50Mbps 1080p MJPEG from Panasonic GH1

A developer who goes by the name of Hacker13 has managed to increase the encoding bit rate on the Panasonic GH1 from the base rate of 17Mbps using AVCHD to 50Mbps using MJPEG. In turn, EOSHD.com has come up with optimum settings for the GH1, and shot some spectacular footage, which I've embedded below. The 50Mbps bit rate is higher than that of the Canon 5DMkII, and because the GH1 doesn't do line skipping, it's easier for the camera to scale and encode the incoming images.

This firmware hack, and a similar one for Canon's DSLRs called Magic Lantern, illustrate that there's a lot of potential untapped capabilities in today's DSLRs. Less expensive cameras with hacked firmware can exceed the capabilities of more expensive cameras with factory firmware. Here's the footage:


Longshan's People Part II - 50Mbit GH1 MJPEG from Andrew Reid on Vimeo.