Canon Talks Global Shutter and High Dynamic Range

[Canon Rumors Guy]

Canon has released a paper for the IDEM conference that shows a multi readout approach that will allow for global shutter and higher dynamic range in future sensor design.</p>
<blockquote><p>Canon researchers will discuss high-resolution, large-format CMOS imaging technology for use in high-performance cameras large enough to take photographs and videos at ultra-high-definition resolution.</p>
<p>The Canon researchers developed a new architecture that enables the readouts of multiple pixels to be accumulated and stored in memory, and then processed all at once. This technique enabled the implementation of a global shutter while also delivering excellent noise and dark current performance and high dynamic range (92dB at a standard 30fps frame rate). <a href="http://www.btbmarketing.com/iedm/">Read more at IEDM</a></p></blockquote>
<p>Back in August, <a href="http://www.canonrumors.com/canon-announces-cmos-sensor-with-global-shutter/">Canon announced that they have developed a global shutter</a> equipped CMOS sensor.</p>
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[davidmurray]

92dB cannot fit in an 8bit jpeg.
92dB is pushing the boundaries of what can fit in a 16bit file.
If Canon releases a 5D5 that can natively capture a clean 92dB of dynamic range between saturation and the noise floor then I would expect to see massive virtually insatiable demand world wide and Canon will once again be the supreme ruler of all cameras.

I'd also expect to see lots of cheap, virtually unsalable older models - including my own 5D3.

 

[K-amps]

Looking forward to seeing this in a commercially viable DSLR... very soon.

 

[danski0224]

The 1DsIV must be coming out soon.....



Probably in a kit with a EF 50mm f/1.4 IS

 

[MintChocs]

Probably only going to see the light in the high end video stuff, us lower end photogs will get very little whilst we just sit and jump and buy their dregs.

 

[Mikehit]

From the original press release:

Canon will explore various industrial and measurement applications for the newly developed CMOS sensor and consider deploying it in the field of video production for cinema production applications, TV dramas, commercials and more.

In other words, in applications where they are more willing to accept the high cost of such a camera. Coming to DSLRs about...oh, let's say 2022.

 

[BeenThere]

From the original press release:

Canon will explore various industrial and measurement applications for the newly developed CMOS sensor and consider deploying it in the field of video production for cinema production applications, TV dramas, commercials and more.

In other words, in applications where they are more willing to accept the high cost of such a camera. Coming to DSLRs about...oh, let's say 2022.

Coming soon to a 6D II near you!

 

[drmikeinpdx]

I'd also expect to see lots of cheap, virtually unsalable older models - including my own 5D3.

I'm sure my 5D3 will be thoroughly worn out by then! Best purchase I ever made.

 

[davidmurray]

I'd also expect to see lots of cheap, virtually unsalable older models - including my own 5D3.

I'm sure my 5D3 will be thoroughly worn out by then! Best purchase I ever made.

I too am very happy with my 5D3.

It's just that 92dB is massively massively huge dynamic range. It would permanently wipe the smile off the Sony fan-bois.
Such a dynamic range would be difficult if not impossible to print without significant compression of that range.
Much like digital sequencers, synthesizers, and recorders did away with the need to be skillful in playing music and capturing the sound, so too will a 92dB DR camera do away with the need to consider the amount of light on different parts of the subject.

 

[CanonGuy]

I'd also expect to see lots of cheap, virtually unsalable older models - including my own 5D3.

I'm sure my 5D3 will be thoroughly worn out by then! Best purchase I ever made.

I too am very happy with my 5D3.

It's just that 92dB is massively massively huge dynamic range. It would permanently wipe the smile off the Sony fan-bois.
Such a dynamic range would be difficult if not impossible to print without significant compression of that range.
Much like digital sequencers, synthesizers, and recorders did away with the need to be skillful in playing music and capturing the sound, so too will a 92dB DR camera do away with the need to consider the amount of light on different parts of the subject.

You are cute to think that others will just sit back lol. Canon is miles behind DR wise. Let them play the catch up game first lol

 

[Ozarker]

I'd also expect to see lots of cheap, virtually unsalable older models - including my own 5D3.

I'm sure my 5D3 will be thoroughly worn out by then! Best purchase I ever made.

I too am very happy with my 5D3.

It's just that 92dB is massively massively huge dynamic range. It would permanently wipe the smile off the Sony fan-bois.
Such a dynamic range would be difficult if not impossible to print without significant compression of that range.
Much like digital sequencers, synthesizers, and recorders did away with the need to be skillful in playing music and capturing the sound, so too will a 92dB DR camera do away with the need to consider the amount of light on different parts of the subject.

You are cute to think that others will just sit back lol. Canon is miles behind DR wise. Let them play the catch up game first lol

Don't think they are "way" behind, but you are cute to assume that others will always catch up with the technology.

Besides, business competition is a constant game of oneupmanship. For awhile one company is ahead in DR. Then somebody else. It is cute that you don't seem to understand that. :

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Its for a super 35 video camera. This is undoubtedly based on the information in Canon's patent. I've been to many technical conferences and presented at a few. Papers must be submitted to company review before they can be presented, and nothing proprietary ever gets presented.

Large-Format CMOS Imager with Global Shutter for High-Performance Cameras: Canon researchers will discuss high-resolution, large-format CMOS imaging technology for use in high-performance cameras large enough to take photographs and videos at ultra-high-definition resolution.

