Tag Archives: SOC

Nikon Stacked CMOS Sensor Will do 1000fps in 4k!

Nikon Stacked CMOS Sensor

Nikon Japan has been busy creating the next generation of 1″ stacked sensors.  The latest is a 17.84 Megapixel stacked design with hyper-fast memory interconnect that shoots up to 1000fps at 4k resolution which is no slouch. The sensor is still in development but it will be a possibility to see it in a camera that could compete head to head with the Sony RX series which now dominate prosumer P&S sales.  It was announced at ISSCC (International Solid-State Circuits Conference) held in San Francisco, February 15, 2021.

The sensor works by shooting in buckets of 16 x 16 pixels as one block, and then subsequently 264 x 264 pixel blocks (4224 x 4224 pixels) are conformed to form the final image at nearly 18MP.  It is unclear at this time if 4k video will be a windowed resolution or a supersampled then reduced final image from the full sensor.  The market for this sensor goes beyond consumer cameras as it is aimed at other applications like self-driving cars and production lines. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Galaxy S21 Slow Motion Feature is Retained!

Galaxy S21 Slow Motion

This week we had the announcement by Samsung of the Galaxy S21 phone line which is the de-facto Android handset in most of the world.  The Galaxy S21 Slow Motion has essentially the same feature set as the Galaxy S20 of 2020 when it comes to high-speed video. The Galaxy brand went serious with Slow Motion since the Galaxy S9 with the 960fps mode at 720p which we can still see here with somewhat improved resolution and recording time.

The S21 line is by almost any standard a refinement of the line with very subtle but important updates on the previous S20 phones. We get the Snapdragon 888 which is the brightest and fastest SoC in non-Apple land. We get 120Hz adaptive screen refresh rate and 108MP telephoto camera on the Ultra version with 10x hybrid zoom, and half that at 64MP on the regular S21 and S21+ which only offer 3x hybrid zoom. We also get 8k video recording on all of the phones at 24p which we will have to test if it is really delivering on the promise.

Galaxy S21 Slow Motion Video Features:

Resolution

  • 8K video recording at 24 fps (7680×4320)
  • 4K UHD video recording at 60 fps (3840×2160)
  • 1080p FHD video recording at 60 fps (1920×1080)
  • 720p HD video recording at 30 fps (1280×720)

Shooting speed

  • Super Steady 1080p video support at 60 fps
  • Super Slow-mo 720p video support at 960 fps
  • Slow motion 1080p video support at 240 fps & 120fps
  • Hyperlapse 4K video support at 30 fps

Other

  • HDR10+ recording
  • VDIS (Video Digital Image Stabilization)
  • Digital zoom up to 12x
  • High CRI LED Flash
  • Tracking AF
  • Take 33MP still photos while playing 8K video
  • Playback zoom
  • Video location tags
  • *HDR10+ recording is currently in beta and only available on the rear camera. Quality may vary based on sharing platform and playback environment; HDR10+ color is only available on supported devices or platforms.
  • *Super Steady is only available when shooting in FHD resolution.
  • *Super Smooth 60fps Video supports FHD resolution in Auto mode only.
  • *Super Slow-mo only supports HD resolution. On Galaxy S21 5G and S21+ 5G, users can record approximately 0.5 seconds of video captured at 960 fps with approximately 16 seconds of playback. On Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G, users can record approximately 1 second of video captured at 480 fps and digitally enhance the video to 960 fps with approximately 32 seconds of playback. Playback time can be edited in Super Slow-mo player.

Samsung Galaxy S21 event in 12 minutes by The Verge:

Same feature, mildly upgraded results!

So we get 960fps recording in 720p only in the S21 and S21+ phones and not in the Ultra. The Ultra version is capped at 480fps 720p and then AI deep learning interpolates to 960fps slow motion for the final result on the highest spec phone.

It is the same as last year’s S20 which also featured that limitation on the Ultra version of the handset.  It is not a matter of processing power but it is based on the choice of sensors. The Ultra seems to be capped at 480fps while the non-Ultra can scan at 960fps in 720p.

When it comes to slow motion the cheaper phones are actually more capable which may be ideal if this feature is important to you.

