[10:25 Fri,25.July 2025 by Rudi Schmidts] |
Nikon has published a new patent titled "IMAGE-CAPTURING DEVICE AND IMAGE TRANSMISSION RECORDING SYSTEM." This describes an innovative method for transmitting RAW sensor data via HDMI – specifically, embedded in conventional YUV422 or YUV444 video streams.[ymcinema.com/2025/07/22/is-nikon-building-a-new-raw-workflow-with-reds-tech-a-closer-look-at-a-quiet-patent-move/](https://ymcinema.com/2025/07/22/is-nikon-building-a-new-raw-workflow-with-reds-tech-a-closer-look-at-a-quiet-patent-move/">ymcinema.com/2025/07/22/is-nikon-building-a-new-raw-workflow-with-reds-tech-a-closer-look-at-a-quiet-patent-move/">ymcinema.com/2025/07/22/is-nikon-building-a-new-raw-workflow-with-reds-tech-a-closer-look-at-a-quiet-patent-move/](https://ymcinema.com/2025/07/22/is-nikon-building-a-new-raw-workflow-with-reds-tech-a-closer-look-at-a-quiet-patent-move/) (YMCinema unearthed this patent) and believes that this technology could revolutionize the RAW world because it offers an open and more flexible alternative to previous proprietary solutions for external RAW recording.
;) The idea behind it isn&t particularly complicated: Instead of sending the camera&s specific RAW data (RGGB) via its own HDMI protocol, the RAW pixel data is arranged so that it can be directly embedded in a common YUV HDMI stream. Instead of YUV values, such a stream contains chunks of RAW data, which of course cannot be decoded and viewed as a YUV stream. But the data can be transmitted via an existing HDMI protocol without hardware changes. All external recorders that can record YUV via HDMI can therefore also record this RGGB RAW data from Nikon without further modifications. However, they cannot display it without further action. The patent itself primarily lists all possible embedding combinations of 12- and 16-bit RGGB RAW streams into various 4:4:4, 4:2:2, and 4:2:0 YUV streams, which in itself is quite exhausting to read. As far as we understand the patent correctly, Nikon is not at all concerned with embedding the signals in such a way that a classic YUV recorder can still display an image. Which is why we can&t see a big sensation in this patent either. Quite different from[www.slashcam.de/news/single/Clever-geloest--Apertus-Axiom-Beta-kann-UHD-RAW-via-12885.html](https://www.slashcam.de/news/single/Clever-geloest--Apertus-Axiom-Beta-kann-UHD-RAW-via-12885.html">www.slashcam.de/news/single/Clever-geloest--Apertus-Axiom-Beta-kann-UHD-RAW-via-12885.html">www.slashcam.de/news/single/Clever-geloest--Apertus-Axiom-Beta-kann-UHD-RAW-via-12885.html](https://www.slashcam.de/news/single/Clever-geloest--Apertus-Axiom-Beta-kann-UHD-RAW-via-12885.html) (this approximately 9-year-old slashCam report from Apertus). Because the open source project had already had a very similar idea at the time, which, however, additionally cleverly re-encoded the data in such a way that it even enabled a rough image preview on every common YUV recorder. The attempt was made to store the RGGB data "approximately" like YUV data, which did not mean a precise 1:1 preview, but should enable a rough preview. With "minimal pixel shift, slight flickering and not quite correct colors," this should still have been better than the RAW data salad that can be expected with Nikon&s implementation on a YUV recorder. In Apertus& time, however, the bigger buzz was that a complete 4K RAW stream could be saved in a 1080p60 data stream. At least in theory, because in practice the ProRes compression makes everything more complicated than it sounds. ;) From this perspective, it is certainly practical for Nikon if they no longer have to develop their own data protocol for the external storage of their own RAW format via HDMI. However, existing recorders will still not be able to be used meaningfully, as every recorder will need at least new firmware for debayering the RAW preview. HDMI preview monitor and recorder providers beyond Atomos and Blackmagic would certainly accept such a ball from Nikon – if it really makes its way into the match – and could also play a role in the RAW wars in the future.  more infos at bei ymcinema.comdeutsche Version dieser Seite: Nikon patentiert HDMI RAW RGGB Ausgabe - eingebettet in YUV-Streams |
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