Digital cinema camera system for recording, editing and visualizing images

A digital camera system, comprising:

• (a) an imaging subsystem comprising at least one on-board CMOS color imager camera module having an imager resolution of at least 4K and supporting capturing 10-bit or higher precision data at video rates or higher, including at 59.94FPS or higher, said camera module aligned with an optical assembly comprising at least one of an integrated lens and a mount for an interchangeable lens, wherein the imaging subsystem is configured to capture one or more views of a scene;
• (b) a processing subsystem comprising:
• (i) a processor comprising dedicated hardware, said dedicated hardware including a video codec engine, wherein said processor and dedicated hardware are configured for real-time stream processing of 10-bit or higher variable bit rate (VBR) video data, said stream processing comprising at least one of encoding or decoding video data formatted as at least one of:
• (A) a 4K (Quad HD) or higher resolution color-processed video format, including color subsampled formats;
• and (B) a Cinema 4K or higher resolution raw format comprising a camera recording of encoded raw video data, including preprocessed raw data, encapsulated with associated audio, when present, and camera-captured metadata for generating a fully demosaiced and/or color-adjusted video during playback or editing;
• (ii) at least one high-speed communication interface, wherein said at least one high-speed communication interface comprises at least one of:
• (A) a gigabit or higher rate network interface configured for wired and/or wireless networking;
• and (B) a high-speed serial interface configured for inputting or outputting at least one of video data, audio, and metadata;
• (iii) software stored on a computer-readable storage medium for execution on the processing subsystem for system control, including at least one of capturing, image processing, analyzing, recording, playing back or streaming, visualizing, and networking functions, using at least one of a unified software interface and executing reprogrammable software configured to perform one or more of said functions;
• (c) one or more integrated sensors configured to generate data for integration as metadata, said metadata comprising at least one of motion, position, audio, and laser-based distance;
• (d) at least one of an on-board display and a display output;
• (e) a battery or battery input configured to power the digital camera system;
• wherein the processing subsystem is configured by the software to:
• (A) capture and process data from the at least one camera module and the one or more integrated sensors, said processing comprising extracting and integrating metadata and performing image and/or stereo processing to generate 10-bit or higher raw and/or color-processed image and/or video data;
• (B) encode the processed image and/or video data utilizing the video codec engine and combine the encoded data with associated audio, when present, and the integrated metadata for encapsulated file recording to at least one of an internal or removable storage device, or for streaming over the at least one high-speed communication interface;
• (C) decode recorded and/or streamed encoded video data;
• (D) generate a visualization in a non-destructive fashion from video content comprising at least one of the processed image and/or video data of step (A) and the decoded video data of step (C), said visualization comprising applying image and color adjustments based on the integrated metadata, wherein said adjustments comprise performing color transformations, including color space transformations, to achieve an accurate and/or dynamic representation of the video content on a scene or frame basis, and wherein the processing is configured for wide dynamic range content representing a wide range of scene intensity and for content formats that exceed SMPTE standards by supporting at least one of HD or higher resolution or a DCI or wider color space, and causing an outputting of associated audio, when present.