<p>Turns out the answer is <em>yes</em>. Such format is called <strong>CinemaDNG</strong> and is used for professional video production since 2009.</p>

<p>Here's the spec for the format: <a href="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/labs/cinemadng/cinemadng_p1_spec_091009.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://download.macromedia.com/pub/labs/cinemadng/cinemadng_p1_spec_091009.pdf</a></p>

<p>Among other things it supports:</p>

<ol>
<li>Integer sensor values of any bit depth from 8 to 32 bits</li>
<li>Arbitrary size color filter arrays with up to seven color channels</li>
<li>Black level, white level, and linearization parameters for scaling of sensor values</li>
<li>Color-processing parameters for mapping camera RGB to CIE XYZ color space</li>
</ol>

<p>Adobe's <em>Creative Suite</em> supports <em>CinemaDNG</em> on both Windows and Mac OS platforms since version 4 and the codec (at least for Windows) is available from Adobe's website: <a href="http://supportdownloads.adobe.com/product.jsp?product=194&amp;platform=Windows" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://supportdownloads.adobe.com/product.jsp?product=194&amp;platform=Windows</a></p>

<p>There are other products out there that process video in <em>CinemaDNG</em> format, some even with GPU (CUDA) support.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-19T03:39:44.827Z
2017-04-19T03:39:44.827Z
YePhIcK
<p>As we all know individual cells in CMOS sensors are <em>essentially</em> identical. The only thing that differentiates them from each other is the thin filter layer (turning them into R, G, B sensor cells). The most standard pattern for that "coloring" is the RGGB "Bayer filter".</p>

<p>In essence those individual cells produce grey-scale image which is then turned into color by the process called <strong>demosaicing</strong>.</p>

<p>Here's my <strong>question</strong>:<br>
<em>Is there a recognized (standard?) video format for streaming/storing that kind of video stream?</em></p>

<p><strong>N.B.</strong><br>
Please note that a <em>naïve</em> answer "this is grey-scale!" doesn't work since a simple parameter like windowing will affect the image, completely changing its colors. Also there's definitely a need for "sensor sensitivity" information to be able to properly reconstruct the original color. And so on and so forth...</p>

<capturing><formats><digital><raw>
video format for pre-demosaic'ed stream
YePhIcK
# video format for pre-demosaic'ed stream

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-04-19)

As we all know individual cells in CMOS sensors are *essentially* identical. The only thing that differentiates them from each other is the thin filter layer (turning them into R, G, B sensor cells). The most standard pattern for that "coloring" is the RGGB "Bayer filter".

In essence those individual cells produce grey-scale image which is then turned into color by the process called **demosaicing**.

Here's my **question**:  
*Is there a recognized (standard?) video format for streaming/storing that kind of video stream?*

**N.B.**  
Please note that a *naïve* answer "this is grey-scale!" doesn't work since a simple parameter like windowing will affect the image, completely changing its colors. Also there's definitely a need for "sensor sensitivity" information to be able to properly reconstruct the original color. And so on and so forth...

**Tags:** capturing, formats, digital, raw


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2017-04-19. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

Turns out the answer is *yes*. Such format is called **CinemaDNG** and is used for professional video production since 2009.

Here's the spec for the format: <http://download.macromedia.com/pub/labs/cinemadng/cinemadng_p1_spec_091009.pdf>

Among other things it supports:

1. Integer sensor values of any bit depth from 8 to 32 bits
2. Arbitrary size color filter arrays with up to seven color channels
3. Black level, white level, and linearization parameters for scaling of sensor values
4. Color-processing parameters for mapping camera RGB to CIE XYZ color space

Adobe's *Creative Suite* supports *CinemaDNG* on both Windows and Mac OS platforms since version 4 and the codec (at least for Windows) is available from Adobe's website: <http://supportdownloads.adobe.com/product.jsp?product=194&platform=Windows>

There are other products out there that process video in *CinemaDNG* format, some even with GPU (CUDA) support.


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