Canon EOS C500 Brochure & Specs page 4

THE KEY TO SUCCESSFUL DIGITAL CINEMA
– SUPERB IMAGE QUALITY IN HD/2K AND 4K
The EOS C500's superb imaging abilities start with the highly innovative, 4K image sensor that was developed
by Canon specifically for high frame rate motion imaging. The 8.85 Megapixel sensor's performance has been
acclaimed in the EOS C300 for its outstanding sensitivity, and that same range of ISO 320 to ISO 20000
– a product of the novel photodiode design and the larger photosite area – is fully maintained in the EOS
C500 for 2K/HD and 4K operation. The uniquely organic nature of the image sensor noise (devoid of any
fixed pattern noise) at high ISO settings has been widely commented upon as being evocative of motion
picture film grain. The 12-stop dynamic range imparts a superb tonal reproduction, as well as an exposure
latitude that helps ensure clarity in deeply shadowed areas of a scene while also preserving details in
overexposed portions. The rich color reproduction is a product of Canon's mastery of Color Filter Array (CFA)
design and image sensor spectral response.
HD and 2K Origination
A central design goal for the EOS C500 was to ensure that this
large-format single-sensor camera would produce the highest
possible quality HD or 2K over a broad range of frame rates.
The EOS C500 originates 1920x1080 HD in the same unique
manner as in the EOS C300. This entails direct readout of the
4K image sensor (operating in a 3840x2160 QuadHD sampling
mode), not as the traditional singular RAW signal but rather as
four parallel 1920x1080 video components. This capability
immediately creates an RGrGbB, 4:4:4:4 12-bit component set
without any debayering process whatsoever, thus totally
avoiding any reconstruction errors associated with that process.
The subsequent summation of the two green video
components – Gr and Gb – creates a uniquely enhanced
green that has exceptionally high sharpness and virtually
zero horizontal and vertical aliasing. This summed green
component is also endowed with an increased effective
dynamic range. The EOS C500 thus prepares an exceptionally
clean 12-bit 1920x1080 RGB 4:4:4 HD component set having
unrivalled overall image performance.
In the alternative cinematic 2K mode, this component set is
derived from the 4096x2160 photosite sampling of the
image sensor and becomes a 2048x1080 RGB 4:4:4 set,
with each component at full 12-bit depth.
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Canon Log Gamma
Normal 1
Canon Log
INPUT
Canon Log –
Ensures tonal reproduction for both highlight and
lowlight regions during post-production.
2K/HD RAW Data Signal Processing
4096
EOS C500
Camera
High Speed Parallel Readout
2048
RAW
R Gr Gb B
• ISO Setting and White Balance
• Sum the Two Green Components
• Apply Canon Log to Each of the RGB RAW Components
• Multiplex the Three RAW RGB Components into a 3G-SDI Serial Interface
-- According to SMPTE 424M and SMPTE ST 425-1
3G-SDI
2K/HD RGB RAW
Recording Formats:
External
12-bit or 10-bit HD/2K RGB up to 60P
Digital
Recorder
10-bit HD/2K YCrCb from 62–120P
2K Multiple Output Formats
Mode Resolution Frame Rate
2048 x 1080 / 59.94p / 29.97p / 23.98p / 50.00p /
2K RGB 4:4:4 12-bit
1920 x 1080 25.00p / 24.00p
2048 x 1080 / 59.94p / 29.97p / 23.98p / 50.00p /
2K RGB 4:4:4 10-bit
1920 x 1080 25.00p / 24.00p
2K Slow and Fast Motion Recording Chart
Mode Resolution Playback Rate Record Rates
1–30 in 1 frame increments
60Hz / 24:00
32–60 in 2 frame increments
2048 x 1080 /
2K RGB 4:4:4
1920 x 1080
1–25 in 1 frame increments
50Hz
26–50 in 2 frame increments
1–60 in 1 frame increments
60Hz / 24:00
62–120 in 2 frame increments
2048 x 1080 /
2K YCC 4:2:2
1920 x 1080
1–50 in 1 frame increments
50Hz
52–100 in 2 frame increments
2K and HD RAW Signal Outputs
It is important to recognize that the RGB video component
set that has been originated remains a genuine RAW signal
set. The components are directly originated in the image
sensor itself, and they fully preserve all of the wide dynamic
range and low noise of this unique image sensor, combined
with the excellent colorimetry of the special Canon Color
Filter Array (CFA). A significant extension to the performance
attributes of these 12-bit RGB components is the ability to
operate at high frame rates. The only processing baked into
these RAW signals are two gain settings: one related to the
camera ISO setting, and the second related to white balance.
Canon Raw is stored as file clips, and each frame is in a Raw
Media Format file. A specific take within a shooting project is
stored in a folder containing multiple file clips. From origination
within the image sensor to final playback through the digital
recorder, there is no loss in overall picture quality in either
HD or 2K modes. Full color space and exposure latitude are
preserved, and downstream digital image manipulations are
superbly supported.
Canon Log
One of the critical design goals of the EOS C500 was to
ensure that the uncompressed 2K or HD component video
set could be interfaced with multiple well-known digital
recorders via a standard serial digital interface. As such, the
total data rate over this interface had to be carefully managed.
A key element is that Canon Log is applied to the three RGB
component-video signals, as is ensuring that the full 12 stops
of dynamic range are protected in that recording process.
It is important to note that this is the only form of video
processing applied to these signals and, accordingly, their
RAW integrity is ensured. The associated mathematics and
coding levels of Canon Log are published on the Cinema EOS
website; this information allows restoration in post-production
of the RGB components to three linear video components at
bit depths of 14 or 16 bits. Traditional RGB video processing is
subsequently applied in the grading and finishing processes.
HD and 2K Recording
Because the Canon RAW signals are, in fact, a 4:4:4 RGB
component-video set, they are carefully multiplexed in the
EOS C500 in strict accordance with the SMPTE 424M and
SMPTE ST 425-1 3G-SDI video standards. (This standard lays
out how to multiplex four component RGB+A into a single
serial stream.) The EOS C500 features two separate 3G-SDI
interface connectors. At the internationally standardized
progressive picture capture rates of 23.97/24.0/25/29.7/50/60P,
only one of the 3G-SDI interfaces is required to transport the
12-bit 4:4:4 RGB video components to the relevant external
recorders.
When higher frame rate operation is desired for slow motion
effects – up to a limit of 120P – then the two 3G-SDI interfaces
are required in order to transport the far higher data rates
entailed. And here, the component set will be switched from
12-bit RGB to 10-bit YCbCr. The EOS C500 can also be switched
to deliver an alternative 10-bit RGB via the single 3G-SDI
output serial interface if either the image recorder or the
post-production system operates at this lower bit depth.
Slow and Fast Motion Recording
In addition to the EOS C500's operation over the range of
fixed, worldwide picture capture rates listed above, creative
flexibilities are dramatically extended when the camera is
switched into a mode called Slow/Fast Recording. This allows
selection of a range of progressive frame rates – starting as
low as 1 fps and increasing in incremental steps up to 120 fps
– to support effects shooting that seeks speeding up or
slowing down motion capture. From 1 to 30 fps, the selection
is in one-frame steps; from 32 to 60 fps it is in two-frame
steps; and from 62 to 120 fps the YCbCr component operation
is selectable in two-frame steps.
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