What is XOCN-LT, Its Benefits and Why It's a Game-Changer

What is XOCN-LT? XOCN is Sony’s 16 Bit compressed RAW recording what comes directly off the camera sensor, the OCN bit stands for Original Camera Negative. It comes in three flavours, XT, ST and LT, for the Sony Burano we are only interested in the LT version. Quick stats are for a 4K 25P recording the data rate is 406Mbps, which is the same as 10 Bit XAVC Class 480. So how can you record a 16 Bit High quality RAW image at the same data rate as a 10 Bit intra codec? Basically because it’s RAW. When using a codec such as XAVC the Bayer Sensor information is split into RGB or component so you end up with three 4K sets of information. If you leave it as a Bayer pattern, you only have one set of 4K information. Only drawback is that you’ll need more processing power at the back end to convert it into video. So what’s the difference between 16Bit and 10Bit. A LOT! 10Bit has 1024 tonal gradations per colour component where 16Bit has 65,536, i.e. 64x as many.

How good is XOCN-LT? It is very good! Many testimonials stating it’s indistinguishable from it’s bigger brother, XOCN-ST.

Bit Rate at 4K 24P