On the S21 and S21+ you get 0.5 seconds of 1/2 a second recording time at 960fps which translates to 16 seconds playback at 30p.  On The Ultra you get 480fps for 1 second recording time and interpolated to 960p for a 32 second playback time at 30p.  This is exactly the same as last year’s S20 line.

We have to test the feature fully but we estimate slightly better color, dynamic range, and artifact control on the S21 but nothing that would make you upgrade your S20.

Galaxy S21 Slow Motion Early Samples:

We will be testing the Galaxy S21 in the coming weeks as we are receiving a test unit. In the meantime, we found some samples online that could be legitimate. They certainly look real in resolution and speed for the most part but it is so early that we cannot confirm their validity.  We will re-examine the slow motion samples in a later post at HSC including our own tests.

Samsung Galaxy S21 Camera Slow Motion Test by MKP Captain: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Huawei Mate 30 Pro New Slow Motion Samples!

Huawei Mate 30 Pro New Slow Motion Samples

The Huawei Mate 30 Pro has been out for a few weeks outside the US, mainly in China and India and we have gathered 15 video samples from its slow motion mode which as of today is the best performing high-speed phone ever developed.  We had some shortcomings about the way the phone reaches the highly hyped 7,680fps mode which is 1920fps multiplied by 4x in software from a small snapshot of the video memory.

We also had some suspicions that the 1080p 960fps mode was also interpolated but looking at the samples we gathered it seems that was a premature call. The phone is actually capturing the full frame rate at 1080p or close to that.  The real max mode is 1920fps at 720p which is then interpolated to 7,680fps with good success by the new Kirin 990 chipset. Your mileage may vary and the results depend on the subject matter more than anything as organic slower motion looks much better than fast unpredictable bursts that break the interpolation algorithm.

Huawei Mate 30 Pro New Slow Motion Samples:

Make sure to read our previous post on the Mate 30 Pro to understand how the phone shoots video in high frame rates if you have some doubts.

The faster the motion and the more detailed the subject like water, sand or dust can break the algorithm easily and cause unwanted blurring. The phone is creating these frames from a 1,920fps video and creating in-between frames much like programs like Twixtor or Optical flow do it on your PC video editor see our article here on this subject to understand more.

Huawei Mate 30 Pro Slow Motion Specs Dissected:

  • 120fps 1080p Continuous
  • 240fps 1080p Continuous
  • 960fps 1080p for 1 full second (960 frames in total)
  • 1920fps 720p for 1/2 second  (960 frames in total)
  • 7680fps 720p interpolated 4x (lasts for 32 seconds on a 30p timeline.)
  • All super slow motion modes at 960p and above last 32 seconds of playback at 30fps regular speed.
  • The entire buffer for the slow motion feature is 2GB and gets filled by data then dumped and encoded on the fly by the Kirin 990 chip.

There is no doubt that the more light you give the phone the better capture it will achieve. The Phone has a maximum shutter speed of 1/4000 which is the default on a bright sunny day, if you shoot in that kind of light you have a better chance of avoiding blurring and the subject will have more detail while the interpolation system on the Kirin 990 will have an easier time doing the interpolated frames.

See the samples below and our end commentary note further down:

960fps, 1920fps and 7680fps test – Huawei Mate 30 Pro incredible Slow Motion by Slow Experiment:

Huawei Mate 30 Pro Slow Motion: time control is now available on a phone by gizmochina: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Huawei Mate 30 Pro Slow Motion The Real Story!

Huawei Mate 30 Pro Slow Motion

Huawei has just launched the Mate 30 Pro and Mate 30 Pro 5G Smartphones which sport an impressive camera module with a large sensor array that shoots at 40 Megapixels.  We had rumors sent a couple of weeks back but had our reservations due to the less than optimal slow motion in the P20 and other Huawei Smartphones.  The phone is now untouched by the competition as it can shoot a half-second at 1920fps 720p or 960fps total which translates to 32 seconds on a 30p timeline.

The headline slow motion feature of 7680fps is not real as it is derived from the 1920fps 720p half-second which the phone then uses AI selection to isolate a 0.12 seconds segment of the capture then finally interpolated by the Kirin 990 Chipset to the full 7680fps. So it does a 4x slow motion on top of it to get the great-looking result.

