KronTalk
Chronos => Software Dev => Topic started by: sanjay on June 17, 2020, 05:16:58 PM
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We're happy to announce a new release of software for both the Chronos 1.4 and 2.1 cameras. This version builds on what was offered in V0.4.0.
I've attached the PDF of official release notes and upgrade instructions, but I'll reiterate them in this post as well. We'd be happy to hear about your experiences with this new version if you have a chance to update!
(https://i.imgur.com/wRq0SSO.jpg)
New Features and Improvements
● New Graphical User Interface with Dark and Light Modes
● Ability to set preferred exposure units on the main screen
● Double-tap video display area to zoom
● Ability to record live footage to H.264 mp4 @ 60 FPS in parallel with high-speed
recordings, including audio from the built-in microphone or line-in jack
● Automatic input detection and switching between the microphone and line-in jack
when recording audio in Live Record Mode
● Toggle Trigger Mode to allow BNC trigger to both START and STOP a recording
● Ability to configure most camera settings via the web page
● Ability to configure Triggers and I/O configuration via the web page
● Power Manager firmware update allowing for a longer button press (up to 3 sec.) to
boot the camera
● Power Manager firmware update to perform graceful shutdown when the battery is
critically low
Known Issues
● If the camera is being controlled via the web page, no messages will be shown on the
back-of-camera display if the video output mode is changed between
LIVE/RECORDING and PLAYBACK through the web interface.
● If the camera is powered on while connected to 10/100 (non-gigabit) network
equipment, the back-of-camera display will fail to start.
● When using Live Record Mode to simultaneously record 60 FPS MP4 footage to an
external storage device, the video display may momentarily blank or freeze while the
stream is being written to the storage device. This will not affect the high-speed
recording.
Updating Your Camera
There are two methods to update to Version 0.5.0. Please make sure to backup your work and calibration data prior to this.
1. [0.4.0 and later] Go to Util -> Storage -> Apply Software Update.
2. [0.3.2p2 and before] Re-flash your OS card by grabbing the image at: http://debian.krontech.ca/builds/chronos-voyager-20200617.img.xz (http://debian.krontech.ca/builds/chronos-voyager-20200617.img.xz) Please see the attached PDF for more details on this.
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Huge thanks for the 60fps continous recording with audio!Will this come Pre-Installed on the new 2.1 Chonos Cameras which are preordered?
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These things sound awesome!
Cant wait to test them this weekend!
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Any time frame on enabling the audio trigger for things like gun shots etc?
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Or auto triggers... based on changes in pixels on screen?
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Huge thanks for the 60fps continous recording with audio!Will this come Pre-Installed on the new 2.1 Chonos Cameras which are preordered?
Yes, this is what is now being shipped for both the 1.4 and 2.1s. We also have a new manual on the way to support it.
Any time frame on enabling the audio trigger for things like gun shots etc?
We don't have a formal schedule for this at the moment. If you're looking to do some audio triggering in the short term, I'm wondering if you could set something up to use the new Toggle trigger (start-stop) mode + some sort of external device to provide a trigger signal into the camera upon hearing whatever kind of sound signature you'd like to listen for..
Or auto triggers... based on changes in pixels on screen?
Great question, thanks for bringing it up. This is something we're looking into developing examples/application notes for. It's not something that is planned to be done within the camera itself, but with the live RTSP stream being fed into a computer vision application running on a PC. Here's where you'll be able to find those examples when available: https://github.com/krontech/chronos-examples (https://github.com/krontech/chronos-examples)
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A big thank you to the Chronos team.
Did some tests and the software works without problems. I like the new GUI it looks very well.
Only one point - some digits from the frame numbers/counter in the play-window are at high framerates out of the visible range.
Finaly an other question - is it possible to insert some new 16:9 resolution settings - for example 800x450, 576x322 and so on.
Thank you!
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I also had a quick playaround.
I quite like the new dark design, and it seems to work well!
so far I have run into three issues:
- the "OK" button on the safely remove dialog can't be clicked (neither via the touchscreen, nor via click on the cogwheel)
- I hear wierd noises (almost sounding like a fan) on the live video audio, even without microphone being plugged in
- I'm sofar unable to record audio – is there a special microphone needed? I tried a regular PC Headset without any amplification.
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- I hear wierd noises (almost sounding like a fan) on the live video audio, even without microphone being plugged in
- I'm sofar unable to record audio – is there a special microphone needed? I tried a regular PC Headset without any amplification.
