Tag Archives: 720p

edgertronic firing on all cylinders!

edgertronic

One of our favorite high speed camera companies has shared a lot of information regarding it’s COVID pandemic operations as well as unit shipments for their cameras. It looks like Sanstreak corp the parent of edgertronic is considered an essential business to the government which is probably because of the support and software development they do with clients for important government agencies. They have sold thousands of cameras to date and the company seems to be on firm footing to continue solidly into the future.

Their product line has the SC1, which is the 700fps 720p camera that started it all, as well as the SC2/SC2+ 720p at over 4000fps and SC2X over 2000fps at full HD 1080p. Check our page here for full in-depth reviews on these three cameras. Our favorite the SC2X is capable of a beautifully detailed and artifact-free image that can be used for cinema and broadcast. The SC2+ has the edge in frame rates with speed as a primary focus being able to record 6x the frame rate of the original edgertronic. The cameras have Color and Monochrome options if needed. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

thCam Slow Motion Camera Kickstarter Campaign Canceled!

thCam Slow Motion Camera

(Note: As of November 23rd this campaign has been canceled due to lack of funding in time. )There is a new dedicated Slow Motion Camera being built by engineer enthusiasts and a Kickstarter campaign has just launched with the goal of gathering enough funds for production.  The camera is called thCam Slow Motion Camera and is capable of shooting above 3,000fps at reduced resolution with a 1920px horizontal. The 1080p frame rate maxes out at 266fps  and 576fps at 720p.

What is most impressive about this camera is the Machine Vision applications that can run with the platform like being able to train it to recognize QR codes, objects, and possibly even people. It could theoretically be used as a quality control camera that operates at very fast speeds. The other big deal is the price which is about $1,000 USD or €899 Euros which is a first for a camera of this kind.

thCam Slow Motion Camera Specs:

  •  Image sensor: 1920×1200, 10 bit Raw CMOS 2/3″ on 2MP Version
  •  Framerate: 240 fps (@ full resolution: 1920 x 1200), 576 fps (@ 1280 x 720), 1524 fps (@ 640 x 480), 3134 fps (@ 320 x 200)
  •  Pixel pitch: 4.8 µm
  •  Shutter: Global shutter
  •  Lens: included, compatible with every other C- / CS- Mount lens
  •  Image Sensor Size: 2/3” Optical Format
  •  Spectrum: Just visible light, no NIR (but the built-in NIR-cut filter can be removed or exchanged with another filter if you are willing to disassemble the thCam)
  •  Min. Exposure Time: 1 / 25,000 seconds
  •  Screen: multitouch capacitive lcd touchscreen
  •  Memory: 8 GiB (record time 12s)
  •  Battery: replaceable and rechargable li ion battery (continous recording time: > 2 hrs, stand-by mode: > 6 hrs)
  •  USB: USB 3.0 SuperSpeed connectivity
  •  Synchronization: External Monitorsignal and Trigger/Sync Port
  •  Software: Open Source, running on Windows (7 and above) / macOS (10.15 and above) / Linux
  •  Supported File Formats: Image Sequence (Raw, Jpg, Png), Video File (Mp4 / H.264)
  •  API: Open Source, use the camera in your own code (C++, Python, Java)
  •  Case: Aluminium case
  •  Dimensions: W x H x D = 14 cm x 8 cm x 5 cm (estimated values)

As you can see, the camera is no slouch, it can record up to 12 seconds of RAW video and can be used and controlled remotely with programming commands if needed. It uses a C mount much like other cameras in its class and has a 2 hr battery life while recording and up to 6hrs standby.  The batteries are a couple of 18650s which are common and widely available.

There are also options to only get the PCB boards with a sensor instead of a fully built camera at a lower price of €649 for the 2MP sensor version.  Some engineers are more inclined to adapt the PCB to their own pipeline instead of using a self-contained camera unit.

The Kickstarter Campaign:

The campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thdevices/thcam-3000-fps-slowmotion-camera

The creators of the camera a Swiss and German engineer team are asking for a pledge goal of $94,779 USD or about €80k Euros.  For under $1000USD depending on the exchange rate, this is a cheap slow motion camera that has a lot of potential with RAW image quality that seems above good just looking at the provided samples.

