Sony A7R II: RawDigger Special Display Modes Show How the File is Encoded
Get Sony A7R II at B&H Photo.
I’ve previously written about the Sony ARW raw format, which uses 11+7 bit lossy compression (data is thrown away). This format works very well on 'average' images, but issues show up when the algorithmic premises are violated. Night shots or anything with very high edge contrast are problematic, and the gapping with low values can create posterization.
I want a raw file format from Sony a la Nikon: no data thrown away: a lossless-compressed format. The fine sensor in the Sony A7R II deserves no less.
The images below from RawDigger (more on that below) show the way the raw file is sampled and encoded by the Sony 11+7 bit raw format. It is visually suggestive of issues that might occur in special situations.
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RawDigger preferences
RawDigger is a powerful tool for raw file analysis. It contains special settings to show the base + delta encoding of the Sony 11+7 bit raw file, providing (at the least) a suggestive hint of what might befall image quality when less than ideal exposures or gamuts are encountered.