Focus 7 - Hi-Fi System SmallHD - Free user manual and instructions

USER MANUAL Focus 7 SmallHD

Abstract black-and-white geometric shape with two small dots (no text or symbols)

SMALLHD

Table of Contents

Regulatory Information....4

Legal Information.... 5

First-Time Setup....6

Troubleshooting Tips for Sony Alpha Cameras 7

User Interface....11

User interface quick-start (touchscreen)....12

Pixel Zoom....26

Touchscreen Gestures....30

Settings Menu 32

Input/Output 33

Wireless Pairing - Teradek Transmitter to 703 Bolt 39

Display 45

Controls 51

Capture 58

Accessories 61

Interface....63

User....69

System....73

Tools - Framing 75

Aspect (guides) 76

Safe (guides) 83

Crosshair 87

Crosshatch 90

Tools - Exposure....93

Exposure Overview....94

Exposure Assist (False Color)....107

Zebra 127

Color Picker 137

Tools - Scopes....146

Histogram....147

Waveform 157

Vectorscope 172

Tools - Focusing....180

Focusing Overview....181

Focus Assist....185

Peaking 193

Pixel Zoom....197

Tools - Overlay 201

Look (3D LUT)....202

Image Overlay....208

Image Capture 215

Audio Meters 226

Metadata 230

Tools - Scale 233

Crop & Scale 234

Size & Position 244

Anamorphic 252

Firmware Updates....254

OS3 Software Update....255

Samples & Tutorials 256

How to use Look (3D LUT) files with your monitor 257

How to make a LUT 258

How to auto-calibrate your monitor 263

Regulatory Information

Legal Information

On product information can be found in the monitor's Settings menus under Compliance.

FCC 15.21 Information to user

Please be aware that changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user's authority to operate the equipment.

FCC 15.105 Class A compliance statement

NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference in which case the user will be required to correct the interference at his own expense.

First-Time Setup

Troubleshooting Tips for Sony Alpha Cameras

PROBLEM: My SmallHD FOCUS won't display an image from my Sony Alpha camera.

TIPS:

1. Ensure that you have a secure Micro HDMI connection between the Sony Alpha camera and the SmallHD FOCUS.
2. Turn off "HDMI Info. Display" in your camera's HDMI Settings (Menu > Setup3 > HDMI Settings > HDMI Info. Display).

Setup3 Touch Panel/Pad Touch Pad Settings Demo Mode Off TC/UB Settings Remote Ctrl Off HDMI Settings SONY

HDMI Settings 1 HDMI Resolution Auto 24p/60p Output 24p HDMI Info. Display Off TC Output Off REC Control - CTRL FOR HDMI Off SONY C3 MENU AF-DB AEL Fn DSP C4

PROBLEM: Why does the camera's screen go black when I hit record?

TIP: When shooting 4K, most (if not all) of the Sony Alpha cameras will turn off the LCD if they are connected to an HDMI source (like an external monitor).

PROBLEM: How can I get the SmallHD monitor to show an image while recording in 4K?

TIP: Turn off "Proxy Recording" (Menu > Movie1 > Proxy Recording).

Movie1 Exposure Mode Manual Exposure Exposure Mode - File Format XAVC S 4K Record Setting 24p 100M S&Q Settings Proxy Recording Off SONY

PROBLEM: Why can't I get a full-screen image on the SmallHD FOCUS?

TIPS:

1. Turn off "HDMI Info. Display" in the camera's HDMI Settings Menu (Menu > Setup3 > HDMI Settings > HDMI Info. Display)
2. Switch the camera dial to "Movie Mode" (the film strip as opposed to the "M" or "AUTO" mode.

Close-up of a camera mode dial with settings like 'MUTO', 'SCN', and 'S&S' visible, no readable text or symbols beyond the dial markings.

PROBLEM: Why does the faux Sony NPFW50 battery adapter not fit in my Sony a6500?

TIP: We've made an adjustment to the battery adapter cable to accommodate the size difference between the battery chambers (available upon request).

User Interface

User interface quick-start (touchscreen)

Once you get your monitor plugged in via HDMI or SDI, check out this guide for a quick overview of the interface.

Pages

The entire monitor is based on the concept of customizable Pages - instead of having to enable and disable features individually when needing to change a setup, create pages with a task in mind, for example setting exposure, and quickly swipe between each page on-set for a highly efficient workflow.

For a zoomed-out overview of your pages, swipe down on the monitor.

Let's start by creating a new page by swiping over to the far right and tapping on 'New Page'.

HDMI - 1080p60 8:26 PM 4 NEW PAGE

The Settings Page, which controls settings that affect the entire monitor is always located to the far left.

Pixel Zoom

Available from any page, Pinch-to-zoom activates the 'Pixel Zoom' function, giving you a clear view of your signal for critical focusing & catching tiny details.

Three-panel image showing a man in a lab coat, a close-up of his face with a green eye, and a close-up of another man's eye (no visible text or symbols)

Adding tools to a page

Let's make this into a 'focus + framing' page that we can flip to for composing our shot and nailing focus. This will include a focus assist, a crosshair for accuracy performing pan/tilt and custom frame guides for a cinemascope aspect ratio.

Tap the screen to bring up the 'add new tool' menu.

ADD NEW TOOL >

From here navigate to Focus (1) > Focus Assist (2) and select the '+' (3) to add Focus Assist to this page.

FOCUS FOCUS ASSIST 2 3 + PEAKING FOCUS ASSIST Creates a bright highlight on in-focus subjects, highly recommended especially when focusing 'live' on the fly.

SmallHD User Manual

Focus Assist will paint a highlight around areas it determines to be in focus based on small/harsh changes in contrast.

The Peak Threshold is a bit high, meaning we are picking up extraneous edges on the back wall which are not quite in focus.

FOCUS ASSIST >

To fix this, edit Focus Assist by tapping on it when it is highlighted in the tool bar, and navigate to Peak Threshold.

FOCUS ASSIST HDMI ON COLOR SENSITIVITY 5 PEAK THRESH 0 B&W BACKGROUND BRIGHTNESS 0 CONTRAST 0

Bringing Peak Threshold up to around 30 does a better job of causing only in-focus areas to activate the filter but this is ultimately a balance that may need tweaking depending on the camera/shot.

FOCUS ASSIST HDMI ON COLOR SENSITIVITY 5 PEAK THRESH 30 B&W BACKGROUND BRIGHTNESS 0 CONTRAST 0 0 30 10

To make the effect more visible we can boost up the Sensitivity and change the Color.

FOCUS ASSIST HDMI ON COLOR SENSITIVITY 6 PEAK THRESH 30 B&W BACKGROUND BRIGHTNESS 0 CONTRAST 0

Next Add a Crosshair to the page by going through Add Tool > Frame > Crosshair

FRAME 【】 ASPECT SAFE CROSSHAIR Indicates the very center of the screen. Helpful for panning to a specific mark or gauging one-point-perspective shots. CROSSHATCH HORIZON

SmallHD User Manual

Finally we can add an Aspect Guide to all pages simultaneously by going to Add Tool > Frame > but this time press-and-hold Aspect briefly to keep the menu up then tap the three dots under the '+'.

FRAME [ ] ASPECT + SAFE CROSSHAIR CROSSHATCH HORIZON ASPECT [ ] Display common aspect ratios on-screen; helpful if cropping the footage in post-production.

Next tap the pictured icon to add Aspect Guides to all pages.

FRAME [ ] ASPECT + SAFE add to all pages ECT [ ] CROSSHAIR CROSSHATCH HORIZON Display common aspect ratios on-screen; helpful if cropping the footage in post-production.

This will ensure you are able to view this tool on every page of the monitor, and any edits to it are made globally. Any tool can be added to all pages, including scaling adjustments and Look (3D LUT) files.

ASPECT shared tool >

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By default the Aspect Guide is set up for a 4x3 aspect ratio for times when you're needing to preview the cutoff area of an old-school monitor.

Tap on the Aspect Guide to edit the tool.

[ ] ASPECT HDMI ON RATIO STYLE COLOR OPACITY 50 4:3 1.85:1 2.39:1 16:9 [xx.xx:1] CUSTOM

Navigate to "Ratio", select it and change the aspect ratio to "2.39" for cinemascope viewing.

Next move down to 'Opacity' and increase its percentage to view the guide becoming more opaque for a more visible effect.

[ ] ASPECT HDMI ON ✓ RATIO STYLE COLOR OPACITY 80 0 80 10

Now we have a page that lets us focus our shot and frame it up properly for the common 2.39 aspect ratio.

Adding a Look (3D LUT) file to a page

Look files (3D LUTs) are a great way to visualize color grades without 'baking' anything into the footage - great for testing out different looks on set. Try our free 'Movie Looks' pack which can be placed on an SD card for use on your monitor or at any point in post production.

Let's add a Look to a new page - start by swiping down to navigate back to the zoomed-out view, move to the far right and select 'New Page' once more.

HDMI - 1080p60 8:29 PM NEW PAGE

Notice how when you add a new page, the Aspect Guide that was set for 'all pages' shows up automatically.

ADD NEW TOOL > [ ]

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Tap to add a new tool, navigate to Overlay > Look and select the '+'.

OVERLAY LOOK IMAGE OVERLAY IMAGE CAPTURE AUDIO METERS SDI METADATA Look Apply a color-graded look (3D LUT) to your image; set up on multiple pages to quickly switch between different looks.

You will immediately be presented with a file browser to select a 3D LUT file. If you have any on an SD card, insert it into the monitor and it will be visible here.

SmallHD User Manual

Internal IMAGES SD MyCustomLUT.cube SD > MyCustomLUT.cube

Selecting the LUT applies it to this page.

Portrait of a smiling man with short hair, wearing a brown shirt, standing in front of a dark grid-patterned wall (no text or symbols visible)

Portrait of a man with short hair standing in front of a blue grid-patterned wall (no text or symbols visible)

Adding several LUTs to several pages can be a great way to test out looks for a shoot while mobile, enabling creative decisions to be made early rather than in post production.

To learn how to create your own color grade in Davinci Resolve and save the result as a LUT to be used on your monitor, check out the tutorial video (19m).

Conclusion

As you can see Pages can take very different roles depending on your needs. Don't be afraid to experiment to find the best setups!

For an exposure overview, go here.

For an overview of our focusing toolset, go here.

For a list of monitor settings, go here

Pixel Zoom

Black-and-white photo of bare tree branches in a forest, no visible text or symbols

Zooms directly into your image on the monitor to get you an exact idea of your focus distance and any other fine details.

Pixel Zoom - Stats

EASE OF USE

Enable Pixel Zoom by pressing up on the joystick or pinch-to-zoom/swipe up on touchscreen monitors when viewing your camera feed normally. When zoomed in, press the joystick/tap to switch to pan mode to move around the image.

SPEED

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With Pixel Zoom it's very easy and thorough to set proper focus when you have time to do so but the other methods- Focus Assist and Peaking can often be used more quickly when added to a page to swipe to for a quick spot-check.

UTILITY

Pixel Zoom gives you a zoomed-in view of your camera's feed which means it's most likely the tool that will enable you to spot areas where you can make improvements, be it precise focus or a piece of set dressing that's not angled correctly towards the camera, a stray light stand in the corner of the shot, etc.

IMAGE INTEGRITY

As long as you have no image-altering features activated, Pixel Zoom lets you see exactly your image zoomed in, making it the best tool for 'seeing it for yourself'.

Pixel Zoom - Quick Start

In this section we'll use Pixel Zoom to set focus and enable us to spot issues with our image.

From a distance this outdoor shot looks in focus but using Pixel Zoom reveals we need to make a slight adjustment.

Snow-covered evergreen trees against a clear blue sky (no text or symbols visible)

If using a touchscreen, pinch-to-zoom to your desired level to check focus.

If using a joystick, press up to zoom in up to 8x (maximum zoom level may be adjusted in Pixel Zoom Settings).

Slightly out of focus Focused

Though a minor adjustment, this has increased the effective resolution of the entire image.

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With 4k and 8k cameras becoming commonplace, achieving proper focus becomes even more important to properly utilize available resolution.

To pan around the image once zoomed-in, click the joystick once and then move in any direction. To pan on touchscreen monitors, drag with one finger around the image when zoomed in.

8.0X

Pixel Zoom, Focus Assist and Peaking are excellent tools to help keep your shots in focus. We recommend trying each to find which works best for your shooting style.

Pixel Zoom - Settings

Because Pixel Zoom isn't added to a page in the traditional way tools operate, its settings can be found in the Settings Menu > Interface > Pixel Zoom

Touchscreen Gestures

There are several gestures that allow you to control your monitor if it has a touch screen.

Pinch In: Zoom In

This is the opposite of most cell phones. By placing two fingers in a scissor position (separated) on the screen and pinching in together, the image will zoom in. This will only work if there is signal.

(When Using Pixel Zoom) Two-Finger Drag: Adjust What You Are Seeing

When using the Pixel Zoom tool you can also drag the image around in addition to zooming in and out. When zoomed in, leave two fingers on the screen and move them around in the direction you wish to move the viewing area.

Pinch Out: Zoom Out

This is the opposite of most cell phones. By placing two fingers together and then separating them, the image will zoom out. This will only work if there is signal.

Swipe Left or Right: Page Change

This is done with a single finger anywhere on the screen left or right (horizontally). You will need to move at least an inch in the direction you want to switch pages. When in Pages View you can still swipe between pages.

Swipe Down: Pages View

This is done with a single finger anywhere on the page swiping down about a half inch or so. In pages mode you can see all your pages; they appear in a smaller view. You will also get metadata at the top of the screen, like the video signal you are receiving and the time and battery life. This will be present even if you have the Status bar hidden, so it is a way to check that data if you do not want to see it on a page.

Hold (3 Seconds): UI Lock/Unlock

There is a UI lock that is activated in the Menus>Interface>UI Lock. This must be checked to function. Once checked, hold a single finger on the screen for 3 seconds. You will see a status bar near the top center as it locks. Once locked, it will say "Locked". To unlock, you will need to repeat the 3 second hold with a single finger. There will be no progress bar, but after 3 seconds you will see a message at the top of the screen "Unlocked".

Two-Finger Swipe: Jump to Settings Menu from a Page or from Settings Menu back to the Last Page

Using two-finger swiping from the Left to Right you will jump directly to the Settings menu page. Using a two-finger swiping motion while in the Settings menu from Right to Left will take you back to the page you were on. This gesture is helpful if you are several pages in and want to access the Settings menu quickly. Another way would be to go to pages view and select the Settings page. Using the two-finger swipe off the menus will take you back to the last page you were on.

Tap: Open Toolbar

A single tap on a page screen will bring up the toolbar on the left. The toolbar will disappear on its own if there is no interaction after 5 seconds. Here you can add your tools, enable or disable tools, or adjust their settings. For more information please see the tools section of the guide.

(While the Toolbar is Open) Swipe Right: Opens Selected Tool's Configuration Menu

Select a tool by touching it on the toolbar. A tool will remain selected even after the toolbar hides itself. Swiping with a single finger left to right will open the menu for that selected tool. After you finish adjusting the settings you can return to the page by either taping the screen or swiping right to left.

Settings Menu

Input/Output

Define which signal you wish to view and where to output; set up color properties to monitor your footage in its intended color space, for example DCI-P3 for previewing your footage the way it may appear in cinema projection.

Actual Input/Output settings dependent on monitor model.