Footage is recorded as 10 Bit RAW Image Sequences, full control of white balance, color tone, contrast, and brightness no compression. After editing you may compress your video to standard formats (H.264).

The camera features a Global Shutter so no rolling shutter artifacts to spoil your experiments.

The thCam comes with an equipped 8 GB memory module, enough to record about 12 seconds in full resolution with maximum framerate. Standard SODimm 204 DDR3 Computer memory modules are used, so you are free to upgrade your camera later on.

The camera also comes with a Super Speed USB 3.0 port. This high transfer rate allows you to stream images from the camera in realtime and low latency.

The camera also has an Open Source SDK that allows for programmability and full remote control of the camera via USB 3.

Supported Languages will be Java, Python and C/C++.

thCam Slow Motion Camera Video Samples:

Camera Timeline:

Team

Follow them on:

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/thdevices/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ThDevices-GmbH-101338128342338

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/thdevicesgmbh

(Development-) Blog: https://blog.thdevices.com/

Our Take on the thCAM:

This is a pretty neat little camera with a lot of potential for labs, engineers, education, sports, and imaging enthusiasts/hobbyists.

It has a great interface with easy controls that is working and ready to go. It has extensibility via software and can be controlled remotely by USB 3.0 with instant feedback.

The video samples do show some noise, chromatic aberration, and softness but looking at some of the other demos, it is clear these are mainly due to either low light or a pretty bad quality lens used. If you coupled this image sensor with better high-quality glass like we have seen in other C mount cameras, it is easily going to produce beautiful imagery.

For $1,000 USD for a fully assembled and working camera, we do not believe there is a deal out there that can compare. Sure you only get a maximum of 266fps in 1080p but we do get 576fps at 720p which is better than what many prosumer cameras can shoot at and the fact that we have RAW here makes it that much sweeter.

For production houses and serious videographers, it is clear this camera will not fit the bill as the smallish 2/3rds sensor could pose problems with image quality for broadcast and film unless the conditions were ideal with ample light control. This camera is not intended for that market in our view. This camera is intended for serious scientific experimentation and motion analysis with the possibility to extend its capabilities with software.

As a sports training device, it could be the best-priced camera of it’s kind with enough quality to analyze body motion on the fly and on location with its portability and 2hr recording and 6hr standby battery. We can see golfers and gymnasts gravitating to a solution like this especially with the flexibility and price.

The team of the Ackermanns is entering the space with the thCam but hopefully, we will see a more image quality-oriented camera as a future product with a higher price but not extremely above this first iteration. If they could produce a similar 1080p camera at 1000fps or 2000fps we are sure it would make a gigantic splash.

We wish the team luck on their campaign which looks to be ready for production, hopefully, we will continue to see impressive engineering from this team for years to come. -HSC

Pledge your support and possibly get a camera at The Kickstarter Campaign here:

The campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thdevices/thcam-3000-fps-slowmotion-camera

Slow Motion Phones and the Youtube Fakes!

Slow Motion Phones

Believable slow motion video samples on Youtube for phones and cameras are so confusing nowadays that you simply cannot rely on them unless it comes from a reputable source.  The avalanche of fakes is so big that it makes it next to impossible to find the real ones out there.  It also makes it extremely hard to choose a slow motion capable phone when the supposed videos you are looking at are faked from other devices or even professional slow motion cameras.

There is also the big problem of stealing real quality slow motion footage from other channels and using it in compilations that claim to be from a phone or camera in order to get clicks and views for quick revenue.  The problem goes even deeper when these fakes overtake most other real videos due to the viral nature of their compilations as they usually look much better than anything these cheap devices they claim to represent can do.   We examine a few cases that can educate you on how to spot these fakes!

Slow Motion Phones Sample fakes:

The Xiaomi Mi 10 pro, for example, is a phone that boasts the following specs in frame rates:

960fps 720P/1080P
240fps 720P/1080P
120fps 720P/1080P

Xiaomi is not very forthcoming with the specs of the slow motion as it does not specify duration or method of capture. The samples below show us the problem of fakes head-on:

Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro Slow Motion camera test. by Pro Mind Tech:(FAKE)

Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro 960FPS slow motion video sample by myphone.gr: (REAL) → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Cronos HD 2.1 First footage samples surface!

