if you're an expert (with ASCII porgramming knowledge), you could turn a Z1 from 1080i encoding to 1080p60 encoding. once the ATSC 1080p60 format comes out that just might be possible to turn a Z1 from 1080i to 1080p.

Lets assume for the moment this 1080p format is avaliable, would it be possible for a noob like me who knows little about cameras themselves to find someone to do it with only cash and the camera in question?

It would be good if companies themselves actually became involved in the upkeep of old models. Like how some cams now can accept downloaded upgrades and new codecs. (So I've heard)

The Z1U/FX1 *can* accept upgrades to its firmware. I know it can be done. I assume it's done through the firewire. I've not seen anything about this online, but if you knew what you were doing (or were significantly insane or brave), you could definately "get up in that shizz..." and do what you will.

I will do it for you when I have the code finished - $250
 

Jack is right, it can be done and the mods are applied through a firewire. For safety purposes, a copy of the existing eprom code is made first. Then, the changes are applied. Anyone with a reasonably advanced knoweldge of electronic circuits and particularly non-volatile memory devices (eproms) can perfom such mods if they have access to the documented source code. Unfortunately, I don't know sqwat about any of that stuff, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once, or was it a Ramada, or maybe it was a Motel 6. Send cash please.

Can anyone tell me whether we are serious here or not?

I mean can this be done for real make the cam record 60p instead of 60i?

Quality?

Wow!

Of course this is serious. Also see Jack's thread about how you can perform a firmware upgrade to turn your Hyundai into a Mercedes...

Well, whomever made this a thread will be thanked. (I didin't intend this to be a thread.)
Edit: Oh, it was you Boyd, I never expected this topic to start a wildfire of posts!!!

I was first thinking of upgrading the encoder chip to a faster chip for encoding to MPEG-4 AVC. But you guys seem to be excited about using the current circuitry and converting from 1080i to 1080p60.

WEll, if the technology is out there, and someone is willing to do it, then I'll get my Z1 next month. If I can get 1080p and 1080i, that would be fantastico. Then I dont need that HD100.

I was only wondering that when this technology becomes readilly avaliable, will Sony offer to do it for a fee? I dont plan to send my new camera anywhere outside of Sydney... I dont trust Australia post, the Bermuda Triangle of Postal companies.

Same with me and Melbourne. But I really like the sound of this. People kept saying "What about when 1080p cameras come out - you'll need to buy a new one... Well maybe not...

How would the NLEs deal with it though?

And can you kiss your warranty good bye with something like this?

a while back, at a confrence, I heard about a firmware update from a guy in Sweden (I think) that turned a fx1 pretty much into a z1, but never found anything online about it...

1080p on a z1 sure would be nice :)

I don't know what the big deal is. I have known the secret to upgrading a FX1 to a Z1 ever since the Z1 came out.

Sell the FX1 and buy the Z1. Easy. No sweat.

^^^for NLEs, I predict Vegas could handle it. As for FCP5, maybe some additional development is required for native HDV 1080p60 to run in FCP.

Please keep the comedy factor of this thread a bit higher, otherwise people may take things serious.

For the record: there's no way to change an interlaced CCD system to a progressive one by software, you can't compress 1080p60 to 25 Mbit/s and expect any quality, and firmware updates for the FX1 and Z1 will most likely need a special tool connected to the service port located in the battery compartment.

Thanks Ben for clarifying things!

^^I realize that so that's why I initially thought of replacing some of the parts (CCDs, Encoder chips, etc...). only daredevil repairmen could do that. Remember the guy that fitted a nikon lens on an FX1E?

Ben - good posts. One question -Do you think firmware could turn a z1 into a 60p dvcam ? thanks -Kurth

What would be really nice is to have a firmware upgrade that would encode mpeg 4 streams at 20mbps or so.

Kurth Bousman and Robert M Wright, the answer on both remarks is: not possible.

Going from 60 fps interlaced to 60 fps progressive doubles the data rate. There's no way to record 60p with DV or DVCam. The JVC HD100 records 480/60p in HDV though.

Regarding MPEG 4: I firmly believe that the HDV (aka MPEG 2) compressor inside the Z1 or FX1 is implemented in hardware given the fact that no Desktop CPU can compress an HD stream to 25 mbit/s MPEG2 in realtime at this time. Besides, the benefits for MPEG 4 are mostly to be found in the low data rate region.

I'm certainly not holding my breath for Sony to come out with a firmware upgrade for the FX1/Z1 to provide MPEG 4 compression! Even if it was possible, it would never happen (that would be even more of a political feat than a technical one, to redo the HDV standards that radically!). I'm not so sure MPEG 2 compression on 1080i material couldn't be done with a desktop processor. Those dual core Athlons appear to pack quite a punch (apparently AMD leaped ahead of Intel in the dual cores for video compression speeds). I haven't used one yet, but I am looking forward to the day I build my first dual core Athlon computer. Hopefully, in a few months. I have to finish up three computers first though! (one for my mother, one for my eldest son and one for my grandaughter are the current projects)

I agree with Ben on all comments.
Via firmware no one can do it, you have to change so many devices on your Z1 that best you can do is save your money and buy another camera.
The purpose of this thread seems a joke, by the way.

But there is one thing I would like to know the opinion of Ben, despite this is not exactly the right forum and thread.

Ben, I have a Sony A1 as a 'B camera'. This camera is sold by Sony as a 'pro' camera, but it has a big 'mistake' (in fact this is not a mistake, it's the irritating way that Sony uses to protect higher markets from lower markets): one can not see at which f-stop is shooting while you are in record mode, but you can see at which f-stop was shoot the footage when it's in play mode. Unbelievable but true.
In this case, I'm almost sure that it can be fixed by firmware, but of course Sony is not going to do it. We (the owners of this model) will have to do it as soon as the guarantee expires.
What do you think about it? Can it be done?
Thanks for your help.

To all you guys, I'm talking about MPEG-4 AVC otherwise known as H.264

Jack, what you're talking about is purely a daydream.

Almost the whole camera - from the CCDs all the way to the output stages - would have to be replaced, redesigned or reconfigured. (Probably the lens and the tape transport would be the only things that wouldn't get replaced.)

The only chance for what you're talking about would be some kind of Andromeda style mod and breakout unit, taping directly into the CCDs, which would then apply a bob/weave de-interlace before dumping to somekind of non linear random Access storage (flash memory or hard disc).

The MPEG2 encoders in the Sonys are hardware units, not like a PC or a DVB box where you can just update with a new codec when one gets a released (decoding is generally far less processor intensive than encoding anyway and can be handled in software with a generic processor much more easily.)

Obviously, there is no way it will ever be practical to upgrade a FX1 or Z1 to using a MPEG-4 compression codec (I guess you never know what some nut, with to much money and time on their hands, might do in a laboratory though), but I sure would like to see one of the serious camcorder manufacturers (Sony, JVC, Canon, Panasonic) take a closer look at that Sanyo camcorder. That may be a "toy" camcorder, but if what I'm reading is correct, it does represent a remarkable technical achievement.