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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
11-05-2017, 06:08 AM
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Not really. Some of those image processing chips (like the Milbeauts) have been engineered to perform specific image processing tasks.
Sure, those ASICs run micro-code and algorithms like all computers do, but it's like saying any old general purpose Pentium chip can do the same job as your Nvidia GPU in texture mapping and rendering while playing a graphics intensive game.
And I don't understand the constant, admiring references to DxO Prime. I've used DxO for years, and Prime is still a horribly smudgy, error prone and S - L - O - W NR tool. Not a good example.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
11-04-2017, 05:54 PM
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It's not software. It's hardware for the KP. They now have a dedicated ASIC (ie the 'Accelerator Unit') handling all this.
Interestingly, the KP web site also says about the Accelerator Unit:
 Quote: The PENTAX KP couples a new-generation CMOS image sensor with the PRIME IV imaging engine and an accelerator unit to expand the upper limit of the sensitivity range without generating annoying noise. With a top sensitivity of ISO 819200, it assures super-high-sensitivity photography to deliver high-resolution, rich-gradation images with faithful reproduction of the subject’s texture and a sense of depth, even at higher sensitivities. It also produces high-quality images across the entire sensitivity range, from the lowest to the highest. http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/products/kp/
So it's not just doing good things for high-ISO. It probably helps out on pixel shifted, long exposure and other tricky image types too.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
11-02-2017, 08:26 AM
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"Use the Force, Jim".
My understanding of what is really going on with the KP.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
11-02-2017, 07:22 AM
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I think the image processing of the RAW is more than noise reduction, or at least noise reduction as we normally understand it. Noise reduction is probably a part of it, but one thing I've noticed is that KP keeps it's colour integrity really well as the ISO levels go high, which normally doesn't happen. Or that's what I see.
I suspect they have the metering system linked closely into the 'Accelerator Unit' chip, for example, and libraries of lens profiles and scene data doing something useful in there too. Or something. A dedicated chip brings a lot of extra horsepower into the camera to let the camera engineers do all sorts of image corrections other than just smoothing away noise.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
11-01-2017, 04:26 PM
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It would be logical to see Ricoh re-use the K-P 'Accelerator Unit' chip and other Prime 4 technology in other new bodies like a K-3 III (or 645Z II), since it seems to work very well.
The KP technology seems to elevate the KP into full-frame territory in, for example, high-ISO noise performance, as DPreview noted in their KP review and IQ tests:
Quote: Noise on the KP is incredibly low for an APS-C camera ... [the KP] punches above its sensor size and price bracket, showing a similar performance to a D750, outperforming the X-T2 by nearly a stop, and coming close to the a7R II. |
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
10-31-2017, 09:05 PM
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Probably right about smaller, iterative improvements.
At this point I will recycle below this somewhat related list I made in another thread:
SAFOX AF EVOLUTION
11 AF POINTS:
K20D - SAFOX VIII
K200D, K-x - SAFOX VIII
K-7 - SAFOX VIII+
K-r - SAFOX IX
645D - SAFOX IX+
K-5 - SAFOX IX+
K-30 - SAFOX IXi+
K-50 - SAFOX IXi+
K-S1 - SAFOX IXi+
K-5II - SAFOX X
K-S2- SAFOX X
K-70 - SAFOX X
27 POINTS:
K-3 - SAFOX 11
645Z - SAFOX 11
K-3II - SAFOX 11
KP - SAFOX 11
33 POINTS:
K-1 - SAFOX 12
METERING SENSITIVITY EV RANGE:
16 segment metering sensor:
0 to 21 EV: K20D
1 to 21 EV: K200D
1 to 21.5 EV: K-x, K-r
77 segment metering sensor:
0 to 22 EV: K-7, K5, K5II/s, K-30, K-50, K-70, K-S1, K-S2
2 to 21 EV: 645D
86k pixel metering sensor:
-3 to 20 EV: K3, K3II, KP, K-1,
-1 to 21 EV: 645Z
Noticeable progress with SAFOX, IMHO, is going to need a big, non-incremental jump in the supporting PDAF hardware.
For SAFOX 13 or 14, Ricoh really need to do something like double the AF points, widen their placement across the frame, and/or do something else that is simply very clever.
And tie all that new hardware together with an upgraded metering sensor (for better colour based tracking and enabling face detection in PDAF). Plus do further work on AF algorithms and scene recognition systems, and re-work the camera interface for AF control (menus + back-panel controls).
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