DxOMARK has been benchmark testing a prototype of the new ED Helium 8K sensor and awarded their highest score ever. The testing gave the new sensor a score of 108, higher then the previous top score of 101 achieved by the RED Epic Dragon. For comparison, the Sony a7rII achieves 98 and the Nikon D810, 97.

DxO found that the camera had 15.2 stops of dynamic range and “nearly” 27 bits of Color Depth. Both of these are higher than that of any current SLR camera, but DxO also note that this amount of data is only possible with RED’s 16-bit RAW capture pipeline.

“In addition to its amazing throughput (as shown by its high framerate, even at high-resolution), the most unique feature of the RED cameras’ image quality is that they manage to outperform full-frame DSLRs in several areas – despite having sensors that are only about two-thirds the size.”

Low light performance is currently not as good as that of most SLRs, reflecting the controlled lighting that would be encountered in most cinematographic circumstances. The Helium sensor significantly outperforms the Dragon, suggesting that the improved sensor design copes better with low light situations.