Digital Negative (DNG) is a patented,
open
Open or OPEN may refer to:
Music
* Open (band), Australian pop/rock band
* The Open (band), English indie rock band
* ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969
* ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999
* ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001
* ''Open'' ( ...
,
lossless
Lossless compression is a class of data compression that allows the original data to be perfectly reconstructed from the compressed data with no loss of information. Lossless compression is possible because most real-world data exhibits statistic ...
raw image format developed by
Adobe and used for
digital photography
Digital photography uses cameras containing arrays of electronic photodetectors interfaced to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to produce images focused by a lens, as opposed to an exposure on photographic film. The digitized image ...
. Adobe's license allows use without cost on the condition that the licensee prominently displays text saying it is licensed from Adobe in source and documentation, and that the license may be revoked if the licensee brings any patent action against Adobe or its affiliates related to the reading or writing of files that comply with the DNG Specification. It was launched on September 27, 2004.
The launch was accompanied by the first version of the DNG specification,
[.] plus various products, including a free-of-charge DNG converter utility. All Adobe
photo manipulation
Photograph manipulation involves the transformation or alteration of a photograph using various methods and techniques to achieve desired results. Some photograph manipulations are considered to be skillful artwork, while others are consider ...
software (such as
Adobe Photoshop and
Adobe Lightroom
Adobe Lightroom (officially Adobe Photoshop Lightroom) is a piece of image organization and image manipulation software developed by Adobe Inc. as part of the Creative Cloud subscription family. It is supported on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, ...
) released since the launch supports DNG.
[.]
DNG is based on the
TIFF/EP standard format, and mandates significant use of
metadata. Use of the file format is royalty-free; Adobe has published a license allowing anyone to exploit DNG,
[.] and has also stated that there are no known intellectual property encumbrances or license requirements for DNG.
[.] Adobe stated that if there were a consensus that DNG should be controlled by a
standards body
A standards organization, standards body, standards developing organization (SDO), or standards setting organization (SSO) is an organization whose primary function is developing, coordinating, promulgating, revising, amending, reissuing, interpr ...
, they were open to the idea.
[.] Adobe has submitted DNG to
ISO
ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization.
ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance
* Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007
* Iso ...
for incorporation into their revision of TIFF/EP.
[.] Linear DNG is the format used by Apple for its ProRAW format.
Rationale for DNG
Adobe states that, given the existence of a wide variety of camera-brand-specific
raw image formats, it introduced DNG as a standardized and backward-compatible universal file format. It is based on the
TIFF
Tag Image File Format, abbreviated TIFF or TIF, is an image file format for storing raster graphics images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and photographers. TIFF is widely supported by scanning, faxing, word process ...
6.0 standard. Various professional archivists and conservationists, working in institutional settings have adopted DNG for archival purposes.
[universal photographic digital imaging guidelines (UPDIG)]
File formats - the raw file issue
/ref>[Archaeology Data Service / Digital Antiquity]
Guides to Good Practice - Section 3 Archiving Raster Images - File Formats
/ref>[University of Connecticut]
"Raw as Archival Still Image Format: A Consideration" by Michael J. Bennett and F. Barry Wheeler
/ref>[Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research]
/ref>[JISC Digital Media - Still Images]
Choosing a File Format for Digital Still Images - File formats for master archive
/ref>[International Digital Enterprise Alliance, Digital Image Submission Criteria (DISC]
Guidelines & Specifications 2007 (PDF)
/ref>[The J. Paul Getty Museum - Department of Photographs]
Rapid Capture Backlog Project - Presentation
[American Institute for Conservation - Electronic Media Group]
Digital Image File Formats
/ref>[Archives Association of British Columbia]
Born Digital Photographs: Acquisition and Preservation Strategies (Rosaleen Hill)
/ref>
Objectives
These objectives are repeatedly emphasized in Adobe documents:[Adobe]
Digital Negative (DNG) - The public, archival format for digital camera raw data
/ref>[Adobe]
Introducing the Digital Negative Specification: Information for manufacturers
/ref>
* ''Digital image preservation (sometimes known as "archiving")'': to be suitable for the purpose of preserving digital images as an authentic resource for future generations.[Planning for US Library of Congress Collections]
Sustainability Factors
/ref> ''Assessment'': The US Library of Congress states that DNG is a recommended alternative to other raw image formats: "Less desirable file formats: RAW; Suggested alternatives: TIFF_UNC, JP2_J2K_C_LL, DNG".[Planning for US Library of Congress Collections]
Preferences in Summary
/ref> The Digital Photography Best Practices and Workflow (dpBestflow) project, funded by the United States Library of Congress and run by the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), singles out DNG, and states "DNG files have proven to be significantly more useful than the proprietary raw files in our workflow".[dpBestflow]
Raw File Formats
/ref>
* ''Easy and/or comprehensive exploitation by software developers'': to enable software to be developed without the need for reverse engineering; and to avoid the need for frequent software upgrades and re-releases to cater for new cameras.
