Hi. I have exactly the same problem as Raffaele. The screen also has the same defects with the blue colour. How can I get my device back in its original condition? I am in Belgium. Best.
At this time the only way to reverse this would be to 1) figure out what setting changes the LCD settings on non-US models or 2) get someone to modify their non-US model and dump the firmware.Hi. I have exactly the same problem as Raffaele. The screen also has the same defects with the blue colour. How can I get my device back in its original condition? I am in Belgium. Best.
Unfortunately, I do not have the ability or the appropriate tools to do what is indicated, but the document seems to me to be very well done and I hope others can follow it and extract the firmware. Perhaps by analyzing it, there might be other hidden functions as well, maybe there was the ability to digitize individual frames into jpeg instead of compressing the movie directly into mpg... Great job, thank you for your passion!With reports of more recent firmware versions on international units, I wrote up a guide of how to dump the firmware on your Kodak film scanner. If you don't mind taking your unit apart and are VERY capable with a soldering iron (and very tiny wires), this may be something you'd like to do. See the attached PDF or link for details.
Google Drive version of Instructions
- A list of video details will display.
Find Address 00dda288, this contains the default resolution of 1728x1296, 20 FPS, and 6400 bitrate.Here you can modify the video bitrate.
Click in the field to change the numbers, be sure to press Enter / Return when you are done to make the changes, or they won't enter.
Note: Please ignore the screenshot's 16222, that is an invalid entry, try 15420, 15600 or 16420 instead.
View attachment 13270
I'll likely do a video about this subject. I'm curious if adjusting the resolution or FPS will work too. But I'm so satisfied with these results so far, I had to share them.
Unlocking the set bit rate factor in the FW - from 6400 to 15420 or so has increased this headroom by a factor of 2.5. I've taken this one step further but REDUCING the output frame size to 1440x1080 and set the frame to capture just the actual image frame. This maximizes the effective bit rate (i.e. bits per megapixes in the frame) and also creates a standard image size (i.e. 1080p) which gives me access to tools which don't incur come at a higher price tag moving above 1080 towards 4K. The 1440x1080 size translates to a 3 micron pixel size in the original film with is still 4x more detailed that the smallest detail that the film was able to record during the original filming.
Firmware | Resolution | Video Bitrate | Bits/(Pixel*Frame) |
Original Unmodified v2.0 Firmware | 1728 x 1296 | 8726 kb/s | 0.195 |
1440p resolution + Higher bitrate (v2) | 1920 x 1440 | 17.2 Mb/s | 0.311 |
Higher Bitrate - Original Resolution (v2) | 1728 x 1296 | 22.4 Mb/s | 0.494 |
* 1080p resolution + Higher bitrate (v2) | 1440 x 1080 | 26.2 Mb/s | 0.843 |
@Mac84 , thank you for uploading of the updated firmware for the US-based units. I would like to check if playback is possible if I flash the firmware high bit rate with original resolution?Excellent, I'm glad you were successful in increasing the video bit rate on your device.
The original resolution (in a 4:3 aspect) of the device is 1728x1296.
I've recently found that I can bump up the resolution to 1920x1440, which gives a nice resolution increase, especially if you consider you'll likely want to crop the image afterwards for display on 16x9 displays. However, with this increase in resolution you are limited to a bit rate of ~12,400.
So at least on my v1 firmware model, 1920x1440 @ 12400 is the best I could push the little device. However, the results look pretty good. The ONLY issue is that the higher resolution content doesn't playback well on the device's built-in LCD. But it seems to play fine on a computer.
I'd be curious if you can achieve similar results on your device, as I only have a v1 model.
Great! I'd suggest you give a shot to the resolution increase (or similar) I shared above, it may produce nicer results.
Update: I now have a v2.0 unit. Here is the v2.0 firmware for US-based units. This has original and modified versions. It may NOT play nice on non-US units! (and make the screen have weird colors, etc)
I'm hesitant to post a v2.0 firmware mod as I do not have the v2 model to test it myself. However, maybe one of the individuals above can share their file. Also, if you have issues following the instructions above, please let me know where you got stuck and maybe I can help.
I'm hoping that I can spend more time on this project during my time off in December.
In my tests the on-device playback (using the Movie Player function) does NOT play correctly with all firmware mods because the device does not expect higher bit rate / resolution video files. Thankfully if you have a US-based model you can flash it back to the original firmware.@Mac84 , thank you for uploading of the updated firmware for the US-based units. I would like to check if playback is possible if I flash the firmware high bit rate with original resolution?
Thank you. I just flashed the firmware to my Kodak Reels 2.0 (presumably US version, bought from Amazon US) and it worked!In my tests the on-device playback (using the Movie Player function) does NOT play correctly with all firmware mods because the device does not expect higher bit rate / resolution video files. Thankfully if you have a US-based model you can flash it back to the original firmware.
I forget what the threshold of it breaking was, but it really didn't like the resolution change.
