So, as you should have seen from my earlier post Sony has included Rec-2020 as a colorspace in custom mode on the new FS7 II. But what does this mean and how important is it? When would you use it and why?

Recommendation ITU BT.2020 is a set of standards created by the International Telecommunications Union for the latest and next generation of televisions. Within the standard there are many sub-standards that define things such as bit depth, frame size, frame rates, contrast, dynamic range and color.

The Rec-2020 addition in the the FS7 II specifically refers to the color space that is recorded, determining the range of colors that can be recorded and the code values used to represent specific tones/hues.

First of all though it is important to remember that the FS7 II shares the same sensor as the original FS7, the FS5 and F5. Sony has always stated that this sensor is essentially a “709” sensor. The sensor in Sony’s PMW-F55 can capture a much greater color range (gamut) than the F5, FS5 and FS7, only the F55 can actually capture the full Rec-2020 color space, the FS7 II sensor cannot. It’s very difficult to measure the full color gamut of a sensor, but from the tests that I have done with the F5 and FS7 I estimate that this sensor can capture a color gamut close to that of the DCI-P3 standard, so larger than Rec-709 but not nearly as large as Rec-2020 (I’d love someone to provide the actual color gamut of this sensor).

So given that the FS7 II’s sensor can’t actually see colors all that far beyond Rec-709 what is the point of adding Rec-2020 recording gamut as the camera can’t actually fill the recording Gamut? Similarly the F5/FS5/FS7 cannot fill S-Gamut or S-Gamut3.

The answer is – To record the colors that are captured with the correct values. If you capture using Rec-709 and then play back the Rec-709 footage on a Rec-2020 monitor the colors will look wrong. The picture will be over saturated and the hues slightly off. In order for the picture to look right on a Rec-2020 monitor you need to record the colors at the right values. By adding Rec-2020 to the FS7 II Sony have given users the ability to shoot Rec-2020 and then play back that content on a Rec-2020 display and have it look right. You are not capturing anything extra (well, maybe a tiny bit extra), just capturing it at the right levels so it at least looks correct.

As well as color, Rec-2020 defines the transfer functions, or gamma curves to you and me, that should be used. The basic transfer function is the same as used for Rec-709, so you can use Rec-709 gamma with Rec-2020 color to get a valid Rec-2020 signal. For full compatibility this should be 3840×2160 progressive and 10bit (the Rec-2020 standard is a minimum of 10bit and as well as 3840×2160 also includes 7680×4320).

But, one of the hot topics right now in the high quality video world is the ability to display images with a much greater dynamic range than the basic Rec-709 or Rec-2020 standards allow. There is in fact a new standard called Rec-2100 specifically for HDR television. Rec-2100 uses the same colorspace as Rec-2020 but then pairs that bigger colorspace with either Hybrid Log Gamma or ST2084 gamma, also know as PQ (Perceptual Quantiser). As the FS7 II does not have PQ or HLG as gamma curves you cannot shoot material that is directly compatible with Rec-2100. But what you can do is shoot using S-Log2/S-Log3 with S-Gamut/S-Gamut3/SGamut3.cine which will give you the sensors full colorspace with the sensors full 14 stop dynamic range. Then in post production you can grade this to produce material that is compatible with the Rec-2100 standard or the Rec-2020 standard. But of course you can do this with an original FS7 (or F5) too.

So, when would you actually  use the FS7 II’s Rec-2020 colorspace rather than S-Log/S-Gamut?

First of all you don’t want to use it unless you are producing content to be shown on Rec-2020 displays. Recording using Rec-2020 color gamut and then showing the footage on a Rec-709 display will result in washed out colors that don’t look right.

You would probably only ever use it if you were going to output directly from the camera to a monitor that only supports Rec-2020 color or for a project that will be specifically shown on a standard dynamic range Rec-2020 display. So, IMHO this extra colorspace is of very limited benefit. For most productions regular Rec-709 or S-Log/S-Gamut will still be the way forward unless Sony add Hybrid Log Gamma or PQ gamma to the camera as well. Adding HLG or PQ however has problems of it’s own as the existing viewfinders can only show standard dynamic range images, so an external HDR capable monitor would be needed.

Rec-2020 recording gamut is a nice thing to have and for some users it may be important. But overall it’s not going to be a deal breaker if you only have a standard FS7 as the S-Log workflow will allow you to produce Rec-2020 compatible material.