BirdDog P400 Firmware Release Notes User Manual

**BirdDog P400 Firmware Release Notes User Manual

**

Due to internal BirdDog requirements, our firmware releases don’t always have sequential numbering. To upgrade the firmware, please follow the Firmware Upgrade Instructions located in your firmware download.

This update contains a critical security patch and is recommended for all users.

WARNING This firmware update cannot be rolled back without first lodging a Support ticket

Firmware 5.0.064

Note: We have discovered some issues with the previously posted firmware (version 094). Therefore the most recent previous release of firmware (064) is posted.

Do not downgrade cameras running 094 to this version.

This release features continued native support for NDI® 5 for maximum compatibility across the entire NDI® ecosystem.

NDI® 5 Libraries

• The latest technology from NDI® provides increased compatibility and performance.
• NDI® Genlock – Select a source (BirdDog camera, converter or even TriCaster) to be the timing master. Provides more predictable timing in multi-camera environments.

Unified Single File Firmware

• All cameras now share a single firmware update file. Some cameras require an additional MCU update, as detailed in the relevant Firmware Update Instructions in the firmware download.

New Control Engine

• Greater VISCA compatibility.
• Overall better support for 3rd party applications.

New WebUI

• Complete, ground-up redesign.
• Key system statistics are now displayed on the Dashboard before login – number of active connections, current encoder bandwidth, current network traffic and video format.
• More logically organized, responsive and mobile friendly.
• Faster overall UI response.
• Better browser compatibility.
• Download and Upload configuration files. Easily swap Remote IP Addresses and NDI® User Groups files between cameras.
• NDI® Signal Mute (video and audio). Toggle off the live NDI® stream in the WebUI and display your choice of static image. Choose from BirdDog splash screen, black image, or a live capture from the NDI® stream. API controllable.

Cam Control
Camera controls, including a newly designed Color Matrix, have been reorganized and grouped into a new Cam Control tab.

NDI Discovery Server Failover Support
You can nominate a list of multiple NDI® Discovery Servers which will then be used simultaneously. As long as one server remains active, all sources will always remain visible.

NDI Scopes

• Realtime overlayed Scopes (with or without transparency):
  • Histogram
  • Waveform
  • Vectorscope
  • RGB Parade
• Accurate – Scopes are directly fed from raw sensor data.
• Scopes can be displayed on Main, Proxy or both outputs. Allows for a clean Main NDI® stream with Scopes displayed on the Proxy stream.
• Selectable Scope location (top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right).
• Scaleable size (normal or double size).

Free

• All cameras can be configured to transmit positional data over the network for use in Augmented Reality.
  • Includes Pan, Tilt, Zoom, Focus and Iris information.
  • Realtime, per frame data transmission.
• Integrates with many 3rd party graphics systems, including:
  • Unreal Engine
  • Brainstorm
  • Viz Vectar
  • RT Software and many others.

Known Limitations

All cameras have the following known limitations:

• A Factory Reset does not clear Presets.
• Cameras do not output 2160@23.97.
• When changing to Manual Exposure in the BirdUI, settings do not reflect their correct value until the parameter is changed.

The P4K and P400 have the following additional limitations:

• Audio out does not work on SDI at UHD resolution.
• The Visca address cannot be changed.

Confirming The Update

To confirm the update, log in to the camera BirdUI and view the System Details on the Dashboard. Check that the MCU Version matches the number listed below for your camera.

PREVIOUS RELEASES

Firmware 5.0.054
This firmware release includes the following new features and bug fixes:

• Audio gain has been changed to better handle line level inputs.
• A bug preventing the P4K/P400 cameras from encoding 4:2:0 correctly has been resolved.

Known Limitations

All cameras:

• Performing a Factory Reset doesn’t clear the Presets.

P200:

• Outputting interlaced SDI to an Atomos monitor/recorder will cause the unit to crash.

P4K/P400:

• No audio out on SDI at UHD resolutions.
• Visca Address Can Not Be Changed.
• A hard reboot (power off to shut down and then restart) is required after firmware installation to restore the video output signal.

Firmware 5.0.053
This release features native support for NDI® 5 for maximum compatibility across the entire NDI® ecosystem.

NDI® 5 Libraries

• The latest technology from NDI® provides increased compatibility and performance.
• RUDP (Reliable UDP) – Reduces overall network load by not requiring every packet to be acknowledged by every receiver. However, RUDP has built-in error correction for smooth and reliable transmission.
• NDI® Genlock – Select a source (BirdDog camera, converter or even TriCaster) to be the timing master. Provides more predictable timing in multi-camera environments.

Unified Single File Firmware

• All cameras now share a single firmware update file. Some cameras require an additional MCU update, as detailed in the relevant Firmware Update Instructions in the firmware download.

New Control Engine

• Greater VISCA compatibility.
• Overall better support for 3rd party applications

New WebUI

• Complete, ground-up redesign.
• Key system statistics are now displayed on the Dashboard before login – number of active connections, current encoder bandwidth, current network traffic and video format.
• More logically organized, responsive and mobile friendly.
• Faster overall UI response.
• Better browser compatibility.
• Download and Upload configuration files. Easily swap Remote IP Addresses and NDI® User Groups files between cameras.
• NDI® Signal Mute (video and audio). Toggle off the live NDI® stream in the WebUI and display your choice of static image. Choose from BirdDog splash screen, black image, or a live capture from the NDI® stream. API controllable.

Cam Control
Camera controls, including a newly designed Color Matrix, have been reorganized and grouped into a new Cam Control tab.

NDI Discovery Server Failover Support
You can nominate a list of multiple NDI® Discovery Servers which will then be used simultaneously. As long as one server remains active, all sources will always remain visible.

NDI Scopes

• Real time overlayed Scopes (with or without transparency):
• Histogram
• Waveform
• Vectorscope
• RGB Parade
• Accurate – Scopes are directly fed from raw sensor data.
• Scopes can be displayed on Main, Proxy or both outputs. Allows for a clean Main NDI® stream with Scopes displayed on the Proxy stream.
• Selectable Scope location (top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right).
• Scaleable size (normal or double size).

FreeD

• All cameras can be configured to transmit positional data over the network for use in Augmented Reality.
  • Includes Pan, Tilt, Zoom, Focus and Iris information.
  • Realtime, per frame data transmission.
• Integrates with many 3rd party graphics systems, including:
  • Unreal Engine
  • Brainstorm
  • Viz Vectar
  • RT Software and many others.

The FreeD function is currently in beta. Final release coming soon.

Known Limitations
The P4K cameras have the following known limitations in this beta release:

• A hard reboot (power off to shut down and then restart) is required after firmware installation to restore the video output signal.
• Audio out does not work on SDI at UHD resolution.
• The Visca address cannot be changed.

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