Petition to increase the GH1's functionality with increased bitrate and HDMI-out

A

asdfyoyoyo

Active member
I've started a PETITION to request that Panasonic consider making changes to the following aspects of the DMC-GH1:

1. Increase the bitrate of the AVCHD codec to 24mpbs or higher.
2. Allow for HDMI-out during recording.

This isn't a "we demand x,y,z" petition. Instead, it is merely an attempt to make Panasonic aware of an opportunity to meet the specific needs and desires of the consumer. I plan on sending the results of this petition to the proper channel at Panasonic so that they can see the amount of user's interested in this device meeting it's full potential.

If you are interested in learning more about this petition, please CLICK HERE, and sign the petition if you agree with it's suggestions.

The petition is ENTIRELY FREE, however a page may pop up asking for an optional donation. This is NOT REQUIRED, it is merely their way of allowing you to help keep their site running. You may choose to decline and it will NOT affect your signature or input.

Please be sure to consider writing in the "comment" section, as this is what will show up in the publicly viewable "signatures" page. I have chosen NOT to display anyone's names, so as to respect confidentiality. However, anyone who accesses the petition will be able to see to comments of other users.

I realize that some may find the idea of this petition silly, seeing as the product is not yet released in the United States. However, the idea here is to show Panasonic that there is a high level of interest in this camera having these options, and possibly even allow changes to be made before the product is released. I realize this is a long shot, but I suppose there is no harm in trying, and I thank you for your support.

Also, anyone who has ideas on how to improve the verbiage of the petition, or has any other suggestions, I will welcome them gladly. And please feel free to link to the petition wherever you think there might be interest.

If you feel so compelled, please add the following line to your signature... "Interested in the Panasonic GH1? Sign THIS PETITION to support 24mbps recording and HDMI-Out!"

Thanks for your time.

(mods: I am unfamiliar with all of the nuances of this forum. If this post is out of line, my apologies and let me know the steps to rectify the situation)
 
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Thanks,

I will be scanning the petition for false/accidental entries. Perhaps I should also make the signature list unavailable to public view so that credibility is unhampered.

EDIT: Instead of names being listed in the signatures area, I will have comments listed. To keep confidentiality, I will not be publicly listing any names of those who sign. If you do NOT want your comment publicly visible, please PM me and I will get it sorted out. Thank you.
 
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Okay, I signed.

There's a mistake in the text of the petition near the bottom - "24kbps" instead of mbps.
 
24Mbps is the highest supported by AVCHD. We're not likely to get a non-AVCHD camera in this line in the near term-- unless some other standard supplants it.

There was an email from a panasonic rep who said that monitoring while shooting was possible on a "television"-- though its not clear if they were talking about HDMI or composite or component out.

That feature might be in there already...
 
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LizaWitz said:
24Mbps is the highest supported by AVCHD. We're not likely to get a non-AVCHD camera in this line in the near term-- unless some other standard supplants it.

There was an email from a panasonic rep who said that monitoring while shooting was possible on a "television"-- though its not clear if they were talking about HDMI or composite or component out.

That feature might be in there already...
Click to expand...


Thanks Liza,

I have changed the wording of the petition to reflect 24mbps as AVCHD's maximum rate.

"We request that the GH1's AVCHD bitrate be increased to the AVCHD codec's maximum of 24mpbs. This should help to reduce the appearances of macroblocking, aliasing (stair-stepping), and allow for resolution of finer detail in the DMC-GH1's video imaging. "

If HDMI monitoring is already included and we just don't know it yet, that would be a very pleasant development.

Any other suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks for the information and the support!
 
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Honestly, if live HDMI output is made available...the GH1 will be the first camera that really suits all my needs. I can't believe I'm saying that...but it's the truth.
 
We've already got 25+ signatures and some good input. Glad to see the support on this. I believe that if these features are implemented in the GH1, Panasonic will have a big hit with this camera.

Please be sure to inform/encourage anyone you might know that would be interested in this petition.

Thanks
 
Note: Some folks will be reluctant to put their contact info on a web petition, period, no matter how strongly they feel about the issues it addresses. Just my $0.02 US.

Meanwhile:

I think the GH1 is almost perfect for high-end digital camera consumers and even for some pro photo & video applications, too. But I think the GH1 could "easily" be so much better. So, here's my list of features which should/could be added to the GH1 or be featured in some future "GH1B" or "GH2" model:

- Full-time live video output: Composite video would be acceptable, but only if the cam's recording quality is also increased (see below). HDMI video & audio out is preferable. If HDMI-out is implemented I'd "settle" for leaving the cam's built-in recording quality as-is because using an external device for high-quality HDMI recording would be an option. The GH1 is a video camcorder, and virtually every video camcorder ever made has had some form of full-time video out. There are many, many good reasons for this. Video-out is not a crutch. It's a _normal_ part of many (but not all) video productions. Among other things, many clients expect & are more than willing to _pay_ for full-time live video monitoring on-set, and many crew positions depend on it, too. Is it absolutely necessary in every production situation? No. But in many/most, yes.