Input Settings

INPUT

Use this section to choose your input and adjust related settings.

HDMI

HDMI

View the signal plugged into 'HDMI IN'.

SDI 1

HD-SDI 1

View the HD-SDI signal plugged into 'SDI IN 1' (or 'SDI IN' depending on monitor model).

SDI 2

HD-SDI 2

View the HD-SDI source plugged into 'SDI IN 2'.

Dual HD-SDI inputs available on SmallHD's Production monitors (13" and up).

The following options become available when the monitor has been calibrated (see Calibration section for details). This allows you to safely define a color space, white point and Log correction that are within the bounds of your calibration.

Color Space

COLOR SPACE

Here is where you want to select the exact color space your camera is outputting to display properly on the monitor.

White Point

WHITE POINT

Here is where you want to select the white point your camera is outputting to see it reflected on the monitor.

Log Correction

LOG CORRECTION

If your camera is outputting a log-based gamma, here is where you select your intended output color space/gamma.

Output Settings

OUTPUT

Choose how signals flow once you plug in your camera.

HDMI

HDMI

This option will send HDMI 'downstream' via the 'HDMI OUT' port on the monitor.

Any tools you have applied to the Output Page (such as a Look/3D LUT) will display on any monitor connected via HDMI OUT

HD-SDI

HD-SDI

This option will send HD-SDI 'downstream' via the 'HDMI OUT' port on the monitor.

Any tools you have applied to the Output Page (such as a Look/3D LUT) will display on any monitor connected via HD-SDI OUT

Output Page Settings

OUTPUT PAGE

The Output Page enables lets you apply tools to a downstream output just like with any other page, enabling any monitor or TV to display, for example, a properly graded image on set, especially useful for client monitoring.

Always Show

ALWAYS SHOW

If you wish to apply tools to the output of your monitor before an output is physically connected (for example to set it up before shooting), check this option.

Show if Output Enabled

SHOW IF OUTPUT ENABLED

This will enable the output page only if you are outputting a signal. This option is useful when you wish to keep your interface free of clutter when no signal is being output but still allows you the ability to configure it when it is.

Never Show

NEVER SHOW

If you know you will not need to add and configure tools to apply to an output feed, check this option to keep the output page hidden even when an output signal is being sent downstream.

Wireless Pairing - Teradek Transmitter to 703 Bolt

Pair a compatible Teradek wireless transmitter to a SmallHD 703 Bolt following the steps below.

Black and white photo of a SmartHD device with wireless antennas and a person inside, set against a solid blue background (no visible text or symbols on the device itself)

Enabling Pairing mode on 703 Bolt

Power on your SmallHD 703 Bolt and use the joystick to navigate left to access the Settings Menu.

Scroll down & click on INPUT options underneath INPUT/OUTPUT & ensure the input is set to WIRELESS.

help TUTORIAL input/output INPUT OUTPUT OUTPUT PAGE display BACKLIGHT CALIBRATION APPEARANCE controls HEADPHONES INPUT 1# WIRELESS HD-SDI 1 HD-SDI 2 COLOR SPACE REC 709 WHITE POINT D65 GAMMA 2.40 LIFT & GAIN 0.0

Press the Back button & navigate downward to find the WIRELESS option under the ACCESSORIES category.

DSLR SCALE capture IMAGE CAPTURE IMAGE GALLERY accessories WIRELESS interface PIXEL ZOOM SCOPES BUTTON STATUS DISPLAY UI LOCK WIRELESS AIRPLANE MODE REGION US FCC 14 30 PAIRED TX none paired ...

SmallHD User Manual

Click the joystick and select PAIRED TX to enter pairing mode which will wait for a wireless signal from a compatible transmitter.

If a transmitter is already paired and you wish to unpair it, select where it says 'PAIRED TX' and then click the option to 'UNPAIR'.

Pairing to a Teradek Transmitter (TX)

First ensure your Teradek transmitter is connected to DC power & a video source via HDMI or SDI.

Close-up of a black BOX 300V network device with attached gold connectors and I/O ports, no visible text or symbols on the main components.

Power on the transmitter via the switch opposite the inputs:

Close-up of a black electronic device with indicator lights and a green arrow pointing to a small black button (no readable text or symbols)

Using a paperclip (or similar precision instrument) press the Reset button on the transmitter until the blue cloud LED begins to blink quickly:

Close-up of a black remote control device with white plastic clip and LED indicators, showing a hand interacting with the next panel.

Select 'PAIR' on the 703 Bolt and the monitor will begin pairing which typically takes 5-10 seconds but can take up to 3 minutes in the presence of heavy 5Ghz interference.

Wireless interference is a common culprit for pairing issues. If the red fault LED stops blinking without having paired, or the 703 Bolt indicates that pairing has failed - try and move to an area with less wireless traffic specifically in the 5Ghz spectrum (ie away from wifi routers, antenna masts, etc). Once paired, the signal will be far less susceptible to issues caused by interference.

We also advise placing the antennas of the devices around 6 to 10 feet apart from one other and adjusting them so that all they are perpendicular to one another when pairing (point one device's antennas up, point the other device's antennas toward the horizon for example).

Wireless Pairing SIGNAL FOUND! PROGRESS (FX) PAIRY PAIRING... Wireless Pairing PAIRED! UNPAIRS (RX)

Congratulations, you're paired up and receiving a wireless signal!

Teradek Transmitters compatible with 703 Bolt

Teradek Bolt 500 (+ LT & XT)

Teradek Bolt 1000 (+ LT & XT)

Teradek Bolt 3000 (+ XT)

(Links to Teradek website)

TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS FOR WIRELESS PAIRING

*Use Bolt-manager (on a computer) if on a Teradek product, it's easier to Pair and be sure everything is up to date. https://teradek.com/pages/downloads#bolt

*Be sure both RX and TX units are up to date on the latest firmware. (You can update the Teradek unit via Bolt-manager).

To prevent interference when pairing a transmitter and receiver:

*Turn off all other transmitter/receiver sets, and only turn on the transmitter and single receiver you are trying to pair.

*Turn off any receivers that are already paired to the same transmitter. Only have the transmitter and the one receiver you're trying to pair turned on!

*Have the transmitter and receiver at least 3 feet or 1 meter apart -- do not place them right next to each other!

*The region settings must match between all devices (USA, Europe, Japan Indoor, etc.).

*Remove the Antennas. Once you start the pairing process, add a single antenna to both the RX and TX.

*NOTE: Sometimes if there is a lot of interference in the area, it may take a few tries to get the units to lock, continue to try the pairing process.

Display

Settings that affect the output of the display can be found here such as backlight adjustment & auto calibration.

Individual options dependent on monitor model.

Backlight Settings

BACKLIGHT

Set up and fine-tune the brightness of the LED backlight.

STANDARD RANGE

STANDARD RANGE

This option enables adjustment of the backlight up to its maximum limit within the specified color space.

STUDIO BRIGHTNESS

STUDIO BRIGHTNESS

If you are in a studio or other low-light environment, use this option to limit the backlight to 100 nits which enables a fine-tune adjustment within that range.

BACKLIGHT

BACKLIGHT

80

Adjusts the actual output of the backlight or in the case of OLED adjusts the maximum pixel brightness.

Calibration Settings

CALIBRATION

Your monitor ships calibrated from the factory with selectable calibration LUTs depending on how you may want to display your image, for example DCI color space for cinema projection or Rec. 2020 for HDR production. Auto-calibration can be performed here to account for long-term color drift by using a compatible calibration puck. This will automatically set the gamma and white point to ensure your monitor is perfectly displaying its intended color space.

Enable Calibration LUT

ENABLE CALIBRATION LUT

Once auto-calibration has taken place, toggle this for a before/after comparison of the results.

Calibration LUT

CALIBRATION LUT

If you already have a saved calibration LUT you wish to use, you can browse your SD card and apply it here. Otherwise this will display stats related to your auto-calibration.

Targeted Color Space:

Targeted Color Space:

DCI-P3

(not editable) Lists the color space that your monitor is currently displaying post-calibration.

Targeted White Point:

Targeted White Point:

D65

(not editable) Lists the white point that your monitor is currently displaying post-calibration.

Reset Calibration LUT

RESET CALIBRATION LUT

Reverts to the factory calibration LUT that is shipped with the monitor.

Run Auto-Calibration

RUN AUTO CALIBRATION

Automatically sets the white point and gamma of your monitor by using a compatible color calibration probe.

Appearance Settings

APPEARANCE

This menu allows you to directly alter the display's RGB output post-calibration if adjustments need to be made to match a lesser monitor on set.

This menu directly affects (and can therefore negate) the extensive calibration capability of the monitor - modify at your own risk.

Gamma Shift

GAMMA SHIFT

0.00

Adjusts the gamma curve being applied to the final output.

Sharpness

SHARPNESS

0.00

Adjusts the intensity of edge detection. See Peaking for a more user-friendly version of this.

Contrast, Brightness, Saturation (Con, Brt, Sat)

CON, BRT, SAT

100,0,100

Standard Contrast, Brightness and Saturation controls.

Red, Green, Blue Gain (RGB Gain)

R,G,B GAIN

100,0,100

Adjusts the Gain or Contrast of the Red, Green and Blue channels individually.

Red, Green, Blue Offset (RGB Offset)

R,G,B OFFSET

0,0,0

Adjusts the amount of offset for Red, Green and Blue color channels.

Controls

Miscellaneous settings we had a hard time categorizing :)

Volume Settings

VOLUME

Control output volume of the 1/8" stereo port and internal speakers if applicable.

Headphone Volume

HEADPHONE VOLUME

80

Adjusts the output of the 1/8" stereo mini port

Speaker Volume

Only available on SmallHD Production Monitors

SPEAKER VOLUME

80

If using a monitor with speakers (Production Monitors 13" and up), adjust their output volume here.

Image Rotate Settings

IMAGE ROTATE

Use this section to rotate/flip the image and/or menu to enable operation from a funny angle.

Auto Flip Image

AUTO FLIP IMAGE

Depending on how your monitor is oriented (portrait, upside down) select this to automatically flip the displayed image, similar to a smartphone.

Rotate Image

ROTATE IMAGE

This will rotate the displayed image 180° bypassing any automatic functionality

Mirror Image

MIRROR IMAGE

Mirrors the image horizontally, useful when pointed towards the talent/scene for more intuitive framing.

Match Menu to Video

MATCH MENU TO VIDEO

For situations with an upside-down camera - low mode on a stabilizer for example - use this option to rotate the image and not the menu.

The following options become available when "MATCH MENU TO VIDEO" is disabled.

Auto Flip Menu

AUTO FLIP MENU

This option keeps the menu right-side up regardless if the image itself is set to rotate.

Rotate Image

ROTATE MENU

If you wish to explicitly flip the menu independently of the image select this option. (disables auto rotation)

Mirror Menu

MIRROR MENU

For the one person who needs to view and operate the monitor through a mirror but keeping the image itself un-flipped, congratulations this option is for you :-)

Anamorphic Settings

Anamorphic de-squeeze moved from the Settings to a Tool beginning in firmware version 3.5.0. This tool has more flexibility than the older setting. If you don't see this setting, check under Tools > Scale. If you'd like to take advantage of these new features, we recommend updating your firmware.

ANAMORPHIC

If using anamorphic lenses which squeeze the picture horizontally, the following options will 'desqueeze' your image, stretching it out horizontally.

1X (off)

1X (off)

This option performs no image de-squeeze - for use with non-anamorphic lenses.

1.33X

1.33X

Use to de-squeeze anamorphic footage using lenses or adapters with a 1.33X squeeze factor.

1.5X

1.5X

Use to de-squeeze anamorphic footage using lenses or adapters with a 1.5X squeeze factor.

1.66X

1.66X

Use to de-squeeze anamorphic footage using lenses or adapters with a 1.66X squeeze factor.

2X

2X

Use to de-squeeze anamorphic footage using lenses or adapters with a 2X squeeze factor.

DSLR Scale Settings

DSLR SCALE

For older Canon DLSRs that like to output a cropped image over HDMI, use these options to 'uncrop' for a fullscreen view.

None (no scaling)

NONE

SmallHD User Manual

Scales the HDMI feed from a Canon 5DMKII to fill the screen properly.

Canon 7D

CANON 7D

Scales the HDMI feed from a Canon 7D to fill the screen properly.

Capture

Settings related to capturing and viewing images on the monitor.

Image Capture Settings

IMAGE CAPTURE

These options will help determine what happens when you use the built in Image Capture function.

Capture LUTs (Look files)

CAPTURE LUTS (LOOK FILES)

When capturing an image, this option will apply any user Look files (3D LUTs) to the saved image, great for reviewing color-graded stills of a shoot day.

Timestamp in Filename

TIMESTAMP IN FILENAME

To get a precise measure of when a screen capture is taken for easier file sorting/searching, enable this option.

Capture on Record Start

CAPTURE ON RECORD START

This will automatically capture an image as soon as the monitor detects the camera is recording- useful for a quick overview of a shoot day.

This feature is currently available for SDI signals only

Reset Capture Number

RESET CAPTURE NUMBER:

0451

Resets the naming of captured images starting with 0001, useful when beginning a shoot for easy grouping of captured files.

Capture Location

CAPTURE LOCATION

Choose where to save your image captures- save to an SD card for quickly dropping files onto a computer or save to the monitor's internal memory.

Reset Capture Location

RESET CAPTURE LOCATION

Sets the Image Capture location back to the monitor's internal memory.

Image Gallery Settings

IMAGE GALLERY

View and access files taken with Image Capture

Open Media Gallery

OPEN MEDIA GALLERY

Opens the image browser where you can view and manage files taken via Image Capture.

Accessories

Manage and control accessories connected to the monitor.

Wireless Settings

WIRELESS

Manage settings related to wireless protocols (wifi/bluetooth).

Airplane Mode

AIRPLANE MODE

If shooting video on an airplane, check this box to disable Bluetooth if required.

Remote

REMOTE

Use this section to pair up to three bluetooth remotes to your monitor for bump-free menu access.

The remote is a great option for steadicam, gimbal, crane/jib or even sensitive tripod work because it allows you to access the entire monitor without physically coming in contact with it.

[Remote Slots]

SLOT	STATUS
1	ACTIVE
1	FOUND
1	EMPTY

Easily pair up to three wireless remotes with this menu.

If a bluetooth remote is found within range (make sure to remove the battery cover on the remote) it will display as 'Found' - select this to pair your remote which will change the readout to 'Active'. After that you should be all set!

Interface

Options related to customizing the user interface for your shooting style.

Pixel Zoom Settings

PIXEL ZOOM

These settings adjust the functionality of Pixel Zoom which enables you to zoom in on your image at any time when viewing your shot (move up on joystick or swipe up on touch screens)

First Level

FIRST LEVEL

1.5X

This option determines the desired zoom level for the first 'stage' of pixel zoom.

Second Level

SECOND LEVEL

7X

SmallHD User Manual

This option determines the desired zoom level for the second 'stage' of pixel zoom, by pressing up twice on the joystick (swiping on touchscreen) when viewing a shot.

Scopes Button

Only available on SmallHD Production Monitors (13"+)

SCOPES BUTTON

These settings determine which scopes are displayed when the Scopes Button is activated on the front face of SmallHD's production monitors.

Waveform

WAVEFORM

Displays the Waveform on-screen when the Scopes button is activated.

Histogram

HISTOGRAM

Displays the Histogram on-screen when the Scopes button is activated.

