CxProcess is the

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...

of an

image processing An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

technology used in

Minolta was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta Co., Ltd., which is also known simply as Minolta, was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as . It made the first integrated autofocu ...

and

Konica Minolta is a Japanese multinational technology company headquartered in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, with offices in 49 countries worldwide. The company manufactures business and industrial imaging products, including copiers, laser printers, multi-fu ...

digital cameras. Image processing in a camera converts the raw image data from a CCD image sensor into the format that is stored on the

memory card A memory card is an electronic data storage device used for storing digital information, typically using flash memory. These are commonly used in digital portable electronic devices. They allow adding memory to such devices using a card in a so ...

. This processing is one of the bottlenecks in the speed of digital cameras. Between 2001 and 2006, CxProcess was used in various Minolta and Konica Minolta digital compact cameras,

bridge camera Bridge cameras are cameras that fill the niche between relatively simple point-and-shoot cameras and interchangeable-lens cameras such as mirrorless cameras and single-lens reflex cameras (SLRs). They are often comparable in size and weight ...

s and

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 ...

s. In order to distinguish the image processing algorithms from the image processor, the image processor was named SUPHEED (for ''superior image and speed'') since 2003. It can be seen as the predecessor of

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 professional ...

Bionz BIONZ is a line of image processors used in Sony digital cameras. It is currently used in many Sony α DSLR and mirrorless cameras. Image processing in the camera converts the raw data from a CCD or CMOS image sensor into the format that is st ...

image processor since their taking-over of Konica Minolta's camera business in 2006. CxProcess was originally introduced with the Minolta Dimage 5 in 2001. SUPHEED was introduced with the

Minolta Dimage A1 The Minolta DiMAGE A1 is a 5 megapixel bridge digital camera with electronic viewfinder manufactured by Minolta. It was introduced in July 2003, replacing the Minolta Dimage 7 series. It was the first Minolta product to incorporate the Anti-Sh ...

in 2003, which was also the first to implement CxProcess II. Cameras such as the

Minolta Dimage 7 series The Minolta Dimage 7, 7i, 7Hi series is a "pro-sumer" line of digital electronic viewfinder cameras from Minolta. These are also known as bridge digital cameras. They are capable of capturing images in the 5-megapixel range. The Dimage 7 was ann ...

(Dimage 7, 7i, 7Hi), A1 and

Konica Minolta Dimage A2 DiMAGE A2 is a digital camera which was manufactured by Konica Minolta, announced on February 12, 2004. Specifications The Konica Minolta DiMAGE A2 is a discontinued, 8 megapixel CCD digital camera. Sony bought out the Konica Minolta line and f ...

were using a MegaChips (MCL) DSC-2 MA07163 series of

32-bit In computer architecture, 32-bit computing refers to computer systems with a processor, memory, and other major system components that operate on data in 32-bit units. Compared to smaller bit widths, 32-bit computers can perform large calculation ...

RISC In computer engineering, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) is a computer designed to simplify the individual instructions given to the computer to accomplish tasks. Compared to the instructions given to a complex instruction set comput ...

processors with MIPS

R3000 The R3000 is a 32-bit RISC microprocessor chipset developed by MIPS Computer Systems that implemented the MIPS I instruction set architecture (ISA). Introduced in June 1988, it was the second MIPS implementation, succeeding the R2000 as the flags ...

core. The cameras were running under Integrated Systems' (ISI) operating system

pSOSystem pSOS (Portable Software On Silicon) is a real-time operating system (RTOS), created in about 1982 by Alfred Chao, and developed and marketed for the first part of its life by his company Software Components Group (SCG). In the 1980s, pSOS ra ...

/MIPS (pSOS+/MIPS V2.5.4, pREPC+/MIPS V2.5.2, pHILE+/MIPS FA V4.0.2, pNA+/MIPS V4.0.5). The CxProcess III was implemented in the

Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D The Maxxum 7D, labelled Dynax 7D in Europe/Hong Kong and α-7 Digital in Japan and officially named "DG-7D", is a 6.1 megapixel digital single-lens reflex camera, or DSLR, produced by Konica Minolta. It was the top model of their DSLR range; the ...

(2004) and 5D (2005) utilizing SUPHEED II, a MegaChips DSC-3H MA07168 running under MiSPO's NORTi/MIPS, an

RTOS A real-time operating system (RTOS) is an operating system (OS) for real-time applications that processes data and events that have critically defined time constraints. An RTOS is distinct from a time-sharing operating system, such as Unix, which ...

following the

µITRON The ITRON project is the first of several sub-architectures of the TRON project. Originally undertaken in 1984, ITRON is a Japanese open standard for a real-time operating system (RTOS) initiated under the guidance of Ken Sakamura. This project aim ...

standard. While no longer named CxProcess III on SUPHEED II, this was also implemented in the

Sony Alpha 100 Sony α100 (DSLR-A100) is the first digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) marketed by Sony in 2006. It is the successor to the previous Konica Minolta DSLR models (primarily the Maxxum/ Dynax 5D and 7D) through Sony's purchase of the Konica Mi ...

(2006), utilizing a MegaChips MA07169. Sony introduced their Bionz image processor in 2007 that was originally based on this same technology.

References

Minolta Konica Minolta Camera firmware Image processors {{electronics-stub

See also

References