Along with the splashy announcement of the new F5 and F55 CineAlta 4K cameras came word of forthcoming firmware upgrades for Sony's flagship F65, including new signal formats to take advantage of its unique 8K x 2K sensor.
First up, and due before the end of the year, is a v2.2 update to remote-control capabilities that will improve the camera's functionality in live situations, such as sports coverage.
Next spring, we should see version 3.0 demonstrated at NAB. The F65 currently generates a 4K x 2K RGB signal from its sensor, but this upgrade will enable 8K x 4K, 6K x 3K, and 8K x 2K.
At a press briefing earlier this month, Sony Electronics Director of Marketing and Product Management Taturo Kurachi nodded toward new anamorphic glass from Zeiss as an example of an application for an 8K x 2K image. "With the glass technology Zeiss puts together, they will appreciate that someone is creating something like 8K x 2K RGB from an 8K-sensor camera," he said. "This anamorphic experience is not stretching or diluting information. It's really taking full advantage of the 8K sensor in the F65."
Version 3.0 firmware will be a paid update. Sony has not yet said how much it will cost.
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Sony leads the way. Said and done.
How will they generate an 8K x 4K debayer from an 8K x 2K sensor?
Sounds like it’s some sort of digital de-squeeze specifically for working with anamorphic lenses.
Well that would make sense if the lens was mounted 90 degrees the wrong way. 2x anamorphic squeeze means double the horizontal resolution of the recording format to desqueeze the picture. As it stands now, using an anamorphic lens would result in an 8K –> 16K horizontal resolution (effectively) with the same old 2K vertical resolution.
Your article couldn’t be more misinformative. The “8k sensor” does in fact refer to the total pixel count but note that photo sites are not traditionally laid out with horizontal and vertical pixels as found in a bayer pattern sensor.