* ''Assessment'': Software could support raw formats without DNG, by using reverse engineering and/or dcraw
dcraw is an open-source computer program which is able to read numerous raw image format files, typically produced by mid-range and high-end digital cameras. dcraw converts these images into the standard TIFF and PPM image formats. This conve ...
; DNG makes it easier, and many software products can handle, via DNG, images from cameras that they have no specific knowledge of.[Barry Pearson]
Support via DNG but not native raws
/ref> An unresolved restriction is that any edit/development settings stored in the DNG file by a software product are unlikely to be recognized by a product from a different company. (This problem is not specific to DNG).
* ''In-camera use by camera manufacturers'': to be suitable for many camera manufacturers to use as a native or optional raw image format in many cameras. ''Assessment'': About 12 camera manufacturers have used DNG in-camera. About 38 camera models have used DNG.[Barry Pearson]
Products from Camera Manufacturers that support DNG in some way
Raw image formats for more than 230 camera models can be converted to DNG.[Barry Pearson]
/ref>
* ''Multi-vendor interoperability'': to be suitable for workflows where different hardware and software components share raw image files and/or transmit and receive them.
Characteristics
All of the above objectives are facilitated or enabled by most of these characteristics:[Planning for US Library of Congress Collections]
Adobe Digital Negative (DNG), Version 1.1
/ref>
* ''Freely-available specification'': this can be downloaded from the Adobe website without negotiation or needing justification.
* ''Format based on open specifications and/or standards'': DNG is compatible with TIFF/EP, and various open format
An open file format is a file format for storing digital data, defined by an openly published specification usually maintained by a standards organization, and which can be used and implemented by anyone. Open file format is licensed with open li ...
s and/or standards are used, including Exif metadata, XMP metadata, IPTC metadata, CIE XYZ coordinates and JPEG.[Barry Pearson]
DNG's relationship to standards
/ref>
* ''Self-contained file format'': a DNG file contains both the raw image data and metadata needed to render an image without needing additional knowledge of the characteristics of the camera.
* ''Version control scheme'': it has a version scheme built into it that allows the DNG specification, DNG writers, and DNG readers to evolve at their own paces.[Adobe]
DNG Specification
(Section 4)[Barry Pearson]
/ref>
* ''Freely-available source-code-based software development kit (SDK)'': there ''is'' an SDK; it is source-code-based (as can be verified by examination); and it can be downloaded from the Adobe website without needing justification.
* ''Documented to have no known intellectual property encumbrances or license requirements'': there is both a "Digital Negative (DNG) Specification Patent License" which says that anyone can exploit DNG, and a statement that there are no known intellectual property encumbrances or license requirements for DNG.
* ''Lossless and lossy compression (optional)'': DNG support optional lossless and (since version 1.4) also lossy compression. The lossy compression losses are practically imperceptible in real world images.
Technical summary
A DNG file always contains data for one main image, plus metadata, and optionally contains at least one JPEG preview. It normally has the extension "dng" or "DNG".
DNG conforms to TIFF/EP and is structured according to TIFF
Tag Image File Format, abbreviated TIFF or TIF, is an image file format for storing raster graphics images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and photographers. TIFF is widely supported by scanning, faxing, word process ...
. DNG supports various formats of metadata (including Exif metadata, XMP metadata, IPTC metadata) and specifies a set of mandated metadata.
DNG is both a raw image format and a format that supports "non-raw", or partly processed, images. The latter (non-raw) format is known as "Linear DNG". Linear DNG is still scene-referred[CIE: "Scene-referred"]
image state, scene-referred
/ref> and can still benefit from many of the operations typically performed by a raw converter, such as white balance, the application of a camera color profile, HDR compositing, etc. All images that can be supported as raw images can ''also'' be supported as Linear DNG. Images from the Foveon X3 sensor
The Foveon X3 sensor is a digital camera image sensor designed by Foveon, Inc., (now part of Sigma Corporation) and manufactured by Dongbu Electronics.
It uses an array of photosites that consist of three vertically stacked photodiodes. Each o ...
or similar, hence especially Sigma cameras, can ''only'' be supported as Linear DNG.
DNG can contain raw image data from sensors with various configurations of color filter array (CFA). These include: conventional Bayer filter
A Bayer filter mosaic is a color filter array (CFA) for arranging RGB color filters on a square grid of photosensors. Its particular arrangement of color filters is used in most single-chip digital image sensors used in digital cameras, cam ...
s, using three colors and rectangular pixels; four-color CFAs, for example the RGBE filter
In digital photography, the RGBE filter is an alternative color filter array to the Bayer filter (GRGB). It similarly uses a mosaic of pixel filters, of red, green, blue and "emerald" ("like cyan" according to Sony), and so also requires demosaic ...
used in the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F828
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F828 is a 8.0 megapixel digital bridge camera announced by Sony on August 15, 2003.
