Sony sensor?
- Thread starter twitchyzero
- Start date
I strongly suspect that it is a Sony. DJI worked closely with Sony on their 1inch-type sensors using Sony's 5k readout, full pixel 5k to 4k scaling engine. I would bet they did it again with the Air sensor.
Sony makes THE best small sensors in the world with their EXMOR and BSI architecture.
Even mighty Samsung buys Sony sensors.
Sony makes THE best small sensors in the world with their EXMOR and BSI architecture.
Even mighty Samsung buys Sony sensors.
Not good enough for me... Watercolor effect on higher fps videos, sharpness controls does not apply gradually for higher fps too...
Mavic uses an exmor r imx377.
Is the same of nexus 6p xiaomi yi 4k and 4k+, and maybe mavic air.
The 377 is capable of 4k60 but sadly in the mavic the software only allows 30fps.
In the xi 4k+, has 135 mbps of bitrate and according to the info delivered by sony, the 60mbps of mavic, are a sw problem.
I hope that with the arrival of mavic air, dji enables with a new fw, full sensor capability.
In paper, air and pro sensors are exactly the same, with different bitrates.
Is the same of nexus 6p xiaomi yi 4k and 4k+, and maybe mavic air.
The 377 is capable of 4k60 but sadly in the mavic the software only allows 30fps.
In the xi 4k+, has 135 mbps of bitrate and according to the info delivered by sony, the 60mbps of mavic, are a sw problem.
I hope that with the arrival of mavic air, dji enables with a new fw, full sensor capability.
In paper, air and pro sensors are exactly the same, with different bitrates.
DJI uses these Sony IMX377 sensors for their image quality and for their low power (and low heat) features. However, they take that output and dump it into low cost Ambarella image processors and their crappy h.264 hardware 60mbp/s encoding. I'm going to say that Ambarella is the reason why we are not getting the full quality out of these Sony sensors that we "could" be getting. (as if they were using Sony processing and Sony's H.264 encoder) Buying the Sony sensor was prolly enough for DJI and maybe they didnt want to go a step further and pay for Sony's downstream image processing...which would not be cheap at all.
Sony's technology is for sale but it's a premium (and highly patented) product and likely the most expensive on the market. Ambarella probably offered their junk H.264 encoder to DJI for ALLOT less money. Even the Spark's 1080p image would look a heck of allot better on Sony's image processing and h.264 encoder.
The Mavic Air FINALLY does away with this 4k 60mbp/s bitrate for good. It's been completely removed from the Air and is no longer even an option. It's 2018 and we will never see 4k at 60mbp/s in a DJI drone again. (or any other companies drone either...even Ambarella has moved on)
If DJI was smart, they would buy the larger Sony IMX266 image sensor for the Mavic Pro-II. That would give them larger photosites at the same 4k resolution they are scanning today. It will cost DJI more and raise the price of the Mavic Pro-II but they NEED to break away from the current 1/2.3 sensors they are buying and give the Mavic Pro-II a REAL upgrade over the Air. And if they purchased Sony image processing and XAVC h.264 chip? Wow,..it would be expensive but well worth it.
CT
I guess, based on Cliff's extensive post on sensor vs. codec vs. imaging, the watercolor is definitelly hardware dependent and thus hard upgrade or anyhow improve. Anyway my Mavic's on sale and the reason for selling is mostly this situation around video recording. The aircraft itself is pretty lovely piece of work and gives great moments when flying.
DefaultIT
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Video is just a ton of data...and the game becomes about how much you can shed before the image degrades noticeably. Doing that well is complex and process-intensive, so it's a wonder to me these light weight/low power chipsets do as well as they do. My hope is that the storage media continues to get faster and more capacious so as to relieve some of the strain on the onboard processing a bit.
It's a hard process.
1.) You scan the raw data (12 million voltage readings...or 20 million on the 1 inch-type)
2.) Assign real Red, Green, Green and Blue color values (Yes, RGGB, all image sensors are actually grey scale photosites in raw)
3.) DeBayer algorithms to form full color pixels. (many different ways to do this mathematically...hopefully not old Ambarella ones)
4.) Assign gamma curves, color saturation, contrast, sharpness etc...
5.) Noise reduction algorithms (Hopefully hi quality, hi CPU, hi complexity ones, not old Ambarella ones.) You can easily DESTROY an image with too much of a bad noise reduction system.