Vectorscope

VECTORSCOPE

Displays the Vectorscope on-screen when the Scopes button is activated.

Status Display Settings

STATUS DISPLAY

The Status Display is a discreet information bar at the top or bottom of the image for displaying signal format, frame rate, time and battery life (if applicable).

Off

OFF

Turns the Status Display off.

Top

TOP

SmallHD User Manual

Enables the Status Display and places it at the top of the image.

Bottom

BOTTOM

Enables the Status Display and places it at the bottom of the image.

Show Frames/Sec

SHOW FRAMES/SEC

Displays the frames per second next to your camera's resolution on the status bar.

Show Fields/Sec

SHOW FIELDS/SEC

Displays the fields per second next to your camera's resolution on the status bar.

UI Lock Settings

UI Lock is like a 'hold' switch which disables user input while active. This is useful in scenarios where there is a risk of the monitor's controls getting bumped.

SmallHD User Manual

UI Lock was added to touchscreen monitors in firmware 3.5.0. Once enabled in the Settings menu, pressing a finger on the screen for 2 12 seconds will lock the screen. Pressing the screen again for 2 12 seconds will unlock the screen.

UI LOCK

Hold Joystick to Lock UI.

HOLD JOYSTICK TO LOCK UI

Enables or disables the UI lock at any time via a press-and-hold on the joystick.

Language Settings

LANGUAGE

Choose your preferred language in which to operate the user interface.

English

English

SmallHD User Manual

Sets the user interface language to English.

Chinese (Simplified)

Chinese (Simplified)

Sets the user interface language to Chinese (Simplified).

User

Settings related to monitor personalization.

Power Settings

POWER

This section is for controlling user-definable power options.

Auto Recover

AUTO RECOVER

Automatically turns the monitor back on after a power loss.

Date & Time

DATE & TIME

Use this menu to adjust the current date & time - this will keep you organized when taking screen captures by using a date in the file name.

Date

DATE

January 1, 2049

Sets the month/day/year.

Time

TIME

12:00 PM

Sets the current time.

24H Display

24H DISPLAY

Displays the clock in a 00:00 to 24:00 format, known commonly as 'military time' which makes 12am and 12pm slightly less confusing.

Profiles [Settings]

PROFILES

Save and load profiles between monitors to keep your monitor's configuration consistent on set or between sets.

Save Profile to Storage

SAVE PROFILE TO STORAGE

Saves all pages, tools and settings currently applied to the monitor to an SD card for easy consistency between.

Load Profile from Storage

LOAD PROFILE FROM STORAGE

Load a saved profile from internal memory or SD card to keep from having to reconfigure all your settings, pages and tools if moving from monitor to monitor.

System

Update system firmware or reset to factory defaults.

Firmware Settings

FIRMWARE

Go to this section to update & manage your firmware via SD card.

Update to [version number] (SD)

UPDATE TO X.X (SD)

Current version: 3.0

Selecting this option will update your firmware to the version contained on your SD card (if any).

The latest SmallHD firmware is always available from smallhd.com/latestfirmware. To apply the update, unzip the file, drop the resulting .bin file right onto the main directory of your SD card, plug it into the monitor and select this option to perform the update.

Factory Reset Settings

FACTORY RESET

Go to this section to reset the monitor's pages & settings to how it was when it came out of the box.

Execute Factory Reset

EXECUTE FACTORY RESET

Select this option to reset the monitor to its factory default settings.

Factory Reset is useful when swapping between different users or when encountering issues that may be a result of fiddling around with unfamiliar settings;-)

Tools - Framing

Aspect (guides)

[ ] Aspect

[ ] ASPECT HDMI ON RATIO [1.78:1] CUSTOM WIDTH 75 HEIGHT 75 STYLE COLOR OPACITY 80 4:3 1.85:1 2.39:1 16:9 [xx.xx:1] CUSTOM

If you are shooting in a different aspect ratio than the expected final output, place an Aspect Guide on your page for framing your shots instead of just using gaffer tape.

Aspect - Quick Start

For this example we will be preparing for a cinemascope (2.39:1) aspect ratio while filming in standard 16x9. This means we wish to visualize the top and bottom of the image being cropped for the final product via Aspect Guides.

From any page, click the joystick or tap the screen on a touchscreen monitor and select 'Add New Tool'

ADD NEW TOOL >

Navigate to Frame > Aspect and select the '+' to add it to the current page.

[ ] FRAME [ ] ASPECT + SAFE ASPECT [ ] Display common aspect ratios on-screen; helpful if cropping the footage in post-production. CROSSHAIR CROSSHATCH HORIZON

Once added you can edit the settings by navigating right or tapping the right arrow when 'Aspect' is highlighted.

[ ] ASPECT > +

The default setting is for previewing a 4:3 aspect ratio for older TVs. Select 'Ratio' and change it to 2:39 to see the black bars switch to a horizontal configuration.

[ ] ASPECT HDMI ON RATIO STYLE COLOR OPACITY 50 4:3 1.85:1 2.39:1 16:9 [xx.xx:1] CUSTOM

SmallHD User Manual

By default the bars are set to 50% opacity; adjust 'style' and 'opacity' to taste for whatever you find most viewable. Here I set the opacity to 80% to keep the off-screen areas from being distracting.

If your production relies on boom audio, you can use the top and bottom dead zones to give your boom operator a 'grace area' for getting close-but-not-too-close.

[ ] ASPECT HDMI ON RATIO STYLE COLOR OPACITY 80 0 80 10

To complete our 'cinematic preview' I have applied a Look (3D LUT) - learn about Look files here.

Snow-covered tree with a lit streetlamp at dusk, captured in a dark environment (no text or symbols visible)

Aspect - Settings

On

ON

Enable/Disable the Aspect guide.

Ratio

RATIO

(4:3, 1.85, 2.39, 16x9, Custom)

Select the aspect ratio you wish to visualize with the guide. Go with the Custom setting if using a non-standard ratio.

Width

WIDTH

(25-100)

When using a custom aspect ratio, this setting manually defines the width of the crop.

Height

HEIGHT

(25-100)

When using a custom aspect ratio, this setting manually defines the height of the preview 'crop region'.

Style

STYLE

(MATTE, LINE)

Toggles between a solid color overlay and a thin line to define the edges of the aspect ratio. Line style may be more helpful when needing to see very clearly what is outside the active area as it will not get 'painted' over as it does with solid color.

Color

COLOR

Define the color of the overlay area if using 'MATTE' style or define the color of the border when using 'LINE' style.

Opacity

OPACITY

(0-100)

Adjusts the opacity/transparency of the matte area or line borders depending on the chosen Style.

Safe (guides)

Safe

Provides a simple line border near edges of the frame as a friendly reminder to keep important elements in-frame to account for 'overscan'- traditionally SD TVs would crop out part of the frame to fit various aspect ratios/resolutions being sent to it and sadly this practice still often takes place on modern TVs as a relic of the analog past.

SAFE HDMI ON FORMAT 4:3 COLOR OPACITY 100 SAFE-ACTION SAFE-TITLE

Safe (guides) - Quick Start

Let's apply Safe guides to a page to help judge where to keep titles and action

SmallHD User Manual

From any page, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up 'Add New Tool'.

+ ADD NEW TOOL >

Navigate to Frame > Safe and select to add it to the current page.

Odds are the default setup is all you will need but you can edit the settings by navigating right when 'Safe' is highlighted.

//Gif: Safe > Edit

Let's change the aspect ratio to 4:3 so we can visualize how an old TV would crop our image.

//Gif: Aspect format: 16:9 to 4:3

If the guides are not visible in your viewing environment you can edit the Color and Opacity for better viewability.

//Gif: Changing color and opacity of safe guides

Safe (guides) - Settings

On

ON

Enable/Disables Safe guides.

Format

FORMAT

(16:9, 14:9, 4:3)

Adjusts the aspect ratio of the safe guides; set this to what you consider the 'least common denominator', i.e. if you have to make a 16x9 AND a 4x3 deliverable, use the 4x3 guide to account for the 'worst case'.

Color

COLOR

Choose the line color of the guides for easier viewability depending on your shot.

Opacity

OPACITY

(0-100)

Adjust the transparency/visibility of the guide lines, best practice is typically to go with 'visible but not distracting'.

Safe-Action

SAFE-ACTION

Enables/disables the Action safe (outside) border.

Safe-Title

SAFE-TITLE

Enables/disables the Title safe (inside) border.

Crosshair

Crosshair

Places a crosshair reticule in the center of your image; great reference point on shoots when symmetry or panning accuracy is an important part of the composition.

Crosshair - Quick Start

We'll apply a crosshair to our page to help us pan a shot to a precise position.

From any page, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up 'Add New Tool' and navigate to Frame > Crosshair and select to add it to the current page.

+ ADD NEW TOOL >

A crosshair will be placed on your image. You can edit the settings by navigating right when 'Crosshair' is highlighted.

//Gif: Crosshair > Edit

Crosshair - Settings

On

ON

Enable/Disables the Crosshair.

Style

STYLE

(CROSS, BOX, POINT)

Toggles the Crosshair off/on.

Color

COLOR

Define the color of the Crosshair for better visibility depending on your shot.

Size

SIZE

(1-10)

Choose the size of the Crosshair to taste for your preferred balance of visibility and cleanliness.

Opacity

OPACITY

(0-100)

Sets the transparency/opacity of the crosshair.

Crosshatch

Crosshatch

Adds a basic grid overlay to your image with customizable rows/columns for a variety of on-set compositional needs.

Crosshatch - Quick Start

Crosshatch is beneficial for aligning elements of a shot into a grid-like and structured pattern, for this example we'll set up a product shot and use the grid lines to help us compose a visually-pleasing arrangement.

From any page, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up 'Add New Tool' and navigate to Frame > Crosshatch and select to add it to the current page.

+ ADD NEW TOOL >

Once the Crosshatch is added you can edit the settings by navigating right when 'Crosshatch' is highlighted.

//Gif: Crosshatch > Edit

Crosshatch - Settings

On

ON

Enable/Disable the Crosshatch.

Color

COLOR

Set the line color of the Crosshatch to adjust its visibility.

Opacity

OPACITY

(0-100)

Regions

REGIONS

(2 - 9)

SmallHD User Manual

This setting lets you define the density of the Crosshatch grid for achieving the desired amount of granularity.

Tools - Exposure

Exposure Overview

Either before or after reading this guide you will have an understanding of how to set proper exposure using SmallHD's industry-leading toolset. Learn how Waveform, Exposure Assist, Zebra, Histogram and Color Picker compare and how to get the most from each.

Four-panel composite image showing a window with a textured wall, a close-up of a textured surface, and a close-up of a red panel with green and purple patterns (no text or symbols)

The Dynamic Range 'bucket'

Cameras have a limited dynamic range; this is the range between the darkest dark and the brightest bright a camera can simultaneously see and retain detail. If this range is set incorrectly, it can mean important details get lost or clipped.

The philosophy of the SmallHD toolset has always been to help free up the operator's mental burden - combined with pages, SmallHD's tools are designed to promote a level of confidence in the technical aspects of a shot to help free up creative energy. We haven't performed a formal study but we'd wager shooting with SmallHD monitors decreases stress on set.

SmallHD User Manual

Ambient lighting conditions change human perception of on-screen images so drastically that eyeballing the exposure range without aid can be highly risky; tools that present the range clearly are generally considered critical for consistent footage gathering.

underexposed (clipped) dynamic range overexposed (clipped)

Adjusting exposure will shift the dynamic range to capture brighter or darker detail in order to accommodate the most important aspects of the image. Anything outside the dynamic range gets clipped, meaning a badly placed exposure is wasting the camera's potential.

Exposure Examples

Let's look at the problems we face with a shot with a relatively low exposure (underexposed) and one with a relatively high exposure (overexposed).

Silhouette of a person standing in front of a window with large windows and scattered debris (no text or symbols visible)

low exposure

Silhouette of a person sitting in a window with large windows, viewed from above (no text or symbols visible)

high exposure

For an easier direct comparison these shots have been color graded to roughly match one another:

A child sitting on a wooden bench viewed through a window with large windows and sheer curtains (no text or symbols visible)

(Low exposure - brightened)

A child sitting on a wooden box looking out of a window with large windows, no visible text or symbols.

(High exposure - darkened)

Two circular images: one showing a textured white surface, the other a close-up of a baby's face (no text or symbols visible)

Two circular cropped images: one showing a red circle with a small white object, the other showing a close-up of a baby's face (no text or symbols visible)

Underexposure --> Brightened Overexposure --> Darkened

1. Bright highlight detail remains in-tact (good)	3. Bright highlights have been clipped, meaning the detail of the window cannot be recovered (bad)
2. Shadow tones reveal noise when boosted (bad)	4. The face of the doll is exposed well and contains minimal image noise (good)

There will almost always be something in your image that is clipping like a dark shadow or a light bulb - the key is to be aware of and balance the extremes while ensuring the desired midtones (typically skin tones) are placed in the center of the camera's dynamic range.

Adjusting exposure

There are several ways to control exposure on a camera and it is critical when operating to have a firm grasp of the benefits and trade-offs of each. Let's have a look at them:

Scene lighting

If you have the benefit of a set with controllable lighting, the best scene exposure can be generally achieved without touching the camera. Because this is such a huge topic, we will just be covering adjustments that can be made on-camera.

Iris/Aperture

The most commonly used method for controlling exposure, the Iris or Aperture adjusts the physical size of the opening in the lens at which light passes through to reach the camera's imaging plane.

Aperture f22 f16 f8 f4 f2.8 f1.4 Brightness Depth of field ‘deep’ depth-of-field ‘shallow’ depth-of-field smalHD

Notes on adjusting iris/aperture for exposure

Speed - Iris/Aperture is most often a physical ring on the lens, making it very quick to turn and immediately see a result.

Fine-tuned control - Higher-end & cinema lenses often have smooth or 'de-clicked' aperture rings making very precise exposure adjustments simple to achieve.

Affects depth of field - If part of the intended look of the scene is to have a character in focus with the background blurry, just be aware that adjusting the iris will affect the amount of blurriness (bokeh) in out-of-focus objects.

ISO

Increasing camera ISO essentially 'boosts' the camera's image digitally beyond its native ISO level, brightening the image but increasing the likelihood of image noise.

ISO ISO 200 ISO 400 ISO 800 ISO 1600 ISO 3200 ISO 6400 Brightness Image noise

Notes on adjusting ISO for exposure

Flexibility/Night Shooting - Some cameras have incredibly low-noise sensors and effective noise processing that can allow for high ISO values without noticeable artifacting meaning easier shooting in the dark. Mileage varies greatly and older cameras tend not to fare as well in this respect.

Notes on adjusting ISO for exposure

Variable Image Noise - Because adjusting ISO is artificially 'boosting' the output of the sensor, image noise, especially in shadows becomes more apparent at higher ISO values.

Every digital camera has a native ISO which tends to produce the least noisy results and the most dynamic range. Pushing the ISO up is asking the camera to reach further outside its 'comfort zone' and will increasingly apply image noise/lessen dynamic range.

Shutter Speed

Shutter speed refers to the amount of time the sensor is being exposed to light for each frame. Shutter speed is slightly less commonly used when adjusting exposure due to it having a more pronounced stylistic effect at different extremes.