Well, since the Camera has a built-in fan also, thats maybe where the Fan noises come from. I think the built-In microphone is pretty much unuseable for actuall high-Quality Audio for almost anything serious because of that, but could be a live-Saver to sync Any kind of High-Quality Stand-Alone Recorder or other Audio. If you only get fan noise, did you try to record something louder? maybe the fan was just much louder for the camera, than whatever Sound you tried to record because its a lot closer....
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As for the external microphone, i am pretty sure, you need a powered microphone with an internal amplifier. As far, as i know, its just an analog input, which will basicaly just record a Voltage over time. And you just wont get a voltage from an standard-non-Powered Microphone. The best you could try to test the Audio-In without buying some Powered Microphone or an Mic-Amp would propably be to feed the camera Audio-In with an Audio-Out from a PC and play music or something to get an actuall voltage to the Camera-input. Would propably be smart to start a lower volume and turn up the audio if needed slowly.
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I dont know if thats implemented yet, but i think some kind of indicator of the input level of the Audio-In would propably be VERY helpfull to have for a lot of people. Most cameras with Audio-In have one. I dont know if there is space to put it on the main screen over the actuall video feed (i mean one Line/ Row of pixels for Left and one for right would maybe allready be enough), otherwise it could live in some Menu, where you would go to check audio. Still better than not having an indicator at all... Just an idea however, which could save someones day in video production.
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Well, since the Camera has a built-in fan also, thats maybe where the Fan noises come from. I think the built-In microphone is pretty much unuseable for actuall high-Quality Audio for almost anything serious because of that, but could be a live-Saver to sync Any kind of High-Quality Stand-Alone Recorder or other Audio. If you only get fan noise, did you try to record something louder? maybe the fan was just much louder for the camera, than whatever Sound you tried to record because its a lot closer....
I'm not sure if the camera even has an internal microphone, I do not remember seing one last time I took it apart. But I might have overlooked it. The camera certainly has an (as of yet) unused speaker. Some confirmation from the Krontech guys would help here.
As for the external microphone, i am pretty sure, you need a powered microphone with an internal amplifier. As far, as i know, its just an analog input, which will basicaly just record a Voltage over time. And you just wont get a voltage from an standard-non-Powered Microphone. The best you could try to test the Audio-In without buying some Powered Microphone or an Mic-Amp would propably be to feed the camera Audio-In with an Audio-Out from a PC and play music or something to get an actuall voltage to the Camera-input. Would propably be smart to start a lower volume and turn up the audio if needed slowly.
I certainly could use a signal generator and feed it a pure sinewave for testing, but at this time I'm not willing to experiment with appling any voltage to the microphone jack without knowing the hardware limitations.
I dont know if thats implemented yet, but i think some kind of indicator of the input level of the Audio-In would propably be VERY helpfull to have for a lot of people. Most cameras with Audio-In have one. I dont know if there is space to put it on the main screen over the actuall video feed (i mean one Line/ Row of pixels for Left and one for right would maybe allready be enough), otherwise it could live in some Menu, where you would go to check audio. Still better than not having an indicator at all... Just an idea however, which could save someones day in video production.
This would indeed be very helpful!
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#EDIT#:I was wrong about the Internal Mic, correction.
I'm not sure if the camera even has an internal microphone, I do not remember seing one last time I took it apart. But I might have overlooked it. The camera certainly has an (as of yet) unused speaker. Some confirmation from the Krontech guys would help here.
2.1 only has an MIC-IN, i did read that wrong. Datasheet says +-1V on the analog input, thats why i would indeed be carefull with Headphone outputs on pcs, if you turn volume up, they can easily go to +-5v or even -+10V, ar way beyond on open gate (No speaker plugged in) I am pretty sure you will be able to fry that analog input with some pc soundcards, if the Specs are as stated in the Datasheet, and you try hard enough!
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Quote from 2.1 Datasheet:
Audio*Microphone/Line input, headphone outputVideoHDMI monitor outputUSBUSB type A (host) and micro B (device)SATAeSATA 3GbpsAnalog input*1MSa/s 12-bit, 200kHz bandwidth, +/- 1V full scale
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ok, that Quote from the Datasheet is somehow broken, and i cant really fix it with an edit, here another Try as an Screenshot:
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The analog inputs are separate from the audio inputs. These are the ones on the green multi-purpose connector, while the audio ones have their own 3,5 mm jacks.
The datasheet does not contain any information about the audio voltages as far as I know.
