Re: 25 MP sensor of Sony

Kevin McMurtrie wrote:
In article <1201732332.929277@ftpsrv1>, frederick <lost@xxxxxxx> wrote:

Ali wrote:
Maybe I am wrong, but there is no substance to this press release.

They have only announced the development of the 25mp full frame sensor. There is no physical product yet.

Then it could be a good relief to them, if their engineers/designers ever bother to read ng, that a full-frame chip, intended for high-end cameras, should have at least 14 bit d/a converter, not 12 bit as in their press release. They can now go back and get it right. All new high end cameras from Canon and Nikon have 14 bit.

The need for levels per pixel goes down as the resolution goes up. Don't forget that even really good printers may have only 1 to 3 bits per ink. 25mp is 318 ppi on a 13" x 19" print. You're doing it wrong if 12 bits per pixel at 318 ppi starts to posterize.

I'm not sure if we're on the same track here.
Posterisation (in printing) or from integer rounding when editing an image file isn't the issue.
Highlights that would be blown with 12 bit data can sometimes be recovered from 14 bit files - if they aren't too far gone. I've seen samples from D3 and 1dIII with amazing results.
Alternatively - or as well - many newer models of dslr are offering "highlight preservation" modes, that do some of this for you automatically by underexposing slightly, then boosting shadows and mid-tones in-camera for jpegs (or changing default settings for OEM raw converter saved in raw file metadata)
Having more data in the highlights in the correctly exposed 14 bit raw file in the first place is an advantage over that method as you have more room to move at both ends (presuming that the sensor is capable of recording that depth of data).
I think I have that more or less right, but I'm sure it will be corrected by someone...
.