A 12K Sensor Isn’t Necessarily a 12K Camera

What They Say

The 8K Association had an interesting article that highlights that there is a difference between a 12K sensor and a 12K camera. The article compares in detail the Blackmagic Design (BMD) ’12K’ camera and a camera with 4448 x 3096 photosites (Arri Alex LF) and found that the Arri camera has higher resolution with a sharper image. It appears that the BMD camera uses blocks of 6 x 6 subpixels to create a final pixel.

The lens used was a Sigma ART 135mm T2.0 which was tested and found to be capable of resolving up to 18K resolution with plenty of contrast, so that was not the limit.

What We Think

Ah, the perils of ‘pixel counting ‘. There is so much more to resolution than simply counting the sub-pixels. Although this article is about cameras, some of the same principles apply to display applications. As I have said before, I was surprised, in the early days of 4K projection, to see samples of projector lens performance done by Lang AG. Most of the lenses were decidedly fuzzy.

My best camera is a full frame mirrorless with just 12MP but nobody has ever said that the pictures I have taken are ‘not sharp enough’. (BR)

BMD 12K filter pattern