Digic 7 Development

[tiger82]

This new processor is the key to high MP cameras. Doubling the resolution will require 1.414 times the processing power. The current Digic 6 will drop the 1Dx to 8FPS. The Digic 7 is going to be a dual Digic 6 in one package which will allow 4x the processing power for high MP, high frame rate bodies.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

This new processor is the key to high MP cameras. Doubling the resolution will require 1.414 times the processing power. The current Digic 6 will drop the 1Dx to 8FPS. The Digic 7 is going to be a dual Digic 6 in one package which will allow 4x the processing power for high MP, high frame rate bodies.

Canon normally has 4 versions of their Digic Processors, the + version for the high end bodies. I thought that the upcoming 7D will be the first to use the Digic 6+. Why would they put a Digic 6 meant for low end DSLR's in a 1DX? When the successor comes along, it will have two Digic 6+ processors, which will be appearing in cameras starting with the 7D MK II.

Do you have some facts? Reference?. Test Results?

I'm not sure what to think of the comments, and your information about the make up of the Digic 7.

Canon uses ARM processors that are custom packaged for them and giving a Digic number. Nikon, Sony, ...everyone does the same thing.

The issue is to get processing power with a low power usage. This means that the fastest processors may not be used due to power consumption.

 

[raptor3x]

This new processor is the key to high MP cameras. Doubling the resolution will require 1.414 times the processing power. The current Digic 6 will drop the 1Dx to 8FPS. The Digic 7 is going to be a dual Digic 6 in one package which will allow 4x the processing power for high MP, high frame rate bodies.

That's not true, processing effort will scale linearly with number of pixels. If you're talking about doubling the linear resolution, then you'd need 4x the processing power.

 

[Don Haines]

This new processor is the key to high MP cameras. Doubling the resolution will require 1.414 times the processing power. The current Digic 6 will drop the 1Dx to 8FPS. The Digic 7 is going to be a dual Digic 6 in one package which will allow 4x the processing power for high MP, high frame rate bodies.

Canon normally has 4 versions of their Digic Processors, the + version for the high end bodies. I thought that the upcoming 7D will be the first to use the Digic 6+. Why would they put a Digic 6 meant for low end DSLR's in a 1DX? When the successor comes along, it will have two Digic 6+ processors, which will be appearing in cameras starting with the 7D MK II.

Do you have some facts? Reference?. Test Results?

I'm not sure what to think of the comments, and your information about the make up of the Digic 7.

Canon uses ARM processors that are custom packaged for them and giving a Digic number. Nikon, Sony, ...everyone does the same thing.

The issue is to get processing power with a low power usage. This means that the fastest processors may not be used due to power consumption.

A lot depends on the architecture. You typically need computing power for short bursts, so a common trick is to use variable clock rates and to shut off cores under periods of low need. With the slower clock the devices use less power, and shutting down cores does the same. For example, perhaps the various cameras with dual digic processors normally run on one chip and only enable the second when you press the shutter....


And doubling the resolution SQUARES the computing demands... you need 4X the computing power.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

This new processor is the key to high MP cameras. Doubling the resolution will require 1.414 times the processing power. The current Digic 6 will drop the 1Dx to 8FPS. The Digic 7 is going to be a dual Digic 6 in one package which will allow 4x the processing power for high MP, high frame rate bodies.

Canon normally has 4 versions of their Digic Processors, the + version for the high end bodies. I thought that the upcoming 7D will be the first to use the Digic 6+. Why would they put a Digic 6 meant for low end DSLR's in a 1DX? When the successor comes along, it will have two Digic 6+ processors, which will be appearing in cameras starting with the 7D MK II.

Do you have some facts? Reference?. Test Results?

I'm not sure what to think of the comments, and your information about the make up of the Digic 7.

Canon uses ARM processors that are custom packaged for them and giving a Digic number. Nikon, Sony, ...everyone does the same thing.

The issue is to get processing power with a low power usage. This means that the fastest processors may not be used due to power consumption.

A lot depends on the architecture. You typically need computing power for short bursts, so a common trick is to use variable clock rates and to shut off cores under periods of low need. With the slower clock the devices use less power, and shutting down cores does the same. For example, perhaps the various cameras with dual digic processors normally run on one chip and only enable the second when you press the shutter....

Exactly, but not all ARM devices have the same power efficiency. As new more efficient devices appear, they will be the candidates.

The Cortex versions seem to be the low power champions currently, but reducing the current 28nm process can reduce power / performance.