Overview
As successor of the DSC-F717, F828 was widely considered "revolutionary" at launch. Major changes / improvements over its predec ...
; rectangular (non-square) pixels, for example as used in the Nikon D1X; and offset sensors (for example with octagonal pixels) such as Super CCD
Super CCD is a proprietary charge-coupled device that has been developed by Fujifilm since 1999. The Super CCD uses octagonal, rather than rectangular, pixels. This allows a higher horizontal and vertical resolution (at the expense of diagonal res ...
sensors of various types, as used in various Fujifilm
, trading as Fujifilm, or simply Fuji, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operating in the realms of photography, optics, office and medical electronics, biotechnology, and chemicals.
The offerings from the ...
cameras. (Or combinations of these if necessary). DNG specifies metadata describing these individual parameters; this is one significant extension to TIFF/EP.
When used in a CinemaDNG movie clip, each frame is encoded using the above DNG image format. The clip's image stream can then be stored in one of two formats: either as video essence using frame-based wrapping in an MXF MXF or mxf may refer to:
* Material Exchange Format, a container format for professional digital video and audio media
* MXF, the IATA and FAA LID code for Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, United States
* mxf, the ISO 639-3 code for Malgbe language ...
file, or as a sequence of DNG files in a specified file directory.
Contrary to its name (Digital Negative) the DNG format doesn't distinguish negative and positive data - all data is considered to be describing a positive image. While this is not an issue when working with images from digital cameras (which are always positive), working with scanned (by a film scanner
A film scanner is a device made for scanning photographic film directly into a computer without the use of any intermediate printmaking. It provides several benefits over using a flatbed scanner to scan in a print of any size: the photographe ...
or DSLR
A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a digital imaging sensor.
The reflex design scheme is the primary difference between a ...
copy stand) film negatives saved as raw DNG files is complicated, because the resultant image is not automatically inverted and thus impossible to be used directly. A way to get around this is using an inverted curve in the photo editing application, however this reverses the effect of the image controls ( Exposure, Shadow and Highlight details, etc.) which complicates the photo editing.
Timeline
This provides a mixture of the dates of significant events (such as "the first X") and various counts of usage at the anniversaries of the launch (each 27 September).
Counts of products and companies that use DNG in some way are provided primarily for illustration. They are approximate, and include products that are no longer sold. The purpose is mainly to demonstrate that such products and companies exist, and to show trends. Convertible raw image formats (camera models whose raw images can be converted to DNG) only include official support by Adobe DNG converters; not unofficial support by Adobe products (sometimes reaching about 30), nor support by other DNG converters.
* ''2003, late'': Adobe started work on the DNG specification.
* ''2004, early'': Adobe started talking to other companies about DNG.
* Launch'', 2004, 27 September'': Adobe launched DNG. Specification version 1.0.0.0 published. Convertible raw image formats: 60+
* ''2005, February'': Specification version 1.1.0.0 published.
* ''2005, June'': First digital back
A digital camera back is a device that attaches to the back of a camera in place of the traditional negative film holder and contains an electronic image sensor. This lets cameras that were designed to use film take digital photographs. Thes ...
to write DNG, the Leica DMR (Digital Modul R) back for the R8 and R9.
* ''2005, July'': First camera manufacturer to provide a DNG converter for its own raw file formats - Hasselblad
Victor Hasselblad AB is a Swedish manufacturer of medium format cameras, photographic equipment and image scanners based in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company originally became known for its classic analog medium-format cameras that used a waist ...
's FlexColor.
* ''2005, July'': First genuine digital SLR camera to write DNG, Hasselblad H2D.
* 1st anniversary'', 2005, 27 September'': Camera manufacturers: 4. Camera models: 7. Software products: 70+. Convertible raw image formats: 70+.
* ''2005, October'': First compact camera to write DNG, Ricoh GR Digital
The Ricoh GR Digital is a compact digital camera made by Ricoh since 2005.
First announced at photokina 2004, it went on sale in Japan on 21 October 2005. The GR Digital is Ricoh's digital successor to their 35 mm GR series film cameras and th ...
.
* ''2006, July'': First monochrome digital back to write DNG, MegaVision
MegaVision is an American company that manufactures high-end digital photographic equipment. It was founded in 1983 to create a state-of-the-art image processing computer. MegaVision was the first company to produce a digital camera back for sale, ...
E Series MonoChrome.
* ''2006, September'': First rangefinder camera to write DNG, Leica M8
The Leica M8 is the first digital camera in the rangefinder M series introduced by Leica Camera AG on 14 September 2006. It uses an APS-H 10.3-megapixel Kodak KAF-10500 CCD image sensor.
