@danyyyel "At 14 stop, you have excellence, I would call it human vision."

Human vision was measured at 20 stop with 1 000 000/1 contrast ratio.

For me, a good DR is better than 15 stops, 55 000/1 CR we can definitively play with in post.

That's for me the next challenge. Beating the 16 stop barrier in video mode. THIS is the real definition of "wide dynamic range". :-)

If we get 12 stops of DR from the GH3, I'd be pretty happy. If we got that plus a 10-bit log format I'd be ecstatic. I'm not holding my breath on that last one though. I can't wait until we get official specs from Panasonic. The suspense is killing me!

any rumors on better 3d quality and easy working 3d videomode ?

If these specs are true the GH3 will be a killer camera. The big question now is: how many fstops dynamic range?

I just wanted to say something about dynamic range because it seems that it is misunderstood. The amount of dynamic range in a digital system is directly proportional to the number of bits or "doublings" you use. So 8 bits gives you 8 stops... 10 bits gives you 10 stops. You are never going to get 12 stops dynamic range out of an 8 bit video system. RAW gets 12 or 13 stops because 12 bits is recorded each for RGB (adding the 3 gives you another stop for luminance)

@berniez.

Could you please explain more detail about the Dynamic range and the bits limit on a sensor. Also, what does vitaly means with only linear case or near linear. I want more detailed explanation, if can`t be done here, please make new thread about Dynamic range from basic to advance information.

Thanks in advance.

OK, more detail. The video signal is linear and digital. Every time we add a bit we double the number of levels available. 8 bits is 256 levels. Of course luminance is made up of red+green+blue. So the best possible outcome with 8 bits is 256 levels of R + 256 levels of blue (Giving one extra doubling ie: 9 stops) + 256 levels of green which is an extra 1/2 stop. So the best possible outcome with 8 bits is 9.5 stops if you recorded RGB. But video doesn't record RGB, it records YUV which is luminance (Y) plus two color difference signals (U and V). So you begin with 256 levels of luminance plus or minus some color signal (it gets complicated because luminance is 68%G 22%R 10%B) So, and I'm talking video system here not raw recording, an 8 bit system gets you about 9 stops, a 10 bit system gets you 11 stops. Whatever processing you do before this cannot change this limitation on the video system signal... this is a mathematical certainty!

This DOES not apply to foveon sensors @berniez? since there is no sum of color per pixel (mixing colors in bayer to make one pixel)

Could you explain how does foven sensor will apply this maths?

please use this:

http://personal-view.com/talks/discussion/4504/understanding-dynamic-range-type-of-sensors-and-film.#Item_1

@berniez

So 8 bits gives you 8 stops... 10 bits gives you 10 stops.

I know what you are getting at but I think this is relating two separate things. You can put any number of stops of luminance into however many bits you want. The only result that comes from using 8bits instead of 10,11,12 ... is that of greater quantization errors in the A/D conversion which perceptually looks like posterisation/banding etc.

Sure it is semantic but at least I think you were referring to 'usable' DR.

You are never going to get 12 stops dynamic range out of an 8 bit video system.

We can and do get a usable equivalent of 12stops of dynamic range out of 8bit systems and sometimes it looks great like blu-ray video on a plasma screen.

As endusers I'm not sure we have the intimate knowledge of the sensor to know how much more information is lost or retained by using 8bits vs 10bits vs 12bits for 8stops of light and what the perceptual differences are once the data is shoehorned into an 8bit container. Someone could do a synthetic test to see if it matches up with what camera makers actually are doing right now.

I see on some forums that when it comes to the OMD most of the users are raving about it's jpeg images more than about it's RAW. I think that tells you something about how people perceptually rate the usability of an image. I can agree that it does look like the best jpeg to come out of a camera.

Last point. In the GH2 and its direct competition there are two very significant steps of data conversion resulting in compression, distortion and loss. Data is mangled once at the sensor in an A/D conversion and then secondly at the AVCHD encoding stage. Of the two manglings I think the AVCHD stage is by far the worst. (edit) I overstated in that point. More correct that the AVCHD stage is the one they can more easily improve to our benefit. Hacks demonstrated this. The sensor remains an important target for improvement.(/edit)

And yes vicx, what you said is right, see my qualification.

I am thinking all the time what type of codec panasonic will implement, xlrs , timecode, weathersealing, 50/80mbit codecs, these are things for pros , so I hardly believe we will have only avchd 4:2:0 8bit codec

Look here at avc-ultra specs : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVC-Intra

"The most efficient new parameter within AVC-Ultra is by Panasonic called, AVC-LongG. AVC-LongG enables compression of video resolutions up to 1920 × 1080 @ 23.97, 25 and 29.97p, with 10 bits of pixel depth at 4:2:2 color sampling, at data rates as low as 25 Mbit / "

I was allways wondering if they would implement avc ultra codec with 1080/60p options.. that would be one dream.. it is all I want now from panny a decent gradable codec with 1080/50p

source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC#Profiles

Which column Panasonic will choose ? :p I wish the Hi422P....but Panasonic is a BIG C and... It's all about marketing segment !

Gx ; 4:2:0 8bit ~1000 € GH3 ; 4:2:0 10bit ~2000€ no raw but tweakable logs ,1080/60p. AF200 ; 4:2:0 10 bit ~4000€ add nd filters and all camcorder style usual options. AF500 ; 4:2:2 10 bit ~7000€ add raw,2K and some minors things. AF700 ; 4:2:2 10 bit ~10000€ add high fps,4k.

for HDSLR design lovers GH5 ~5000€ 4:2:2 10 bit raw,2K GH7 ~8000€ 4:2:2 10 bit raw,4K,high FPS