Nikon is licensing PIX’s TicoRAW technology for 8K/60p Raw video in its Z9: Digital Photography Review
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When Nikon announced its upcoming Z9 camera, it confirmed that it would be able to shoot 8K Raw video at up to 60 frames per second (fps) with a set of firmware to be released. release in 2022. At the time, Nikon didn’t specify what it would look like. achieved this, but now we know it’s being done with the help of TicoRAW, a magnetic compression technology intoPIX that Nikon is licensing its Nikon Z9 camera system.
In a press release, published today, intoPIX says Nikon has chosen TicoRAW technology for use in its Z9 camera system to achieve 8K Raw recording at up to 60 fps. According to intoPIX, TicoRAW captures the full quality of sensor data while reducing storage and bandwidth needs through patented compression technology. Tico stands for ‘Tiny Codec’ and is so named because it uses minimal resources and doesn’t require any external DRAM.
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TicoRAW works with color filter arrays (CFAs) Raw data captured on Bayer 8, 10, 12 or 16-bit sensors up to 200 megapixels. intoPIX says their patented compression technology is ‘lossless mathematically and visually lossless down to 1 bit per pixel’, depending on the compression rate used for processing based on on its line. The latency of TicoRAW is very low, only 0.1 milliseconds.
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| A graph showing how much 12-bit 60fps video you can expect to be able to shoot at 1080p, 4K, and 8K using different versions of its TicoRAW compression technology . |
Based on graphs provided by intoPIX, TicoRAW can capture up to 11 minutes of 8K math lossless video (7680 x 4320 pixels) and up to 54 minutes of visual lossless video on a 1TB solid state drive (SSD) when recording 12-bit video at 60 fps.
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While intoPIX claims that its TicoRAW technology works for both stills and video, the press release is said to be as though it is only being used for video recording inside the Z9. We’ve reached out to both intoPIX and Nikon for clarification on whether TicoRAW can be used for still images captured by the Z9. We also asked intoPIX whether this partnership would be exclusive to the Nikon Z9 or if Nikon would also license future camera systems.
Press Release:
intoPIX TicoRAW technology complemented with the highly efficient RAW recording of the Flagship Nikon Z 9 mirrorless camera
A smart strategic move that will allow camera professionals to benefit from higher resolution with RAW stills & movies, while significantly reducing storage space.
Nikon made a bold strategic move to choose intoPIX TicoRAW technology: overcomes existing camera limitations to meet all the up-and-coming and advanced requirements of imaging professionals, whether in live sports, movies, wildlife documentaries wilderness or other challenging environments. Thanks to this addition, the new Z 9 camera offers highly efficient RAW recording up to 8K and 60 fps (available through the 2022 firmware update), preserving all benefits of the RAW format, while also ensuring very low power handling and very fast transfer speeds.
With TicoRAW, the full quality of captured sensor data is preserved while reducing bandwidth and storage needs. It can be used for both stills and RAW movies. This patented technology provides high image quality and very high resolution manageability, high frame rates, and high dynamic range workflow. TicoRAW is the world’s first RAW codec that can deliver efficient compression with such low complexity. It also has the advantage of retaining this very fast format for editing, regardless of the resolution and/or frame rate used.
“intoPIX is truly proud to partner with Nikon. We share the same ideals and passions: delivering better images and videos than ever before, anytime, anywhere in the world. Experience creating images like never before.” explain Gael Rouvroy, Managing Director at intoPIX.
With this latest revolution, intoPIX and Nikon invite all camera enthusiasts to enter the wonderful world of limitless imaging.
The two companies welcome people to contact their teams for samples intoPIX TicoRAW Technology solutions and new Nikon Camera.
