Agreed. Nice post.After reading the statement from Jim about Canons "parlor trick" (skipping pixels to get 1080p recording from their "full" sensor area)... I've started thinking...
Actually... Even though it isn't exactly in the RED-way. Why not use that same parlor-trick and better Canons result. The Canon sollution does have it's merits, though it's hampered by lack of controll of exposure (as I have been told at least. I don't know if it can be worked around like with the semi-auto HV20), crippling compression, limited FPS control and no raw.
There has been much talk about a fictional s35 3K scarlet because of the percieved features it would bring with it. Even as Brainburst continually puts forward the 4/3 way of doing things. A s35 scarlet in 3k has the main points of lower storage-needs (than the promised 5K at least) and ability to use s35 optics and therefore DOF (which I tend to feel is overrated IMO).
So, what I'm getting at is that the red cameras has always been able to do "windowing" to get higher FPS. And in all fairness, In my mind, "windowing" is also a parlor-trick. You trade off resolution and FOV for FPS. But it works. So... What's stopping The Team from putting pixel-skipping into the camera as a firmware upgrade feature? That would give, let's say, the 6K scarlet that has a maximum of 30 FPS, a mode of recording "pixelskipped" 3K in somewhere of at least 60 FPS (and assuming that 3K being quarter of 6K it maybe would be able to boost FPS up to, say, 30*4=120fps, not counting the effect of bayer-grids of course). utilizing the full FOV of the Full Frame sensor. In RAW, with full exposure control.
True, the dynamic range and low light capability isn't boosted at all with this method. But at least everyone that craves the "nothing in focus"-look would be happy. And we all get full-frame slow-mo. Without the over-stated rolling shutter issue of the CanonI don't know if the voodoomagic RedCode would be thrown into a fit though, having to skip pixels to reduce resolution instead of focusing of a smaller area of the sensor...
And maybe it would lower, what I imagine must be a concentration of energy on a small space on the sensor and therefore concentration of heat. Instead spreading out the energy and lower the overall temperature of the sensor.
This would only entail a firmware update I think. Not limited to the 6K camera. A 2/3 3K scarlet could in my mind pixel-skip to 1.5K RAW and 240 fps. 360 burst. And the Sillily large 617 Epic could get 14K feeds of 50fps. All utilizing the full sensor area.
That is... if I've understood the tech-side of this feature in good enough way. I'm sure that it has all been discussed by the RED build team at great lengths and for some reason or another (I imagine it could totally screw up the lovely redcode magic for instance) the windowing was chosen. I just hope that the "parlor trick" isn't scrapped alltogether though if it actually would work as I have outlined above. Just because it was the way that Canon did it, and we'll relegate it to the pile of don'ts right next to "pixelshifting"...
just my 13 ören on the matter