Shutter speed (11.25°) (22.5°) (45°) (90°) (180°) (360°) Brightness Motion blur smalHD

Notes on adjusting shutter speed for exposure

Controls perceived 'smoothness' of motion - if footage motion appears too smooth for the intended

Notes on adjusting shutter speed for exposure

style, increasing shutter speed will increase a 'strobing' effect, think the 'Saving Private Ryan' look where action appears frozen in time.

Consistency of shots - If adjusting shutter speed for every shot to compensate for lighting, the amount of 'strobing' (ie perceived smoothness) will vary shot-to-shot as well and this may be displeasing to some viewers.

An extremely common & widely acceptable shutter speed setting is at half the frame rate being captured, commonly referred to as a 180^ shutter. If shooting at 24 frames per second, this means the shutter speed would be 1/48th of a second.

Lens Filters

ND Filters Brightness

Lens filters offer creative flexibility on brightly lit scenes - instead of having to raise shutter speed and increase strobing, or close down the aperture and deepen the depth of field, ND (neutral density - aka darkening) filters can darken the shot without adjusting the aesthetic.

Notes on adjusting lens filtration for exposure

Shallow depth of field on bright days - dense ND (neutral density ie darkening) filters make shallow depth-of-field possible on very bright days - other options are to close down the iris (resulting in deep depth of field) or increasing shutter speed (resulting in stuttery motion).

Localized Adjustments - ND filters often have a graduated (dark to light) effect so that adjustments are made only to a portion of the image - great for dimming a bright sky while keeping a darker foreground in tact.

Speed of operation will vary - Many cameras have built-in ND filters which are speedy to operate but for cameras that dont, they will have to be threaded onto to a lens or slid into a matte box which can be slower options than rolling the iris/aperture.

Choosing an exposure tool

We have found personal preference to be the biggest factor when choosing an exposure tool. Wish to see exposure issues directly on the image as they happen? Exposure Assist or Zebra may be right for the job. Prefer an untouched image with a separate graph to provide value readings for spotting issues? Waveform or Histogram may suit your needs better.

Exposure Assist

EXPOSURE ASSIST

Illustration of a person standing on a balcony overlooking a sunset over water, with no visible text or symbols in the main scene.

Exposure Assist is a great overall balance of utility and ease of use and can benefit most shooting scenarios. It allows 'painting' the image depending on the intensity of a pixel's luma value. For example you could set 97% IRE and up to turn bright red as an overexposure warning while creating a scale to turn green when a face is exposed properly at 55%, etc. (& anything else you wish to plot to any points on the range). Click to learn more about Exposure Assist.

New firmware 3.0 feature - Exposure Assist scale is now fully customizable!

Zebra

ZEBRA

Person walking on a wooden balcony overlooking a coastal landscape with ocean and trees (no visible text or symbols)

Zebra is essentially a simplified version of Exposure Assist which allows the specific 'painting' of areas depending on brightness value but is less destructive to the underlying image -- it is however limited to painting one value range at a time, though up to two Zebra tools can be activated simultaneously. Click to learn more about the Zebra tool.

Waveform

WAVEFORM

smallHD com

Waveform plots the value of the entire image onto a graph that physically matches it from left-to-right, meaning if you see an area that's too bright on the left side of the image, it will create a 'peak' on the left side of the waveform graph. It also has other benefits by way of RGB & RGB Parade modes. Click to learn more about the Waveform.

Use the Waveform to check evenness of lighting across a solid-color backdrop- just look for a straight line all the way across.

Histogram

HISTOGRAM

Person walking on a wooden deck overlooking a coastal landscape with ocean and trees (no text or symbols visible)

Histogram sorts every pixel in your image based on its brightness and plots it to a chart; darker values on the left and brighter values on the right. Click to learn more about the Histogram.

If you see that the Histogram is mostly a 'lump' towards the left hand side, you may have a generally under-exposed image (or a normally-exposed night scene). If it is stacked up towards the right, you may have an over-exposed image (or a normally-exposed day time snow scene).

Color Picker

Color Picker

Color Picker samples color/value information from a single pixel to give a precise readout of a specific location. Click to learn more about the Color Picker.

When you need an extra level of information on a very precise location, set up a color picker on your subject's face and as light levels change, roll exposure or relight to compensate to achieve the same or a similar readout.

Exposure Assist (False Color)

Exposure Assist (False Color)

Illustration of a man in profile with green facial features, set against a stylized landscape background (no text or symbols)

Exposure Assist is a highly visible, quick and accurate guide to setting exposure for your shots by 'painting' pixels when they hit a specified luma (brightness) value. This helps you pinpoint the exact areas your image may be clipping and quickly roll exposure to adjust for it, particularly in difficult viewing conditions (outdoors or on a gimbal or crane)

*New firmware 3.0 feature - Exposure Assist scale is now fully customizable!

Exposure Assist - Stats

Use this section to compare Exposure Assist with SmallHD's other exposure tools to help you find what suits your personal preference.

EASE OF USE

Because Exposure Assist 'paints' your image different colors depending on what their luma (brightness) value is, it can be beneficial to memorize these colors to make the most sense of your exposure range. Alternately you can now create your own exposure/color scale if you find the presets not to your tastes or suitable for your camera.

SPEED

Exposure Assist is a very fast tool for finding proper exposure because you can simply look at your image - if a desired portion of the picture is being painted the color designated for highlights for example, that typically means you'll have to bring down the exposure to regain the detail in that area.

If the colorizing effect of Exposure Assist is too distracting for your other on-set tasks, try creating a new page specifically for it so that you can flip back and forth for a quick exposure spot-check when needed.

UTILITY

Because the Exposure Assist scale can now be customized allowing you to map many colors to many brightness ranges, it can give you an incredibly comprehensive look at your exposure values. The Waveform only offers slightly more utility in that it can be used to gauge chrominance (color) in addition to luminance (exposure) when using Parade or RGB modes.

If you would rather look at a graph to expose your image than to have it 'painted over', have a look at the Waveform.

IMAGE INTEGRITY

Because of the nature of Exposure Assist and how it paints the image various colors, it can become distracting to other necessary jobs on set. Tools like the Zebra, though less comprehensive, may work better for keeping a low profile.

Exposure Assist - Quick Start

+ ADD NEW TOOL >

From any page, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up (1) 'Add New Tool' and navigate to (2) Expose > (3) Exposure Assist and select to add it to the current page.

EXPOSE EXPOSURE ASSIST 3 ZEBRA COLOR PICKER

Once added you can edit the settings by navigating right or tapping the right arrow when 'Exposure assist' is highlighted.

EXPOSURE ASSIST >

By default the Arri False Color scale is used which is a great place to start.

The chart below describes what each color means- essentially when an element in your scene gets colorized, that means it is within the brightness range specified here.

Color	Level	Description
red	99 – 100%	White clipping
yellow	97 – 99%	Just below white clipping/white shoulder
pink	52 – 56%	One stop over medium gray (Caucasian skin)
green	38 – 42%	18% neutral gray
blue	2.5 – 4.0%	Just above black clipping/black slope
purple	0 – 2.5%	Black clipping

This allows you to make exposure decisions that are based on numeric values as opposed to simply how the image appears, which depending on viewing environment and many other factors can yield inconsistent results.

Enable 'SHOW IRE GUIDE' to get an on-monitor view of which values are getting mapped to the colors on the scale.

EXPOSURE ASSIST HDMI ON STYLE ARRI IGNORE LOOK SHOW IRE GUIDE GUIDE LOCATION INTENSITY 100 0 25 50 75 100

Exposure values near the 50% mark on the scale will generally provide the most natural result on human skin. With the Arri scale this means the pink and green bands provide a great guide as the upper and lower range for exposing faces.

50

Sticking with this exposure value means we'll be clipping a portion of the sky & sun - Exposure Assist makes it clear which areas will be clipping/losing detail as a result of overexposure by painting such areas red.

100

Clipped areas are tricky to manipulate in post production because they are effectively comprised of a single 'blob' of color/value.

If I darken the entire shot, the clipped areas of the sky & sun appear quite unnatural:

SmallHD User Manual

Silhouette of a person standing at night with a red arrow pointing to the bright sun, against a sunset sky and trees (no text or symbols visible)

If I darken everything but the sky/sun, they each appear much more acceptable:

Silhouette of a person standing outdoors at sunset with bright sun rays, no visible text or symbols

When graded normally, skin tones maintain plenty of detail due to being exposed in an optimal range.

Side profile of a man with beard looking toward a white storage tank at sunset (no text or symbols visible)

Below-left is an example of normally-exposed face, below-right is an example of an underexposed face that has been brought up in color grading - take note the difference in image noise.

Two circular images of a baby's face, one green and one red, with no visible text or symbols.

Exposing a shot 'just right' will vary greatly between shoots, operators and cameras but is always a compromise in some way. You must decide how important are your highlights and shadows and what will contribute to the better final image, and this can vary depending on many elements including

intended color grade, delivery methods, VFX and of course the camera itself - some handle highlights better than shadows for example, others vice-versa.

Exposure Assist - Customization

NEW with firmware version 3.0! - Continue this section to learn how to get the most out of Exposure Assist by creating your own preset.

Many cameras, particularly when shooting in 'log' mode keep their brightest highlight and darkest shadow at values other than 100% and 0% respectively. Full shadow clipping might be as high as 10% and highlights might be as low as 90% for example. Customizing the Exposure Assist scale ensures these settings are tuned to your specific camera for guaranteed accuracy.

Black-and-white photo of a person sitting on a balcony overlooking a cityscape with high-rise buildings in the background (no visible text or symbols)

To begin setting the scale we need to first find the limits. For the following example I'm using a DVX200 set to V-Log gamma but this procedure applies to any camera or gamma.

First, point the camera toward any bright objects that will overexpose the shot (a white car or exposed concrete on a bright day will do fine) - turn off ND filters, open the aperture and decrease the shutter speed if needed:

Snowy landscape with bare trees and a red arrow pointing to a distant tree (no text or symbols)

I briefly pointed the camera towards the sun during midday for this shot - this is generally not advisable to keep the sensor safe but I did it so you don't have to ;-)

Add an Exposure Assist via Add Tool > Expose > Exposure Assist if not already applied.

EXPOSURE ASSIST HDMI ON STYLE ARRI IGNORE LOOK SHOW IRE GUIDE GUIDE LOCATION INTENSITY 100

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Even though the sun area is clearly clipping, the Arri false color scale doesn't pick it up - we need to fix this for an accurate reading.

Select 'Style' and choose 'Map1' to start with an empty preset that we can modify.

EXPOSURE ASSIST HDMI ON STYLE MAP 1 EDIT ... IGNORE LOOK SHOW IRE GUIDE GUIDE LOCATION INTENSITY 100 0 25 50 75 100 ARRI SPECTRUM MAP 1 MAP 2 MAP 3

Select 'EDIT' to begin customization

EXPOSURE ASSIST HDMI ON STYLE MAP 1 EDIT ... IGNORE LOOK SHOW IRE GUIDE GUIDE LOCATION INTENSITY 100

To begin adding a range, select the '+'

SmallHD User Manual

MIN MAX +

A default color and range is placed onto the scale; let's change this color by selecting it

Let's choose red to act as an overexposure clip warning.

Next we can edit the position of this color on the luminosity scale by selecting it and dragging in either direction

Move the color block to the far right - now any values in the 90%-100% range will get painted red. As can be seen none of the values in this image even reach 90% so we need to decrease the 'MIN' until we see a red blob appear where the sun is located.

90 100 BACK

When decreased to 80%, we have finally found the limit at which this camera clips highlights.

80 100 BACK

This red area is telling you 'this data is getting clipped' so let's set up another small color value immediately beside this one to act as a warning:

Now if you see orange it means you're almost clipping highlights and if you see red you are clipping highlights.

Satellite or aerial view of a coastal area with red-orange vegetation and a scale bar at the bottom (no text or symbols on the main image)

Repeat the same process but this time to the darker extremes - I have my shot set up in a dark environment but you may simply cover the lens for this stage when looking to pinpoint the camera & gamma's native black point.

Close-up of a camera lens and a color picker tool against a dark background (no text or symbols visible)

Create a new color band for the shadows - I prefer 'cool' colors for dark areas and normally set highlights to 'warm' colors to help me identify each zone quickly but feel free to use any configuration that makes sense to you!

0 18 BACK

Set the MIN to 0 and adjust the MAX value to the point where color starts being introduced - You can customize this value until the noise level is acceptable to you (anything that gets painted blue is considered 'clipped', so increase the MAX to 'clip' more of the noise).

Because Exposure Assist is ultimately a guide, setting these ranges is for keeping us aware of issues as soon as they show up. In this case if we see a deep blue on someone's face, we'll need to increase exposure or the footage will be noisy.

Next we can add a small 'warning zone' next to our 'clipping zone' just like with the highlights:

19 21 BACK

This is what our scale looks like with the upper and lower ranges applied:

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Here is what a shot looks like when we're employing the new exposure scale. The colors reveal precisely which areas are recoverable and which are lost.

Red areas are clipped highlights, blue areas are noisy/clipped shadows.

Exterior view of a snowy outdoor scene with parked cars and a person walking, no visible text or symbols

You may continue to add colors to the scale, for example a midpoint to represent skin tones or an 18% grey card/chart.

Exposure Assist - Settings

Access Exposure Assist's settings menu by navigating right or pressing the right arrow when the Waveform is highlighted.

On

ON

Toggles Exposure Assist Off/On

Style

STYLE

MAP 1

Choose from a preset exposure assist scale or start with a generic map that you can customize.

Edit

EDIT

Customize the exposure scale to set any brightness value to a color of your choosing. It's useful! Try it out!

Ignore Look

IGNORE LOOK

Allows Exposure Assist to work on the signal directly from the camera even if you have a Look (3D LUT) applied which would otherwise affect the results on the scale. Uncheck if you wish to monitor exposure values AFTER a look has been applied to see what effect it may bring to the final image.

We recommend leaving this on for most shooting scenarios unless you are baking a LUT into your footage on set and do not intend to color grade in post.

Show IRE Guide

SHOW IRE GUIDE

Display a visual 'legend' to help make sense of the colors that correspond to brightness values.

Guide Location

GUIDE LOCATION

Set the location of the IRE guide to a spot of your choosing.

Intensity

INTENSITY

100

Dial in the intensity of Exposure Assist to make its effect more subtle, allowing an easier view of the original image. Dialing back the Intensity will also decrease Exposure Assist's greyscale influence, bringing saturation back into your image.

Zebra

Zebra

Snow-covered park scene with a wooden bench and calm water reflecting trees (no text or symbols visible)

Similar to Exposure Assist but a bit simpler to use, the Zebra tool helps you expose your image properly by displaying a stripe pattern over a specific brightness (IRE, value) range on your image. This is useful for essentially setting exposure 'boundaries' typically for highlights but you can add one for shadows as well; as soon as a value hits the range you specify, a zebra pattern is displayed on that portion of the image to warn you of over-or-underexposure.

Zebra - Stats

EASE OF USE

SmallHD User Manual

The Zebra tool is arguably the easiest exposure tool to use- just set the brightness range where you want the Zebra tool to act and it will paint itself over that portion of the image, acting as a warning. See the Quick-Start below to get set up!

SPEED

If set to the proper range, In many cases using the Zebra tool is as fast as rolling the iris until you don't see -- or see the appropriate amount of -- zebra stripes.

UTILITY

You can add up to two (2) Zebra tools simultaneously, letting you cover the highlights and shadows, for example. For deeper custom mapping functionality, have a look at Exposure Assist.