As of 15 November 2014, the most recent firmware version ...
.
* ''2006, September'': First camera to offer the user a choice of proprietary raw or DNG, Pentax K10D
The Pentax K10D and similar Samsung GX-10 are 10.2-megapixel digital single-lens reflex cameras launched in late 2006. They were developed in a collaboration between Pentax of Japan and Samsung of South Korea.
The K10D was announced on 13 Septem ...
.
* 2nd anniversary'', 2006, 27 September'': Camera manufacturers: 8. Camera models: 9. Software products: 120+. Convertible raw image formats: 110+.
* ''2007, May'': First raw converter & photo-editor whose ''first'' raw-handling release only supported DNG, Pixelmator
Pixelmator is a graphic editor developed for macOS by Lithuanian brothers Saulius and Aidas Dailide, and built upon a combination of open-source and macOS technologies. Pixelmator features selection, painting, retouching, navigation, and color ...
.
* ''2007, July'': First underwater camera to write DNG, Sea&Sea DX-1G. (Based on Ricoh Caplio GX100
is a Japanese multinational imaging and electronics company. It was founded by the now-defunct commercial division of the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (Riken) known as the ''Riken Concern'', on 6 February 1936 as . Ricoh's hea ...
).
* 3rd anniversary'', 2007, 27 September'': Camera manufacturers: 10. Camera models: 13. Software products: 170+. Convertible raw image formats: 160+.
* ''2007, October'': First digital scan back system and first 360-degree panorama system to write DNG, Seitz 6x17 Digital and Seitz Roundshot D3 with D3 digital scan back.
* ''2008, February'': First software on a mobile phone to write DNG, Tea Vui Huang's "DNG Phone Camera" for Nokia.
* ''2008, April'': Adobe announces CinemaDNG initiative, using DNG as the basis for the individual raw images of a movie.
* ''2008, May'': Specification version 1.2.0.0 published.
* ''2008, September'': First movie camera to use DNG as a raw image format, Ikonoskop A-cam dII.
* 4th anniversary'', 2008, 27 September'': Camera manufacturers: 13. Camera models: 29. Software products: 200+. Convertible raw image formats: 180+.
* ''2008, September'': First DNG converter running on Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, w ...
(among several other things), digiKam.
* ''2009, spring/summer'': First digiscope with built-in camera to write DNG, Zeiss Photoscope 85 T* FL.
* ''2009, June'': Specification version 1.3.0.0 published.
* 5th anniversary'', 2009, 27 September'': Camera manufacturers: 14. Camera models: 38. Software products: 220+. Convertible raw image formats: 230+.
* ''2009, November'': First "interchangeable unit" camera to write DNG, Ricoh GXR.[Ricoh]
Ricoh GXR
* ''2010, February'': First 3D movie camera to write DNG, Ikonoskop A-cam3D.
* ''2010, March'': First medium format camera to offer the user a choice of proprietary raw or DNG, Pentax 645D
The Pentax 645D is a medium format digital SLR camera announced by Pentax on March 10, 2010.
Unlike other medium-format DSLRs, which accept digital camera backs of different resolutions or even manufacturers, the 645D has a fixed-back design simi ...
.
* 6th anniversary'', 2010, 27 September'': Camera manufacturers: 14. Camera models: 47. Software products: 240+. Convertible raw image formats: 290+.
* ''2012, September'': Specification version 1.4.0.0 published.
* ''2019, May'': Specification version 1.5.0.0 published.
* ''2021, December'': Specification version 1.6.0.0 published.
During the first 5 years when about 38 camera models were launched that wrote DNG, Adobe software added support for about 21 Canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western ca ...
models, about 20 Nikon
(, ; ), also known just as Nikon, is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging products. The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group.
Nikon's products include cameras, camera ...
models, and about 22 Olympus models.
Reception
The reaction to DNG has been mixed. A few camera manufacturers stated their intention to use DNG at launch. They first supported DNG about 9 months after launch. Several more niche and minority camera manufacturers added support after this (e.g. Leica). The largest camera manufacturers have apparently never indicated an intention to use DNG (e.g. Nikon
(, ; ), also known just as Nikon, is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging products. The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group.
Nikon's products include cameras, camera ...
and Canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western ca ...
).
Some software products supported DNG within 5 months of launch, with many more following. Some only support DNG from cameras writing DNG, or from cameras supported via native raw image formats.
OpenRAW was an advocacy and lobby group with the motto "Digital Image Preservation Through Open Documentation". They became opposed to DNG.
Some photographic competitions do not accept converted files, and some do not accept DNG.
