THETA X Major Firmware 2.0.0 Update

[craig]

RICOH THETA X firmware “Version 2.00.0”.

Date	Version number	Overview of additional functions/fixes
Apr. 12,2023	Version 2.00.0	* The camera surface temperature at which thermal shutdown occurs has been changed. This change significantly extends the operating time of the camera.1 The camera will be hotter than before, so do not touch the camera for a long time while the high temperature caution mark2 is displayed to avoid burns.

*1: This change applies to cameras with serial numbers beginning with YR11, YR12, YR13, YR14, or YR15.
*2: High temperature caution mark

*3: Use a PD (Power Delivery) compatible USB cable to connect the camera to the power supply.
*4: There is a limit to the length of video that can be recorded per shooting. To record videos continuously, start shooting again when the video length reaches the limit.
*5: Try 360° live streaming with RICOH THETA X! l RICOH360 Blog

• The continuous operation time is a guide based on Ricoh measurement methods, and differs according to usage conditions.

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• It is now possible to turn off the top/bottom correction in the USB live streaming as well.

• The design of some of the icons on the system bar displayed at the top of the camera LCD panel has been changed.

• Bug fix

• Information for developers
  See here for changes for developers.

THETA X firmware v2.00.0 (2023.04.12)

WebAPI

• _bitrate : Update bitrate setting table
• listFiles : Update new parameter “_storage” and new entries object “_storageID”
• _maxRecordableTime : Update new 120 minutes setting only for 5.7K 2/5/10fps and 8K 2/5/10fps.
• previewFormat : Update spec
• _proxy : New Added
• _setAccessPoint : Update new option _proxy
• _listAccessPoints : Update new option _proxy

USB-API

• 0xD829 Bitrate : Update bitrate setting table
• 0xD823 MaxRecordableTime : Update new 120 minutes setting. Only for 5.7K 2/5/10fps and 8K 2/5/10fps.

Plugin

• Broadcast Intent : Update new intent com.theta360.plugin.ACTION_BLUETOOTH_ON(OFF) and com.theta360.plugin.ACTION_GPS_ON(OFF)

firmware update process

Using desktop app and USB Cable

live stream over USB cable

testing lag when camera is rotated

looks good. Using OBS on Mac for the test.

disabling top/bottom correction

use side button to put camera into live streaming mode

press photo/gear icon

toggle switch for top/bottom correction

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camera to screen latency in live stream

300ms

CPU load on M1 MacBook Air

heat test

tested 4K streaming for 3 hrs

and camera is warm, but fine.

power consumption

Plugged directly into the USB-C port of a MacBook Air M1. Measured after 22 minutes of streaming.

[biviel]

this is great, @craig , I will release my plugin update for Z1 and after I will come back to Theta X too, it may become Z2… As I measured before that cpu/gpu is 2x faster compared to Z1… and I’m wondering how wireless live streaming plugin works now after this firmware upgrade. Two scenarios may be important wireless live streaming with battery and without battery in a room temperature.

[craig]

If you take out the battery, you need to apply power delivery (PD), not the standard 5V 1.5amp from a Battery Charging (BC) 1.2 charger.

I may try a test with the THETA X as well.

[biviel]

@craig , do you know PD requirements for Theta X to run? 20w PD is enough?

[craig]

Yes, 18w should be enough. See the post below.

Control Z1 HDR, NR and ISO with USB API?

API specification theta-api-specs/theta-usb-api at main · ricohapi/theta-api-specs · GitHub HDR, Noise Reduction, DR Adjust filter settings. theta-api-specs/filter.md at main · ricohapi/theta-api-specs · GitHub ISO ISO step 1 - exposure program first set exposure program mode to manual or ISO priority. theta-api-specs/exposure_program_mode.md at main · ricohapi/theta-api-specs · GitHub ISO step 2 - exposure index then set the exposure index theta-api-specs/exposure_index.md at main · …

At 4:41 in the video below, I’m running Ethernet with the THETA X without the battery in the camera.

RICOH THETA X Ethernet - Best Ever

[biviel]

Thanks, @craig !

Giving you an update related to tests I did. I do not have yet a PD adapter, so I could test only via wifi while battery was used.

I was charging the battery during tests. I used Ricohs wireless live streaming plugin and It worked in 4k 30fps for 5 mi utes before it shut down/overheated. When I used my plugin it worked in same scenario for 25 minutes before it shut down.

I think there is a big improvement.my plugin is not yet working on Theta X, but I was able to run a limited camera preview directly without using thetax xcamera methods. I’m looking into to make my plugin compatible now with Theta X as after this firmware upgrade it may be useful, not sure yet how much effort will it take.I will also buy pd battery or adapter to test scenarios without battery.

[craig]

@biviel

When I used my plugin it worked in same scenario for 25 minutes before it shut down.

Is being able to stream for 25 minutes on the THETA X over wifi an improvement over previous firmware releases?

[biviel]

It’s definitely an improvement. Earlier there was no such a big difference between running camera preview via my plugin vs Ricohs Wireless live streaming plugin. And now I’m talking about real 30FPS in this scenario. So if I’m able to lower that to 24FPS or 25FPS it will work for more than enough (for hours, indoor, without direct sunshine), but this is a rough estimate only. So I’m happy with this new firmware upgrade. Clearly I can see there already some issues how that XCamera.jar defines SurfaceTexture, etc. it may require lot of debugging to make it work on Theta X too, including encoder, protocols support, etc. it may still be a huge amount of work. I didn’t decide yet, but I like challenges.