G2 Users Settings and Experience

M

Mhedges

New member
Hi All,

I've had my G2 now for two weeks and installed the hack using ptool 3.51d (Thanks!!! Vitaliy) so far with great results.

So far I have not ventured into changing the AVCHD settings so I wanted to get some feedback from other people on some good starting settings and whether good settings from the GH1 work well.

Hopefully all of us G2 users can come up with some great improvements to the stock performance of the G2 and make a great camera better.

Looking forwards to your reply's and settings.

Thanks everyone!
 
Hi!

My current settings, PAL, Transcend C6 SDHC:

---------------------------------
Prevent version compare
30min limit removal
Manual Movie Modes
720p50 -> 25fps
Video Bitrate SH = 40000000
Video Bitrate H = 38000000
Video Bitrate L = 36000000
Overall Bitrate = 52000000
720p50 GOP Size = 13
Preset bitrate = 160
Preset bitrate 2 = 160
Overall bitrate 2 = 24000000
---------------------------------

All chart tests OK, real life test 2 hours OK.
 
lpowell said:
The GF1 settings on all of my downloadable PTool INI files should work on the G2 as well:

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...aring-thread&p=2039780&viewfull=1#post2039780

I'm expecting a G2 to arrive this coming week and I'm looking forward to trying it out myself.
Click to expand...

I hacked my G2 using the settings you recommended. The AVCHD format turned out to work perfectly. But I was unable to get the 35Mbps MJPEG setting work. There are strips across the image. Can you think if there is anything wrong? For your information, I'm using a Lexar platinum II class 6 card. Thanks!
 
It looks like to me that the option changes color sampling messed up the MJPEG functionality. After that option was unchecked, everything looks perfect.
 
You must always enable size hacks to use 4:2:2 sampling.
If you don't do this encoder buffer becomes too small, and you'll see result of this :-)
 
For the un-initiated does this make a G2 into a good filmmaking camera?

can we do 24P with manual controls?

What are some other particulars of this camera versus say a GH2?

Thanks!
 
Vitaliy Kiselev said:
You must always enable size hacks to use 4:2:2 sampling.
If you don't do this encoder buffer becomes too small, and you'll see result of this :-)
Click to expand...

Could you please explain to me how to enable size hacks? As you you can see, I'm new and barely know anything about all these hacks. Thanks!
 
Vitaliy Kiselev said:
You must always enable size hacks to use 4:2:2 sampling.
If you don't do this encoder buffer becomes too small, and you'll see result of this :-)
Click to expand...
Do you mean that the MJPEG width and height patches need to be increased to produce a larger video frame size? On the GH1 and GF1, the 4:2:2 patch has worked reliably for me using the standard 1280x720 MJPEG frame size. I was expecting the G2 patches to work the same way as the GF1?

Also, numerous posters have asked if you could update the MJPEG width patch to allow frame widths up to 2560 to support the use of anamorphic adapters. This would be particularly useful on the G2 and GF1, as well as the GH1.
 
lpowell said:
Do you mean that the MJPEG width and height patches need to be increased to produce a larger video frame size? On the GH1 and GF1, the 4:2:2 patch has worked reliably for me using the standard 1280x720 MJPEG frame size. I was expecting the G2 patches to work the same way as the GF1?

Also, numerous posters have asked if you could update the MJPEG width patch to allow frame widths up to 2560 to support the use of anamorphic adapters. This would be particularly useful on the G2 and GF1, as well as the GH1.
Click to expand...

I tried to increase the width and height just now. However, what it did was nothing but freezing my camera....
 
lpowell said:
Do you mean that the MJPEG width and height patches need to be increased to produce a larger video frame size? On the GH1 and GF1, the 4:2:2 patch has worked reliably for me using the standard 1280x720 MJPEG frame size. I was expecting the G2 patches to work the same way as the GF1?
Click to expand...

Yeah, you are right.
You do not need size patches as buffer patch is included. I just forgot.

Also, numerous posters have asked if you could update the MJPEG width patch to allow frame widths up to 2560 to support the use of anamorphic adapters. This would be particularly useful on the G2 and GF1, as well as the GH1.
Click to expand...

It require to add additional encoder width and buffer settings.
I'll try to add this with 4:3 mode as soon as I'll have more time.
 
Vitaliy Kiselev said:
Yeah, you are right.
You do not need size patches as buffer patch is included. I just forgot.



It require to add additional encoder width and buffer settings.
I'll try to add this with 4:3 mode as soon as I'll have more time.
Click to expand...

Do you mean that the color sampling patch can be applied without changing the size? If that's true, does it mean that I did something wrong when I did the hacking? Or, could there be a bug in color sampling patch for G2? Thanks for your effort and help!
 
Last edited:
finback said:
Do you mean that the color sampling patch can be applied without changing the size? If that's true, does it mean that I did something wrong when I did the hacking? Or, could there be a bug in color sampling patch for G2? Thanks for your effort and help!
Click to expand...

G2 uses different, newer LSI.
And as far as I can tell, they rewrited some parts of MJPEG implementation.
422 patch seems to be correct.
So, I really do not have any idea that can be wrong.
Try to use size patches without 422 sampling and see if this works.
Also try to use default mjpeg quality and 422 patch only.
 
