HS Harry Smallwood

Image & Video / all software

In development · early access

FIT Reader

Frame timing, verified

Prove when every frame was really captured. FIT Reader reads a pair of FIT (Frame Interval Timer) boards frame by frame, works out the time between frames and flags anything early, late, repeated or missing, then writes it up in a report ready for your case file.

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FIT Reader from start to finish: two boards set up, 120 frames read, a dropped frame, a repeat and a late and early pair found, two frames corrected and the report saved. Real runs on FIT Reader's synthetic test video, reading shown sped up.
A pair of Home Office FIT boards on a stand: one upright with the digits 0 to 9 running down beside four columns of red lights, one on its side with the digits running across above four rows
A pair of Home Office FIT boards: upright, and on its side

Works with Home Office FIT boards

FIT Reader reads the Home Office's Frame Interval Timer boards: a column or row of ten lights for each of the seconds, tenths, hundredths and thousandths, one lit in each to show the time.

  • Upright or on its side. Set which way the digits run and where the seconds line is, for each board.
  • Master and slave. Film both together: times come from one, the other flags rolling shutter.
  • Any camera angle. Click the four corner lights and the grid follows the board, bent to the lens if it needs to be.

The problem it solves

A video file says when each frame should be shown, but that isn't always when the camera captured it. Filming FIT boards is the accepted way to check, and then someone reads the lights in every frame by hand and types them into a spreadsheet. FIT Reader does the reading and only asks you to check the frames it isn't sure about, turning an afternoon's work into minutes.

Who it's for: Forensic video analysts, CCTV units and anyone testing how a camera or recorder really captures frames before relying on its timing.

What it does

  • Automatic reading. Click each board's four corner lights once and every frame is read for you, with the reading shown live as you set up.
  • Handles real-world footage. Bends the grid to follow wide-angle lenses, reads red lights or brightness, and adjusts for dim, hazy or glaring lights.
  • Nothing silently guessed. Frames it can't read are listed and shaded on the graph, and Correct next steps you through them one by one.
  • Rolling shutter checks. An optional second board flags frames where the two readings disagree, without ever changing the time.
  • Interval and drift graphs. See each frame against the expected interval, and exactly where the file's own timestamps stop matching reality.
  • Disclosure-ready output. Export a CSV, the graph as a PNG, or a single-page HTML/PDF report with your case details, the method and every frame worth a second look.
  • Offline licence keys. Checked on the workstation itself, with no activation server, so it works on air-gapped machines.

See it work

what to click, and what you get

01 · Open & set up

Film the boards. Click four corners, once.

Open the footage of the FIT boards and click each board's four corner lights. FIT Reader finds every light, bends the grid to the lens and reads the frame as you go. The setup is kept for the next video from the same camera.

  1. Choose video… MP4, AVI, MOV, MKV and the rest. It never leaves the machine.
  2. Set up boards… scrub to a clear frame.
  3. Place corners then the four corner lights of the primary board.
  4. Secondary optional: the same again, to flag rolling shutter.

02 · Read every frame

Every frame read. Every interval plotted.

Choose the frames to read and press Read frames. Both boards are read in every frame, and the time between frames is plotted against the expected interval, so anything early, late, repeated or missing stands out.

  1. Read frames from any frame, 60 to 5,000 at a time.
  2. The graph outliers in red, the file's own timestamps alongside, and a drift view.

03 · Check & correct

Nothing guessed. You check what it couldn't read.

Frames it couldn't read, like ones where a hand was over a board, are listed for you. Each opens with both boards flattened out, so the right time is one click away.

  1. Correct next steps through the frames that need you.
  2. Click the lit lights to build the time, type it, or take the other board's reading.
  3. Save & next to correct marked manual in the table, the graph and the report.

04 · Report

Ready for the case file. One click.

Add the case details and save the report: one HTML file, images and all, or a PDF. It has a summary in words, both graphs, how the frames were read, every frame worth a second look and the frame table.

  1. Case details title, reference, examiner and notes.
  2. Export report… or Export CSV for the numbers and Save graph PNG.
  3. Save HTML or Save PDF. Nothing to install to open it.

On screen

click to enlarge
Results for 120 frames: a 0.040 s median interval, 4 outliers, and a graph of the interval per frame with a dropped frame, a repeated frame and a late and early pair in red
Results: every interval, against what it should be
Board setup: an upright and a sideways FIT board with every light on the grid, and each board flattened and read
Set up: four corners per board, read as you go
Correcting a frame: both boards flattened out, with quick fills from the other board and the neighbouring frames
Correct: the frames it couldn't read, one by one
FIT Reader's Home screen: choose a video, recent videos, and the Timing workspace in the sidebar
Home: a FIT test, start to finish

At a glance

Platform
Windows 10 and 11
Inputs
Any video of a pair of FIT boards
Outputs
HTML / PDF report, CSV, PNG graph
Works offline
Yes. Footage never leaves the machine
Licence
Offline key, per workstation or unit
Pricing
From £395, then £95 a year

Good to know

  • Two neighbouring lights lit in one line means the digit changed during exposure. It's read as halfway between and marked uncertain, never hidden.
  • The 1/1000 line is ignored by default because rolling shutter usually smears it, and can be turned on if yours is readable.
  • Board setup, report preferences and recent videos are remembered between sessions.
  • The setup installs everything it needs, including Microsoft's WebView2 and Visual C++ runtimes, so there's nothing else to install.
  • A key can be tied to one workstation by a code from its motherboard, shown on the licence screen. If the motherboard is replaced, send the new code and the key is reissued.

FIT Reader is in development

It isn't on general sale yet. Request early access to use it on your own material before release, report what works and what doesn't, and help shape the finished version. Early-access users get launch pricing locked in.

Planned pricing and licensing →

Single workstation

£395

then £95 a year from year two

Unit licence

£1,500

then £375 a year from year two

Planned launch prices, excluding VAT. A unit licence covers every workstation in one force's forensic unit.

  • Try it before release on your own material
  • Direct line to the developer for feedback
  • Launch pricing locked in for early-access users
Request early access Ask for a demo

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