6.) Send this finished image to the H.264 CODEC. (Hopefully a high quality and high complexity encoder....like Sony's XAVC h.264 chip, NOT old Amberella ones.)
This is an enormous amount of data processing that can be done 1,000 different ways. The quality of the sensor output is one thing. The quality of how the image processors do the rest of the work makes all the difference in the world. In my opinion I would prefer DJI spend the extra money and buy Sony's highly patented and superb processing systems. (They are very premium systems like their sensors) But?...DJI must keeps their costs down, so they go with other companies instead.
1.) You scan the raw data (12 million voltage readings...or 20 million on the 1 inch-type)
2.) Assign real Red, Green, Green and Blue color values (Yes, RGGB, all image sensors are actually grey scale photosites in raw)
3.) DeBayer algorithms to form full color pixels. (many different ways to do this mathematically...hopefully not old Ambarella ones)
4.) Assign gamma curves, color saturation, contrast, sharpness etc...
5.) Noise reduction algorithms (Hopefully hi quality, hi CPU, hi complexity ones, not old Ambarella ones.) You can easily DESTROY an image with too much of a bad noise reduction system.
6.) Send this finished image to the H.264 CODEC. (Hopefully a high quality and high complexity encoder....like Sony's XAVC h.264 chip, NOT old Amberella ones.)
This is an enormous amount of data processing that can be done 1,000 different ways. The quality of the sensor output is one thing. The quality of how the image processors do the rest of the work makes all the difference in the world. In my opinion I would prefer DJI spend the extra money and buy Sony's highly patented and superb processing systems. (They are very premium systems like their sensors) But?...DJI must keeps their costs down, so they go with other companies instead.
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Ok guys, let's bring this post alive but now with fo us on 1" sensor and MPP vs. M2P comparission. We all knew how bad the output is when shooting in higher fps like 60 or 120 on e.g. 720p.
Anybody owning Mavic Pro 2 has tried it yet to provide full compare against the old sensor.
Note: Mavic Pro Zoom does have the issue on high framerates as expected.
Anybody owning Mavic Pro 2 has tried it yet to provide full compare against the old sensor.
Note: Mavic Pro Zoom does have the issue on high framerates as expected.
Yes, the Mavic Air, Mavic Pro, Mavic 2 Pro & Zoom and Phantom 4 Pro all use Sony Exmor sensors.
Further in the Exmor lineup there is Exmor R (Back Side Illuminated) and Exmor RS (BSI and Stacked) sensors. Stacked sensors give you really fast readouts to help avoid rolling shutter.
I'm doing an in-depth analysis this week between the Phantom 4 Pro V2.0, Mavic-II Pro and Mavic-II Zoom.
I have all three shooting resolution charts and more. The results I saw today were both shocking and somewhat depressing. I'm doing some tests that nobody has done yet and will reveal the crazy details this week.
I will give you a teaser hint. The Mavic-II Pro is doing some nasty line skipping and/or pixel binning that the Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 does NOT do at all.
Also, the Ambarella image processors are just as important as the image sensor DJI buys. You can see the crappy Ambarella A9 in all it's glory here....(thank God DJI and the rest of the world is FINISHED with that **** chip!)
If you want to be shocked fast,...go straight to 2:58
I have all three shooting resolution charts and more. The results I saw today were both shocking and somewhat depressing. I'm doing some tests that nobody has done yet and will reveal the crazy details this week.
I will give you a teaser hint. The Mavic-II Pro is doing some nasty line skipping and/or pixel binning that the Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 does NOT do at all.
Also, the Ambarella image processors are just as important as the image sensor DJI buys. You can see the crappy Ambarella A9 in all it's glory here....(thank God DJI and the rest of the world is FINISHED with that **** chip!)
If you want to be shocked fast,...go straight to 2:58
Hi Cliff, cant wait for the findings. I remember watching your Air vs. Pro comparission. It is really eye opening stuff...
Wait till you see which image belongs to which camera!Mavic-II - Pro FOV Full wide
Mavic-II - HQ sensor crop
Phantom 4 Pro V2.0
Mavic - Zoom 28mm
All cameras at 100 ISO (0db) and all at +1 sharpening.
List is NOT in any order with photos.
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