@Federico, I am from Singapore and I bought the Kodak Reels from Amazon US, which is sold by GadgetBasket. This is confirmed to be a US set. It comes with the US style 2 pin adapter. Perhaps the power adapter can be a reference to determine the locality of the set.Hi guys, first of all thanks to Mac84 for the great job!
Secondly, I've just received my Ver.2 Kodak Reels from Amazon. The package was sent from the USA (I'm currently based in Hong Kong, but the tracking log on the Amazon's package states it's from the USA). Is there any way to be sure of it?
Anyway, I was impatient and trusted the tracking log, so I've tried to flash the v.2.0 version but it seems that at the boot the SD Card is not taken into account. It is a FAT32 formatted 4GB (old) card that contains the NVTDELFW folder in the root and inside of it there is the FWDV280.BIN file from the 'Firmware for Version 2.0 USA Devices Only' folder of the zip file (I've tried with the 1440p version but I guess that's irrelevant).
At startup, the Reels shows the yellow Kodak background for a couple of seconds then rolls the motor and shows the start menu, disregarding the content of the SD Card. At the end the file and folder are not deleted automatically from the card, to further confirm that nothing happened.
Any ideas? can it be because of the old (freshly re-formatted) SD Card? is it some newly added feature that prevents the EEPROM to be flashed? Am I forgetting a crucial passage?
EDIT: I've tried another old, newly re-formatted card with the Original Resolution, Increased Bitrate FW with the same results: no flashing.
The scanner CAN read/write on the SD card (I've formatted it from within the Settings menu)
Thank you for your help,
ciao, Federico
Hello, I am writing from Italy....
...I wanted to ask if others also had the same problem, especially those who own European "reels" models received already with V2.0, I don't think it is a hardware problem because it appeared only after loading the first modified firmware. I hope someone can help me "restore" the display. The movie digitizing function, on the other hand, works properly. I'm grateful for any suggestions. Raffaele
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Wow, thanks for the link of the updated firmware they sent you! This is very exciting, I'm glad Kodak is providing updated support for these products. I'm attaching the version you got from Kodak support to this post just-in-case.Hi all!
I'm also from the EU and my Kodak Reels filmscanner showed the same symthoms as with other EU-models after flashing the modified firmware. The interesting thing here is: I knew flashing to the modified firmware will mess up my screen. Thats why I've first tried to flash the latest official firmware on Kodaks EU website. Found here: https://eu.kodakphotoplus.com/pages/how-to-install-firmware
After flashing the latest official firmware my sceen showed the same inverted colors defects. So I've contacted the Kodak support and after 24 hours they sent me a new firmware to correct the issue. After updating to the new firmware everything is back to normal. My screen is working perfect now.
I've uploaded the unmodified original firmware to my Mega account. I hope that's allowed in this forum.
Link: https://mega.nz/file/h8IAzTiT#1ybOuEE8WHPkeeLT47U0budbVWaN1qWxbC1SdQfEGtw
Disclaimer: Be aware that this firmware is likely only intended for the EU model with firmware 2.0. My Reels is a model RODREELSEU.
Best regards,
Mike
Wow, thanks for the link of the updated firmware they sent you! This is very exciting, I'm glad Kodak is providing updated support for these products. I'm attaching the version you got from Kodak support to this post just-in-case.
So it seems that there may be different firmware for different models, but the site doesn't exactly specify that?
I'll try to flash my v1.0 and v2.0 products to see if this works (or not) with both of them. Kodak also seems to have a similar link on the US website too.
My guess is that previously there were two distinct hardware models for different markets, but this new third variant is perhaps a consolidated unit for worldwide sale? Either way, if this solves the issue, then this same updated firmware file can hopefully be modified in the same way to provide enhanced resolution / bitrate options.
There appear to be significant differences between the file on the Kodak website and the file they sent you, (at least when looked at in a hex editor)
@Bramstocker , @tinkerman and @Federico can you try with this firmware to see if it solves your screen inverting issues?
I will note that I am unable to play any of the files on the machine (original or new) with the higher bit rate EU firmware, but that's not something I would do much anyway. When you try to play a file the screen goes dark with a "Please restart" message.
The sticker shows the model name as "RODREELS". I tried reformatting the disk in the machine, right after the firmware install, and it now works fine to play back the captured files (FAT32 formatting). And the same good outcome for the same disk when I (externally) re-formatted as exFAT.Hmmm that's strange. On my EU-device (from Amazon Germany) I'm able to play all recordings with higher bitrate directly on the device. Yesterday I've scanned three 8-10 minute films. Each file was at around 1.3-1.8 GB in size and played without any issues or stuttering.
Just curious: can you tell us the model of your device? You can find it on the sticker at the back of the device. Mine for example is a model 'RODREELSEU'. My device comes with an universal power supply that includes adapters for EU, UK and the US.
Did you reformat your SD-Card to exFAT? Mine is currently still on FAT32.