If you would rather look at a graph to exposure your image than to have it 'painted over', have a look at the Waveform.

IMAGE INTEGRITY

Because the Zebra tool acts on only one brightness range at a time (maximum of 2 instances of Zebra allowed simultaneously) AND it doesn't desaturate the image like Exposure Assist it will mean the image is largely clean & free of distractions apart from the activated areas. Zebra is a great 'low-profile' exposure aid because of this.

If the zebra pattern effect is still too distracting for your other on-set tasks, try creating a new page specifically for it so that you can flip back and forth for a quick exposure spot-check when needed.

Zebra - Quick Start

In this section we will add a Zebra to a page and customize it to use as a functional exposure aid.

Here we have a shot that is overexposed; we can use the Zebra tool to determine what we need to do to compensate for it and by how much.

Winter scene with a snow-covered bench, a calm lake, and bare trees; red arrows indicate direction of movement or change (no text or symbols)

From any page, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up 'Add New Tool'

+ ADD NEW TOOL >

Navigate to Expose > Zebra and select the '+' to add it to the current page.

EXPOSE EXPOSURE ASSIST ZEBRA COLOR PICKER ZEBRA Warn when reaching a brightness value of your choosing - great for matching exposure across shots & cameras.

We don't see any effect yet because the Zebra tool only activates by default on 100% brightness and above (confusingly, luma values can reach below 0% and above 100%).

Snow-covered park scene with a bench and bare trees reflected in the water (no text or symbols visible)

Because our camera places its overexposure limit below 100% or 100 IRE (quite common when shooting in log/flat gammas) we need to adjust the minimum IRE until the Zebra is activated.

ZEBRA >

You can edit the settings by navigating right (tap the arrow on touchscreen) when 'Zebra' is highlighted.

MIN IRE 100

Now decrease the 'MIN IRE' setting until you can see a zebra pattern being painted over the brightest portion of your image.

This adjustment will vary between cameras/gammas.

ZEBRA HDMI ON MIN IRE 99 MAX IRE 109 COLOR IGNORE LOOK -7 99 10

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The zebra pattern is now informing us the exact area on our image that the camera clips highlights; this marks the 'top end' of our dynamic range. From now on if we see a zebra pattern, we know for sure that the shot is being overexposed in that portion of the frame.

Bright objects, lights, sun often need to be overexposed and will display a zebra pattern in these cases.

If you wish to make the Zebra pattern more visible (purely cosmetic) you can change the color of the highlighted area. I have changed mine to red to make a very distinct overexposure warning area.

ZEBRA HDMI ON MIN IRE 99 MAX IRE 109 COLOR IGNORE LOOK

At this stage we can roll exposure down, add an ND filter, decrease ISO or increase shutter speed to darken the image until the zebra pattern is no longer visible to get highlight detail back.

Winter landscape with a snow-covered bench, bare trees, and a red banner in the background (no text or symbols)

Overexposed

Scenic outdoor park scene with a bench and tree reflected in water, no visible text or symbols

Normal exposure

At this point you may wish to add a second Zebra tool and set its range to shadow areas to act as exposure 'boundaries' to help maximize dynamic range.

ZEBRA >

Here we place the MIN IRE at its lowest possible setting then set the MAX IRE to 0 and increase if necessary until pitch-black shadow areas activate the filter.

Feel free to place a lens cap on your camera to gauge what it considers pitch black.

ZEBRA ON MIN IRE -7 MAX IRE 0 COLOR

Overexposed Normal exposure Underexposed

Now we have a page configured to warn us when we are overexposing and when underexposing our footage. Anything in these areas will be clipped so you can now adjust for these limits consistently and precisely.

Because the Zebra tool doesn't activate on parts of the image outside the specified ranges, it combines well with other tools such as a Focus Assist or Frame Guides without the screen becoming too cluttered.

Zebra - Settings

Access Zebra tool settings menu by navigating right or pressing the right arrow when Zebra is highlighted in the tool list.

On

ON

Toggles Zebra Off/On

Min IRE

MIN IRE

100

Sets the minimum IRE (brightness value) that will activate the Zebra functionality.

Max IRE

MAX IRE

109

Sets the maximum IRE (brightness value) that will activate the Zebra functionality.

Color

COLOR

Choose the background color of the zebra pattern - adjust for visibility in difficult viewing conditions such as outdoors or on a jib/gimbal.

Ignore Look

IGNORE LOOK

When using a Look (3D LUT) file, you may want to enable this feature which applies the zebra tool to the original picture coming into the monitor and ignores the applied 3D LUT which would alter the points at which the tool would activate. This is important because it allows you to adjust for the original shot, giving you the most flexibility in post.

We recommend keeping this option activated unless you plan to apply a Look/3D LUT directly to your footage in post without any additional adjustments before exporting.

Color Picker

Color Picker

Y: 13% R: 52% x: 0.640 Cb: 43% G: 4% y: 0.330 Cr: 75% B: 0% Y: 0.004

Color Picker samples color/value information from a single pixel to give a precise readout of a specific location. Great for matching multiple cameras or getting consistent exposure in changeable lighting conditions by sampling from a color chart or an actor/subject's face.

Color Picker - Stats

EASE OF USE

The Color Picker is easily placed anywhere on the image using the joystick or tapping on the touchscreen. Making judgements based on the data will depend on the user's preference.

An example use case for the color picker is placing the sampler on a mid grey card before every take during changing weather conditions. Roll exposure to keep the values matched for consistent exposure throughout the day.

SPEED

Speed is not where the Color Picker shines for setting exposure if you need to keep an eye on several areas simultaneously - for the fastest exposure tools we recommend Zebra, Exposure Assist or the Waveform if you prefer a scope.

UTILITY

The Color Picker serves exposure decisions that can be made from a single point such as a human face or a color chip on a test chart. To gauge a slightly wider area, have a look at the Spot Meter function of the Waveform.

IMAGE INTEGRITY

The Color Picker displays only a crosshair and a popup containing some information on the pixel that's being highlighted so it keeps a relatively low profile, allowing other imaging decisions to be made without too much on-screen distraction.

Color Picker - Quick Start

In this section we will add a Color Picker to a page and use it to set exposure in differing lighting conditions using a calibration chart.

From any page with a video feed, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up 'Add New Tool'.

+ ADD NEW TOOL >

Navigate to Expose > Color Picker and select to add it to the current page.

EXPOSE EXPOSURE ASSIST ZEBRA COLOR PICKER COLOR PICKER Show raw pixel values from the video.

A stats window and crosshair populate the window; if we move the joystick or tap the screen we can change the point currently being sampled.

Y: 32% R: 45% x: 0.488 Cb: 40% G: 30% y: 0.413 Cr: 58% B: 15% Y: 0.014

The Color Picker is unique in that it doesn't remain active when not in use, meaning when the tool is activated, moving the joystick will move the crosshair around the image and not flip through pages. To freely move between pages, disable the Color Picker.

Set the crosshair on a point on the image that you wish to get a precise reading from. In my case I will pick the middle grey chip on an X-Rite ColorChecker Video chart.

This enables us to set consistent exposure shot-to-shot, resulting in less work fixing levels in post.

Y: 51% Cb: 49% G: 51% Y: 0.341 Cr: 50% B: 49% Y: 0.175

This particular color chip has been designed to read as 'middle grey'. Look for the 'Y' (luma/brightness) percentage and roll exposure until it reads near 50%.

Changing the light setup means our exposure gets thrown out of its proper range:

Y: 71% R: 70% x: 0.319 Cb: 49% G: 71% y: 0.342 Cr: 50% B: 67% Y: 0.399

To compensate all we need to do is roll (close) the iris until we get back to the same value from before.

Y: 51% R: 51% x: 0.318 Cb: 49% G: 52% y: 0.342 Cr: 50% B: 47% Y: 0.176

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Using the same technique we can adjust for exposure under any lighting condition and arrive at a clean result that will give us consistent, gradeable footage!

Y: 51% R: 51% x: 0.313 Cb: 50% G: 52% y: 0.333 Cr: 50% B 51% Y: 0.189

Color Picker - Settings

Access Color Picker tool settings menu by navigating right or pressing the right arrow when Color Picker is highlighted in the tool list.

On

ON

Toggles Color Picker Off/On

Format

FORMAT

PERCENT, RAW

Choose how you wish to display brightness ranges - via percentage or raw image value which will change depending on bit depth (8-bit is 0-255, 10-bit is 0-1023, etc).

Location

LOCATION

Set the location of the on-screen display to a spot of your choosing for best readability or to make room for the crosshair itself.

Color

COLOR

Adjusts the color of the crosshair for easier viewability.

Joy Speed

JOY SPEED

5

SmallHD User Manual

Adjusts the speed at which the color picker crosshair will glide across the screen when moved with a joystick.

Tools - Scopes

Histogram

Histogram

Scenic lakeside view with trees and a reflective water, no visible text or symbols

The Histogram is a brightness graph - left side is darker values, right side brighter. Use it to judge the overall balance of exposure in your image.

Histogram - Stats

EASE OF USE

Determining where your exposure is balanced is simple with the Histogram- if a 'lump' is shifting more to the left, more of your image is in shadow, if a 'lump' is towards the right, your image is largely in highlight.

SPEED

One quick glance of the Histogram is enough to determine the overall exposure balance of your image -- not fine details about it but a general gauge of where most of your image is 'weighted'.

UTILITY

Beyond determining exposure balance, the Histogram is outclassed in utility by the other exposure aids that are more suitable for pinpointing specific issues on the image. For the most versatile scope for most setups, have a look at the Waveform.

IMAGE INTEGRITY

The Histogram is a good low-profile scope as it doesn't generally lose any utility by being scaled down and mostly out of the way.

Histogram - Quick Start

In this section we will add a Histogram to a page and use it to set exposure.

From any page with a feed, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up 'Add New Tool'

+ ADD NEW TOOL >

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Navigate to Scopes > Histogram and select the '+' to add it to the current page.

SCOPES HISTOGRAM WAVEFORM VECTORSCOPE HISTOGRAM Display a brightness graph - left side is darker values, right side brighter. Great overall way to judge exposure 'by the numbers'.

A graph appears in the top-right of the image.

Close-up of a white, textured surface with a red arrow pointing to a dark, blurred background (no text or symbols)

The overall 'weight' of the image data is positioned towards the left of the graph; this is telling us we have a lot more shadow areas than highlight areas.

HISTOGRAM >

Since this is a daytime shot with relatively even light (no super-bright objects) we can roll exposure to better balance the 'lump' of the graph toward the center.

Fresh water flowing through a forested stream with tree trunks and rocks, no visible text or symbols

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There are no 'spikes' toward the far-left or far-right of the graph, meaning everything in our shot is within a usable exposure range and as a result no clipping is occurring.

Let's edit how the graph appears by navigating right or tapping the arrow when 'Histogram' is highlighted.

HISTOGRAM >

For a bit more useful info you can navigate to 'STYLE' and set from LUMA to RGB to get access to color information in addition to luma/value.

HISTOGRAM STYLE RGB FULL SCREEN WIDTH 25 HEIGHT 25 LOCATION OPACITY 50 IGNORE LOOK LUMA RGB

Just as with Waveform, using RGB mode lets you see the individual luma values of red, green and blue that make up your image - If you see a distinct separation of colors on the graph you will notice more colorization/saturation.

To adjust the position of the Histogram to arrange with other tools or for better general visibility, alter the LOCATION and use the joystick or tap around the screen to place the graph.

HISTOGRAM ON STYLE RGB FULL SCREEN WIDTH 25 HEIGHT 25 LOCATION OPACITY 50 IGNORE LOOK

We can also adjust the size of the graph any way we wish (or use FULL SCREEN to dedicate an entire page to the feature)

HISTOGRAM HDMI ON STYLE RGB FULL SCREEN WIDTH 50 HEIGHT 25 LOCATION OPACITY 50 IGNORE LOOK 25 50 10

With the addition of RGB data, we can tell that our image has a warm cast toward the brighter end (yellow area) and a cooler cast in the shadows (blue area).

Cameras which have an 'auto exposure' will often use an internal histogram as their guide, meaning it will center the 'weight' on the graph as best as possible just as we are doing here manually.

Because the Histogram does not know the context of your shot it can sometimes be tricky to use for exposure balance. For example a brightly lit snow scene will weigh heavily on the right but if we roll exposure to center the 'lump', the whole scene will then be too dark, because brightly lit snow should appear brightly lit. Conversely if you are shooting a subject under a spotlight but against a dark background, the Histogram may appear as if you have an underexposed image if it's reacting to the dark background. For these cases we recommend the Waveform, Exposure Assist or Zebra as they can report issues from discrete portions of the image.

Histogram - Settings

Access Histogram tool settings menu by navigating right or pressing the right arrow when Histogram is highlighted in the tool list.

On

ON

Toggles Histogram Off/On

Style

STYLE

RGB, LUMA

Pick your flavor of Histogram- LUMA displays a brightness/luma plot only while RGB graphs red, green and blue values individually for a look at the chromacity of the image.

Full Screen

FULL SCREEN

Displays the histogram in a full-screen view, which is useful when viewing from a distance or if using multiple monitors where another can be displaying the image itself.

Width

WIDTH

25

Scales the Histogram horizontally to help with rearranging your workspace.

Height

HEIGHT

25

Scales the Histogram vertically.

Location

LOCATION

Set the location of the Histogram to a spot of your choosing - useful when placing multiple tools/scopes on screen.

Opacity

OPACITY

50

Adjusts the transparency of the black background behind the Histogram for readability. Boosting Intensity helps to compensate for a lower Opacity.

Ignore Look

IGNORE LOOK

Because monitoring with a Look (3D LUT) alters the image and therefore its exposure, it can be useful to ignore its effects on exposure tools. This means you can monitor with any graded Look while using the Histogram to set up your camera to be exposed properly for any other grading possibilities in post because it's working off the camera's original ungraded image.

We recommend leaving this on for most shooting scenarios unless you are baking a LUT into your footage on set and do not intend to color grade in post.

Waveform

WAVEFORM

Composite image showing a German Shepherd dog lying on grass, a close-up of the dog resting on grass, and an ice cube with a logo (no readable text or symbols)

The Waveform is generally considered the most robust exposure tool because it plots your image's luminance (brightness) – and chrominance if using RGB mode – to a graph but unlike the Histogram, it physically matches the screen from left-to-right.

*New firmware 3.0 feature - Waveform now has a 'spot meter' function for a detailed look at specific areas of your shot!

1. Stats

Although SmallHD provides many available tools to help with setting proper exposure, most of the decision will be down to what works for you. Use this section if you need help deciding where to start.

EASE OF USE

The Waveform is an extremely comprehensive exposure tool but when needing to understand your exposure levels from a quick glance, Exposure Assist or Zebra may be better options.

SPEED

Once you get comfortable with how the Waveform works you can quickly reach optimal exposure with it by balancing exposure between the top and bottom of the graph to make sure highlights and shadows aren't being clipped too harshly. If they are, perhaps adding some light into shadow areas or diffusing/filtering highlights can help compensate.

Zebra is generally considered the simplest (and often fastest) way to gauge exposure at the expense of customizability- if you don't wish to be distracted with the extra information a Waveform provides, give it a try!

UTILITY

Waveform is often considered the best exposure tool because it allows very precise measurement of all aspects of the image's luma (brightness) and chroma (color) by setting the 'style' to RGB.

