Alexa V3.0 Firmware

ARRI has just completed extensive testing on the new ALEXA Firmware 3.0, due to be released in early February. It includes so many new features that ARRI has decided to release a Beta version to allALEXA owners a few weeks in advance of the official release date. This will allow ARRI to receive valuable feedback on the performance of the 3.0 upgrade from its growing ALEXA install base prior to the firmware’s official release.

Here are the key features of the ALEXA 3.0 firmware.

IMAGING

• “Tropical mode” – Peltier temperature control setting for the ALEXA sensor, for use in high humidity environments

IN-CAMERA RECORDING

• ProRes playback off SxS cards in camera – viewable in the EVF and on the Monitor Output
• ProRes Dual recording to both SxS cards at the same time, for instant backup in camera
• Single frame grabs to SD card

OUTPUTS

• HD-SDI 3G 4:2:2 single link recorder output for frame rates up to 60fps
• “Variflag” frame flagging on output for off-speed recording
• Independent output options – REC709, Log-C or DCI P3 (Digital Cinema Initiative standard) can be independently selected for HD-SDI REC OUT, MON OUT and/or ProRes SxS card recording

INPUTS

• Line Level Stereo Audio input – recordable in ProRes and also embedded in the HD-SDI output

ELECTRONIC VIEWFINDER

• “Smooth Mode” – lessens visible shutter refresh judder in the viewfinder
• False Color Exposure Check – for more accurate in-viewfinder exposure checking

IMAGE PROCESSING

• EI 3200 – ALEXA’s sensitivity can now be set from EI 160 to EI 3200
• New Color Processing – Significantly improved from previous firmware, including new Log-C Wide Gamut, Log-C Film and DCI P3 color matrices.

METADATA

Metadata will be included in the HD-SDI video output, the HD-SDI ARRIRAW T-link output, in the QuickTime metadata atom and in the FCP XML file on the SxS cards. Frame grabs in the ARRIRAW and DPX formats will also include metadata.

In addition to the Firmware 3.0 release, ARRIRAW is about to go online with support from recorder manufacturers, post-production companies and the ARRIRAW partner network, all focused on deliverables in the coming weeks.

Pure Images, Pure Digital 2011