Patrice LACOUTURE wrote: > 2006/11/24, Mark Roberts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: >> If the K10D shot *compressed* DNG then I'd be able to skip >> the entire batch process. This is what I was hoping for. >> >> I'm hoping it's possible for them to provide this functionality >> eventually through a firmware update, but I have no way of knowing if >> that part of the camera's firmware is in the flash ROM. If it's not, >> then it won't be possible for them to change it through a firmware >> update. > > With Flash prices constantly plumetting down, it's safe for any > manufacturer to put (almost) everything in Flash. The (small) extra > cost compared to plain ROM is overcome by greatly reducing the risk of > a software issue that couldn't be fixed by an upgrade if the piece of > software was in ROM. Besides, the whole firmware would ideally be > stored into one single chip, cheaper and safer than two separate ROM > and Flash chips. > > So my guess is that everything is upgradeable, except maybe the > bootstrap code that actually allows the flash to be updated in the > first place (just in case). (This is often stored in Flash, but can't > be erased after manufacturing by electronic design.) > > The questions are then: > - is there any code space left to integrate a compression engine in > this flash? > - how would the DNG compression process impact the performance? > > The obvious workaround for this performance issue is to integrate some > hardware-assisted compression system (which is common for JPEG) but > this must be planned in advance and impact the hardware, and the cost. > > Just my educated guess, I may be totally wrong. > > Patrice >
The compression engine is already there, it does the PEF compression. It's a matter of implementing it for DNG as well. Thus I expect compressed DNG via a software update (Unlike on the older bodies which lack a compression engine). Note that such compression engines are often hardware, in the way of a dedicated DSP. -Adam -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
