Pixboom Spark Updated – Pre-Record, Browser Remote Control, and 12-Bit RAW in Development

by Alexandra ThompsonSeptember 13^th, 2026

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A year after the Spark was a crowdfunding promise on the IBC show floor, Pixboom is shipping cameras and filling in the features it originally sold on paper: 12G-SDI is live, pre-record and a conventional buffer mode have arrived, remote control runs in any web browser, and 12-bit RAW is due before the end of the year. We spoke to Dr. Honghao Huang and his colleague Lucas at the company’s IBC 2026 booth about what changed and what the roadmap looks like.

The last time we stood at this booth, the Spark was a name nobody had heard of attached to a crowdfunding campaign, which is a combination that earns healthy skepticism. That part is settled now. Dr. Huang was candid about how the year went: the team spent several months inside the factory working through production issues before anything shipped, which pushed first deliveries to May. Backer orders are still being worked through, with Pixboom’s Jing Qi telling us the remaining units should go out by October.

What the shipping firmware added

The most visible change from the prototype we saw in 2025 is on the back of the camera. Last year only HDMI was functional on the pre-production unit. The 12G-SDI output now works, carrying up to 4K 60p for monitoring, which matters because SDI is the connection most of the rental and broadcast infrastructure this camera is aimed at actually runs on.

Beyond that, the firmware has picked up a browser-based control interface, a set of new recording modes, and a reworked user interface. Dr. Huang put the update cadence at one or two releases per month, which is an unusually aggressive schedule and reflects how much of the original feature list was still outstanding at launch.

How pre-record works without a conventional buffer

The Spark’s defining architectural choice is that it streams high-speed footage directly to its Pixboom Pro Card rather than filling a RAM buffer and then dumping it, which is how traditional high-speed cameras work and why their record times are measured in seconds. That design is what makes the camera’s “unlimited” RAW recording claim possible, but it also meant the camera launched without the pre-record function that a buffer gives you for free.

That gap is now closed. The camera does carry a small RAM buffer alongside the card, up to 60GB of it, and pre-record runs as a loop inside that. Dr. Huang quoted a pre-record capacity of 14GB at open gate and the top frame rate, which works out to about 2.7 seconds. Drop the resolution or the frame rate and the available pre-roll gets proportionally longer.

Anyone who has tried to catch an unpredictable subject will understand why this matters. When we took an early beta unit to India to film butterflies for our first hands-on with the Spark, the absence of pre-record was one of the sharpest limitations in the field, because wildlife doesn’t wait for you to hit record.

Pixboom has also added a conventional buffer mode on top of that, which loops into memory until you trigger, then transfers the captured segment to the card. Dr. Huang’s reasoning was that users coming from scientific cameras or traditional high-speed bodies are used to working that way, and in some situations the familiar workflow is simply faster than rethinking it.

Remote control runs in a browser, with an API coming

Remote operation is not a luxury on a high-speed camera. The Spark is frequently rigged somewhere a human cannot comfortably stand, which is why Pixboom built control around the camera’s integrated Wi-Fi. The camera sets up its own hotspot; you connect a laptop or a phone, enter the camera’s IP in a browser, and you get the control page. There is no app to install, and Dr. Huang confirmed it works from any device with a browser.

The more interesting part is what comes next. Pixboom plans to open the full API to customers, with a release targeted for this month or next, so that integrators can build their own control applications or fold the Spark into an existing system. For anyone running the camera on a motion control rig or inside a fixed installation, that is the difference between a camera you can automate and one you cannot.

12-bit RAW and what it costs in frame rate

The Spark currently records 10-bit, and 12-bit was one of the features promised at launch. Dr. Huang confirmed it is in development and scheduled for release later this year, and he was straightforward about the trade-off. The sensor natively supports both depths, but the analog-to-digital conversion simply takes longer at 12-bit, so the maximum frame rate drops. Open gate, which currently tops out at 670 fps in 10-bit, will land at around 370 fps in 12-bit.

The payoff is roughly one additional stop of dynamic range. On a camera class that has historically traded latitude for speed, that is a meaningful number rather than a marketing one. Pixboom quotes more than 13 stops for the Super 35 back-illuminated global shutter sensor as it stands today, with dual native ISO across five settings from 400 to 1600.

A broadcast module, a CCU, and a control handle

Lucas, who joined us for the second half of the conversation, took us through what comes after the current firmware cycle, and the direction is broadcast. Pixboom is developing a broadcast access module, with a CCU and RCP following, possibly next year. He made no great claims about it: broadcast is an established discipline with expectations the company is still learning, chief among them consistency between units, operational stability, and getting the signal from camera to the director’s position without detours. A camera built for cinema and commercial work does not automatically satisfy any of that.

The second project is a control handle of Pixboom’s own design. It connects over Wi-Fi and covers most of the camera’s functions rather than just start and stop, including playback, recording, and selecting clips already recorded on the camera. At the booth, it was demonstrated on a Bolt cinema robot, which is exactly the situation the accessory is meant for: the camera is on the arm, you are not, and walking a laptop into the shot is not an option.

Price and availability

Pixboom currently lists the Spark from $13,999 on its own website, well above the $7,999 early price that crowdfunding backers paid, with the Pro Card and the interchangeable E-mount, EF, and PL adapters as separate line items. The company told us that details on ordering through normal retail channels will follow shortly, once the remaining backer units are out the door in October.

A high-speed camera that gains real features every few weeks is rare. Which of these additions matters most to you? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!