I notices a announcement that a new snapdragon processor will use the ARM Cortex A7's. Its a lot like digic, it uses ARM processors plus more custom processors and firmware to accomplish a specialized task. I'm not sure how the power usage compares with a DSLR, but I expect it consumes a lot of power.

http://www.fonearena.com/blog/115729/qualcomm-snapdragon-210-quad-core-and-snapdragon-208-dual-core-processors-announced.html

 

[tiger82]

It's speculation on my part but I believe that is the barrier to Canon releasing a high MP camera. They need at least a 2X jump in processing capability. The Nikon D800 fell short in in frame rate or else it may have made more of an impact

 

[lo lite]

This new processor is the key to high MP cameras. Doubling the resolution will require 1.414 times the processing power. The current Digic 6 will drop the 1Dx to 8FPS. The Digic 7 is going to be a dual Digic 6 in one package which will allow 4x the processing power for high MP, high frame rate bodies.

Canon normally has 4 versions of their Digic Processors, the + version for the high end bodies. I thought that the upcoming 7D will be the first to use the Digic 6+. Why would they put a Digic 6 meant for low end DSLR's in a 1DX? When the successor comes along, it will have two Digic 6+ processors, which will be appearing in cameras starting with the 7D MK II.

Do you have some facts? Reference?. Test Results?

I'm not sure what to think of the comments, and your information about the make up of the Digic 7.

Canon uses ARM processors that are custom packaged for them and giving a Digic number. Nikon, Sony, ...everyone does the same thing.

The issue is to get processing power with a low power usage. This means that the fastest processors may not be used due to power consumption.

The DIGICs are much more than just a relabeled ARM chip. Much more important for their purpose is the signal processing part of those chips, the ARM is just there to control those and run the firmware + interface. So having a faster ARM core is only half the battle won.

See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIGIC

 

[Don Haines]

This new processor is the key to high MP cameras. Doubling the resolution will require 1.414 times the processing power. The current Digic 6 will drop the 1Dx to 8FPS. The Digic 7 is going to be a dual Digic 6 in one package which will allow 4x the processing power for high MP, high frame rate bodies.

Canon normally has 4 versions of their Digic Processors, the + version for the high end bodies. I thought that the upcoming 7D will be the first to use the Digic 6+. Why would they put a Digic 6 meant for low end DSLR's in a 1DX? When the successor comes along, it will have two Digic 6+ processors, which will be appearing in cameras starting with the 7D MK II.

Do you have some facts? Reference?. Test Results?

I'm not sure what to think of the comments, and your information about the make up of the Digic 7.

Canon uses ARM processors that are custom packaged for them and giving a Digic number. Nikon, Sony, ...everyone does the same thing.

The issue is to get processing power with a low power usage. This means that the fastest processors may not be used due to power consumption.

A lot depends on the architecture. You typically need computing power for short bursts, so a common trick is to use variable clock rates and to shut off cores under periods of low need. With the slower clock the devices use less power, and shutting down cores does the same. For example, perhaps the various cameras with dual digic processors normally run on one chip and only enable the second when you press the shutter....

Exactly, but not all ARM devices have the same power efficiency. As new more efficient devices appear, they will be the candidates.

The Cortex versions seem to be the low power champions currently, but reducing the current 28nm process can reduce power / performance.

I notices a announcement that a new snapdragon processor will use the ARM Cortex A7's. Its a lot like digic, it uses ARM processors plus more custom processors and firmware to accomplish a specialized task. I'm not sure how the power usage compares with a DSLR, but I expect it consumes a lot of power.

http://www.fonearena.com/blog/115729/qualcomm-snapdragon-210-quad-core-and-snapdragon-208-dual-core-processors-announced.html

agreed!
I would suspect that it is lower power for some tasks and higher power for others. What the net effect is would be anyone's guess, but since it is developed for cell phones, my bet would be lower in power overall.

I don't know what the video/still ratios are on smartphones, but I suspect that the video demands are far higher than on a DSLR... after all, video runs all the time, even when taking a still picture. I don't know, I/m just guessing.

 

[dgatwood]

The DIGICs are much more than just a relabeled ARM chip. Much more important for their purpose is the signal processing part of those chips, the ARM is just there to control those and run the firmware + interface. So having a faster ARM core is only half the battle won.

My gut says that everything they do with DIGIC (except for the ADC functionality, which really ought to be moved onto the sensor die anyway) can probably be done with a decent multicore ARM and a decent mobile GPU package. I could be wrong, though.

 

[Marsu42]

You don't suppose that DIGIC is just a fancy name that Canon uses "DIGIC" as a brand-specific term for its own combination of CPU/GPU package, do you?

Indeed it is, looking at how Magic Lantern works on DIGIC4->DIGIC5->DIGIC6 not much has changes in the way the (same!) ARM core or DryOS works. The core is just there to control other functions like the separate audio chip or af/vf parts, the latter hasn't been reverse-engineered by ML yet.

The real imaging work is done in Canon's own "gpu" part which keeps evolving, so I doubt a overclocked multi-core x64 arm core would improve anything in terms of iq or speed. The digic version numbers also don't mean anything in the way how much has really changed, it's just a fancy marketing label.