SmallHD Firmware OS3 Adds Auto Calibration And Custom False Color

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by Tim FokNovember 10^th, 2017

SmallHD has released a firmware update they are calling their biggest yet. OS3 is available for all current SmallHD monitors, sporting advanced false color and waveform functionality, as well as much need auto calibration.

The above video gives you a nice little run down of SmallHD firmware update OS3.

SmallHD has focused on updating their false color and waveform exposure tools to make them much more customizable.

Customizable False Color

Previous to this update, the false color feature on SmallHD monitors was fairly standard – the image displayed was broken down into color shades that stretched a gradient from 0-100%.

Now, you can select specific IRE values (up to 10 different ranges) and assign them different colors.

How does this help? Primitive false color is one thing, but having the ability to really home in on certain IRE values is a step further in advanced exposure assistance.

You can set a certain level of IRE values that you know is good for skin tones, or set a low and/or high end cap on edge range values to ensure you don’t under or over expose.

It can be really good for greenscreen and cyc work also, as well as keeping track of exposure tones for long-term projects.

Spot Metering in LUMA Waveform

SmallHD has expanded its waveform features also. You can now select different areas of the screen to depict which area of the waveform it corresponds to; this is another great tool for setting skin tones level.

I’m not a waveform kind of guy for the exact reason that it can be hard to really see what aspect of your image is what on the graph; this makes thing much easier.

Image Gallery Viewer is added also for improved implementation of pre-loaded images.

I regularly bank stills of setup throughout the day as well as reference images to help on set; the use of a gallery via thumbnail display makes this feature much easier to navigate.

The Flagship feature for this update is the Auto Calibration. You can now calibrate your monitor without the use of a computer.

The process is simply (as video below suggests), plug in a compatible color probe to the USB of your monitor, and hit calibrate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVc19d0jKms&feature=youtu.be

It will be interesting to see how many color probes are supported; my Atomos/Spyder one I had lying around didn’t work, but this could be down to the very low current the USB port on the 702/502 draws (something that could dictate whether the average probe is compatible or not).

I’ll ask this question direct and update this article accordingly.

SmallHD Firmware update OS3 is available for download now; I did my monitors this morning.

As mentioned, it’s compatible with all current SmallHD monitors – 502/702 as well as 503/703 and larger Production Monitors also.