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so far I have run into three issues:
- the "OK" button on the safely remove dialog can't be clicked (neither via the touchscreen, nor via click on the cogwheel)
- I hear wierd noises (almost sounding like a fan) on the live video audio, even without microphone being plugged in
- I'm sofar unable to record audio – is there a special microphone needed? I tried a regular PC Headset without any amplification.
Hm, I cant find a problem in this dialog - in both windows (storage and play) it works well.
And I am also not able to record audio with the build in mic - there is only a loud hum in the clip.
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so far I have run into three issues:
- the "OK" button on the safely remove dialog can't be clicked (neither via the touchscreen, nor via click on the cogwheel)
- I hear wierd noises (almost sounding like a fan) on the live video audio, even without microphone being plugged in
- I'm sofar unable to record audio – is there a special microphone needed? I tried a regular PC Headset without any amplification.
Hm, I cant find a problem in this dialog - in both windows (storage and play) it works well.
And I am also not able to record audio with the build in mic - there is only a loud hum in the clip.
It works for the SD Cards, but not for eSATA on my camera. I did not test USB.
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so far I have run into three issues:
- the "OK" button on the safely remove dialog can't be clicked (neither via the touchscreen, nor via click on the cogwheel)
- I hear wierd noises (almost sounding like a fan) on the live video audio, even without microphone being plugged in
- I'm sofar unable to record audio – is there a special microphone needed? I tried a regular PC Headset without any amplification.
Hm, I cant find a problem in this dialog - in both windows (storage and play) it works well.
And I am also not able to record audio with the build in mic - there is only a loud hum in the clip.
It works for the SD Cards, but not for eSATA on my camera. I did not test USB.
Aha ok - I only tested it with SD Cards ;)
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The eject dialog works with my 2 USB sticks and a USB mSATA enclosure that I use.
v0.5 looks awesome, the UI is coherent and repsonsive, the web interface looks greats and the 60fps continuous is an awesome addition.
sudo apt install awesome
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Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad that everyone is enjoying the update so far.
For the folks trying out audio + continuous record mode, I have a few things to add that may be helpful:
- You'd need an amplified source to connect to the camera's line-in audio jack for the best quality
- We might have a small hardware bug with the way mic and line-in are switched, so at low line-in volumes, you do hear a bit of feedback from the mic at the moment. I'd need to investigate a bit more.
- The audio codec chip inside both the 1.4 and 2.1 is a Texas Instruments TLV320AIC3101, which specifies that the line-in input shouldn't exceed 2.2 Vpp, single ended. From tests I've done here in the office, connecting the line-out of a PC or smartphone and having the volume at 25-40% of maximum seemed to work well. YMMV.
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Hi sanjay,
loving the update so far, zooming is very useful and an excellent addition. Are there any plans to get the UI to be able to switch to top and down for 720p record mode (I am on the 1.4) The screen real estate is eaten by the UI on the left or right but it would be extremely cool if we got to see the image preview in the full width of the screen which will be considerably larger. The UI thread from DDR (which I am including the image) had this exact layout in testing. Just wondering if it's coming or scrapped?
Great work on 0.5 team!
(http://forum.krontech.ca/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=498.0;attach=586)
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I downloaded the new software and used the recommended tool to rewrite my microSD card. But now the camera (1.4) won't boot up at all. The screen stays black.
I was still using the very original software, years old.
Any tips or did I just brick my Chronos?
EDIT: Problem solved, tried again with another MicroSD card and now it works fine.
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I just noticed that if the focus aid is turned on it will be visible in the 60fps live recording. Not a problem for me but good to know before you go recording a lot.
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I just noticed that if the focus aid is turned on it will be visible in the 60fps live recording. Not a problem for me but good to know before you go recording a lot.
oh this is indeed important to know!
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Huge thanks for the 60fps continous recording with audio!Will this come Pre-Installed on the new 2.1 Chonos Cameras which are preordered?
Yes, this is what is now being shipped for both the 1.4 and 2.1s. We also have a new manual on the way to support it.
Hello Sanjay,
When you do you expect to publish a new manual includes v0.5?
Thanks
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Hi Sanjay,
I'm using Chronos with Matlab over network connection and it works good so far. I was waiting for the official software update to get rid of some bugs that i mentioned before in anther posts. Parameter disableRingBuffer, which will stop the recording when the buffer is full, is still in V0.5.0 not responding even if I change the state to true.
Can you suggest me a switch or router that is not going to cause an issue with the camera while starting up?
