4 CCD?

filmy wrote on 7/19/2003, 11:47 AM
I found this and thought is sounded interesting so I am wondering out loud here if it will be applied to digital camcorders (IE: Mini-DV) as well and if so does this affect how NLE's see and do color correction. Hmm....Billy Boy? Thoughts on this?

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Tokyo, July 16 (Jiji Press)--Sony Corp. said Wednesday it has developed a charge-coupled device featuring a four-color filter that enables digital cameras to reproduce colors closer to how they are perceived by the human eye.

Conventional three-color filter CCDs record colors by the intensity of each of three component colors--red, green and blue.

As the characteristics of the filters are different from those of human eyesight, the reproduced colors do not accurately correspond to those perceived with the human eye.

The new CCD adds an emerald filter to the conventional three-color filter in order to process and reproduce more natural-looking images.

Sony said it has also developed a new image processor that corresponds to the new filter CCD.

The new CCD will be installed in new digital cameras.
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Full SONY press release has more details and sample images.

Comments

jbeale1 wrote on 7/19/2003, 1:50 PM
It's an interesting development. Some film stock also has 4 color layers (Fuji makes some I think). However I thought the human eye actually did have just red, green and blue sensitivities, although the specific spectral curves may not match the CCD filters.

My assumption was that the significant improvement would be in dynamic range, rather than color accuracy. I've wondered if it would be possible to have a filter array or CCD array where some pixels were "high gain" and some "low gain", for increased dynamic range within any one frame. Perhaps the "emerald" filter offers some of this as well.
wcoxe1 wrote on 7/19/2003, 5:48 PM
Interesting. The primary thing to note in the Press Release is that this is a SINGLE CCD with 4 color output.

I can see where there may be problems using 4 color technology in camcorders if they tried to use 4 CCDs. The current 3 way prizm used for 3 CCD camcorders takes up a fair amount of space, weight, and light, making them potentially larger, heaver, and less capable at low light levels. Changing to a 4 way system would, in effect, make all these worse.

However, a single 4-color CCD would NOT need to be bigger, heaver, or less sensitive than the 3-color version. As a result, I expect that if and when this technology makes its way into camcorders, we will see some VERY interesting and inventive advertisements touting 4-color as better than 3, and almost as good as 3 CCDs. Boy, talk about confusing novices. This is JUST what the marketing department wants.
sdmoore wrote on 7/20/2003, 6:37 AM
Moving slightly off topic - does anyone know what happened to that FOVEON X3 CCD? I remember this being a new development whereby, instead of a conventional CCD pixel being split into three smaller sub-pixels (for r,g,b), each subpixel was full size and stacked vertically on top of each other. This seemed like a really cool development when I first saw it but I haven't heard much about it since. I was wondering if this ever made it into any camcorders.

Cheers,

Scott
wcoxe1 wrote on 7/20/2003, 7:44 PM
It made it into a Sigma 35mm still camera. That is all I have heard. Anyone else know anything?

IT had some features which would have made it ideal for a combination digital camera/camcorder that would have removed the complexity required to make one of high megapixels. above about 2 megapixels. So far, only Samsung has exceeded that level, but with an odd-ball system with two sets of imaging CCDs, one optimised for camcorder, one optimised for digital stills. Interesting gadget.

X3 gave better promise, but has not appeared in mass products, yet.
SonyDennis wrote on 7/31/2003, 6:09 PM
All single-CCD still cameras and video cameras use a 2x2 matrix of color filters. Often, they have 1 Red, 2 Green and 1 Blue (the "Bayer" pattern), but other patterns are possible (such as subtractive Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Green).

This sounds like a new set of color choices, or the first application of subtractive CMYG in video. Regardless of the number of CCDs or the pattern used, in the final output, they are matrixed into YUV colorspace (unless you have a Viper camera that records raw CCD data <g>).

I've only heard of the Foveon chip being used in that one still camera, no video applications yet, although they make good sense.

///d@
Zulqar-Cheema wrote on 8/1/2003, 6:50 AM
Having looked at the press release it hard to tell which picture is correct without some form of reference picture. There is on notable difference and that is the "new Technology" is softer then the the original ( sooned to be named Classic for marketing reasons). If you are gong to use this addtional colour, then you will need to add more pixels on the pick up device to compensate, other wise I guess you divide by 4 to et the resolution.
wcoxe1 wrote on 8/1/2003, 6:59 PM
Actually, they don't have to re-count to get the resolution. The current "Classic" CCD has alternating blue and green pixels on one line, followed by red and green on the next, etc. That ends up giving you twice as many green pixels as either red or blue. Fine, since the human eye seems to like this sort of arrangement.

What they have done is replace half the "Green" pixels with "Emerald" pixels. A different shade of green, as it were. The result is supposedly a better color blending, which might account for the softening you mentioned. Don't know.

Therefore, the CCD can be the exact same size and number of pixels and be either "Classic" or "super" or whatever hyped up name they want to call it to maximize profits.

Remindes me of the rationale for naming Progressive scan progressive, rather than NON-interlaced, which had been in use for a couple of decades for monitors. The word NON- was considered taboo since it implied that somewhere, something was inferior. Can't have that. That would imply that 1080i was inferior to 1080NON-interlaced.