SmallHD Revamps PageOS with Fleet Control, Portrait Mode & Canon Camera Support

By BlockReel Editorial Team Gear, Cinematography January 25, 2026

SmallHD Revamps PageOS with Fleet Control, Portrait Mode & Canon Camera Support

SmallHD, a market leader in on-set monitoring solutions, has further solidified its commitment to professional cinematographers with a significant firmware update to its proprietary PageOS software. Announced this week, the update introduces "Fleet Control" for multi-monitor operations, a new Portrait UI Mode tailored for vertical content creation, and expanded camera control capabilities that now include Canon cinema cameras, among other enhancements. This free update is available immediately for compatible SmallHD monitors, including those in the Ultra series and Smart 5 lines.

Key Specs and Features

The PageOS update delivers several critical new functionalities designed to streamline on-set workflows and adapt to evolving production demands:

- Fleet Control: This new feature enables unified management and optimization of multiple SmallHD monitors across a set. It facilitates synchronized settings, LUT management, and configuration distribution, especially useful for larger productions with numerous monitoring stations.

Portrait UI Mode: Recognizing the growing need for vertical video production, SmallHD has integrated a dedicated Portrait UI Mode. This reorients the user interface to be more intuitive when monitoring vertically framed content, mirroring recent trends seen in wireless monitoring solutions like the Accsoon CineView M7 series.

Canon Camera Control: Significantly expanding its existing camera control protocols, PageOS now supports direct control over Canon cinema cameras. This adds to the existing support for Sony, ARRI, and RED cameras, allowing camera operators and DITs to remotely adjust key camera settings directly from their SmallHD monitor.

LUT Downstream Controls: Enhancements to LUT management offer more granular control over how Look Up Tables are applied and distributed downstream, ensuring consistent color science across various viewing devices.

Price and Availability

As a firmware update, PageOS 6 is available free of charge to owners of compatible SmallHD monitors. The update was released this week and is available now for download and installation.

Competitive Context

SmallHD's continued investment in PageOS highlights the intense competition in the professional monitoring space. The introduction of Fleet Control takes a page from sophisticated broadcast and multi-camera control systems, aiming to simplify the logistical complexities of larger sets. While not a direct competitor to camera control systems like ARRI's ECS (which recently added Sony Venice 2 and BURANO control options for its Hi-5 operators), this integration brings more of the camera's core functionality to the monitor itself, reducing the need for operators to repeatedly access the camera body.

The Portrait UI Mode directly addresses the increasing demand for vertical video content, a trend also acknowledged by companies like Accsoon, which similarly introduced vertical UI updates for their wireless video receivers. By adapting its UI, SmallHD helps cinematographers and DITs visualize the final output more accurately.

The addition of Canon camera control is a crucial step, bringing SmallHD's offerings on par with competitors who often boast broad camera compatibility. For productions utilizing Canon C-series cameras, this functionality can significantly improve workflow efficiency.

Who It's For

This PageOS update is particularly beneficial for:

- Large-scale productions: Fleet Control will be invaluable for DITs and video villages managing dozens of monitors, ensuring consistent display and streamlined configuration.

Content creators specializing in vertical formats: The Portrait UI Mode caters directly to the growing market for social media, advertising, and other platforms optimized for vertical viewing.

Camera departments working with Canon cinema cameras: The embedded camera control will reduce on-set friction, allowing for quicker adjustments without needing to navigate the camera's internal menus. This is a workflow improvement that camera operators, 1st ACs, and DITs will appreciate.

Expert Take

Having spent countless hours staring at monitors on set, I can say that consistency and efficiency are paramount. The PageOS update delivers tangible improvements in both these areas. Fleet Control, in particular, could be a game-changer for DITs on bigger sets. Managing a dozen different monitors, all needing specific LUTs, settings, and sometimes different feeds, is a tedious process. If Fleet Control lives up to its promise, it will save significant setup and calibration time.

The Portrait UI Mode is also a smart move. While I haven't personally shot an entire feature vertically, enough commercial and social media work demands it that having a monitor optimized for that orientation is just practical. It's not just about turning the monitor sideways, it's about the UI being legible and functional in that orientation, something often overlooked until you're trying to read tiny text on a rotated menu.

The Canon camera control is a fundamental addition. SmallHD already had solid integration with ARRI, Sony, and RED, so bringing Canon into the fold makes their ecosystem much more comprehensive. It means more unified control across different rental packages and less fumbling with camera menus in critical moments. This update isn't about flashy new hardware, but about refining the user experience and expanding the utility of existing gear, which often provides more immediate and practical benefits on a busy set.

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Originally published on BlockReel DAO.