Nikon & Red Just Changed Video Cameras Forever

Red has had a patent on compressed internal raw video, but Nikon challenged them...and won. Here's the full story.

Music licensing sites I recommend:

0:00 Imagine a JPEG only world
0:58 Why does your camera not support internal compressed raw recording?
4:56 Nikon just changed EVERYTHING
6:54 How Nikon & Red Just Changed Video Cameras Forever

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[SoInterested]

I always assumed it was a technological limitation. Honestly infuriated to learn it's because of patent abuse.

[homelessboy]

No, you're being generous with Red. It's fine to patent a specific technological capability, it's not fine to be a giant bully and prevent other companies from offering similar but different capabilities.

[frickseerose]

YouTube should show nikon a lot of love for what they did with this. They literally changed the industry

[MislavBušić]

All patents should last only for a reasonable amount of time for companies to profit from them, and afterward, they should become a public good.

[BELGRANOization]

besides the point... I find very few people that can give so much valuable information in a single shot, with no cuts like you do. You are a natural teacher Matt. Great video. Thx

[antiseth]

It’s surprising just how attainable RED made digital cinema, but they very quickly made themselves villains with their business practices and product design.

[AdamSzarmack]

Been happily shooting internal RAW on my Blackmagic cameras for years now. Partially debayered or not, I really can’t tell a difference in any kind of meaningful way. Thank you Grant Petty.

[LearnREPhotography]

Hopefully RED"s death grip over RAW video patent is eventually removed. Seems like it's holding the industry back.

Appreciate you sharing your insight on this Matt! ♥

[TheOneMonk]

You are really good at telling stories. Comprehensive storyline, the right tempo - and a good voice!

[ElectroTone]

Matt, you may be overlooking a - IMO very likely - second scenario of what happened in court between Red and Nikon, one that will definitely change the camera landscape as we know it, yet not in the way you imagine. Here is what I suspect actually happened:

Assumption: Like it or not, Red's patent _is_ valid and does hold up in court, as we have seen demonstrated in previous court cases.
However: Nikon is a very large technology company in and of itself, which holds a whole library of patents relating to photography and - yes - video themselves.
What probably happened: Once Red was daft enough to sue Nikon, they - Nikon - delved _deeply_ into their own patent portfolie, and probably discovered a 'nuclear' patent or two of their own, which Red is breaching in the Red cinema cameras. Thus Nikon sent their attack lawyers over to the Red team and basically said that either A) Red (discretely) gives Nikon a non-exclusive licence to use compressed raw video in Nikon's cameras _in addition to_ agreeing to never sueing Nikon for patent infringement ever again, or B) Nikon would sue Red into literal oblivion by preventing them from ever making another video camera again. Thus: Red needs to settle amicably outside of court, or get obliterated.
Result if true: Nikon, along with BlackMagic Design (via their loophole), will be the only camera manufacturer apart from Red, who can offer compressed raw in their cameras going forward. Sony, Canon, Fuji et al. all gets left outside in the cold.

This kind of MAD (mutually assured destruction) patent deal is very common amongst the major tech compagnies, and is an extremely common way in which patent lawsuits gets settled out of court. AMD versus Intel, Amazon versus Apple, yadda, yadda. And now Nikon versus Red.

[tomsunday]

Thank you for explaining the facts. I will avoid using Red products for the rest of my life. Hopefully others follow in Nikons footsteps. I know its just business but holding back innovation for an entire industry is bad. Apple and others are not any better but I never knew that Red was responsible for this much pain in my workflow. Now that I know, I can't stand even looking at that logo. I hope they fade into irrelevancy.

[alevir]

Thank you Matt. you expose the facts very clearly. As far as i know Nikon thesis in court was that Red advertised his technology of compressing raw before to patent it. I think anyway that is more about how TicoRAW technology works, and that Red was afraid to loose is patent. Clearly they have found a settlement that will permit Nikon to continue to record compressed raw internally. Nikon in the lasts years it seems that wants to appeal to videographers also than photographers, with z6 and 12bit raw (externally), new remot grip, z9 with internal compress raw and z8...and last new is that is developing his cinema lens series.
i think the videomaking world will benefit from this and we'll se more nikons in the video field.

[edouhoekie]

Nikon is to thank if the market becomes more competitive, not red. 😉

[lettochfilms]

Wow that's a heck of a story Matt. I had no idea Red were holding back the industry so much purely for their own financial gain. Not exactly a team player are they! I've read it below in other comments and I too will never buy a Red product having just heard how badly they have been holding back all of us creators. I hope that Sony, Cannon, Panasonic et al pool their collective resources to crush Red. Truly appalling. If this becomes common knowledge Red may well have an industry backlash on their hands.

[dukebozikowski]

Tico Raw is the raw compression method that Nikon uses which should be able to be used by other camera companies. It likely got around Red's patent due to a different method of compressing the raw signal. I'm so excited about this!

[mikefsher]

Well explained Matt with minimal fuss. Yours has to be one of the most watchable Photo/video channels out there. Clean, clear, concise. Nice.

[whoismatt]

😁 What did you think of this storytelling style of video?

[DamianBartolacci]

This is potentially wonderful news. Also, your beard looks perfect.

[BlackStudiosXR]

But Blackmagic with Braw is a Raw internal encoded format as well. right?

[IvanToman]

Manufacturers should have leave a possibility to install unofficial "hacked" firmware that will be able to compress RAW video stream, but instead of releasing such firmware, just leak it to hackers that will distribute it further, while official firmware would never be able to do that. Problem solved :)