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Hi sanjay,
loving the update so far, zooming is very useful and an excellent addition. Are there any plans to get the UI to be able to switch to top and down for 720p record mode (I am on the 1.4) The screen real estate is eaten by the UI on the left or right but it would be extremely cool if we got to see the image preview in the full width of the screen which will be considerably larger. The UI thread from DDR (which I am including the image) had this exact layout in testing. Just wondering if it's coming or scrapped?
Great work on 0.5 team!
There are no plans to implement the horizontal top/bottom bars in the UI. We're sticking to the sidebar to keep things unified and predictable across updates.
Regarding the manual, look out for one in the coming (3ish) weeks. We're taking the time to rewrite the entire thing to make it easier to understand, but for urgent needs, I'd say about 95% of the V0.4 manual is still valid for V0.5 operation.
Hi Sanjay,
I'm using Chronos with Matlab over network connection and it works good so far. I was waiting for the official software update to get rid of some bugs that i mentioned before in anther posts. Parameter disableRingBuffer, which will stop the recording when the buffer is full, is still in V0.5.0 not responding even if I change the state to true.
Can you suggest me a switch or router that is not going to cause an issue with the camera while starting up?
Hmm, I'll give the disableRingBuffer parameter a try on my side and see what happens. Any gigabit switch or router should be fine.
If you're looking for an unmanaged switch, something like this would work: https://www.amazon.ca/NETGEAR-8-Port-Gigabit-Ethernet-Unmanaged/dp/B07PFYM5MZ
If you're looking for a router, something like this would work: https://www.amazon.ca/Netgear-Nighthawk-Routeur-intelligent-R8000/dp/B07R169MXR
Other folks could probably also chime in on what router/switch works for them.
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Hmm, I'll give the disableRingBuffer parameter a try on my side and see what happens. Any gigabit switch or router should be fine.
If you're looking for an unmanaged switch, something like this would work: https://www.amazon.ca/NETGEAR-8-Port-Gigabit-Ethernet-Unmanaged/dp/B07PFYM5MZ
If you're looking for a router, something like this would work: https://www.amazon.ca/Netgear-Nighthawk-Routeur-intelligent-R8000/dp/B07R169MXR
Other folks could probably also chime in on what router/switch works for them.
Thank you and if you find out how to make disableRingBuffer parameter work, please tell me.
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Thank you for the update! The development is coming along very nicely.
I am not sure if I was not able to find it, but is there a place where 'bugs' can be reported?
For example, saving the file using python/json confuses the camera, where it needs to be restarted. Frame number starts jumping around wildly.
post = requests.post(c_ip+'control/startFilesave', \
json = {'format': 'h264',\
'device': 'nfs',\
'filename': 'test',\
'start': 0,\
'length':0})
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Could you keep the link to the builds in the original posts when posting new updates? ;) It makes it easier to keep track of things for those of us who are still using Balena Etcher to update.
http://debian.krontech.ca/builds/
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Regarding the manual, look out for one in the coming (3ish) weeks. We're taking the time to rewrite the entire thing to make it easier to understand, but for urgent needs, I'd say about 95% of the V0.4 manual is still valid for V0.5 operation.
Hello Sanjay, I wonder if there's any update on the manual for V0.5.
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Thank you for the update! The development is coming along very nicely.
I am not sure if I was not able to find it, but is there a place where 'bugs' can be reported?
For example, saving the file using python/json confuses the camera, where it needs to be restarted. Frame number starts jumping around wildly.
post = requests.post(c_ip+'control/startFilesave', \
json = {'format': 'h264',\
'device': 'nfs',\
'filename': 'test',\
'start': 0,\
'length':0})
Hmm, thanks for pointing this out. I'll investigate further and see if I can replicate it. Bugs can be posted here: https://github.com/krontech/pychronos/issues
Could you keep the link to the builds in the original posts when posting new updates? ;) It makes it easier to keep track of things for those of us who are still using Balena Etcher to update.
http://debian.krontech.ca/builds/
Ah yeah, good point. Will keep this in mind for future updates.
Regarding the manual, look out for one in the coming (3ish) weeks. We're taking the time to rewrite the entire thing to make it easier to understand, but for urgent needs, I'd say about 95% of the V0.4 manual is still valid for V0.5 operation.
Hello Sanjay, I wonder if there's any update on the manual for V0.5.
It is still being written, but please let me know via PM or through our official support email if you need help with anything specific in the mean time.