DNG conversion
"DNG conversion" refers to the process of generating a DNG file from a non-DNG image. (This is in contrast to "raw conversion", which typically refers to reading and processing a raw file, which might be a DNG file, and generating some other type of output from it). DNG conversion is one of the sources of DNG files, the other being direct output from cameras and digital backs.
Several software products are able to do DNG conversion. The original such product is ''Adobe DNG Converter'' or ''DNG Converter'', a freely-available stand-alone utility from Adobe. Other Adobe products such as the ACR plugin to Photoshop or Lightroom can also generate DNG files from other image files.
Most DNG converters are supplied by companies other than Adobe. For example:
* The software that Pentax
is a brand name used primarily by the Japanese multinational imaging and electronics company Ricoh for DSLR cameras, lenses, sport optics (including binoculars and rifle scopes), and CCTV optics. The Pentax brand is also used by Hoya Corporatio ...
supplies with all their dSLR cameras can convert PEF raw image files from Pentax cameras into DNG files.
* Flexcolor and Phocus from Hasselblad
Victor Hasselblad AB is a Swedish manufacturer of medium format cameras, photographic equipment and image scanners based in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company originally became known for its classic analog medium-format cameras that used a waist ...
can convert 3FR raw image files from Hasselblad cameras and digital backs into DNG files.
* Capture One from Phase One is a raw converter that can process not only raw image files from Phase One digital backs, but also raw image files from many other cameras too. Capture One can save images from many of those cameras to DNG.
* KDE Image Plugin Interface
KDE Image Plugin Interface (usually abbreviated to Kipi or KIPI) is an API that allows creation of application-independent image processing plugins in the KDE project.
Host applications
* Digikam
* KPhotoAlbum (previously named KimDaBa)
* Sh ...
is an API
An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how ...
that can save the images it is processing to DNG. It can be used standalone or with any image processing applications of the KDE
KDE is an international free software community that develops free and open-source software. As a central development hub, it provides tools and resources that allow collaborative work on this kind of software. Well-known products include the ...
desktop environment under Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, w ...
and Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...
.
* A number of DNG converters have been developed by "amateurs" to enable raw images from their favored camera or digital back to be processed in a large range of raw converters. These include cases where cameras have been hacked to output raw images that have then been converted to DNG.
The process of DNG conversion involves extracting raw image data from the source file and assembling it according to the DNG specification into the required TIFF format. This optionally involves compressing it. Metadata as defined in the DNG specification is also put into that TIFF assembly. Some of this metadata is based on the characteristics of the camera, and especially of its sensor. Other metadata may be image-dependent or camera-setting dependent. A DNG converter must therefore have knowledge of the camera model concerned, and be able to process the source raw image file including key metadata. Optionally a JPEG preview is obtained and added. Finally, all of this is written as a DNG file.
DNG conversion typically leaves the original raw image file intact. For safety, many photographers retain the original raw image file on one medium while using the DNG file on another, enabling them to recover from a range of hardware, software and human failures and errors. For example, it has been reported in user forums that some versions of the Adobe DNG Converter don't preserve all the raw data from raw images from some camera models.
Summary of products that support DNG in some way
This section summarizes other more comprehensive lists.[Adobe]
DNG hardware and software support
/ref>
Adobe products
All raw image file handling products from Adobe now support DNG. ''Adobe DNG Converter'' was utility software published by Adobe Systems on September 27, 2004. It converts different camera raw format files into the Digital Negative (DNG) standard. It also supports lossless data compression
Lossless compression is a class of data compression that allows the original data to be perfectly reconstructed from the compressed data with no loss of information. Lossless compression is possible because most real-world data exhibits statistic ...
when converting. The program is free of charge. It can be downloaded at Adobe's site (for Microsoft Windows and the Apple Macintosh).
Digital cameras and related software
Use by camera manufacturers varies; there are about 15 camera manufacturers that use DNG, including a few that specialize in movie cameras:
*Modern smartphone cameras using iOS 10, Android 5 or Windows 10 Mobile that are capable of shooting RAW images typically use DNG (e.g. Samsung and Nokia).
** High-end Nokia (now Microsoft) Lumia smartphones like Nokia Lumia Icon, 930, 950
Year 950 ( CML) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Arab–Byzantine War: A Hamdanid army (30,000 men) led by Sayf al-Dawla raids int ...
, 1020 and 1520
__NOTOC__
Year 1520 ( MDXX) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–June
* January 19 – King Christian II of Denmark and Norway defeats the Swedes, at ...
, were the first smartphone cameras to support DNG files.
**Samsung's high-end smartphones (Galaxy S6 or later) also uses DNG.
**Huawei
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various smar ...
Android phones using Leica-designed cameras (such as the Mate 9 and Mate 10 Pro) can save raw files to DNG format when shooting in "Pro" mode.
