DV Magazine Review of the nanoFlash

[Mark Job]

Originally Posted by John Mitchell

I think the answer is Mark that CD throw away the extra 2 bits. Currently the Nano wold just throw away those last two numbers and end up with a slightly different result...1.0000000.

I'm not sure what the impact on the final image would be - maybe slightly smoother gradients?

...Hi John: The question is which procedure works better ? Can one see the difference ? Is it better to just do away with the extra 2 bits of precision, or dither the 10 into 8 ? Which looks better ? I would think it is probably more efficient to just drop the extra 2 bits, so that the internal Nano/XDR processor doesn't have to work as hard. I'm guessing that dithering 10 bits into 8 uses allot of processor power. (??) Is this accurate Tommy ?

[Ned Soltz]

My guess is as well that dithering 10bit to 8bit will be a waste. MPEG-2 is an 8-bit codec. As I said in the article, 8-bit color is more than adequate for a number of shooting scenarios. If you need 10bit (or greater) color sampling, then you simply need a different codec (read here, different device). Each tool has its place. nanoFlash works perfectly for me.

Ned Soltz

[Tim Kolb]

Originally Posted by Ned Soltz

Each tool has its place. nanoFlash works perfectly for me.

Ned Soltz

Exactly. No software application or piece of hardware is optimized for every possible scenario.

[Mark Job]

Originally Posted by Ned Soltz

Each tool has its place. nanoFlash works perfectly for me.

Ned Soltz

....The XDR works perfectly for me as well.....But it could work even more perfectly if I had the *U* option for digital cinema origination. (Doing my best not to thread camp on that one Chris)

[Peter Moretti]

Originally Posted by Ned Soltz

My guess is as well that dithering 10bit to 8bit will be a waste. MPEG-2 is an 8-bit codec. As I said in the article, 8-bit color is more than adequate for a number of shooting scenarios. If you need 10bit (or greater) color sampling, then you simply need a different codec (read here, different device). Each tool has its place. nanoFlash works perfectly for me.

Ned Soltz

Perhaps, but dithering is a pretty accepted way to enhance an information resolutiong change, and it's considered superior to truncating, simple rounding or adding zeros.

I do think it has more value when up-rezing than when down-rezing, so you may be right.

[Jose Carlos]

Originally Posted by Mark Job

Hi Rafael:
....Cash Cab is all 8 bit XDR's.

Nice video of their set-up.
YouTube - On Set with the HD Flash XDR - Camera Department