Most CMOS imagers use a rolling shutter, which captures an image at slightly different times at different areas of the imager. This can lead to image artifacts, especially for moving targets, because the image is taken while the subject is in different positions in the field. Imagers with global shutters capture light from each pixel in the imager at the same time, eliminating these artifacts. However, a global shutter usually leads to less dynamic range and higher noise and dark current, and thus to inferior photographs.

The Canon researchers developed a new architecture that enables the readouts of multiple pixels to be accumulated and stored in memory, and then processed all at once. This technique enabled the implementation of a global shutter while also delivering excellent noise and dark current performance and high dynamic range (92dB at a standard 30fps frame rate).

The images of a vibrating ukulele were taken at the same shutter speed (1/5000 sec.). In the global shutter mode (a) distortion is successfully suppressed, while (b) shows distortion from a rolling shutter. The bottom images show the difference between (a) quadruple charge accumulation with the global shutter and (b) single charge accumulation, both at a 1/90 sec. shutter speed.

(Paper #8.6, “A 1.8e- Temporal Noise Over 90dB Dynamic Range 4k2k Super 35mm Format Seamless Global Shutter CMOS Image Sensor with Multiple-Accumulation Shutter Technology,” K. Kawabata et al, Canon, Inc.)

 

[jeffa4444]

The Sony F55 a Super35 camera uses a global shutter, the F65 uses a global shutter.

 

[RGF]

what is a global shutter? how does it differ from other types of shutters? In other words, why is a global shutter important?

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

what is a global shutter? how does it differ from other types of shutters? In other words, why is a global shutter important?

Rather than a long dissertation, why not google the term. There are a ton of articles on the internet.

 

[Don Haines]

I'd also expect to see lots of cheap, virtually unsalable older models - including my own 5D3.

I'm sure my 5D3 will be thoroughly worn out by then! Best purchase I ever made.

I too am very happy with my 5D3.

It's just that 92dB is massively massively huge dynamic range. It would permanently wipe the smile off the Sony fan-bois.
Such a dynamic range would be difficult if not impossible to print without significant compression of that range.
Much like digital sequencers, synthesizers, and recorders did away with the need to be skillful in playing music and capturing the sound, so too will a 92dB DR camera do away with the need to consider the amount of light on different parts of the subject.

You are cute to think that others will just sit back lol. Canon is miles behind DR wise. Let them play the catch up game first lol

93 dB would be 16 stops..... Yes, it is better, but it is not revolutionary better.

 

[davidmurray]

I'd also expect to see lots of cheap, virtually unsalable older models - including my own 5D3.

I'm sure my 5D3 will be thoroughly worn out by then! Best purchase I ever made.

I too am very happy with my 5D3.

It's just that 92dB is massively massively huge dynamic range. It would permanently wipe the smile off the Sony fan-bois.
Such a dynamic range would be difficult if not impossible to print without significant compression of that range.
Much like digital sequencers, synthesizers, and recorders did away with the need to be skillful in playing music and capturing the sound, so too will a 92dB DR camera do away with the need to consider the amount of light on different parts of the subject.

You are cute to think that others will just sit back lol. Canon is miles behind DR wise. Let them play the catch up game first lol

93 dB would be 16 stops..... Yes, it is better, but it is not revolutionary better.

More like 30 stops - if one stop is a doubling of light.

 

[LetTheRightLensIn]

92dB cannot fit in an 8bit jpeg.
92dB is pushing the boundaries of what can fit in a 16bit file.
If Canon releases a 5D5 that can natively capture a clean 92dB of dynamic range between saturation and the noise floor then I would expect to see massive virtually insatiable demand world wide and Canon will once again be the supreme ruler of all cameras.

I'd also expect to see lots of cheap, virtually unsalable older models - including my own 5D3.

would be cool but the way they talk about it sounds more like expect it in canon ultra high end tens of thousands of dollars movie cameras or ultra-specialty application cameras and maybe in an EOS DSLR in 20 years

hope I'm wrong and it's in 5DsMkII next spring though (this the high MP and 6fps min and oversampled, not waxed up, strong low contrat and shadow detail, crisp, 4k video with no rolling and basic video usability features would be pretty sweet)

 

[IglooEater]

92 db. Could someone translate that to stops for me? Is that something like 30 stops, or am I waaayy off here?

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

92 db. Could someone translate that to stops for me? Is that something like 30 stops, or am I waaayy off here?

Here is the Wikipedia definition, and, as you can see, its as clear as mud. However, 90 DB is clearly not the same as the electrical power definition.

Video and digital imaging

In connection with video and digital image sensors, decibels generally represent ratios of video voltages or digitized light levels, using 20 log of the ratio, even when the represented optical power is directly proportional to the voltage or level, not to its square, as in a CCD imager where response voltage is linear in intensity.[35] Thus, a camera signal-to-noise ratio or dynamic range of 40 dB represents a power ratio of 100:1 between signal power and noise power, not 10,000:1.[36] Sometimes the 20 log ratio definition is applied to electron counts or photon counts directly, which are proportional to intensity without the need to consider whether the voltage response is linear.[37]

However, as mentioned above, the 10 log intensity convention prevails more generally in physical optics, including fiber optics, so the terminology can become murky between the conventions of digital photographic technology and physics. Most commonly, quantities called "dynamic range" or "signal-to-noise" (of the camera) would be specified in 20 log dB, but in related contexts (e.g. attenuation, gain, intensifier SNR, or rejection ratio) the term should be interpreted cautiously, as confusion of the two units can result in very large misunderstandings of the value.

Photographers typically use an alternative base-2 log unit, the stop, to describe light intensity ratios or dynamic range.