*Niche camera manufacturers typically use DNG in new cameras (including a digiscope, panorama cameras, and at least one movie camera). The article on raw image formats illustrates the complicated relationship between new raw image formats and third-party software developers. Using DNG provides immediate support for these cameras by a large range of software products.
* Some low market share but conventional camera manufacturers use DNG in new cameras. Camera manufacturers that do not supply their own software for processing raw images typically, but not always, use DNG.
* Pentax
is a brand name used primarily by the Japanese multinational imaging and electronics company Ricoh for DSLR cameras, lenses, sport optics (including binoculars and rifle scopes), and CCTV optics. The Pentax brand is also used by Hoya Corporatio ...
typically offers users the option of whether to use Pentax's own raw image format (PEF) or DNG, but some, for example Pentax Q, Q10 and Q7, do not support PEF. For example, the digital SLR Camera Pentax K-x does offer the ability to save PEF or DNG or even DNG+ which saves two files, a DNG and a separate JPEG file at the same time.
* If a camera uses DNG, and that camera manufacturer supplies software, it will support DNG. It may support DNG only from their own cameras, or support it more generically.
* Canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western ca ...
, Nikon
(, ; ), also known just as Nikon, is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging products. The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group.
Nikon's products include cameras, camera ...
, Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
, Panasonic
formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb ...
, Olympus and Fuji Fuji may refer to:
Places China
* Fuji, Xiangcheng City (付集镇), town in Xiangcheng City, Henan
Japan
* Mount Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan
* Fuji River
* Fuji, Saga, town in Saga Prefecture
* Fuji, Shizuoka, city in Shizuoka Prefec ...
do not use DNG in their cameras. If a camera manufacturer's cameras do not use DNG, its software is unlikely to support DNG unless that software is also sold independently of the cameras.
Some digital camera
A digital camera is a camera that captures photographs in digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film. Digital cameras are now widely incorporated into mobile devices ...
s that support DNG:
* Casio
is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturing corporation headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Its products include calculators, mobile phones, digital cameras, electronic musical instruments, and analogue and digital watches. I ...
supports DNG in their Exilim PRO EX-F1 and Exilim EX-FH25.
* DxO supports DNG in their DxO ONE camera (introduced 2015).
* Leica's Digital Modul R for the Leica R8 or Leica R9
The Leica R8 & R9 are manual focus 35 mm single-lens reflex cameras produced by the German firm Leica as the final models of their R series. Development of the R8 began in 1990:
the camera was introduced at the 1996 photokina trade show, ...
and the Leica M8
The Leica M8 is the first digital camera in the rangefinder M series introduced by Leica Camera AG on 14 September 2006. It uses an APS-H 10.3-megapixel Kodak KAF-10500 CCD image sensor.
As of 15 November 2014, the most recent firmware version ...
or Leica M9
The Leica M9 is a full-frame digital rangefinder camera from Leica Camera AG. It was introduced in September 2009. It uses an 18.5-megapixel Kodak image sensor, and is compatible with almost all M mount lenses.
Features
The M9 uses an 18.5-mega ...
natively support the DNG format.
* MegaVision
MegaVision is an American company that manufactures high-end digital photographic equipment. It was founded in 1983 to create a state-of-the-art image processing computer. MegaVision was the first company to produce a digital camera back for sale, ...
E Series Monochrome back.
* Panoscan MK-3 digital panoramic camera.
* Pentax
is a brand name used primarily by the Japanese multinational imaging and electronics company Ricoh for DSLR cameras, lenses, sport optics (including binoculars and rifle scopes), and CCTV optics. The Pentax brand is also used by Hoya Corporatio ...
supports DNG in their 645D, 645Z, K10D, K20D, K200D, K2000, K-7, K-x, K-r, K-5, K-30, K-5II(s), K-50, K-500, K-3, K-3II, K-S1, K-S2, K-70 and K-1 DSLR cameras; alongside the K-01, Q, Q10, Q7 and Q-S1 mirrorless cameras.
* Ricoh
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational imaging and electronics company (law), company. It was founded by the now-defunct commercial division of the Riken, Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (Riken) known as the ''Riken ...
supports DNG in the Ricoh Digital GR, considered a professional compact, and the Ricoh Caplio GX.
* Ricoh GXR mirrorless interchangeable lens camera
A mirrorless camera is a photo camera featuring a single, removable lens and a digital display.
The camera does not have a reflex mirror or optical viewfinder like a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera, but may have an electronic v ...
unit use also DNG.
* Samsung
The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
supports DNG in their Pro815 " prosumer" camera and GX-10 and GX-20 DSLR cameras.
* Sea&Sea DX‐1G underwater camera.
* Seitz Roundshot D3 digital back, used in cameras such as the 6×17.
* Sigma FP Native support, SD Quattro cameras support DNG but may require a firmware update.
