CxProcess
CxProcessis thetrademarkof animage processingtechnology used inMinoltaandKonica Minoltadigital cameras.
Image processing in a camera converts theraw imagedata from aCCDimage sensor into the format that is stored on thememory card.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 cameras,andDSLRs.In order to distinguish the image processing algorithms from the image processor, the image processor was namedSUPHEED(forsuperior image and speed) since 2003. It can be seen as the predecessor ofSony'sBionzimage processor since their taking-over of Konica Minolta's camera business in 2006.
CxProcess was originally introduced with theMinolta DiMAGE 5in 2001. SUPHEED was introduced with theDiMAGE A1in 2003, which was also the first to implementCxProcess II.
Cameras such as theDiMAGE 7 series(DiMAGE 7, 7i, 7Hi),A1,andA2used aMegaChips(MCL) DSC-2 MA07163 series of32-bitRISCprocessors withMIPSR3000core. The cameras ran under Integrated Systems' (ISI) operating systempSOSystem/MIPS (pSOS+/MIPS V2.5.4, pREPC+/MIPS V2.5.2, pHILE+/MIPS FA V4.0.2, pNA+/MIPS V4.0.5).
TheCxProcess IIIwas implemented in theKonica Minolta Maxxum 7D(2004) and5D(2005) utilizingSUPHEED II,a MegaChips DSC-3H MA07168 running underMiSPO'sNORTi/MIPS, anRTOSfollowing theμITRONstandard.
While no longer named CxProcess III on SUPHEED II, this was also implemented in theSony Alpha 100(2006), utilizing a MegaChips MA07169.
Sony introduced their Bionz image processor in 2007 that was originally based on this same technology.