Cronos HD 2.1 First footage samples

The team at Krontech.ca has been shipping the first units of the Chronos 2.1-HD 4/3″ Sensor high-speed camera to their customers and in turn, footage has started to become available online showing what this new super affordable 1080p slow-mo cam can do.  We will be reviewing a unit in the future once the firmware is more polished and will give it a good spin to finally rank it in our camera guide.

At first glance, we have a very positive reaction to the footage shown. The noise control and per-pixel detail are excellent and a clear cut above what the much smaller 2/3″ sensor on the Chronos 1.4c was able to deliver.   Larger sensors are a must for high-speed cameras to make use of more available light locations.   We have gathered some excellent video examples that will let you have a pretty good idea of what you can shoot and at what quality level with this camera.

Chronos 2.1 HD Main Specs:

  • 1080p, 4/3” format image sensor
  • 2.1 gigapixels per second
  • 1000fps @ 1080p
  • up to 24 046fps at
    lower resolutions
  • 8GB, 16GB and 32GB high-speed RAM buffer options for 2.7, 5.5 and 11.0 second record time respectively.
  • High sensitivity base ISO of 500 (Color) and 1000 (Monochrome) enables shooting with modest lighting.
  • l battery lasts for 1 hour of recording
  • Runs indefinitely on AC adapter or external power source
  • Many lenses supported: Nikon F, Canon EF and C mounts available as field-swappable options
  • Starting at USD $5,000.00
Resolution and Frame Rate Table as of February 2020 (Could differ in future firmware):

There is also a new monthly newsletter on the Krontech website so you are up to date with the news on these camerashttps://www.krontech.ca/chronos-newsletter/

Cronos HD 2.1 First footage samples:

A few notes before you look at these video samples: These are early beta firmware samples which means that the quality will probably improve from here in several aspects. The most obvious will be the vertical column banding artifact that can show up on higher frame rates and less than ideal lighting conditions.   We also see room for improvement in the color-science especially in reds and maybe some highlight tweaking.

However, at first glance, they look really good and a clear improvement from the earlier product from Krontech.ca the Chronos 1.4c.  This camera can now go head to head with much more expensive competitors as the image quality has increased greatly. Enjoy the samples!

Water Drop Slow Motion by Laurent NICOLET:

Chronos 2.1 HD Initial test at 1000fps 2142fps 3385fps 5406fps by Scott Aichner: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Huawei Mate 30 Pro New Slow Motion Samples!

Huawei Mate 30 Pro New Slow Motion Samples

The Huawei Mate 30 Pro has been out for a few weeks outside the US, mainly in China and India and we have gathered 15 video samples from its slow motion mode which as of today is the best performing high-speed phone ever developed.  We had some shortcomings about the way the phone reaches the highly hyped 7,680fps mode which is 1920fps multiplied by 4x in software from a small snapshot of the video memory.

We also had some suspicions that the 1080p 960fps mode was also interpolated but looking at the samples we gathered it seems that was a premature call. The phone is actually capturing the full frame rate at 1080p or close to that.  The real max mode is 1920fps at 720p which is then interpolated to 7,680fps with good success by the new Kirin 990 chipset. Your mileage may vary and the results depend on the subject matter more than anything as organic slower motion looks much better than fast unpredictable bursts that break the interpolation algorithm.

Huawei Mate 30 Pro New Slow Motion Samples:

Make sure to read our previous post on the Mate 30 Pro to understand how the phone shoots video in high frame rates if you have some doubts.

The faster the motion and the more detailed the subject like water, sand or dust can break the algorithm easily and cause unwanted blurring. The phone is creating these frames from a 1,920fps video and creating in-between frames much like programs like Twixtor or Optical flow do it on your PC video editor see our article here on this subject to understand more.

Huawei Mate 30 Pro Slow Motion Specs Dissected:

  • 120fps 1080p Continuous
  • 240fps 1080p Continuous
  • 960fps 1080p for 1 full second (960 frames in total)
  • 1920fps 720p for 1/2 second  (960 frames in total)
  • 7680fps 720p interpolated 4x (lasts for 32 seconds on a 30p timeline.)
  • All super slow motion modes at 960p and above last 32 seconds of playback at 30fps regular speed.
  • The entire buffer for the slow motion feature is 2GB and gets filled by data then dumped and encoded on the fly by the Kirin 990 chip.