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Is there any problem with using a larger than 8gb SD card? Smallest is about 16gb nowadays. I'd like to keep my old OS card just in case.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089DPCJS1/ref=twister_B08CLNX58K?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
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Is there any problem with using a larger than 8gb SD card? Smallest is about 16gb nowadays. I'd like to keep my old OS card just in case.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089DPCJS1/ref=twister_B08CLNX58K?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Camera is shipped with OS on 32gb card novadays.
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Must say, I love what you did with the interface. Very nice! :D
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Saw the tweet about the minor update but nothing pertaining to what the update was about.
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Saw the tweet about the minor update but nothing pertaining to what the update was about.
Ist an update mainly for the 2.1 of the New batch which have some issue at higher gain-Values.I allready updated, and while i never did a direct comparison, the new update improoved Image Quality a bit from What i can tell and removed a bunch of issues with no image at all beeing displayed at some Resolutions/ Framerates at Very high gain.I dont think the Update does anything to the 1.4 or the older batch of 2.1´s but is mainly for the New 2.1´s.
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Must say, I love what you did with the interface. Very nice! :D
Thanks DDR! Hope all is well with you.
Saw the tweet about the minor update but nothing pertaining to what the update was about.
Ist an update mainly for the 2.1 of the New batch which have some issue at higher gain-Values.I allready updated, and while i never did a direct comparison, the new update improoved Image Quality a bit from What i can tell and removed a bunch of issues with no image at all beeing displayed at some Resolutions/ Framerates at Very high gain.I dont think the Update does anything to the 1.4 or the older batch of 2.1´s but is mainly for the New 2.1´s.
Yes, the 0.5.1 update was minor and only affects Chronos 2.1 cameras. We noticed some variance when our production team started building Chronos 2.1s with a new batch of image sensors, and so an analog voltage was updated via software to mitigate the issue while slightly improving the old batch of sensors already in the field. Thanks for providing some info in lieu of my late response, Nikon1.
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Thanks for providing some info in lieu of my late response, Nikon1.
just helping out where i can. Thanks also for all the work you guys put into this.
While we are here, can you maybe give me some info or at least a hint at how the Color-Matrix and White-Balance Settings on the Chronos work.
I see nine Values for the Color matrix, and three for the White-Balance. Guess for the Color it would be amounts of Colors from something or Contrasts at Shadows/ Highlights or....?
Have no real idea how to set the White balance based on color values (guess the three values would be R,G,B).
Can you or someone else give any info about this, i cant find anything about this anywhere.
Thanks
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I need to spend some time trying to reproduce this, as of now it is unpredictable.
I have had my Chronos 1.4 'overshoot' the end point when saving h.264 videos. I mark my start and end points and the save begins as expected but passes the end mark. The touchscreen then becomes unresponsive, the "abort save" button does not respond nor do any touches in on any other part of the screen. All that I can do after that is to restart.
I had it happen 3 times out of ~20 videos that I shot today, I have not run an online update since the summer (maybe a month after v0.5.0 was released) so I will try that and see if I experience the same.
If I ssh in, is there a way to get debug info on what is going on, or manually unlock-up the UI? Just curious, thanks.
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I need to spend some time trying to reproduce this, as of now it is unpredictable.
I have had my Chronos 1.4 'overshoot' the end point when saving h.264 videos. I mark my start and end points and the save begins as expected but passes the end mark. The touchscreen then becomes unresponsive, the "abort save" button does not respond nor do any touches in on any other part of the screen. All that I can do after that is to restart.
I had it happen 3 times out of ~20 videos that I shot today, I have not run an online update since the summer (maybe a month after v0.5.0 was released) so I will try that and see if I experience the same.
If I ssh in, is there a way to get debug info on what is going on, or manually unlock-up the UI? Just curious, thanks.
I tried to do some Single-Frame Saves (or to just save a very small number of frames) in the past an noticed that too. Seems to always save a bunch more than Selected, but havent figured out whats happening there Exactly....
#EDIT#: forgot to say, but for me thats on my 2.1
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That may have been the same issue I was having. I was saving a large number of frames but it was a relatively small portion of the full recording, less than 5%. I'll try leaving more lead in and out.
Thanks.
edit: Updated my camera, tried saving both long and short segments but had the same issue and I was unable to cause it to happen on purpose,
It seems to happen more with low resolutions/high frame rates (>30kfps) but, again, I am unable to cause it to happen predictably so it may just be that I have been recording more high frame rate video recently.
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It is possible to add a function for displaying information from the camera to an external monitor for convenient operation