SmallHD releases PageOS 5 firmware

New tools, increased functionality, and a more streamlined, intuitive UI are all promised in SmallHD's latest free Page OS5 firmware update.

Available as a free download for any SmallHD monitor currently using a previous version of PageOS, PageOS 5 adds new software tools for each of its current monitor series alongside a newly streamlined user experience and useful updates to help users quickly navigate the expanded palette of features and functions.

Some features are available across the range, others are unit-specific, so here's the rundown.

First up, all SmallHD monitors running PageOS 5 will be the first in the industry to offer EL Zone as an intuitive means of quickly assessing exposure via a false color overlay. Developed by cinematographer Ed Lachman, ASC, EL Zone works like a full-screen light meter, by representing steps above and below 18% gray in stops, rather than IRE percentages. Sensor data from the camera provides an instant reference point, allowing for a more accurate and intuitive process that will feel completely familiar to any cinematographer.

Also, Tetrahedral LUT interpolation will also be available on all monitor series, allowing for more accurate LUT rendition when displaying HDR. Additionally, a digital horizon indicator will be available for all devices, a feature that Steadicam operators have long requested.

For SmallHD Cine and OLED 4K Production Monitors, PageOS 5 offers a new Multi-View tool—a highly configurable feature that lets users monitor up to four camera feeds at once and assign multiple scopes or software tools in a variety of customizable layouts. A Calman calibration integration for 4K Production Monitors allows users to connect a computer with a calibration probe running Portrait Displays to their 4K monitor via ethernet for auto-calibration, and then upload a calibration LUT directly into the monitor.

The firmware update will also unlock full audio capability for Cine and OLED 4K Monitors, allowing users to output sound from the monitors’ onboard speaker or headphone output. Finally, the sharpness of 1080p signals on SmallHD 4K monitors has been significantly upgraded to ensure equally accurate focus-pulling in HD or 4K.

Elsewhere, SmallHD Smart 7 Series Monitors receive PageOS 5’s new Look-Around Camera Control feature, which allows users with a camera-control license to view and adjust crucial camera-control functions anchored on every page while accessing PageOS 5 tools. Touch Function Buttons have also been added to the series, allowing users to customize their workflow shortcuts by assigning selected software tools like Focus Assist, Waveform, and more, to up to six on-screen touch buttons.

And lastly, focus pullers also benefit from PageOS 5 with the addition of advanced RT Overlays, which lets focus pullers quickly create, edit, and delete visual marks on the focus scale, display on-screen limits, and zoom the focus scale for extremely precise focal-change sequences.

SmallHD's Greg Smokler says that all of that is more than an incremental refresh of existing features and characterises it as a giant leap forward in the evolution of the SmallHD ecosystem. And there's enough there to concede he probably has a point.