There is no doubt that the more light you give the phone the better capture it will achieve. The Phone has a maximum shutter speed of 1/4000 which is the default on a bright sunny day, if you shoot in that kind of light you have a better chance of avoiding blurring and the subject will have more detail while the interpolation system on the Kirin 990 will have an easier time doing the interpolated frames.

See the samples below and our end commentary note further down:

960fps, 1920fps and 7680fps test – Huawei Mate 30 Pro incredible Slow Motion by Slow Experiment:

Huawei Mate 30 Pro Slow Motion: time control is now available on a phone by gizmochina: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Google Pixel 4 Slow Motion Specs Unchanged!

Google Pixel 4 Slow Motion

Today Google unveiled the heavily leaked Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL phones which have the latest and greatest camera module geared up for computational photography enthusiasts.  It brings in the dual camera back design of many competitors and also drops the notch in turn for a thicker bezel which looks in our view better.  The phone is sporting the latest Snapdragon 855, 6GB of RAM and up to 128GB of fast flash memory.

Sadly the phone is keeping the exact same high frame rate specs of the Pixel 3 of last year. So 240fps is staying at 720p and 120fps at 1080p is the max at that resolution. It is clear Google is not interested in delivering performance in high frame rates like their rivals in the Android space. Even Apple offers a much better 1080p 240fps spec which is offered on the back cameras with little trouble. Even the iPhone 11 bests the Pixel 4 in the Selfie department as it allows up to 120fps 1080p for (Slofies™) which is a prominent feature of the handset.

Google Pixel 4 Slow Motion Specs:

  • Rear Camera:
  • 1080p @ 30 FPS, 60 FPS, 120 FPS
  • 720p @ 240 FPS
  • 4K @ 30 FPS
  • Front Camera:
  • 1080p @ 30 FPS

Rear Camera Specs:

  • Camera 1
  • 16 MP
  • 1.0 μm pixel width
  • Autofocus with phase detection
  • Optical + electronic image stabilization
  • Spectral + flicker sensor
  • ƒ/2.4 aperture
  • 52° field of view
  • Camera 2
  • 12.2 MP
  • 1.4 μm pixel width
  • Autofocus with dual pixel phase detection
  • Optical + electronic image stabilization
  • ƒ/1.7 aperture
  • 77° field of view

Front Camera (loses the dual camera of pixel 3):

  • 8 MP
  • 1.22 μm pixel width
  • ƒ/2.0 aperture
  • Fixed focus
  • 90° field of view
  • NIR flood emitter
  • NIR dot projector
  • 2 NIR cameras

Pricing: 

  • Pixel 4 is priced at $799
  •  Pixel 4 XL is priced at $899
  • Available at all US carriers GSM and CDMA for the first time outside of Verizon!

The Pixel 4 & 4 XL have competitive camera modules when you compare other flagship phones.  Google went with a dual-camera design without adding the super wide-angle one common on Samsung Galaxy and iPhones for example.  With computational photography, the Pixel is very capable and probably will become one of the best cameras out there like the Pixel 3 was all of last year by generating the best reviews for still images on a phone.

As a video shooter, the phone should do well but will not beat the best out there and probably the iPhone 11 will have a clear win in the motion department with their emphasis on professional video shooting on the 11 Pro.

Slow Motion ZZZzzz?

By staying at 240fps 720p the Pixel 4 shows they are not interested in improving that spec which seems to be frozen for now 3 generations of Pixel phones. They are all about a rounded phone with impeccable still image quality and not focused on being the best at video capture.  Sony with their Xperia One and others have much better video specs and of course, the slow motion crown falls now on the  Huawei Mate 30 Pro with 1920fps at 720p for a 1/2 second or 960fps 1080p at 1 second. No other phone has yet to match this performance.

Google Pixel 4 event in 10 minutes by The Verge:

Google Pixel 4 camera test by Phandroid: → Continue Reading Full Post ←