jmcfadden Offline Image Upload: On
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p.4 #10 · Nikon D2X white balance encryption | |
Here is a portion of a thread from DP and it is salient to everything we have been talking about
from a guy named Dr Chung:
The more I learn about this the more it appears that this is just a big Red Herring from Adobe. From what I can tell the way in which White Balance values are stored in NEF files changed for D2X NEF files. Now, just because a file format changed doesn't mean that it is encrypted. It also appears that this change is not very obvious and has led to Adobe describing it as "encryption." Again, just because something isn't obvious does not mean that it is encrypted. Perhaps this lookup table with key is just a form of compression and compression is not encryption.
I can easily make the argument that the entire NEF file format is a form of encryption. It is something proprietary to Nikon for which there doesn't exist a published standard. All those vendors that support the NEF format (Adobe, Bibble, Capture 1, etc.) do so because they have figured out through reverse engineering how the format works. In other words, they have figured out the NEF encryption and decrypted it.
Nikon has been accused, tried and found guilty by most of the community, all based on unfounded claims by Adobe. Shouldn't we be asking why Adobe is doing this? Nikon hasn't sued Adobe nor have they even threatened to sue. Nikon hasn't even confirmed that encryption exists in the file format. It is Adobe, and only Adobe, that claims that the WB is encrypted. Only Adobe has claimed that Nikon will sue them. To me this sounds like a whole lot of FUD and misdirection to get everyone up in arms against Nikon.
Think about this... Before Adobe introduced ACR they could have made the exact same claims that they are making now against Nikon. They could claim that they won't be supporting the NEF format because it contains "encryption" and they might be sued.
This is just an incredible amount of BS from Adobe and everyone has sucked it all up. If Nikon does sue someone (like Bibble) for supporting D2X NEFs, only then should we be up in arms. Why have we allowed Adobe's unfounded and baseless claims and speculation to rule the day?
AND here is the whole thread from which I took this reply by Dr Chung:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=13150343
Also here is another reply by guru Thom Hogan later in that thread
John Mason wrote:
> So, it appears to be a fact it's encrypted. It appears to be easy
> to decrypt, but legally troublesome if that's done.
Encryption is a trigger word. Sort of like "private accounts." People are using it and reading into it what they want to see. Moreover, everyone is ascribing motive (including, sorry to say, myself in one post) to Nikon. But after looking at actual technical data rather than listening to people who I now realize have self-interests, I'm not inclined to call what Nikon did "encryption." Encryption generally has a motive of making data secret to all those that don't have the decryption key. What Nikon has done is "encoded" the white balance value. I'll point out that storing the term "Daylight" is a form of encoding (or is it encryption? ;~), as what is really meant is an actual value of 5400K. What Nikon has done is put another level of indirection on the encoding, much like in programming we use pointers to memory positions rather than the actual values. Once you know what to look for, it seems pretty straightforward, and there's no hidden or private key involved as I'd say would be necessary to be called encryption.
> The real mystery to me is the why. Does the increase in revenue
> from their non-free raw converter offset the ill-will and potential
> loss of revenue from forcing photographers that perfer shooting in
> raw to their high end converter?
Well, I went back and reviewed both my correspondence with a few key people in this drama, as well as what they had written publicly. How's this for a different spin (uh, excuse me, motive)? Adobe approached Nikon asking for access to the NEF file format. Nikon said use the SDK: that's the way we intend to make the data available. Adobe balked. Nikon D2x users started asking when ACR would support the D2x. Adobe then decided to put pressure on Nikon. And that's where we stand.
--
Thom Hogan
author, Nikon Field Guide & Nikon Flash Guide
editor, Nikon DSLR Report
author, Complete Guides: D70, D100, D1 series, D2h, S2 Pro
http://www.bythom.com
J
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