IMAGE INTEGRITY

Because the Waveform gains the most benefit when using the full width of the screen (so that it matches the image horizontally) it might consume more of your image than you are comfortable with.

Try the 'Zebra' tool for an exposure aid that consumes a minimal portion of your image.

2. Waveform - Quick-Start

To set exposure with the Waveform, first add it to a page.

From any page, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up 'Add New Tool'

+ ADD NEW TOOL >

Press right on the joystick or tap the right arrow next to 'ADD NEW TOOL' and navigate to Scopes > Waveform and select to add it to the current page.

SCOPES HISTOGRAM WAVEFORM VECTORSCOPE WAVEFORM

Once added you can edit the settings by navigating right when 'Waveform' is highlighted.

WAVEFORM >

Select 'Style' and switch from LUMA to RGB - this will let you observe each Red, Green and Blue value simultaneously - a unique benefit of the Waveform.

WAVEFORM HDMI ON IGNORE LOOK STYLE RGB LAYOUT > LEGEND LUMA RGB PARADE

Back out of the Edit Tool menu to observe the waveform in action and to accurately expose your footage.

The Waveform 'flattens' at the top when highlights are being blown or 'clipped' - this will result in footage that is a solid 'block' of color without the ability to manipulate it meaningfully in post production.

Composite image showing a person in a window, red arrows pointing to features, and a 3D thermal or electrocardiogram (likely electrocardiogram) with color gradients from 0 to 100 on the bottom panel.

Rolling exposure downwards, the lines 'un-flatten' and much more of the window can now be manipulated in color grading while some areas remain overexposed.

Medical imaging comparison showing a child near a window with red and green arrows pointing to features, alongside a 3D ultrasound image with color-coded regions.

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If we keep rolling exposure down (closing the aperture) we will continue seeing more 'into' the brighter details at the expense of shadow details which become 'crushed' or 'clipped' and effectively lost similar to overexposure.

The key to finding a healthy exposure relies on a graceful balance between clipped highlights (top of graph) and crushed/noisy shadows (bottom of graph).

Interior view of a room with a person looking up at a window and overlaid with a color-coded ultrasound or electrocardiogram (no text or symbols visible)

The difference between the darkest and the brightest areas that a camera can effectively see detail is known as its dynamic range - this is why high dynamic range is a highly sought after feature among cameras; you are able to capture and therefore manipulate more of your image.

As mentioned before, because we're looking at an RGB Waveform we can can use it to make color decisions in addition to luminance.

If a pure white or pure gray element occupies part of your scene, you can white balance with the waveform.

Diagram showing a multi-level color-coded signal or waveform with labeled axes (100, 25, 100) and marked regions, including symbols for red X and green checkmark.

Notice how adjusting the white balance setting on the camera shifts the RGB 'bands' - when lined up they turn white, indicating a proper white balance setting.

3. Waveform Settings

Access the Waveform's settings menu by navigating right or pressing the right arrow when the Waveform is highlighted.

On/Off

ON

Toggles the Waveform On/Off.

Ignore Look

IGNORE LOOK

SmallHD User Manual

Allows you to apply a Look (3D LUT) to your footage while monitoring a waveform that is not affected by the Look. This lets you make exposure decisions based on the signal coming from the monitor for ideal flexibility in post-production.

We recommend leaving this on for most shooting scenarios so that the waveform applies to the footage being recorded instead of shifting around while adding or adjusting a 3D LUT.

Style

STYLE

RGB, LUMA, PARADE

LUMA RGB PARADE

Pick your flavor of Waveform- LUMA displays a brightness/luma plot only while RGB graphs each primary color on top of one another. RGB PARADE physically separates the Red, Blue and Green channels into discrete sections from left to right so they can be viewed easily in isolation.

Layout

LAYOUT

Set the positioning, scale and visibility of the Waveform.

Full Screen

FULL SCREEN

Displays the waveform in a full-screen view, useful when viewing from a distance or if using multiple monitors where another can be displaying the image itself.

Width

WIDTH

100

Scales the Waveform horizontally.

We recommend leaving this at 100 (or set to the same width as your image) to gain the benefit if the graph matching up evenly with your image from left-to-right.

Height

HEIGHT

50

Scales the Waveform vertically.

Location

LOCATION

Set the location of the Waveform to a spot of your choosing - useful when placing multiple tools/scopes on screen.

Intensity

INTENSITY

5

Adjusts the brightness of the waveform graph (the plotted portion) - increase if the graph appears too faint.

Opacity

OPACITY

100

Adjusts the transparency of the black background behind the Waveform.

For better visibility, boost Intensity to compensate for a lower Opacity if desired.

Spot Meter

SPOT METER

Brings up a small, moveable 'window' you can place on the image that highlights the portion of the Waveform it corresponds to. Useful for getting very specific exposure information from a specific part of the image such as skin tones, hot spots or calibration charts.

Enabled

ENABLED

Toggles visibility of the Spot Meter.

Width

WIDTH

10

Adjusts the width of the Spot Meter.

Height

HEIGHT

10

Scales the height of the Spot Meter.

Spot Location

SPOT LOCATION

Set the location of the Spot Meter to an area of your choosing.

Legend

LEGEND

Places a guide onto the Waveform graph listing numeric IRE (brightness) values for measuring levels.

Overlaid

OVERLAID

Toggles visibility of the legend on/off.

Num Labels

NUM LABELS 5

NUM LABELS 5

De-clutter your waveform by decreasing its number of labels or increase this for more

Legend Color

LEGEND COLOR

Change the legend color if in need of extra readability of IRE values.

Line Color

LINE COLOR

Change the line color of the graph to more clearly see when your values are reaching a specific level.

LINE OPACITY 10

Adjusts the opacity of the graph lines to make them stand out - or invisible to improve graph visibility.

LINE THICKNESS 1

LINE THICKNESS 1

LINE THICKNESS 1

LINE THICKNESS 1

LINE THICKNESS 1

Adjusts the thickness of the graph lines for readability.

Vectorscope

Vectorscope

Side profile of a person using a camera with a lens, against a blurred natural background (no visible text or symbols)

Though generally not considered as 'mission critical' during shooting as exposure scopes such as Waveform & Histogram, the Vectorscope plots the chromacity, or the hue + saturation of your image onto a color wheel so you can help gauge complimentary color, ensure skin tones are being colorized properly, to visualize how overall scene color is being placed, and where potential adjustments may need to be made in general.

Vectorscope - Quick Start

In this section we will add a Vectorscope to a page and use it to light a scene with complimentary colors.

From any page with a feed, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up 'Add New Tool'.

+ ADD NEW TOOL >

Navigate to Scopes > Vectorscope and select the '+' to add it to the current page.

SCOPES HISTOGRAM WAVEFORM VECTORSCOPE VECTORSCOPE

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A Vectorscope appears at the bottom of the image. The 'blob' is largely contained in the center of the graticule/crosshairs which means the colors of the current image are not very saturated (which is especially true as this footage is using log-based gamma).

The Vectorscope represents saturation as distance from the center of the circle, and hue as the angle around it.

Red Magenta Yellow Green Cyan Blue

If we apply a LUT to this page, the Vectorscope reacts by expanding its plotted area. The scope confirms that we are viewing a more heavily saturated image after applying the look.

no LUT LUT applied

The Vectorscope uses the same layout as a color wheel and therefore principles of color theory apply - for example we can achieve complimentary colors by ensuring our scene plots to the graph on exactly opposing sides. Perhaps the most common example of this is the famous/infamous 'teal/orange' look popularized in Hollywood where skin is orange and nearly everything else gets colorized as teal.

VECTORSCOPE >

We can edit some settings by navigating right or tapping the right arrow when 'Vectorscope' is highlighted in the toolbar.

VECTORSCOPE HDMI ON SIZE 60 LOCATION OPACITY 100 SHOW SKINTONE 20 60 60

You can adjust the SIZE of the graph for better visibility. At this stage feel free to use Size & Position or Crop & Scale to arrange the image and scope so that they don't overlap.

SmallHD User Manual

Next let's enable SHOW SKINTONE - this provides a line on the graph for where to keep skintone hues for the most natural result under neutral lighting.

VECTORSCOPE HDMI ON SIZE 60 LOCATION OPACITY 100 SHOW SKINTONE ✓

Because the entire image is being plotted to the graph all at once, we can check the status of individual areas by using Pixel Zoom in combination with the Vectorscope for spot meter functionality!

Press up on the joystick or pinch-to-zoom on touchscreens while the scope is activated to see its effect.

no zoom 2x 8x

Zooming into an area consisting of only skin tones reveals the exact hue in which they plot - the result is slightly toward the yellow side - this is the result of a golden reflector which was used to bounce light onto the face. If we had used a silver reflector, the facial tones would rest precisely on the skin tone line.

Vectorscope - Settings

Access Vectorscope tool settings menu by navigating right or pressing the right arrow when Vectorscope is highlighted in the tool list.

On

ON

Size

SIZE

(20-60)

Adjust the size of the Vectorscope for best viewability.

Location

LOCATION

Arrange the Vectorscope on-screen using various pre-set locations.

Opacity

OPACITY

(0-100)

Set the transparency/opacity of the Vectorscope graticule/graph.

Show Skintone

SHOW SKINTONE

SmallHD User Manual

Displays a skin-tone line directly on the Vectorscope to indicate where to place skin color during lighting to achieve a neutral, natural result.

Tools - Focusing

Focusing Overview

Close-up portrait of a man with short hair, wearing a red shirt (no visible text or symbols)

Manually focusing a camera with accuracy can be difficult, thankless, and if unchecked can lead to a surprise of the worst kind in post-production. Use SmallHD's industry-leading focusing toolset to help achieve razor-sharp focus every time and to free you up for other on-set tasks.

Pixel Zoom

Pixel Zoom

Pixel Zoom lets you quickly 'push in' to your image to make careful judgements over any details and to check for accurate focus before rolling. Because you're seeing the actual image up close you can be extra confident making decisions using this tool.

no zoom 2x 8x

Pixel zoom is unique in that it isn't added to a page like other tools but is accessible from any time by pushing up on the joystick or using pinch-to-zoom on touchscreen monitors.

Focus Assist

Focus Assist

Focus Assist is a filter that looks at your image for areas of dense contrast and highlights those areas with a color of your choosing. This represents the 'in-focus' portion of your image which can be seen clearly in a wide variety of viewing conditions.

Black-and-white photo of various electronic devices including thermos, batteries, and a camera on a desk (no visible text or symbols)

If you need the fastest, most apparent view of what's in focus, for example when shooting with a gimbal where you can't get a close view of the screen, Focus Assist is a great option.

Peaking

Peaking

Peaking is essentially the 'sharpness' filter turned all the way up -- meaning in-focus edges highlight similarly to Focus Assist, but it doesn't alter the image as drastically which can be helpful when used in combination with other tools.

Black-and-white photo of a professional setting with multiple cameras and a handheld device on a desk (no visible text or symbols)

If you need to manage several aspects of your image at once while still focusing, Peaking may be the correct tool for the job since it doesn't mess around too much with the integrity of the original image.

Focus Assist

Focus Assist

Black-and-white photo of various electronic devices including thermos, batteries, and a pen on a desk (no visible text or symbols)

Paints a highlight around in-focus edges, enabling very fast and accurate focusing on-the-fly without needing any additional tools.

Focus Assist - Stats

EASE OF USE

If configured properly, Focus Assist makes finding your focus point extremely easy- simply roll focus until your subject is displaying bright edge highlights.

SPEED

Focus Assist is the fastest method to find your focus point because of its pronounced effect on in-focus edges.

UTILITY

Focus Assist is versatile and accurate, only at a slight disadvantage to Pixel Zoom in its overall utility since it doesn't allow for as much direct scrutiny of the underlying image, but at the advantage of speedy usage.

IMAGE INTEGRITY

Depending on how it is set up, Focus Assist generally has a pronounced enough effect on the image that it tends to require its own page to not confuse readings with another feature or other aspects of the image. If you wish to, for example be able to focus and expose your image on the same page with minimal overlays, perhaps try a combination of Peaking and Zebra.

Focus Assist - Quick Start

Focus Assist benefits from being configured for each camera due to differences in noise levels which can affect readings and exhibit false positives. Let's set it up!

From any page, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up 'Add New Tool'

+ ADD NEW TOOL >

Navigate to Focus > Focus Assist and select to add it to the current page.

FOCUS FOCUS ASSIST + PEAKING FOCUS ASSIST Creates a bright highlight on in-focus subjects, highly recommended especially when focusing 'live' on the fly.

Once added you can edit the settings by navigating right or tapping the right arrow when 'Focus Assist' is highlighted.

FOCUS ASSIST >

The default sensitivity is usually a good starting point but if you are not seeing enough edge highlighting, give this value a boost.

FOCUS ASSIST HDMI ON COLOR SENSITIVITY 5 PEAK THRESH 0 B&W BACKGROUND BRIGHTNESS 0 CONTRAST 0 1 5 10

Notice how we are picking up many edges that are not in focus in addition to the areas that are in focus. Increase the next slider labeled 'Peak Thresh' to help eliminate the false positives.

FOCUS ASSIST HDMI ON COLOR SENSITIVITY 5 PEAK THRESH 25 B&W BACKGROUND BRIGHTNESS 0 CONTRAST 0 0 25 10

Now we are getting a much more isolated area of focus with this particular setup.

A good rule-of-thumb for sensitivity/threshold is to adjust until image noise is just out of range of affecting the filter drastically. Some false positives will almost always be present and proper usage is generally about looking at the 'center of mass' of the colorized area as the focus distance.

You can check 'B&W Background' to make the colorizing effect stand out more if viewability is compromised.

//Gif: B&W Background Off > Exit tool edit

Accurately rack focusing on-the-fly is now made vastly less tricky by way of Focus Assist!

Focus Assist - Settings

On

ON

Enable/Disables Focus Assist.

Color

COLOR

Choose the edge highlight color of the Focus Assist- this can be useful to modify if the current color isn't visible enough against your footage. If this is still an issue after adjusting color, try lowering the Brightness and/or Contrast

Sensitivity

SENSITIVITY

5

Sensitivity adjusts the intensity of Focus Assist - a low number causes a faint edge highlight, high numbers cause many more edges to be detected.

Peak Threshold (Peak Thresh)

PEAK THRESH

0

Peak Threshold is like a 'confidence' slider, the higher the Peak Threshold, the more confident Focus Assist needs to be about an area to paint it as 'in-focus'. Increase this setting to taste after increasing Sensitivity for best results.

B&W Background

B&W BACKGROUND

Makes the underlying image monochrome so that the highlight color is more visible.

Brightness/Contrast

BRIGHTNESS

0

CONTRAST

0

Adjust the brightness/contrast of the image to feed Focus Assist with an adequate (ie not a flat log signal) source, translating into a clearer view of what is in focus.

Any active exposure tools will respond to changes in brightness and contrast made here unless "Ignore Look" has been applied on each exposure tool - we recommend leaving these

settings checked so that you are making exposure judgements off your original unmanipulated footage.

Peaking

Peaking

Peaking essentially mimics an exaggerated 'sharpening' filter like you may find on a consumer TV - this effectively increases contrast on in-focus portions of your image while retaining full color unlike Focus Assist. Because of its relatively benign effect on the image this makes it great to use in combination with other features.

Peaking - Stats

EASE OF USE

Focusing with Peaking is simple- just look at where edges are being highlighted more drastically than others and this gives an indication of where your focus is placed.

