Bionz

BIONZ is the trademark of an image processor used in Sony cameras.

It is currently used in many of Sony α DSLRs. Image processing in camera converts the raw image data from a CCD or CMOS image sensor into the format that is stored on the memory card.^[1] This processing is one of the bottlenecks in digital camera speed, so manufacturers put much effort into making, and marketing, the fastest processors for this step that they can. Some of the models that use the BIONZ image processors are DSC-W150, DSC-W170, DSC-W210, DSC-W350 etc.

The first camera to officially use a so-called BIONZ processor was the DSLR-A700 in 2007, utilizing the MA07170 chip from a MegaChips (MCL) family of 32-bit RISC processors with MIPS R3000 core.

Similar MegaChips processors had been used in the DSLR-A100 (MA07169) as well as in the Konica Minolta 5D (MA07168) and 7D (MA07168), implementing Konica Minolta's CxProcess III running under MiSPO's NORTi/MIPS, an RTOS following the µITRON standard.

The original BIONZ processor MA07170 was also used in the DSLR-A200, DSLR-A300, and DSLR-A350. The DSLR-A850 and DSLR-A900 even used two such chips in parallel. The DSLR-A230, DSLR-A290, DSLR-A330, DSLR-A380, and DSLR-A390 used the MA07171 instead.

The next major BIONZ generation was utilizing the Sony CXD4115 as image processor in the DSLR-A450, DSLR-A500 and DSLR-A550 as well as the revised CXD4115-1 in the DSLR-A560, DSLR-A580, SLT-A33, SLT-A35, SLT-A55 / SLT-A55V, NEX-3 / NEX-3C, NEX-5 / NEX-5C, NEX-C3, and NEX-VG10. While the DSLR-A450, DSLR-A500 and DSLR-A550 still used a proprietary operating system (most probably NORTi as well), all later models are Linux-based (CE Linux 6 with kernel 2.3).

The following camera models utilize a Sony CXD4132 series chip as multicore BIONZ processor: SLT-A37, SLT-A57, SLT-A58, SLT-A65 / SLT-A65V, SLT-A77 / SLT-A77V, SLT-A99 / SLT-A99V / HV, NEX-F3, NEX-3N, NEX-5N, NEX-5R, NEX-5T, NEX-6, NEX-7 / Lunar, NEX-VG20, NEX-VG30, NEX-VG900, NEX-FS100, DSC-RX1 / DSC-RX1R, DSC-RX100 / Stellar /Sony DSC-RX100M2 .

BIONZ X

Some recent Sony cameras use a significantly enhanced image processor based on the Sony CXD90014 series dubbed the BIONZ X, including the ILCE-7 / ILCE-7R, ILCE-5000, ILCE-6000, DSC-RX10, ILCA-77M2 and DSC-RX100 III. It features, among other things, detail reproduction technology and diffraction-reducing technology, area-specific noise reduction and 16-bit image processing + 14-bit RAW output. ^[2] It can handle up to 10 frames per second and features Lock-on AF and object tracking.^[3]

References

Sony (2009). http://www.sony.com.sg/microsite/dslr/technologies/bionz.html

Minolta/Konica Minolta/Sony DSLR and SLT A-mount timeline

	Sensor	2004		2005				2006				2007				2008				2009				2010				2011				2012				2013				2014				2015				2016
		3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4
Professional	Full frame																		α900																α99																α99 II
																							α850
High-end	APS-C	DG-7D												α700																α77											α77 II
Midrange																														α65																		α68
Upper-entry																										α55							α57
										α100												α550				α580												α58
						DG-5D																α500				α560
																								α450
Entry-level																										α33				α35				α37
																α350					α380				α390
																α300					α330
																α200					α230				α290
Early models	Minolta 7000 with SB-70/SB-70S (1986) · Minolta 9000 with SB-90/SB-90S (1986) (Still video SLRs) Minolta MS-C1100 (1992) · Minolta RD-175 (1995)

Single-lens translucent (SLT) camera
5-axis in-body image stabilization (bold)
HD video capable (Video AF)
Dual phase-detection AF (italic)

Sony E-mount MILC timeline

Family	Level	Format	2010				2011				2012				2013				2014				2015				2016
			1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4
XDCAM	Documentary	Super-35mm																				PXW-FS7								PXW-FS7 II
	Mobility																								PXW-FS5
NXCAM	Professional								NEX-FS100			NEX-FS700					NEX-FS700R
	Entry-level	APS-C											NEX-EA50
Handycam	High-End	Full-frame											NEX-VG900
	Advanced	APS-C			NEX-VG10					NEX-VG20			NEX-VG30
Alpha (α)	Sensitivity	Full-frame																		α7S					α7S II
	Resolution																	α7R						α7R II
	High-End																	α7				α7 II
	Advanced	APS-C							NEX-7											α6000								α6300		α6500
	Mid-range												NEX-6
	Upper-entry		NEX-5 / NEX-5C						NEX-5N				NEX-5R				NEX-5T		α5000		α5100
	Entry-level		NEX-3 / NEX-3C					NEX-C3				NEX-F3			NEX-3N
	DSLR-style																α3000			α3500
	SmartShot																					QX1
Security	-	Full-frame																											SNCVB770

Smart Accessory Terminal (1 and 2), 5-axis in-body image stabilization (bold), Auto-lock Accessory Shoe, Multi Interface Shoe, 4K resolution video

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Bionz

BIONZ X

See also

References