Review of Chronos 2.1

[chrissie_c]

I have an Atomos Shinobi screen and haven't noticed any freezes when it's been connected. I've had it quite a while but don't use it all the time and usually connect it after booting.

[SergeyKashin]

I tried to replace the HDMI with a more expensive and shorter cable (15 cm) and it became much less freezes

[Nikon1]

ok, now that is certainly very interresting. I am Currently using some Random 30cm Cable from Ebay, not the Cheapest one, but for sure also not the best one you could buy.
 .
 https://www.ebay.de/itm/HICON-High-Speed-HDMI-Kabel-mit-Ethernet-SLIM-4K-0-3m-NEU/233856759716?hash=item3672f2f7a4:g:flgAAOSwCrhf~Xkj
 .
 Can you link the Cable you are using right now, or give me any kind of brand name or something? i think 15cm will maybe be a bit short for the Monitor i am Currently using, unless the Cable has Angled Connectors or something.

[SergeyKashin]

I was wrong my wire 30cm, Cable 30cm HDMI v2.0 for Smart TV 4K @ 60Hz cord
I have a cable from a Russian manufacturer

[Nikon1]

how much did you pay for it, as you mentioned it was more expensive?Thanks.

[Bian]

I work with several monitors (Portkeys BM5II, Feelworld Lut7 and FW279) without any problems.

Cables are from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.de/Duttek-Spiralkabel-Stecker-Kabelverl%C3%A4ngerungskonverter-Extender/dp/B087TJPVZJ/ref=sr_1_3?__mk_de_DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&dchild=1&keywords=hdmi+kabel+spiral&qid=1612594939&sr=8-3

[Nikon1]

Thanks, i will get one of those, and will see if it changes anything. Mine is also for 4K, so it shouldnt really have a Problem with 1080p/60 from the Chronos, but you never know, untill you try it out.

[SergeyKashin]

how much did you pay for it, as you mentioned it was more expensive?Thanks.

I bought a cable for 15 dollars

[SergeyKashin]

Today, the camera hung up again after I connect the monitor (I tried different wires), I turned it on for 30-40 minutes to make everything work, this is not normal!!!
I tried to connect the monitor or turn it on in different sequences. But this is already overstepping the mark

[mostafa]

Hi SergeyKashin,


Thank you for sharing your experience with us! I am sorry to hear about your frustration and the freezing issue you are experiencing with your Chronos 2.1. Please reach out to us at [email protected] , so we can investigate this problem together.


Thanks,
Mostafa

[SergeyKashin]

I have already contacted you many times, sent you photos and videos, but there is no answer to what I should do in this situation. This problem was on the old and new firmware

[Nikon1]

Today, the camera hung up again after I connect the monitor (I tried different wires), I turned it on for 30-40 minutes to make everything work, this is not normal!!!
I tried to connect the monitor or turn it on in different sequences. But this is already overstepping the mark

Can Confirm, HDMI is still buged and will freeze the Camera somewhat frequently. For me usually on or right after Startup, even when i start it up without HDMI and plug it in after its completely booted. Has trouble realizing it should output a HDMI Signal sometimes, or just straight up Completely freezes.
 Tried different Cables As well, some are better than others, but i can see how SergeyKashin would get really annoyed by that, especially since i assume he uses his quite a bit more than i use mine.
 Havent done some Propper Comparison, but i somehow feel like the 6.0 Firmware is more prone to Freeze up randomly. For me, as i said it usually freezes less than 5 Minutes after pressing the Power-On button to boot up on v6.0. if it does.
 v5.1 and v5.1unstable build seem a bit more stable in this regard, but still do it sometimes.
 Whats better on v6.0 is, that if it freezes (at least for me) it does, bevore i can even Record anything, while on the v5.xx Builds it froze randomly, and quite a few times even when i was right about to save something i just shot, which can get the Bravest of Man mad...
 Never had that Problem with v6.0 so far.
 .
 I also was wondering if this has something to do with this whole issue:
 https://forum.krontech.ca/index.php?topic=519.msg2889#msg2889
 .
 As Stated here, the Hardware or Software is only capeable of doing 55fps at full Resolution. I dont know how, but you Guys at Krontech obviously figured out how to get 60fps out of it.
 Still keeps me wondering if that 5fps Increase in Performance causes Some instabilities in the Software, which causes The Freeze.
 If it would Make the Overall Camera run more Reliable, maybe reduce the Display Framerate / Continous Recording Framerate to 55 (or 50 to make it a nice number, 55 is somewhat odd of a Framerate), or keep the 60fps, but make it optional to be turned on/ off somewhere in the Menu with an other Option to run at 50fps for display / Recording; for the Next Update/ Software version.

[mostafa]

I have already contacted you many times, sent you photos and videos, but there is no answer to what I should do in this situation. This problem was on the old and new firmware

Thank you Sergey and Nikon1 for bringing this issue to our attention!

Unfortunately, we have not experienced this issue with our external monitors, and would need some time to investigate it. Could you share the following information with us, so we can look reproduce this issue in our facility:

• What external monitor model do you use?
• Does the Chronos camera freeze every time you plug in HDMI? If not, how often does the camera freeze?
• Are you able to control the camera through the web interface when the camera freezes?  Or the only way to gain control is through rebooting the camera?

[Nikon1]

I have already contacted you many times, sent you photos and videos, but there is no answer to what I should do in this situation. This problem was on the old and new firmware

Thank you Sergey and Nikon1 for bringing this issue to our attention!

Unfortunately, we have not experienced this issue with our external monitors, and would need some time to investigate it. Could you share the following information with us, so we can look reproduce this issue in our facility:

• What external monitor model do you use?
• Does the Chronos camera freeze every time you plug in HDMI? If not, how often does the camera freeze?
• Are you able to control the camera through the web interface when the camera freezes?  Or the only way to gain control is through rebooting the camera?

Hi,
 1. i personally use the Chronos 2.1 with an SmallHD 502 Bright Monitor
 2. Camera doesn´t freeze everytime whenever i Plug HDMI in. I would say on average its somewhere between 1 out of 15 and 1 out of 20 times it would freeze as an rough estimate, but havent taken any records about it to give accurate numbers so far. Similar to what SergeyKashin is reporting, when it freezes, it most of the time does that also on the next 1 or 2 reboots also, untill it starts working normally again.
 3. I usually am not really able to even Try connecting to the Camera when it freezes via the PC, as i use the Camera on Location mostly, when i use it. At Home i could, but am Honestly to lazy to try. If it would help your Developement / Bug-Fixing Process, i can try that however, if it freezes and i am At Home. I tried a bunch of things, including waiting a fair bit once, but the Camera just wont respond anymore once it freezes. Displayed Image will be completely Static, and camera gives no response to any input. Only way go get out of this for me is to just Hold down the Power button and Force a Power-Down, then Restart and hope it will work on the Next reboot. As i allready said, for the 6.0 Firmware its usually very Shortly after bootup, which is at least better than last Versions, but still fairly annoying.

[mostafa]

Thank you Nikon1 for your immediate reply!

I will try to reproduce this freezing issue in our facility and report it to the development team to look into a possible solution. I will keep you posted when I have any updates.