SPEED

Apart from the effect not being as visible as with Focus Assist, getting focus with Peaking can be done very quickly if within a clear enough view of your monitor.

UTILITY

Because Peaking doesn't have an extremely pronounced overall effect, critical applications where you may not have as clear a view of the monitor may benefit when using Pixel Zoom or Focus Assist.

IMAGE INTEGRITY

Because it only enhances edges to a certain degree and doesn't otherwise mess with the image, Peaking is very useful in combination with other tools and scopes.

Peaking - Quick Start

The main benefit of using Peaking to focus your shot is that due to its relatively low impact on the image, we can use multiple tools along with it on a single page. in this example we'll add Peaking to a page that already has Frame Guides, a Look (3D LUT) file and the Zebra tool applied.

From any page, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up 'Add New Tool' and navigate to Focus > Peaking and select to add it to the current page.

+ ADD NEW TOOL >

Once added you can edit the settings by navigating right when 'Peaking' is highlighted.

To make the effect more visible on footage, increase the intensity slider.

Press the Back button to get to a full screen view of your footage.

You can look at the white 'haloing' appearing around in-focus edges to determine where your focus plane is. Pointing the camera at the ground, you can very clearly what area is in focus.

For tricky shots where you need to focus on a subject as they move toward or away from the camera, try using the ground as a reference point before shooting to get a feel for moving the lens, how far/how fast to turn etc.

SmallHD User Manual

If you want a similar but more pronounced effect with which to focus your shot, try Focus Assist

Peaking - Settings

On

ON

Enables/disables the Peaking tool.

Intensity

INTENSITY

5

Adjust the opacity of the edge highlighting effect - increase for a more visible 'halo' with which to focus.

Brightness/Contrast

BRIGHTNESS

0

CONTRAST

0

Adjust the brightness/contrast of the image to feed the Peaking filter with an adequate (ie not a flat log signal) source, translating into a clearer view of what is in focus.

Any active exposure tools will respond to changes in brightness and contrast made here unless "Ignore Look" has been applied on each exposure tool - we recommend leaving these checked so that you are making exposure judgements off your original footage.

Pixel Zoom

Black-and-white photo of bare tree branches in a forest, no visible text or symbols

Zooms directly into your image on the monitor to get you an exact idea of your focus distance and any other fine details.

Pixel Zoom - Stats

EASE OF USE

Enable Pixel Zoom by pressing up on the joystick or pinch-to-zoom/swipe up on touchscreen monitors when viewing your camera feed normally. When zoomed in, press the joystick/tap to switch to pan mode to move around the image.

SPEED

SmallHD User Manual

With Pixel Zoom it's very easy and thorough to set proper focus when you have time to do so but the other methods- Focus Assist and Peaking can often be used more quickly when added to a page to swipe to for a quick spot-check.

UTILITY

Pixel Zoom gives you a zoomed-in view of your camera's feed which means it's most likely the tool that will enable you to spot areas where you can make improvements, be it precise focus or a piece of set dressing that's not angled correctly towards the camera, a stray light stand in the corner of the shot, etc.

IMAGE INTEGRITY

As long as you have no image-altering features activated, Pixel Zoom lets you see exactly your image zoomed in, making it the best tool for 'seeing it for yourself'.

Pixel Zoom - Quick Start

In this section we'll use Pixel Zoom to set focus and enable us to spot issues with our image.

From a distance this outdoor shot looks in focus but using Pixel Zoom reveals we need to make a slight adjustment.

Snow-covered evergreen trees against a clear blue sky (no text or symbols visible)

If using a touchscreen, pinch-to-zoom to your desired level to check focus.

If using a joystick, press up to zoom in up to 8x (maximum zoom level may be adjusted in Pixel Zoom Settings).

Slightly out of focus Focused

Though a minor adjustment, this has increased the effective resolution of the entire image.

SmallHD User Manual

With 4k and 8k cameras becoming commonplace, achieving proper focus becomes even more important to properly utilize available resolution.

To pan around the image once zoomed-in, click the joystick once and then move in any direction. To pan on touchscreen monitors, drag with one finger around the image when zoomed in.

8.0X

Pixel Zoom, Focus Assist and Peaking are excellent tools to help keep your shots in focus. We recommend trying each to find which works best for your shooting style.

Pixel Zoom - Settings

Because Pixel Zoom isn't added to a page in the traditional way tools operate, its settings can be found in the Settings Menu > Interface > Pixel Zoom

Tools - Overlay

Look (3D LUT)

Look

A Look or 3D LUT is a simple but very powerful way to apply a color grade to footage. 3D LUT files are quite small, (often around 1MB) and can be produced with most any color grading software and can be saved on to an SD card for use on the monitor or at any point in post production.

3D LUTs are particularly powerful when used with SmallHD monitors - many can be applied simultaneously on several pages so visualizing color variants on set is made as easy as swiping from page to page.

Look (3D LUT) - Quick Start

In this section we'll place a downloaded look on an SD card and apply it to a page.

Using a computer, place as many Look files as you wish onto an SD card. For this example we'll be using our very own "Movie Looks" pack that you can download here for free.

smallhd_movielooks sd Macintosh HD Network Remote Disc SD Favorites Macintosh HD AirDrop Applications Desktop BPMacbookPro Documents Downloads SmallHD_MovieLook_ApocalypseThisVeryMoment.cube SmallHD_MovieLook_BBoyz2.cube SmallHD_MovieLook_BobFord.cube SmallHD_MovieLook_LifeGivingTree.cube SmallHD_MovieLook_Moonrise.cube SmallHD_MovieLook_SavingPrivateDamon.cube SmallHD_MovieLook_TheMatrices.cube

With the LUTs placed on the SD card, insert it into your monitor. From any page with a video feed, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up 'Add New Tool' and navigate to Overlay > Look.

+ ADD NEW TOOL >

OVERLAY LOOK IMAGE OVERLAY IMAGE CAPTURE AUDIO METERS SDI METADATA Apply a color-graded look (3D LUT) to your image; set up on multiple pages to quickly switch between different looks.

You will then be presented with a file browser where you can select your Look. You can see a preview before making a selection.

IMAGES Movie Looks System Volume Information MyCustomLUT.cube Walkers ...MovieLook_ApocalypseThisVeryMoment.cube SmallHD_MovieLook_BBoyz2.cube SmallHD_MovieLook_BobFord.cube SmallHD_MovieLook_LifeGivingTree.cube SmallHD_MovieLook_Moonrise.cube ...IIHD_MovieLook_SavingPrivateDamon.cube SmallHD_MovieLook_TheMatrices.cube Walkers_Day.cube Walkers_DayForNight.cube SD > Movie Looks > SmallHD_MovieLook_LifeGivingTree.cube

The Look is now applied to the page. To get the most benefit out of this feature, try applying different Looks to several pages to switch between them at any point to help inform your decisions about how to approach any given shot!

Three-panel image showing a motorcyclist riding on a rural road surrounded by trees and grass (no text or symbols visible)

Look - Settings

Access Look tool settings menu by navigating right/pressing the right arrow when Look is highlighted in the tool list.

On

ON

Toggles the Look Off/On.

Look File

LOOK FILE

My3DLUT.cube

Select this option to switch to a different Look file from an SD card or the monitor's internal memory.

Intensity

INTENSITY

100

This setting lets you scale back the effect of the Look for situations where color & value are being pushed too far. Leave this at 100% if you wish to maintain accuracy of the LUT.

0 % 50 % 100 %

For LUTs with a high default intensity, this is a great option to be able to visualize a 'toned down' version - just apply the same LUT with the same intensity in your color grading application to match the look on set!

Input Data Range

INPUT DATA RANGE

(full, legal)

If your LUT has been designed for 'legal' broadcast range (16-235 for 8-bit, 64-940 for 10-bit), use this setting so that your signal gets displayed properly. If you aren't sure what this means, leave at the 'full' setting.

Output Data Range

OUTPUT DATA RANGE

(full, legal)

This setting currently mirrors the selection of 'Input Data Range' - splitting input/output data ranges is on the roadmap for a future firmware update.

Image Overlay

Image Overlay

Pixel art of a cartoon character with red cape and green body, standing next to a small white figure against an orange background (no text or symbols)

Image Overlay places an image (taken with the Image Capture function or manually placed from a computer onto the SD card) directly on top of your footage - very useful for judging shot continuity, particularly when using the built-in 'blink' feature.

Image Overlay - Quick Start

In this section we will add an Image Overlay to a page to help us shot-match.

Having already used the Image Capture function to take a snapshot of our scene, we can now use Image Overlay to display that snapshot back on top of our footage.

From any page with a feed, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up 'Add New Tool'

ADD NEW TOOL >

Navigate to Overlay > Image Overlay and click on the '+' to add it to the current page.

OVERLAY LOOK IMAGE OVERLAY IMAGE OVERLAY Show an image file over the top of the video image. IMAGE CAPTURE AUDIO METERS SDI METADATA

By default Image Overlay displays the latest snapshot taken with Image Capture at 50% opacity.

You can edit the settings by navigating right with a joystick or tapping the right arrow on a touchscreen when 'Image Overlay' is highlighted.

IMAGE OVERLAY >

If you wish to overlay a different image, disable 'USE LATEST CAPTURE' and select 'CHOOSE IMAGE'

IMAGE OVERLAY HDMI ON OPACITY 50 BLINK SPEED 0 USE LATEST CAPURE CHOOSE IMAGE

If you wish to overlay an image from a computer, first ensure it is in .jpg format and save it anywhere to the SD card. You can select it with CHOOSE IMAGE [above]

If we then dial up BLINK SPEED the monitor will flash alternately between the live feed and the Image Capture, offering a very clear view of how to fix the shot.

IMAGE OVERLAY HDMI ON OPACITY 50 BLINK SPEED 5 USE LATEST CAPURE CHOOSE IMAGE ...AGES/SHD_IMG_0010.jpg 0 5 10

Increasing the OPACITY gives us a clearer distinction between the two images when blinking (if not set to blink, this will make the overlaid image completely opaque, covering the underlying feed)

IMAGE OVERLAY HDMI ON OPACITY 100 BLINK SPEED 5 USE LATEST CAPURE CHOOSE IMAGE ...AGES/SHD_IMG_0010.jpg 5 100 10

SmallHD User Manual

With Image Overlay blinking, we now have a straightforward means of matching the original placement of characters on screen!

Pixel art of a cartoon character with red cape and green body, standing next to a small white object on a plain surface against an orange background (no text or symbols)

Image Overlay - Settings

Access Image Overlay tool settings menu by navigating right or pressing the right arrow when Image Overlay is highlighted in the tool list.

On

ON

Toggles display of the currently selected Image Capture.

Opacity

OPACITY

(5-100)

Set the transparency/opacity of the Image Overlay.

Blink Speed

BLINK SPEED

(0-10)

Blinks the overlaid image at a speed of your choosing. Leaving this at zero disables the Blink functionality.

Use Latest Capture

USE LATEST CAPTURE

Displays the latest Image Capture automatically, even as a new one is taken.

Image Capture

Image Capture

A woman riding a motorcycle on a rural road with green landscape background (no text or symbols visible)

Image Capture takes a snapshot of the video feed being sent through SDI or HDMI (combined with a LUT if desired) and saves it to an SD card - great for shot matching (continuity) or a quick overview of the days' shots.

If using a 500/700 series monitor, the snapshot function can be quickly accessed by pressing the 'O' (capture) button on the top-right of the unit. On Production monitors press the 'CAP' button next to the joystick.

Image Capture - Quick Start

In this section we will add Image Capture to a page and set it up so that a snapshot (with a LUT) gets taken every time we press record on our camera (currently compatible with SDI cameras only) resulting in graded stills of each take from the day's footage.

First insert an SD card on which to save your images.

From any page with a feed, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up 'Add New Tool'.

+ ADD NEW TOOL >

Navigate to Overlay > Image Capture and select the '+' to add it to the current page.

OVERLAY LOOK IMAGE OVERLAY IMAGE CAPTURE Trigger an image capture. IMAGE CAPTURE IMAGE CAPTURE AUDIO METERS SDI METADATA

You will see the snapshot overlay appear indicating the monitor is ready for a snapshot.

Two people riding a motorcycle on a rural road at dusk, with red arrows pointing to the lane and grassy background (no text or symbols visible)

Click the joystick (or tap the touchscreen) to capture an image.

SD:IMAGES/SHD_IMG_0000.jpg

A flag appears at the top to inform you of where you are saving your image and its name.

Next let's enable the capture of LUTs so that we can take color-graded snapshots.

Start by pressing down on the joystick or swiping down on a touchscreen monitor to access the zoomed-out view.

HDMI - 1080p60 6:43 PM 4 + NEW PAGE

Move left until you reach the global Settings menu.

Image Capture settings are located in the far-left Settings menu since they affect the way images are captured globally across the monitor.

HDMI - 1080p60 6:43 PM SETTINGS MULTI

Navigate to Capture > Image Capture and select 'CAPTURE LUTS' to automatically apply any active Look/3D LUT to the saved image.

CALIBRATION APPEARANCE Image CAPTURE controls VOLUME IMAGE ROTATE ANAMORPHIC DSLR SCALE CAPTURE IMAGE CAPTURE IMAGE GALLERY interface CAPTURE LUTS TIMESTAMP IN FILENAME CAPTURE ON RECORD START RESET CAPTURE NUMBER: 0001 CAPTURE LOCATION SD RESET CAPTURE LOCATION Saved images will show LUTs

Flip back over to the page with Image Capture applied so that we can take a snapshot.

HDMI - 1080p60 6:43 PM 4 + NEW PAGE

Let's add a Look (3D LUT) to the page via Add Tool > Overlay > Look

OVERLAY LOOK IMAGE OVERLAY IMAGE CAPTURE AUDIO METERS SDI METADATA Apply a color-graded look (3D LUT) to your image; set up on multiple pages to quickly switch between different looks.

Next select a Look/3D LUT from an SD card or the internal memory.

If you wish to learn how to create your own Look/3D LUT in Davinci Resolve, follow our video tutorial!

Internal SD IMAGES SmallHD LUTs System Volume Information My Custom LUT.cube SD > My Custom LUT.cube

We're finally ready to take a snapshot! Select Image Capture that's already in the toolbar.

A person riding a motorcycle on a rural road beside a dirt path, with trees and open land in the background (no text or symbols visible)

A grey snapshot overlay will appear; click the joystick or tap the screen and the overlay turns green, indicating a snapshot has been taken.

Person riding a motorcycle on a rural road at sunset, with green directional arrows and no visible text or symbols.

SmallHD User Manual

To browse through your captured images on the monitor, you can access the Image Gallery back from within the global Settings menu.

CALIBRATION APPEARANCE controls VOLUME IMAGE ROTATE ANAMORPHIC DSLR SCALE IMAGE GALLERY OPEN MEDIA GALLERY capture IMAGE CAPTURE IMAGE GALLERY interface monitor settings

The default capture location is under the SD/IMAGES, so navigate to this folder by selecting the appropriate folders in the Image Gallery.

