Convergent Design, who recently announced they are expanding third party SSD support for use in their Odyssey7/Q/7Q+ family 4K recorder/monitors, also recently released a new firmware update (2015.7), which added some new functionality and enabled third party support for certain models Samsung SSD drives.
The new third party SSD drives supported are Samsung 850 Pro in the following capacities - 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB. The Samsung 850 EVO 1000GB is also supported. These SSD's are generally more affordable than the proprietary Convergent Design drives, which were also recently reduced in price. In addition, all new purchases of the Odyssey7Q+ will include a 256GB Converent Design SSD in the box at no additional charge.
New features include centre extraction anamorphic de-squeeze modes for 1.33x and 2.0x crops, exposure compensation LUT's for the FS7 and new Hyper Zoom mode with up to 12x pixel zoom.
See all new features in firmware update 2015.7
NEW FEATURES - ODYSSEY7 / ODYSSEY7Q / ODYSSEY7Q+
Third-Party SSD Support Use qualified third-party SSDs in Odyssey monitor/recorders. (SSD Handle kits required to mount.)
Qualified third-party SSDs:
Samsung 850 PRO in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB & 1TB (1024GB) Samsung 850 EVO 1000GB
NOTE: Samsung SSDs draw more power than Odyssey SSDs. Convergent Design highly recommends using an AC-powered USB3 adapter or a Thunderbolt adapter when connecting Samsung SSDs to a computer.
Additional Anamorphic De-Squeeze options - Center Extraction Desqueezes and magnifies center portion of image for common anamorphic formats. Adjusted image sent to video outputs; recording unaffected.
Center Extraction modes:
Hyper Zoom Additional Pixel Zoom mode. 4,6,8,10, & 12X Hyper Zoom on a selected portion of image, displayed in the lower right corner of OLED display.
Selectable Color reference frame
Exposure Compensation LUTs Combination S-Log to REC.709 and exposure compensation for re-rating FS7 and FS700 cameras to 1000 ISO (1 stop over) or 500 ISO (2 stops over). Reduces noise and increases apparent bit depth.
Additional Preset LUTs:
Sony FS700 (Exposure Compensation) SONY_EE_SL2_L709A-1 SONY_EE_SL2_L709A-2
Sony FS7 (Exposure Compensation)
SONY_EE_SL3C_L709A-1 SONY_EE_SL3C_L709A-2
FIXES & IMPROVEMENTS
SOFTWARE UPDATES
CD Apple ProRes Transfer Utility 1.8 (PC / Mac)
CD LUT Utility 1.8 (PC / Mac)
NOTE: Updating firmware on an Odyssey monitor/recorder requires the use of an SSD. If an Odyssey monitor/recorder is currently running firmware version 5.10.100 (March 2015) or 2015.5 (May 2015) then a qualified Samsung SSD (see list above) as well as an Odyssey SSD can be used to perform the update. Samsung SSDs require the Convergent Design SSD Handle kit to mount in an Odyssey monitor/recorder. Odyssey monitor/recorders running earlier firmware versions must use an Odyssey SSD to perform the update.