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Although this is not the first appearance of Panasonic's organic sensor, this is the first time we have recently confirmed that the technology is still under development.

Anyone who promotes the ability to pack 8K pixel values ​​into a Super-35mm sensor with reasonable performance has made a statement that should attract our attention. Panasonic achieved this for the first time with an interesting sensor design as early as 2018, but we didn’t see any further developments in this technology until the recent discussion of the technology at the Makuhari Exhibition Center in the outskirts of Tokyo. sign. October.

The history of 8K on Super-35mm sensors is a bit tortuous, or-ahem-Bayer, we might say. Considering the trade-offs between dynamic range, sensitivity, and noise performance on the one hand, and pixel size on the other, there is always a certain tension between the need for beautiful pictures and the need for sensors that fit through the doorway. When Sharp released the 8C-B60A camera in 2018, we noticed a lot of details, but observed that ideally some reduction is needed to achieve reasonable noise; people often express similar ideas to red helium. The 8K Super-35mm camera has shown the same engineering compromise since its existence.

Panasonic's new sensor is clearly still new, although it has been in use for at least three years, Panasonic admits that there is still work to be done. Nonetheless, the company said it will have a global shutter and a function called an "electronic neutral density filter", which may just mean a very large dynamic range, so the exposure can be adjusted up and down mathematically. There is no standard for measuring the effective dynamic range of a sensor; it represents the difference between black and white. Black is defined by the noise floor, and it will be non-zero. In the eyes of engineers, the acceptable noise is difficult to specify in absolute terms.

However, the number given is 120dB, which is a very large number. Based on one stop is about 6dB, 120dB is equivalent to about 20 stops. Let us be clear, this is an exponential system, 20 stops is no more than 19 stops, which is twice the number of photons. Given that the best cameras currently require 16 gears, 20 gears means that the number of photons doubles, and then doubles again and again. This is not the first time the company has relied on the vague definition of dynamic range to justify the exaggerated numbers. This is indeed a huge proposition. If such a sensor can be manufactured, it represents a watershed moment.

How this is achieved is necessarily vague, but we have been speculating on the common desire of sensor designers, especially the need to separate digital electronics from fully analog light sensors. Ideally, the semiconductor manufacturing process used for photodiodes is very different from the processes used to manufacture other electronic products, and manufacturing them as a single unit usually puts pressure on the photodiodes, increasing their dark current-that is, they The noise floor.

The solution includes Lumiense's work to glue together separately manufactured silicon layers. Whether Panasonic’s organic photoconductive film (the company’s own term) has anything to do with Lumiense technology, we cannot judge without the information that the company is unlikely to provide us, but usually the idea of ​​layering things is one. This is Being pursued. According to reports, Panasonic has stated that "the organic film used for photoelectric conversion and the charge storage part for signal charge accumulation are completely independent", which implies a similar goal; it may even divide the photodiode into several layers.

This is not Panasonic's first 8K camera. The AK-SHB800GJ is an area-of-interest camera that uses an EF mount lens to capture a wide field of view, and then provides up to five high-definition areas of that field of view. It was clearly designed for live broadcast work and sold for up to £57,600 including tax, but it demonstrated the company's ability to make ultra-high resolution cameras.

The equipment shown in Japan is obviously not a production model, although it is difficult to oppose Panasonic's idea of ​​producing a new and competitive movie camera. The success of its Varicam and EVA products may not be as successful as they should be, and the S1 series of still cameras have been widely acclaimed. If the new sensor technology does what it claims, it may not only be a welcome update from Panasonic's output; it may be the most advanced step. Such a bold claim; we will wait and see.

Watch a video summarizing the technologies made in 2019.

RedShark is a multi-platform online publication for anyone interested in mobile image technology and craftsmanship. It has more than 50 contributors, full-time developers, editors, sales and marketing staff around the world, and is the site of choice for providing informed opinions and expertise in the rapidly changing video, film, and content creation industries.