Huawei Mate 30 Pro Camera Specs:

MAIN Rear CAMERA Module Quad 4x modules 40 MP, f/1.6, 27mm (wide), 1/1.7″, PDAF, OIS
8 MP, f/2.4, 80mm (telephoto), 1/4″, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom
40 MP, f/1.8, 18mm (ultrawide), 1/1.54″, PDAF
3D TOF camera
Features Leica optics, dual-LED dual-tone flash, panorama, HDR
Video 2160p@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, 1080p@960fps,  720p@1920fps, 720p@7680fps Interpolated 4x, gyro-EIS

Slow Motion Huawei Mate 30 Pro Keynote demo isolated by Svět Huawei:

The demo above shows the Mate 30 Pro Slow Motion feature in surface detail. It is compared to a 150k professional slow motion camera that shoots at 1977fps vs 1920fps on the Mate 30 pro.

Huawei Mate 30 Pro 7860fps ULTRA SLOW MOTION DEMO!!! by DroidHolic:

Huawei Mate 30 Pro Slow Motion Specs Dissected:

  • 120fps 1080p Continuous
  • 240fps 1080p Continuous
  • 960fps 1080p for 1 full second (960 frames in total)
  • 1920fps 720p for 1/2 second  (960 frames in total)
  • 7680fps 720p interpolated 4x (lasts for 32 seconds on a 30p timeline.)
  • All super slow motion modes at 960p and above last 32 seconds of playback at 30fps regular speed.
  • The entire buffer for the slow motion feature is 2GB and gets filled by data then dumped and encoded on the fly.

As you can see this is some serious phone performance and at this moment it is the slow motion champion for smartphones. It de-thrones Samsung, OnePlus, and Sony for the top spot by offering 960fps for a full second at 1080p and 1/2 second at 1920fps 720p. This is untouched performance.

HUAWEI Mate 30 Pro slow motion video by Mix Videos 720p 7680fps interpolated: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Octopus Cinema Camera Upgradeable Slow Motion Kit?

Octopus Cinema Camera Upgradeable Slow Motion

The recently announced Octopus Cinema Camera with a modular sensor, mount, and other components could, in theory, become a customizable professional solution slow motion camera that is unencumbered by firm specs but by a fluid and upgradeable sensor and component path.  The Axiom camera is also something akin to this but has yet to ship. The Octopus has in prototype form been fitted with a 4/3 sensor capable of up to 240fps in 2k RAW and a full-frame that allows 3k up to 100fps.

The body looks eerily similar to Phantom cameras with the white machined exterior with fans and ports protruding the body.  While 240fps at 2k is not what we could call really professional slow motion, it is based on an open architecture in hardware and software that could window the sensor down and possibly offer more frame rates at 1080p and 720p for maybe a 480fps RAW capture in HD.

Octopus Cinema Camera Specs:

The 4/3 sensor is the Sony IMX253 which offers a global shutter mode and high frame rate support. You can read more about this sensor here: Sony IMX 253 information. This sensor should be able to record 480fps at HD 720p if the camera is programmed to do it.

At 4/3 you get 240fps at 2k which will probably allow that at 1080p which is not bad considering you get 12 bit RAW DNG capture. You can also save in HEVC h.265 codec at up to 900mbits/sec which is a great option.

The full frame sensor will be the CMV20000 (Information here) which is a pretty advanced 20MP sensor allowing 5k capture at up to 48fps.  This sensor will be geared more for cinema people while the 4/3 would cater markets for TV, Web, and documentary. For slow motion, it is clear the 4/3 sensor makes more sense.

We can already fantasize of another sensor option that allows higher frame rates and a possibility to program the camera to be a true slow motion powerhouse with pre-record, post-triggering and remote monitoring.

Sample footage Samples Low Light in B&W at normal frame rate:

“INTERCHANGEABLE SPECIALIST IMAGE SENSORS

XIMEA provide a range of high-performance imaging modules which can be interchanged allowing the OCTOPUS CAMERA to have a fully upgradable image sensor.

Specialist sensors available include specifications such as full-frame 35mm, Global Shutter, native Monochrome and more.”

The power of a platform like this is based on what you can do with the customizability. If you could place a 2000fps 1080p sensor, for example, you could have a very capable production camera that really shoots slow video that can be analyzed professionally.