Vitaliy Kiselev said:
G2 uses different, newer LSI.
And as far as I can tell, they rewrited some parts of MJPEG implementation.
422 patch seems to be correct.
So, I really do not have any idea that can be wrong.
Try to use size patches without 422 sampling and see if this works.
Also try to use default mjpeg quality and 422 patch only.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply.

I tried the 422 patch alone. It didn't work.
I'll try the size patch later. However, I doubt it would work, since I noticed something wierd in the original size settings. The height and width of the default 720p setting are not 1280 and 720. Instead, they're some strange values. For example, the width is 12148 and the height is 36829. Does that suggest changes in the Panasonic MJPEG implementation?
 
I'd just like to confirm some settings, hopefully this will help.

General settings Working
- All Interface Languages
- 30mins Limit Removal
- Manual Movie Mode

General Settings No Working
- PAL <-> NTSC Menu,
When this is enabled video will not start recording no error messages are given on the screen
- 720p30 420 -> 422 Colour Sampling
Causes the bottom half of the image to have red noise and ghosting all over the image, this occurs when applied to both default MJPEG settings and Ipowells Reliable In Camera Playback patch settings.

MJPEG Settings
- Ipowell's 35Mbps In-Camera Playback settings
Does not work, Causes bottom half of the screen to have red noise and ghosting all over the image.
- Ipowell's 60Mbps Class 6 SD Card Patch
Seems to work well, does not play back in camera as expected.

AVCHD
- Ipowell's 40Mbps AVCHD High Reliability Patch
Settings do not cause any errors however Data rate is down at 11Mbps
- Ipowell's 50Mbps Fast Action 3-Frame GOP Patch
Settings do not cause any errors however Data rate is down at 13Mbps

All the above settings have been tried in combinations to try and eliminate the possibility that it is the combination of settings that causes the error.
The videos have only been tested for a max of 10mins at a time (depending on settings) and using both recordings of a action sequence on a TV and In room Camera shake.

I'm a little bit confused as to why Ipowell's AVCHD settings are producing such low Data rates so maybe someone could shed some light on this for me.

If anyone has any suggestions or settings they would like me to test please let me know.
 
Mhedges said:
I'd just like to confirm some settings, hopefully this will help.

General settings Working
- All Interface Languages
- 30mins Limit Removal
- Manual Movie Mode

General Settings No Working
- PAL <-> NTSC Menu,
When this is enabled video will not start recording no error messages are given on the screen
- 720p30 420 -> 422 Colour Sampling
Causes the bottom half of the image to have red noise and ghosting all over the image, this occurs when applied to both default MJPEG settings and Ipowells Reliable In Camera Playback patch settings.

MJPEG Settings
- Ipowell's 35Mbps In-Camera Playback settings
Does not work, Causes bottom half of the screen to have red noise and ghosting all over the image.
- Ipowell's 60Mbps Class 6 SD Card Patch
Seems to work well, does not play back in camera as expected.

AVCHD
- Ipowell's 40Mbps AVCHD High Reliability Patch
Settings do not cause any errors however Data rate is down at 11Mbps
- Ipowell's 50Mbps Fast Action 3-Frame GOP Patch
Settings do not cause any errors however Data rate is down at 13Mbps

All the above settings have been tried in combinations to try and eliminate the possibility that it is the combination of settings that causes the error.
The videos have only been tested for a max of 10mins at a time (depending on settings) and using both recordings of a action sequence on a TV and In room Camera shake.

I'm a little bit confused as to why Ipowell's AVCHD settings are producing such low Data rates so maybe someone could shed some light on this for me.

If anyone has any suggestions or settings they would like me to test please let me know.
Click to expand...

My experience is pretty much the same as yours.

Just one suggestion, if you turn off the 422 color sampling patch, Ipowell's 35Mbps In-Camera Playback settings will work.

Another question, how did you check the bit rate? After I applied Ipowell's 40Mbps AVCHD settings, I checked the size of the video file, it was increased as expected for similar videos. Therefore, I assumed the patch was working. Could you please tell me how to check the bit rate accurately? Such that I can confirm the setting is working or not. Thanks!
 
Last edited:
Mhedges said:
I'd just like to confirm some settings, hopefully this will help.
General Settings No Working
- PAL <-> NTSC Menu,
Click to expand...

Use different SD card for each mode during testing this.
I'll look at this in more details soon.

- 720p30 420 -> 422 Colour Sampling
Causes the bottom half of the image to have red noise and ghosting all over the image, this occurs when applied to both default MJPEG settings and Ipowells Reliable In Camera Playback patch settings.
Click to expand...

OK, got it.
Look like buffer is not adjusted, but I don't know why.

AVCHD
- Ipowell's 40Mbps AVCHD High Reliability Patch
Settings do not cause any errors however Data rate is down at 11Mbps
- Ipowell's 50Mbps Fast Action 3-Frame GOP Patch
Settings do not cause any errors however Data rate is down at 13Mbps
Click to expand...

This requires more detailed testing.
 
I've got a G2 now and will have an opportunity to do some testing this weekend. With AVCHD patches, to obtain high bitrates you'll need to test with well-lit, sharply-focused, high-detail scenes. It is normal for AVCHD bitrate to drop to 12Mbps for indoor scenes illuminated with incandescent light.

BTW, it's "LPowell", thanks.
 
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