* Silicon Imaging
The Silicon Imaging (SI-2K) was a 2K digital video camera built on a single 16mm sized CMOS sensor manufactured by Altasens. It was able to record direct to disk in the compressed CineForm RAW format, and was notable for its tiny detachable camer ...
Silicon Imaging Digital Cinema SI-1920HDVR.
* Sinar
Sinar Photography AG is a Swiss company based in Zurich manufacturing specialized high-resolution view cameras for studio, reproduction, landscape and architecture photography.
Sinar's view-cameras allow both the lens and the film back or sen ...
now uses DNG as the raw file standard for their eMotion series of digital backs.
* Kron Technologies supports DNG in their Chronos 1.4 and Chronos 2.1-HD high speed cameras.
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...
's iPhones and other iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...
devices expose an API for third-party apps such as Halide or Lightroom CC to capture DNG images. The native Camera app processes to JPEG or HEIF
High Efficiency Image File Format (HEIF) is a container format for storing individual digital images and image sequences. The standard covers multimedia files that can also include other media streams, such as timed text, audio and video.
HEIF ...
by default. Starting with iOS 14.3
iOS 14 is the iOS version history, fourteenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. for their iPhone and iPod Touch lines. Announced at the company's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, Worldwide Developers ...
on the iPhone 12 Pro
The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max are smartphones designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the flagship smartphones in the fourteenth generation of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, respe ...
/Pro Max or later, Apple's ProRAW feature can be enabled which allows the Camera app to capture and save as DNG images. ProRAW combines the RAW image with the iPhone's image processing information into a 12-bit DNG file.
Some of the Canon cameras can shoot as DNG using additional free software CHDK.
The built-in camera function in the Adobe Lightroom Mobile app saves to DNG format.
DJI supports DNG in its middle-end and high-end drones.
Third-party software
Support by software suppliers varies; there are of the order of 200 software products that use DNG.
The majority of raw handling software products support DNG. Most provide generic support, while a few support it only if it is output directly from a camera. The type of support varies considerably. There appear to be very few third-party software products that process raw images but don't support DNG. This may reflect the difficulty of discovering all of those that do not.[Barry Pearson]
Products without explicit DNG support
/ref>
Versions of the specification
All versions of the specification remain valid, in the sense that DNG files conforming to old versions should still be read and processed by DNG readers capable of processing later versions. DNG has a version scheme built into it that allows the DNG specification, DNG writers, and DNG readers, to evolve at their own paces. Each version of the specification describes its compatibility with previous versions.
;1.0.0.0, published September 2004: This version accompanied the launch of DNG and related products. It was a rare, possibly unique, example of a raw image format specification published by its owner. It was adequate for representing typical images, but it had a few errors and deficiencies (specifically the lack of support of "masked pixels" and an inadvertent deviation from the JPEG specification) that required it soon to be replaced by the next version.
;1.1.0.0, published February 2005: This version corrected the flaws in the first version. It has proved capable of representing raw images for a large variety of cameras (both when written in-camera or via conversion from other raw image formats) for a few years, and it is the version still typically written in-camera.
;1.2.0.0, published May 2008: This version was based on experience and feedback from other companies about DNG since its launch. It introduced many new features, especially several new options for color specification under the general heading of "Camera Profiles". These are mainly of value to software products wanting their own flavor of color handling. This version permits administrative control of Camera Profiles, including calibration signatures and copyright information.
;1.3.0.0, published June 2009: This version added various improvements, but the major change was to introduce "Opcodes". An Opcode is an algorithm to be applied to some or all of the image data, described in the specification, and (optionally) implemented in the product that reads and processes the DNG file. The DNG file itself holds lists of Opcodes to be executed, together with the parameters to be applied on execution. In effect, the DNG file can contain lists of "function calls" to be executed at various stages in the raw conversion process. For example, the ''WarpRectilinear'' Opcode "applies a warp to an image and can be used to correct geometric distortion and lateral (transverse) chromatic aberration for rectilinear lenses". This is an example of an algorithm that cannot be applied to the raw image data itself before it is placed into the DNG file, because it should be executed ''after'' demosaicing A demosaicing (also de-mosaicing, demosaicking or debayering) algorithm is a digital image process used to reconstruct a full color image from the incomplete color samples output from an image sensor overlaid with a color filter array (CFA). It is ...
. There are 13 Opcodes described in this version, and each Opcode is accompanied by a specification version so that more can be added in future.
;1.4.0.0, published September 2012: This version added Floating Point Image Data, Transparent Pixels, Proxy DNG Files, and additional tags. It also added SampleFormat and Predictor.
;1.5.0.0, published May 2019: This version added Depth Maps and processed Enhanced Image Data that can be stored alongside the raw image, with some details of the processing performed.