“UPGRADEABLE OPEN-PLATFORM HARDWARE
The OCTOPUS CAMERA uses the compact Intel® NUC as the processing board. Components can be removed and upgraded including the board itself when newer boards are available.”

Since the main component board is also upgradeable you can, in theory, get a board full of fast DDR memory for loop record at a fraction of the cost of a phantom camera.

The big If!

All this sounds great but the release date for the initial camera is sometime in 2020 with no price mentioned. The amount of work this camera needs to become a reality is pretty huge. Projects like the Axiom have thousands of hours of work by really incredible people and has yet to ship in final form.

The Octopus team is small according to information on the web and there is only a prototype product shown.  We saw the Fran camera go down in flames with big promises just recently and there is no reprieve when you mess up in the camera business.

We wish the Octopus team much success and hope to see a high frame rate sample or better yet, a module of sensor and board that shoots 1000fps or more in the future.  A camera like this could allow for an upgradeable slow motion camera system that grows as fast as technology allows, making it a first in the high speed market. Disruption could be the best thing in slow motion gear or just a spark that fizzles out by bad execution. Lets hope is the former. -HSC

You can find more information about Octopus Cinema Camera at the official website. http://octopuscinema.com 

They also have a mailing list to get updates at the same site.

Galaxy Note 9 Could Be Best Slow Motion Phone Yet!

With the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ on the running for the best slow motion smartphone of 2018, recent leaks if confirmed could make the Note 9 an even better proposition for high frame rate enthusiasts.  As with all rumored and leaked info, it could be false or inaccurate when compared to the final specs.  However, this phone is scheduled for an August 9th, 2018 reveal at a special event.

The most encouraging info on the new Phone will be the use of a new ISOCELL sensor capable of full HD recording at 960fps. Which will be a big improvement from the Galaxy S9’s 720p 960fps. That phone only records 0.24sec worth of 960p video so it would be ideal if the Note 9 was able to at least double that time but at full HD resolution.  The phone is expected to cost at least $960 based on the Note 8 price so it will not be cheap to get this kind of performance.

Galaxy Note 9 leaked specs:

  • 6GB of RAM/ 128GB of storage  Standard
  • 8GB/256GB and 8GB/512GB As Pricier Options
  • Samsung ISOCELL technology Camera Module 15% improvement in low light.
  • Full HD Super Slow Motion Feature! (As opposed to HD only on the Galaxy S9) Stacked ISOCELL Sensor
  • Snapdragon 845 For America & South Korea Exynos SoC for the rest of the globe.
  • 4000mAh or 3,850mAh Battery Module
  • Bluetooth Pen with Wireless Control of Phone features like playback, song skip, unlock, timers…
  • 5 Colors Gray, Lavender, Black, Brown & Blue
  • Improved screen for sunlight visibility
  • Design near identical to Note 8- Fingerprint reader moved on the back below the camera module to avoid smudges.
  • Price: Starting at £869 Pounds MSRP

 

“With advanced PDAF (Phase Detecting Auto Focus), such as Dual Pixel and Super PD sensor, ISOCELL Fast sensors identify the distance of fast-moving objects even in low light for faster and accurate autofocusing. The 3-stack FRS (Fast Readout Sensor) enables high-speed captures at Full HD video.

So given the information out there and the fact that Samsung will be making most of their own imaging sensors going forward in order to take that business away from Sony, our educated guess will be that the Note 9 will sport the 3-stack ISOCELL Fast 2L3. The 1.4-micrometer (μm) 12-megapixel (Mp) image sensor which is an outstanding spec part and capable of massive read-out speeds needed for true full slow-motion video capture.

The S5K2L3 sensor is already in mass production which bodes well for including it in the Note 9.  If Samsung is able to really deliver the 960fps frame rate at full HD 1080p resolution then it could easily take the crown as the best slow motion capable smartphone ever released.  We are still unsure about the recording time and if it will be improved at all from the Galaxy S9’s pitiful 0.24 seconds at 960p but it is an encouraging sign to see Samsung really stepping up their game when it comes to slow motion capture.  We will know the real full specs after the August 9th reveal. Stay Tuned. -HSC

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