Miscellaneous Talk｜What technologies in RED are worth absorbing by Nikon?

Originally, I thought Nikon would increase its efforts in research and development in the video field and strive to catch up with its major competitors in the shortest possible time. After all, many competitors in the same industry actually didn’t start much earlier than Nikon. For example, Canon’s EOS Cinema system was launched at the end of 2011, which is only 13 years old. RED, now acquired by Nikon, is only a “young” brand founded in 2005 and released its first digital movie camera in 2007. However, with Nikon officially acquiring RED, Nikon can “stand on the shoulders of giants” and catch up with its competitors at a faster speed. Next, let me talk about what technologies I think RED has that Nikon should absorb and use.

color science

If you want to talk about Nikon’s weakest point in the field of video shooting, then it has to talk about color science . Unlike camera manufacturers, RED has an image processing process IPP2 (Image Processing Pipeline 2) launched in 2017.

IPP2 enhancements include:

• More perfect critical color management

• Improved shadow detail

• Softer highlight falloff

• More accurate midtones

• Optimized demosaicing algorithm enables more details at the same pixel resolution

• Simpler and more intuitive workflow

• Workflow designed specifically for HDR

• Industry standard naming

• Standardized color space and gamma curve

As long as you set the color science to IPP2, the color space to REDWideGamutRGB, and the gamma curve to Log3G10 in Camera Raw, you can use RED’s color science very easily. REDWideGamutRGB covers almost all types of color spaces to meet the needs of all different project types.

RED officially provides a variety of different LUTs for everyone to restore Log3G10 curves. These LUTs have high, medium and low options for overall contrast, as well as 4 options for highlight transition: very soft, soft, medium and hard. You can even make your own LUTs with REDCINE -X PRO.

If Nikon, through the assistance of the RED team, builds the REDWideGamutRGB/Log3G10 color curve into the mirrorless camera in the future, then Nikon will be able to have true “movie-level color”. At the same time, Nikon’s N-RAW can perform rapid color grading through the IPP2 image processing process, which will also be a qualitative leap.

Compressed RAW encoding

Compressed RAW encoding is the most important patent held by RED. RED has successfully used its compressed RAW patent to defeat many competitors, including Apple, Sony, Arri , DJI and Nikon. Among them, Canon chose the form of “ patent exchange “ to reach cooperation with RED, while Nikon used “money capabilities” to successfully acquire RED.

REDCODE’s compression capabilities exceed everyone’s imagination. Generally, compressed RAW from other brands can achieve a compression ratio of 2:1. Nikon’s N-RAW based on TICO RAW technology can achieve a compression ratio of almost 3:1. For example, the 8K RAW file bitrate of Canon EOS R5 is as high as 2600mbps, and the file size exceeds 300MB per second. However, the compression ratio of REDCODE can be as low as 22:1. What is the concept? Recording an 8K RAW file with the same screen on Canon EOS R5 can compress the file size to about 85MB per second, which is higher than H.265 encoded ALL-IN Intra-frame compressed files are even smaller!

However, on the latest generation of DSMC3 series RED digital cinema machines, RED has canceled the function of customizing the compression ratio, and instead provides users with four levels of quality to choose from, namely HQ/MQ/LQ/ELQ, among which ELQ’s R3D 8K/30 RAW video can still record small files of 135MB per second, which is still smaller than Canon EOS R5’s H.265 encoded ALL-IN intra-frame compressed files.

Obviously, this kind of compressed RAW video encoding capability is far better than Nikon’s TICO RAW. If RAW videos could be recorded in a file size smaller than H.265, everyone would be willing to try RAW video production programs, right?

Highlight expansion (high dynamic range video)

Different from the above two items, high dynamic range video has actually been implemented by several brands in the camera industry, but it is true that Nikon has not yet. For example, Panasonic’s GH6/G9M2 has a high dynamic range mode, which can use an M43 frame sensor to achieve the same level of dynamic range as a full-frame sensor. For example, the DGO mode of Canon EOS C70/C300 III can achieve 16+ stops of dynamic range, and even Domestic brand ZCAM has already made similar functions.

The principle is also relatively simple. It uses a dual-gain amplifier to output two single frames of video with different exposures, and then performs fusion processing. RED’s highlight expansion is also based on a similar principle, but it can achieve a dynamic range of 20+ stops, which is like a “dimensionality reduction attack” if it is put into the camera field.

Global shutter sensor

Although Nikon Z8/Z9 both use stacked sensors , the transmission speed is already the first in the industry. But the Sony A93 already uses a global shutter, so Nikon naturally needs at least one filing.

The sensor of the RED digital cinema projector is produced by the American company AMETEK, and the video specifications are ridiculously high. Among them, the latest K OMODO-X and V-Raptor [X] both use global shutter, and the video specifications reach 6K/80 and 8K/120 respectively. For RED, if Nikon launches several flagship cameras with the same sensor at a relatively affordable price, it can effectively share the manufacturing/development costs of the sensor. For Nikon, a sensor with such explosive specifications can achieve stronger shooting capabilities. It can also get rid of its dependence on Sony Semiconductors.

The only problem is that the size of RED’s sensor is a bit awkward. The sensor size of full-frame VV is 21.6mm40.96mm, which is much shorter and wider than conventional full-frame sensors. The S35’s RED sensor also has a similar problem. The size is 27.03mm14.26mm, which is also shorter and wider. This will test Nikon’s wisdom~

If Nikon can absorb a large amount of RED’s technology, it will not be very difficult to “overtake” Canon, Sony, and Panasonic in the video field. The next step will be to see how far Nikon can achieve it. Apparently in the press release, Nikon and RED believed that this acquisition was a “win-win”. I am also looking forward to how it will develop next~

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