With great pleasure I reached this community and page. For digitizing (S)VHS, video8, Hi8, Digital8 and VHS-C was already possible for me, digitizing Super8 is new. So I bought the kodak Reels, brand new serialnr.: H2324148B.... used firmware C, placed the BIN file on the root, the device restarts, button on top is white, black screen for 25-30 sec. Everything seems ok, scan soms film, ejected the SD card, inserted in my pc, checked the file details but it stays on 7697 kbs bitrate. What to do next? Any help is appreciated.. The screen in the menu "About" in the kodak machine says version 2.0
Modding the Kodak Reels 8mm Film Digitizer (Firmware Hack)
- Thread starter Mac84
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Try to add the folder NVTDELFW to your SD-Card and try to flash again, if the firmware is still on your SD-Card, than the flashing failed. Mostly not correct formatted file system.
Version 5.6 attached
This is the first version with both manual white balance and exposure. While the code changes for manual exposure are small, there a lot other changes in this build. With each version I change the boot screen and shutdown screen JPGs. There are the same image, yet they are stored twice. The code now uses the same address for boot and shutdown, freeing up a large amount of space for code extensions. All my hacks are now at 338f28 to ~ 33a190 with room to grow. I have restore all the old "audio" code. This might make porting easier.
New boot screen:
This is the first version with both manual white balance and exposure. While the code changes for manual exposure are small, there a lot other changes in this build. With each version I change the boot screen and shutdown screen JPGs. There are the same image, yet they are stored twice. The code now uses the same address for boot and shutdown, freeing up a large amount of space for code extensions. All my hacks are now at 338f28 to ~ 33a190 with room to grow. I have restore all the old "audio" code. This might make porting easier.
New boot screen:
I keep find things the developers did wrong, or didn't care.
H264 has two common color spaces, Rec709 broadcast range, and Rec709 full range. A decade ago (where this tech originates) many developers didn't set the flag to say which (like on Reels.) The assumption with no flag for media players is broadcast range (16-235), yet Reels is using full range. So your editor and playback tools are crushing the shadows and clipping highlights.
Here is a lossless/fast ffmpeg fix:
Left is wrong, it is how Reels output will be displayed and presented on youtube etc. The right has the flag set correctly, see how it is less contrasty and doesn't blow-out the tree branches to white. The histogram shows the left also has crushed green and red channel data to black.
Curious, I am weird for caring about this stuff?
H264 has two common color spaces, Rec709 broadcast range, and Rec709 full range. A decade ago (where this tech originates) many developers didn't set the flag to say which (like on Reels.) The assumption with no flag for media players is broadcast range (16-235), yet Reels is using full range. So your editor and playback tools are crushing the shadows and clipping highlights.
Here is a lossless/fast ffmpeg fix:
Left is wrong, it is how Reels output will be displayed and presented on youtube etc. The right has the flag set correctly, see how it is less contrasty and doesn't blow-out the tree branches to white. The histogram shows the left also has crushed green and red channel data to black.
Curious, I am weird for caring about this stuff?
Grand! I am thrilled about the progress. Because my Reels has firmware B and I can't use your firmware version, I would be interested in where I can find the exposure. I have already successfully corrected the white balance. I also tried the adjustment to 18 frames per second, but it created an unstable image. (Translated from German with the Android app "Translator")
Keep it up
Keep it up
I would say definitively that you are NOT weird for caring about this stuff. I'm so very thankful for the work you and others are doing here and so willingly sharing with the community. There is so much improvement being made in the quality of this product. You're all rock stars, as far as I'm concerned. While I had mostly finished up scanning my families 8/S8 film (over the course of about 4 months, using one of the earlier firmware versions), I will probably re-do the scans soon (before I actually start editing the footage) with more recent firmware (if/when available in model b version). The change from auto to manual white balance alone will save me time with color adjustments. But I'll have to figure out if I can/should attempt a lens swap to take advantage of the resolution increase. I'm not as tinker-y as many of you and afraid I will break the unit.
What did the unstable image look like?
I don't know if the manual exposure control is at the same address. We need someone with Type B unit, add has a serial port, to test this.
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I leveled up on my hacking skills. Here is Reels displaying it own histogram.
I'm now compiling C code, and adding it the firmware. Previously it was all hand assembly (brain hurt). This histogram code is not ready to share, as it currently flickers and is only on during capture. This is a step toward building my own auto exposure control.
I'm now compiling C code, and adding it the firmware. Previously it was all hand assembly (brain hurt). This histogram code is not ready to share, as it currently flickers and is only on during capture. This is a step toward building my own auto exposure control.
Look at this example with 18fps
At address 0x1ef984 use 0x60EA for 20fps and 0xF0D2 for 18Hz. I have found this sequence in Firmware B at Adresse 0x1ef974 and Not at 0x1e984
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@Andreas I have seen that too, about 10% of my captures have it. Although I'm not sure it is due to the 18Hz, as that is only modifying the data written to the header of the MP4. It is a timing issue where the frame is grabbed, just as the motor start/end that frame feed. Notice how it is only part of the frame that is unstable. This is on my list to try and improve. Please try the 18Hz change again, to see if it returns. Maybe you are correct, and there is some weird interaction, but at the moment I can't see how.
I agree with this, as I’ve had the same issue on several of my scans (20fps). Assumed it was timing issue with motor and camera firing; not sure how to prevent it.
When I create the mentioned folder, it flashes like expected (white button/30 sec and boot), when ejected the sd card and put into the pc, the BIN file is gone. The scanner software however has no change in bitrate output. The sd card is formatted FAT32 and is the same i use for scanning purposes
@Pascal1972, specifically which firmware are you attempting to update to? You mentioned firmware C, but didn't share which numbered "version" (from 0dan0) or "option" (from Mac84 and team) you are using.
Yes I succeeded, in one of the pages someone posted a bunch of zip files: C-firmware original, 1440k + high bitrate, original resolution + high bitrate. So now I can scan in high res and high bitrate. Now compare some clips.
I have observed that the image is unstable at exactly those places at 18 fps where the exposure flickers at 20 fps and is too dark for a moment