This is the first “totally geek” post on this site. It’s relevant because it’s about the RED camera, the camera that we shot “Sheol” with. I would love to just link to the forum post, but I can’t figure out how to get you to the specific post. So, here it is, duplicated in all of it’s nerdy glory.
This was written by the president and “leader” of the RED Camera team, Jim Jannard. You can find the forum thread here: http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40067&page=3
Resolution 101
In the very near future we will see 4K delivery. No doubt about it. But who gets to play?
It seems obvious that Standard Definition is not High Definition. But is High Definition (720P and 1080P) able to scale to 4K? Not from where I sit. Pushing less than 2K up over 400% to “fit” a 4K delivery is exactly the same as pretending that SD is HD. It just isn’t.
We will attempt to demonstrate exactly what we mean. I will add other cameras performance as we do the testing. But to begin with… let’s start with the Canon 5D, which promises a 1080P output. While the file size is 1080P, the actual measured resolution is quite a bit less. So too is Bayer pattern resolution lower than the file size. RED 4K actually measures about 3.2K and 4.5K actually measures about 3.7K. The new EPIC 5K will measure a full 4K. For comparison, 35mm Film measures about 2.8K for ASA 500 stock and about 3.2K for ASA 100 stock… both from a 4K scan. Film resolves much less from a 2K scan… less than 2K.
Graeme has shot Zone Plates of the 5D, along with the new M-X sensor upgraded RED ONE. Here are the results.
M-X sensor (in red) and the Canon 5D (in black). The grey area is where the 5D2 provides either NO detail or corruption caused by aliasing. It really measures a “ragged” 1.4K horizontal resolution vs. about 3.7 for the Mysterium-X at 4.5K.
Explanation after the jump… read more »