3D PHASES SHD-100_0000.jpg SHD-100_0000.jpg SHD-100_0000.jpg SHD-100_0000.jpg SHD-100_0000.jpg SHD-100_0000.jpg SHD-100_0000.jpg SHD-100_0000.jpg SHD-100_2555.jpg SHD-100_2555.jpg SHD-100_2555.jpg SHD-100_2555.jpg SHD-100_2555.jpg SHD-100_2555.jpg SHD-100_2555.jpg SHD-100_2555.jpg SHD-100 2555.jpg SHD-100 2555.jpg SHD-100 2555.jpg SHD-100 2555.jpg SHD-100 2555.jpg SHD-100 2555.jpg SHD-100 2555.jpg SHD-100 2555.jpg SHD 196_2555.jpg SHD 196_2555.jpg SHD 196_2555.jpg SHD 196_2555.jpg SHD 196_2555.jpg SHD 196_2555.jpg SHD 196_2555.jpg SHD 196_2555.jpg SHD-196_2555.jpg SHD-196_2555.jpg SHD-196_2555.jpg SHD-196_2555.jpg SHD-196_2555.jpg SHD-196_2555.jpg SHD-196_2555.jpg SHD-196_2555.JPG

Note the difference in color grade between our first capture and each additional capture due to the application of the Look/3D LUT.

SHD_IMG_0000.jpg SHD_IMG_0001.jpg SHD_IMG_0002.jpg

Select any image to display it in full screen.

Silhouette of a person riding a motorcycle on a rural road under a golden sky, surrounded by trees and fields (no text or symbols visible)

At this point you could apply any screenshot as an Image Overlay for help with continuity/shot matching or plug the SD card into a computer to backup/save/edit.

Image Capture - Settings

Image Capture Settings can be found in the global Settings Menu > Capture > Image Capture

Audio Meters

Audio Meters

Monitor up to 8 channels of audio with a built-in clip warning.

Audio Meters - Quick Start

In this section we will add Audio Meters to a page so we can keep an eye on levels.

From any page with a feed, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up 'Add New Tool' and navigate to Overlay > Audio Meters and select to add it to the current page.

+ ADD NEW TOOL >

This may be all you need at this point, but let's increase the size of the meter for better viewability. When 'Audio Meters' is highlighted, press the joystick right or tap the right arrow to edit its settings.

AUDIO METERS HDMI ON SIZE 50 CHANNELS 2 LOCATION OPACITY 100 20 50

Select 'Size' and bring it up to 100 for a full-width audio meter.

You can also increase the amount of channels being displayed if your production requires it.

If you don't wish to have Audio Meters covering your image, you can scale the image to make room with Size & Position.

Audio Meters - Settings

Access Audio Meters tool settings by navigating right or pressing the right arrow when Audio Meters is highlighted in the tool list.

On

ON

Toggles the Audio Meters Off/On

Size

SIZE

(20-100)

Adjust the size of the Audio Meters to make way for other tools or for better visibility when viewing from a distance.

Channels

CHANNELS

(2-8)

Adjust the amount of audio channels you wish to monitor (up to 8).

Location

LOCATION

Arrange the Audio Meters on-screen using various pre-set locations to make way for other tools or the image itself.

Opacity

OPACITY

(0-100)

Set the transparency/opacity of the Audio Meters.

Metadata

SDI Metadata

Displays a small information bar containing metadata information being sent over HDMI or SDI such as timecode and tally flags. Useful for ensuring the camera is recording without having to take your eyes off the monitor.

Not all cameras support outputting metadata over HDMI or SDI. Some cameras may not have metadata enabled by default. Please refer to your camera's user manual for information on supported metadata and how to enable this feature.

Metadata - Quick Start

Let's add Metadata to a page.

From any page displaying an SDI signal, click the joystick or tap the screen and select Add New Tool > Overlay > Metadata.

+ ADD NEW TOOL >

By default timecode and record tally are enabled, meaning you will be able to view your camera's specific timecode value and an indicator if the camera is currently recording.

Metadata - Settings

Access Metadata settings by pressing to the right when the tool is highlighted.

On

ON

Toggles Metadata Off/On

Timecode

TIMECODE

Enables display of the camera's timecode being sent over HDMI or SDI.

Record

RECORD

Enables display of the camera's record flag being sent over HDMI or SDI. This displays as a red rectangle around the edge of the monitor.

Location

LOCATION

Arrange the SDI Metadata on-screen using various pre-set locations to make way for other tools or the image itself.

Opacity

OPACITY

(1-10)

Set the transparency/opacity of the Metadata.

Tools - Scale

Crop & Scale

Crop & Scale

CROP & SCALE >

If you plan to crop your image, for example shooting interviews in 4K and zooming in post for the 'close up' or for cameras that don't send a fullscreen feed to the monitor, this tool lets you pre-visualize a custom crop and will automatically scale up the remaining portion to fill the page.

Crop & Scale - Quick Start

In this section we will make highly efficient use of screen space by employing Crop & Scale to preview a 2.39 cinemascope aspect ratio and a full-width Waveform with no overlapping elements or wasted space.

Snow-covered tree branches under a clear blue sky, with red arrows pointing to a green textured surface (no text or symbols)

From any page with a feed, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up 'Add New Tool'.

ADD NEW TOOL >

Navigate to Scale > Crop & Scale and select the '+' to add it to the current page.

SCALE CROP & SCALE SIZE & POSITION CROP & SCALE Crop the image to only display a portion of the active video.

Once added you can edit the settings by navigating right or tapping the right arrow when 'Crop & Scale' is highlighted.

CROP & SCALE >

Navigate to HEIGHT.

Take note of the red border - anything outside this area gets cropped when exiting the tool.

CROP & SCALE HDMI ON CENTER CROP WIDTH 100 HEIGHT 100

Decrease the HEIGHT to 75% which simulates the same cropped area as a 2.39:1 aspect ratio.

CROP & SCALE HDMI ON CENTER CROP WIDTH 100 HEIGHT 75 25 75 100

Press the Back button or tap the top-left arrow to back out of the edit menu.

Now our image is being cropped to the setting we chose. We just need to shift it upwards with Size & Position so it no longer overlaps with the Waveform.

Snow-covered tree branches against a clear blue sky, with a green laser beam in the foreground (no text or symbols visible)

Add Size & Position via Add New Tool > Scale > Size & Position.

SCALE CROP & SCALE SIZE & POSITION + SIZE & POSITION Shrink and move the image to make room for on-screen tools.

Once added, open the edit menu by tapping or pressing right on the Size & Position tool.

SIZE & POSITION >

Select LOCATION and then tap towards the top of the image or press up on the joystick.

SIZE & POSITION HDMI ON SIZE 100 LOCATION

Back out of the edit menu for a full-screen view of a 2.39 cinemascope aspect ratio accompanied by a full-width Waveform!

Crop & Scale - Settings

Access Crop & Scale tool settings menu by navigating right or pressing the right arrow when Crop & Scale is highlighted in the tool list.

On

ON

Toggles Crop & Scale Off/On.

Center Crop

CENTER CROP

If you wish to crop your image symmetrically, select this option.

Width

WIDTH

(1-100)

When 'Center Crop' is selected, this will adjust the width of the cropped area symmetrically.

Height

HEIGHT

(1-100)

SmallHD User Manual

When 'Center Crop' is selected, this will adjust the height of the cropped area from the center of the image.

Left

LEFT

(1-100)

When 'Center Crop' is unselected, this will adjust the amount of cropping being applied to the left-hand side of the image.

Right

RIGHT

(1-100)

When 'Center Crop' is unselected, this will adjust the amount of cropping being applied to the right-hand side of the image.

Top

TOP

(1-100)

When 'Center Crop' is unselected, this will adjust the amount of cropping being applied to the top of the image.

Bottom

BOTTOM

(1-100)

When 'Center Crop' is unselected, this will adjust the amount of cropping being applied to the bottom of the image.

Size & Position

Size & Position

Resize and position your image to accommodate other features you may wish to simultaneously view, such as scopes or audio meters.

Size & Position - Quick Start

In this section we will use Size & Position to help arrange the image so that a full-width Waveform will not overlap the footage, enabling a clean view of the picture and the scope on the same page.

WAVEFORM >

I have already added a Waveform to an empty page and adjusted its height from 50 down to 25 to make a bit more room for the image, but it is still covering a portion of the picture which we can address with Scale & Position.

Click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up 'Add New Tool'.

+ ADD NEW TOOL >

Navigate to Scale > Size & Position & select the '+' to add it to the current page.

SCALE CROP & SCALE SIZE & POSITION + SIZE & POSITION Shrink and move the image to make room for on-screen tools.

Once added you can edit the settings by navigating right when 'Size & Position' is highlighted.

SIZE & POSITION >

Navigate to SIZE and adjust it from 100 to 75- you will notice the image scaling from its' center point.

Because the Waveform is scaled to 25% height, the image fits perfectly when scaled to 75%.

SIZE & POSITION HDMI ON SIZE 75 LOCATION 25 75 100

Now move the image to the top of the frame by selecting LOCATION and pressing up on the joystick or tapping the top portion of the image. This leaves us with an unobstructed view of the Waveform.

SIZE & POSITION HDMI ON SIZE 75 LOCATION

Press Back or tap the left arrow at the top right hand corner to exit.

Next we edit the Waveform and scale its WIDTH to 75 to match the width of the image.

WAVEFORM HDMI ON IGNORE LOOK STYLE RGB LAYOUT FULL SCREEN WIDTH 75 HEIGHT 25 LOCATION 100 75 50 25 0 5 75 100

We now have an unobstructed view of our image and its corresponding Waveform!

Overhead view of a dense forest with tall trees and snow-covered ground, captured in a low-light field (no text or symbols visible)

At this stage you can use the LOCATION adjustment to add & arrange more tools such as a Vectorscope and Histogram if you wish.

HISTOGRAM >

Size & Position - Settings

Access Histogram tool settings menu by navigating right or pressing the right arrow when Histogram is highlighted in the tool list.

On

ON

Enables/disables the Size & Position tool.

Size

SIZE

(25-100)

Adjusts the size of the image proportionally within a page.

Location

LOCATION

After scaling the image, use this to position it where desired.

Anamorphic

Anamorphic video is a technique where an image is squeezed horizontally during the recording process. On film sets this is done to make better use of the film or sensor's vertical space using specialty lenses. It is also often seen when footage originated in HD needs to pass through SD equipment. In all cases an anamorphic de-squeeze can restore footage to its native aspect ratio, although lost resolution is not recovered. Lost horizontal resolution is generally not perceptible to human eyes; lost vertical resolution (such as from HD footage being sent through SD equipment) may be noticeable.

Anamorphic - Quick Start

Anamorphic was added as a tool in firmware version 3.5.0. Previous firmware versions had a limited Anamorphic de-squeeze function in the monitor Settings under Controls.

From any page, click the joystick or tap the screen to bring up Add New Tool.

Navigate to Scale > Anamorphic and choose Add to This Page or Add to All Pages

If the footage connected to your monitor is all coming from an anamorphic source you may want to add this tool to all pages

Anamorphic - Settings

On

Enables/Disables Anamorphic de-squeeze

Input Video

Select the aspect ratio of the video input (4:3 or 16:9), regardless of what the monitor identifies the input video as being.

The monitor will automatically attempt to determine the correct aspect ratio for the video from its resolution and any flags in the video stream. In some cases those flags are incorrect and this tool can be used to fix the video.

If you need to correct video that has been incorrectly identified as 16:9 or 4:3, this may be the only setting you need to adjust.

Desqueeze

Choose the amount to de-squeeze your input by. Choices are 1×, 1.33× (this will stretch a 4×3 video back to 16×9), 1.5×, 1.66×, 2×, or Custom.

Custom Desqueeze

Selecting Custom from the Desqueeze setting will add this additional setting. It brings up a slider allowing you to adjust your anamorphic de-squeeze by a custom value between 1.00× to 3.00×. Please note that this is an adjustment factor based off your video input, not the aspect ratio you are working in.

Firmware Updates

OS3 Software Update

Latest version overview can be found here.

Compatibility

OS3 firmware is compatible with all current SmallHD monitors (FOCUS, FOCUS OLED, FOCUS Bolt, 703 Bolt, 500 Series, 700 Series, UltraBrights, 1300 Series, 1700 Series, 2400 Series, and 3200 Series). OS3 is not compatible with legacy monitors (DP1, DP6, DP4, AC7, and DP7-PRO).

How to install OS3 firmware:

CAUTION: Make sure you do not lose power during firmware update

Download the latest firmware update

1. Click the .zip download file to extract the .bin (firmware file).
2. Drag and drop the .bin file onto your SD card - 16gb or smaller – formatted FAT or FAT32 for Windows, MS-DOS (FAT) for Mac (Select the MBR Master Boot Record option under Scheme)
3. Remove SD Card from computer or card reader attached to computer
4. Insert SD card into your SmallHD monitor
5. Turn on your monitor
6. Swipe/toggle left to the monitor's Settings Menu
7. Select "FIRMWARE" in Settings Menu and follow on-screen prompts
8. Once the firmware is installed and the on-screen prompts tell you to reboot your monitor – Hold down the power button for at least 5 seconds and then release.
9. Press the power button again to begin operating your SmallHD monitor with the new firmware installed.

Samples & Tutorials

How to use Look (3D LUT) files with your monitor

How to make a LUT

TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS

All Monitors - SmallHD - Technical - Conversion LUTs

PROBLEM

Is there a way to get the LUTs pre-installed on my SmallHD Focus monitor from the monitor to my computer? In particular the one converting the slog-3 to a rec 709. Any chance I can get that one?

SOLUTION

Unfortunately that internal conversion is not made with a LUT. We recommend this free pack of utility/conversion LUTs, though, which includes S-Log3 to Rec 709:

https://luts.iwltbap.com/free-lut-log-to-rec709-and-rec709-to-log-conversion/#freeware

We also offer a free pack of look LUTs for download here:

https://www.smallhd.com/community/gradetrade

Keywords

LUTs, conversion, Log, S-Log, S-Log2, S-Log3, Rec 709, Rec 2020, DCI P3

Firmware Software – All – Troubleshooting - LUTs not displaying correctly

PROBLEM

My Luts are not displaying correctly. They either don't work or don't act right. one even makes the picture black and white. Why are these not working? Downloaded directly from Canon

SOLUTION

These luts appear to be in a different configuration that the monitor is used to seeing. This can be solved by converting this to a 3D lut. This can be done with a free program called Davinci Resolve. The instructions are below:

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/

1. Drop the LUT file into your Davinci Resolve LUT folder; on a mac this is in:

SmallHD User Manual

(Mac HD) > Library > Application Support > Blackmagic Design > Davinci Resolve

or in Windows:

C:/ProgramData/Blackmagic Design/DaVinci Resolve/Support/LUT/

1. Select the Edit page at the bottom of the main window

2. Drag and drop a video clip from the desktop into the timeline - (any video clip will work, we will only use it to ensure the LUT actually gets applied)

3. Click on the Color page at the bottom of the main window

4. In the Node view in the upper-right, right-click the only node (01) and select LUTs > (location of your LUT from step 1) to apply the grade to the clip

5. You should see a grid icon appear at the bottom of the node indicating it has a 3D LUT applied.

6. Select the clip itself toward the middle-left of the main window (as opposed to the node at the upper-right)

7. Right-click and select 'Generate 3D LUT (CUBE)'

SmallHD User Manual

1. Save to an SD card for use in SmallHD monitors and elsewhere (ensure that the file retains a .cube extension or the LUT will not be recognized by the monitor).

Keywords

Sony, Canon, fuji, panasonic, 3d, 1d, LUT, LUTS, camera, card, sd card, profile, loading,

How to auto-calibrate your monitor