The 'perfect' project

I wanted to test how MarekV and Lpowell's hack settings work on skin tones, so I ran a couple of tests with a hacked GH1 and an unhacked GH1:

Out of camera: http://vimeo.com/14073785
With modified Levels: http://vimeo.com/14073831

pass:t35t

Properties: 1280x720
Aperture: 5.8
Shutter Speed: 40
Lens: 14-140mm
focal range: 140mm
I rendered the video at 29.97, that's why the MJPEG shows a little bit of motion blur (MJPEG records at true 30p)

I decided to run tests on skin tones because that's where I've been having trouble with original firmware, I soot weddings and when the couple is seating on their chairs, everything is very static, so you really notice the codec mudding all their faces, specially when it is a low light scene.

I see some improvement with the hack but not as much as I would like it to be, do you guys think this is the best the GH1 can do without taking the hack to a higher riskier bit rates?

Also, the unhacked camera seems to suffer more from vertical banding, I don't think this is related to the hack and more to the camera's sensor, am I right?

Another think I ask myself is why I see better lowlight performance on the AVCHD and not in the MJPEG mode as I've seen out there, for example: http://www.dvxuser.com/content/260-High-ISO-GH1-AVCHD-vs-MJPEG
 
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Beernardo said:
I see some improvement with the hack but not as much as I would like it to be, do you guys think this is the best the GH1 can do without taking the hack to a higher riskier bit rates?

Also, the unhacked camera seems to suffer more from vertical banding, I don't think this is related to the hack and more to the camera's sensor, am I right?
Click to expand...
The hacked samples look very good considering the moderately dim lighting conditions. (Notice the lack of fine detail in the woman's hair, due to its uniformly dark texture.) Due to banding issues and noise at high ISO settings, the GH1 is not at its best in low light. Also, the 14-140mm kit lens is not well suited to indoor lighting. For optimal bitrates in these locales, you need a lens that can deliver sharp focus at f2.8 or better.

It is possible to crank up the bitrate on the MJPEG encoder, which can partially compensate for the GH1's problems in low light. However, MJPEG videos recorded with bitrates much higher than 35Mbps will not play back properly in-camera, and recording failures may occur as well.
 
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lpowell said:
The hacked samples look very good considering the moderately dim lighting conditions. (Notice the lack of fine detail in the woman's hair, due to its uniformly dark texture.) Due to banding issues and noise at high ISO settings, the GH1 is not at its best in low light. If you were able to increase the illumination, you'd probably see the bitrate go up.

It is possible to crank up the bitrate on the MJPEG encoder, which can partially compensate for the GH1's problems in low light. However, MJPEG videos recorded with bitrates much higher than 35Mbps will not play back properly in-camera, and recording failures may occur as well.
Click to expand...

Thanks Lpowell. I still need to run some tests with optimum lighting conditions, I'll report back once I do this.

Any thoughts about the MJPEG being darker than AVCHD?
 
to open the ini file on mac: right click (or ctrl click) and choose open with... then use text edit. that's all.
 
ok quick dumbo question here from me...

1: is this the latest 'perfect' stable settings thread for PAL users? I notice that the post above mine was back in august :/

2: i have downloaded the seta.ini, loaded into ptools ok, but I am having to check the 'third party battery' box. Why didn't the OP update the ini file download to include this?

3: When I hack my GH1 for the first time do i only tick 'prevent version compare' and not both this and 'version increment' ?

I'm worried if I get this wrong there'll be no turning back :/

Thanks to anyone that can help.
Jrb
 
Jrb said:
...is this the latest 'perfect' stable settings thread for PAL users?
Click to expand...
No, as you noticed, this is an older thread that bundled my first MJPEG patch with Marek's AVCHD patch that provided a small increase in bitrate.

In recent months, I developed the 40Mbps AVCHD High Reliability Patch and the 35Mbps MJPEG In-Camera Playback Patch. I've bundled these patches together in a downloadable PTool INI file that takes care of all PTool settings without need for manual patch tweaking. Complete info on these patches are found here:

http://dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=219132
http://www.dvxuser.com/showthread.p...bility-Patch&p=2068446&viewfull=1#post2068446
 
lpowell said:
No, as you noticed, this is an older thread that bundled my first MJPEG patch with Marek's AVCHD patch that provided a small increase in bitrate.

In recent months, I developed the 40Mbps AVCHD High Reliability Patch and the 35Mbps MJPEG In-Camera Playback Patch. I've bundled these patches together in a downloadable PTool INI file that takes care of all PTool settings without need for manual patch tweaking. Complete info on these patches are found here:

http://dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=219132
http://www.dvxuser.com/showthread.p...bility-Patch&p=2068446&viewfull=1#post2068446
Click to expand...

That's great thanks for letting me know
 
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