;1.6.0.0, published December 2021: This version added large file support (64-bit BigTIFF extension), Semantic Masks, triple-illuminant calibration profiles, and more.
;CinemaDNG, published September 2009: CinemaDNG uses DNG for each frame of a movie clip. There are additional tags specifically for movies: ''TimeCodes'' and ''FrameRate''.[Adobe Labs]
CinemaDNG - Image Data Format Specification (Version 1.0.0.0)
(PDF) It is not clear whether these tags will be added to a later version of the DNG specification, or will remain separately described only in the CinemaDNG specification.
Standardization
DNG is not (yet) a standard format, but is based on several open format
An open file format is a file format for storing digital data, defined by an openly published specification usually maintained by a standards organization, and which can be used and implemented by anyone. Open file format is licensed with open li ...
s or standards and is being used by ISO in its revision of TIFF/EP. A timeline:
* ''2001'': The ISO standard raw image format, ISO 12234-2, better known as TIFF/EP, was ratified and published. It also supports "non-raw", or "processed", images. TIFF/EP provided a basis for the raw image formats of a number of cameras, but they typically added their own proprietary data. Some cameras have sensors that cannot be described by that version of TIFF/EP.
* ''2004, September'': Adobe launched DNG. Its specification states it "is compatible with the TIFF-EP standard". It is a TIFF/EP extension with considerably more specified metadata, brought up-to-date and made fit for purpose. DNG also exploits various other open format
An open file format is a file format for storing digital data, defined by an openly published specification usually maintained by a standards organization, and which can be used and implemented by anyone. Open file format is licensed with open li ...
s and standards, including Exif metadata, XMP metadata, IPTC metadata, CIE XYZ coordinates, ICC profile
In color management, an ICC profile is a set of data that characterizes a color input or output device, or a color space, according to standards promulgated by the International Color Consortium (ICC). Profiles describe the color attributes of a ...
s, and JPEG. Although DNG supports more sensor configurations than TIFF/EP (for example, cameras from Fujifilm
, trading as Fujifilm, or simply Fuji, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operating in the realms of photography, optics, office and medical electronics, biotechnology, and chemicals.
The offerings from the ...
using Super CCD
Super CCD is a proprietary charge-coupled device that has been developed by Fujifilm since 1999. The Super CCD uses octagonal, rather than rectangular, pixels. This allows a higher horizontal and vertical resolution (at the expense of diagonal res ...
sensors), it still doesn't support all sensor types as raw images, especially those using the Foveon X3 sensor
The Foveon X3 sensor is a digital camera image sensor designed by Foveon, Inc., (now part of Sigma Corporation) and manufactured by Dongbu Electronics.
It uses an array of photosites that consist of three vertically stacked photodiodes. Each o ...
or similar, hence especially Sigma cameras.
* ''2006'': TIFF/EP began its 5-year revision cycle.
* ''2006 to 2007'': Adobe offered the DNG specification to ISO to be part of ISO's revised TIFF/EP standard.
* ''2008, September & October'': Minutes of ISO/TC 130/WG2 — Prepress Data Exchange, 37th Meeting: "WG 18 is revising the two-part standard (ISO 12234), which addresses digital camera removable memory. The revision of... Part 2 will add DNG into TIFF/EP." A progress report from ISO about the revision of TIFF/EP stated that the revision "...currently includes two "interoperability-profiles," "IP 1" for processed image data, using ".TIF" extension, and "IP 2" for "raw" image data, ".DNG" extension".
* ''2009, September'': Minutes of ISO/TC 130/WG2 — Prepress Data Exchange, 39th Meeting: the revision of TIFF/EP "is comprehensive to support many different use cases, including backward compatibility with current TIFF readers and support of Adobe DNG... Profile 2 (proposed extension .dng, if Adobe is in agreement) is intended for camera raw images, including un-demosaiced images... This format will be similar to DNG 1.3, which serves as the starting point for development."[.]
See also
* Comparison of image viewers
This article presents a comparison of image viewers and image organizers which can be used for image viewing.
Functionality overview and licensing
Supported file formats
Commonly used vendor-independent formats
Camera raw formats
Suppor ...
* DNxHD codec
Avid DNxHD ("Digital Nonlinear Extensible High Definition") is a lossy high-definition video post-production codec developed by Avid for multi-generation compositing with reduced storage and bandwidth requirements. It is an implementation of SMPTE ...
* dcraw
dcraw is an open-source computer program which is able to read numerous raw image format files, typically produced by mid-range and high-end digital cameras. dcraw converts these images into the standard TIFF and PPM image formats. This conve ...
* LibRaw
LibRaw is a free and open-source software library for reading raw files from digital cameras. It supports virtually all raw formats. It is based on the source code of dcraw, with modifications, and "is intended for embedding in raw converters, ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Digital Negative (File Format)
Digital photography
Graphics file formats