Panasonic has released Ver.8.0 firmware for the Varicam LT.
The firmware update only adds a couple of things, one being the addition of a Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) mode.
Ver.8.0 features
- Name/Size VSI6227U / 80.5MB
- Expected Time for Update Approx. 60min
New Features - Supports HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma)
- Improvement of UI in SYSTEM MODE setting
- Improvement of the delay due to conversion from RAW to 4K
- Various bug fixes
HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma)
The Gamma and the Color Space of HLG are converted into the SDR formats. This allows HLG images to be displayed on SDR monitors.
Monitors can express the gradation of the high brightness area while maintaining the contrast of the normal brightness area by this function.
You can temporarily change the gamma of VF from SDR to HLG to check the high brightness gradation. The HDR (HLG) and SDR (monitoring gamma) can be output simultaneously with 2 lines of SDI.
When setting the output of PROXY, SDI 1, SDI 2 or VF SDI, you can select HLG/SDR respectively. The Zebra indication can be displayed in the brightness saturated area of VF image.
When the PROCESSED RAW is set, the information about HLG is embedded in the SDI payload.
The Varicam LT has been around since early 2016, and while a very capable camera, its direct competitor, the Sony F5, has been a far more successful camera.
I really would have thought that Panasonic may have been tempted to lower the price of the Varicam LT by now to make it a more attractive proposition than say a Sony FS7II or Canon C300 MarkII.
