, it gets complicated.

The purpose of the intermittent source message is to indicate that "a glitch or loss of the HD-SDI signal occurred once, no matter how brief, while the nanoFlash was recording, since power up.)

Thus, one glitch, or one case of the cable being loose, or the camera powered off, etc., will cause the nanoFlash to report "Intermittent Source" and this will blink continuously until the nanoFlash is powered off.

So, we could have real, valid reasons for displaying "Intermittent Source", or we could have a hardware/firmware issue.

We are working hard, as I said before, to resolve this issue.

Eric, please feel free to call me and we will discuss your specific case, and make recommendations.

Dan,

Let me be crystal clear. We have had multiple, repeatable "Intermittent Source" errors that were coming straight and directly from a broadcast quality frame synch output which was fed from multiple broadcast quality cameras. No wire was being touched, no unit was being moved. None included that model of camera. The room was climate controlled and the power was filtered. The units were all running side by side but no 2 ever had the problem at the same moment in time. We were using 1.5.126.

I offered at the time to fly at my expense anyone from CD to the truck in Las Vegas.

Jeff

Hi Jeff-
We are actively working on this problem now. We have an excellent test bed for code development - our burn-in table which holds 48 nanoFlash units, all recording in parallel for 36 hours straight. We cycle the temperature from 30 to 80 degrees C during the burn-in to really stress the components and the recording.

We do see a limited number of intermittent source failures, but not as many as expected. That said, we are continuing to track down the issues. We are adding code to make the nanoFlash much more error tolerant, so if the incoming signal has a single bit failure, we can correct the error on the fly and continue to properly record.

We're not doubting that the intermittent source problems are real, it's just a real needle-in-a-haystack sort of problem to find and fix.

Best-

Intermittent source
 

Anything new? I had the same problem with an HDX900 recording 720/60. I had the problem from both the video out and the monitor out. I don't feel that I can use the nanoFlash again until this is resolved.
Thanks,
Herb Forsberg

Dear Friends,

In our tests, we have not been able to get an "Intermittent Source" problem on 1080.

We have been able to make it fail on 720p, and we have found the problem and fixed it.

This fix will be included in our next firmware release.

Hi Herb-
Just to expand on Dan's reply, we have an HDX900 on loan from Camera Department. We plan to drive 10 nanoFlash units from this source over the weekend for an extended test of the new code. We did find a definitive problem associated with 720p (but also remotely possible with 1080i). Our code fix appears to alleviate the problem, but a massive test over the weekend should provide confirmation. I'll post the results early next week.

Best-

Ok thanks from another HDX900 owner.. anything else u can test while you have the beast.. :)

Hey Guys,

Just FYI, I shoot 1080i with a Sony HDW-730, and although it occurs infrequently,I still experience the problem.

I do have a few questions in this regard:

• Is this a problem specifically introduced by firmware? As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I never (to my knowledge) had this issue with the firmware that shipped with my Nano last July. Aside from losing certain newer features, is there a reason that I shouldn't just revert to the earlier version of the firmware? Were there issues with that version and the way that it dealt with signal or bit errors that I should be aware of?

• What is the result of the intermittent video error? In other words, what is happening to my nano and the currently recording clip? Does recording stop and then immediately pick up again? Is the nano in a terminal stall until I cycle the power, or stop and re-start recording? What should I do when this happens?

Because this often happens in very active (verité) situations, I often don't realize that it's occurred until the end of a particular "set-up". And when I re-visit the footage, often days later, I'm not sure where it occurred or what I lost. Either way, it's shaken my confidence a bit and it looks like I'll probably be throwing tape back in the old workhorse until everything is sussed out.

Thanks,
Eric

Hi Eric-
The intermittent source issue was introduced with a recent firmware update (where we were trying to fix other problems). Yes, you could go back to older code, but if you have another week or so before your next shoot, we should have this new code exhaustively tested and released.

When the intermittent source occurs the system will close the current file and automatically restart. You will loose about 5 seconds of video, though. You can see it in a break in the time-code.

We're working day and night to get this resolved. I checked about 500 files over the weekend and found no problems with the new firmware. We will continue to test throughout this week.

Best-

Thanks Mike.

I'll probably miss out on the fix before heading back to the field, but I'm glad to hear that it's almost resolved.

Are legacy versions of the firmware available on the CD website, and if so, which one (most closely) predates the intermittent source glitch? Again, I'm currently running 1.1.154.

Cheers,

Mike and Dan - Anything to report after the most recent testing? Thanks.

Dear Herb,

We have incorporated many fixes into our firmware version 1.6.29.

We highly recommend this firmware version for all nanoFlash users.

This is a "Production Level" release, not a Public Beta.

This version disables the "Power Save" feature, for reliability reasons. We still have to find and correct a problem, with Power Save, which we will do in a future firmware release.

Hi Dan,

I recall some weeks (months) back there was an issue tied to either the MPG format or SD recording. Are there any issues or caveats right now in recording in SD with the current production firmware?

Dear Andrew,

No, there are no issues with MPG recording, as far as I know.

I will check with our engineers when they arrive in a couple of hours.

Thanks Dan. I'll give it a try.
Herb Forsberg

Dear Friends,

Our engineers report that MPG in SD works, no problems.

HD in MPG also works.

Our MPG is a way to record, an ".MPG" file, for either SD DVD or for HD DVD (Blu-ray).

The file is pre-rendered, ready to be placed on a DVD or Blu-ray by appropriate DVD burning software.

This is a huge time saver.

If the DVD burning software realizes that the file is already pre-rendered, then it does not take long to burn the file to a DVD.

For SD, one has the choice of 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 Mbps.

Higher rates are avaliable for Blu-ray.

Thanks for allaying my concerns Dan.

SD recording out of the nanoFlash isn't much talked about but it has lots of use particularly in an environment (or project) where you have to get broadcast ready SD stuff out fast from an HD camera.