- Allow audio auto-gain (AGC) to be disabled: It would be preferable if a GH1/B/2 user could adjust audio levels on the fly, but I'd "settle" for allowing switching the mic jack to line level input for use with an optional external mixer.

- Full-time live _audio_ out via the USB-to-RCA cable: Preferably this should be implemented along with the other items listed here, but it's really independent. The line level audio out could be used with an optional audio mixer, headphone amp or other equipment.

- Full-time headphone audio output: This is a no-brainer. Even most consumer users have earbud headphones! All pro users use them when recording "important" audio, right? Unfortunately, adding a headphone jack to the GH1 means modifying the cam's case design, but this should be relatively easy for Panasonic to do. All that being said, I could live without a headphone jack _if_ full-time live audio out was available via the GH1B/GH2's USB-to-RCA cable.

- Flash-band artifact workaround: Panasonic is offering this workaround as a firmware update for the HPX300. If something like this could be implemented in the GH1/B/2 I'd be willing to pay for it.

- 1080p24 recording quality improvement: I don't care how Panasonic improves the GH1/B/2's 1080p24 video recording quality -- they don't have to improve it all that much anyway -- as long as it's compatible with most popular NLE software & devices such as BluRay players. AVCHD, MJPEG, whatever, just give us somewhat better-looking 1080p24 and I'll withdraw my request for full-time live HDMI video out, but _not_ for full-time live composite video out for monitoring.

Most of the changes I've listed here would require little or no change to the GH1's form factor, case, or button layout. Most could likely be implemented as software/firmware changes or minor hardware changes. In other words, these changes might not cost Panasonic much to implement and may offer them a nice return on their investment.

IMHO these changes would greatly increase the value of the GH1 (or GH1B or GH2) for many professional video and digital cinema professionals.

Importantly, implementing these changes won't interfere with the GH1/B/2's primary mission in life: Selling as many cameras to as many "high end" digital camera consumers as possible. Many of the feature changes I've listed above will increase the cam's value to these consumers, too; e.g.: no one is going to complain if the camera works better for little or no increase in cost.
 
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The most important thing here is that we get involved in a positive way. Any effort to improve on the camera is welcome. Is up to the manufacturer to implement changes but is up to us to at least try to make a difference.

- 1080p24 recording quality improvement: I don't care how Panasonic improves the GH1/B/2's 1080p24 video recording quality
Click to expand...

1080i24PA will help on this. That and allow the highest bit rate it can achieve, 24Mb/s, would make the camera a little better.
 
Wishes, wants and all else asides this camera, with all it's lacking attributes and at it's price point, is so far ahead of anything I've dealt with in the past that I'd be happy to pay for an upgrade in a year or less just to have what it offers now. Is better coming? Of course, I'd be pissed if it weren't, but for now I'm excited by what it offers to do what I have no access to at the moment. If a petition helps bring me more I won't say 'no' but I'm willing to shrug if that don't happen.

Just a quick moment to thank Kholi for what I can only imagine is a cool but stressful experience. He really went to bat for all of us. Took hard questions on, dealt with Jap menus and is trying to live up to a standard we can only hope to emulate. He, and others like him, are why I've been, what's called, a lurker on this forum for years. I've learned a ton and I thank you all.
 
I think the petition is a good idea- if we looked at the history of G1 updates, panasonic made a lot of improvements to image quality. Now I understand that the live hdmi may be a hardware issue, but bumping up the compression to 24mbps or at least optimizing it in some way is a fair request. Not that Im expecting any of it to be granted. And I certainly wont be upset if none of it makes it into this camera, it is what it is. (and its a pretty good camera for the price tag). This at least helps let the "firmware people" know what some consumers are asking for.
 
I would wager the easiest thing to fix with a firmware update would be to allow a 720 24p mode. This should be a good start as the word so far is that the 720 60p mode holds up better than 1080 24p.
 
Ok, been away for about eight hours and coming back to this. If you don't want to sign the petition, stay out of this thread. No more complaining.
 
Ok, been away for about eight hours and coming back to this. If you don't want to sign the petition, stay out of this thread. No more complaining.
Click to expand...

Thank you Mr. Brody. Is it possible to clean up the thread and leave the pertinent petition information in? Just a thought. I myself think that any positive input we can share and provide to Panasonic is very healthy. Is up to them to decide but at least we let ourselves be heard and work towards common goals that will benefit us at the end of the day.
 
I am currently in the process of determining who, at Panasonic, it would be most effective to make aware of this petition.

Before I make a decision, I would like to ask other users if they have any suggestions or possibly any contacts that would be a good channel.

Looking forward to letting our suggestions be made known. Thanks for the support everyone.

ALSO,
If you feel so compelled, please add the following to your signature line...

Interested in the Panasonic GH1? Sign THIS PETITION to support 24mbps recording and HDMI-Out!
 
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