ARRI ALEXA Anamorphic De-squeeze License Key

The ARRI ALEXA Anamorphic De-squeeze License Key shows a properly de-squeezed image (with or without surround view) on the EVF-1 and/or MON OUT when working with 2x or 1.3x anamorphic lenses.

IMPORTANT NOTE: ALEXA Software Update Packet 4.0 or higher (or ALEXA HD or ALEXA HD Plus with SUP 7.1) required. Always included in ALEXA M, ALEXA Plus 4:3, ALEXA Studio and all ALEXA XT and SXT cameras.

Anamorphic de-squeeze includes four different modes:

• De-squeeze [OFF]
• De-squeeze 2x
• De-squeeze 2x & Magnify
• De-squeeze 1.3x

De-squeeze [OFF]

Using a 2x anamorphic lens with de-squeeze turned off, viewfinder and/or MON OUT will deliver the full sensor image, horizontally squeezed by a factor of 2, so a circle is egg-shaped. The dotted lines indicate the frame lines that will result in a 2.39:1 image once the image is de-squeezed. These frame lines are 1.195:1 (2.39 divided by two = 1.195). 

De-squeeze 2x

Using a 2x anamorphic lens with "de-squeeze 2x" enabled, viewfinder and/or MON OUT will deliver the full sensor image, properly de-squeezed, so a circle is a proper circle again. The dotted lines show the 2.39:1 aspect ratio, and you can see that you will record some extra image to the left and to the right, which can be used in post for repositioning. 

De-squeeze 2x & Magnify

If the "De-squeeze 2x" setting makes the image too small for you, you can switch to "De-squeeze 2x & magnify". In this case the image in the viewfinder and/or the MON OUT is zoomed in on the center area of the recorded image. The 2.39:1 image now almost fills the horizontally available space, leaving a little bit to the left and the right of the 2.39:1 frame. As the image, however, is zoomed in, the camera captures more image content to the left and right than shown by viewfinder and/or MON OUT.

NOTE: this mode is available in Standby and Record, but not in Playback mode. If "De-squeeze 2x & magnify" is set for the viewfinder and/or MON OUT and an image is played back from an SxS PRO card, playback will be "De-squeeze 2x" instead.

ALEXA De-squeeze for 1.3x Anamorphic Lenses

Specifically developed for 16:9 sensors, 1.3x anamorphic lenses do not squeeze the image by a factor of 2, but rather by a factor of 1.3. That makes a 2.39:1 image fit almost perfectly onto a 1.78:1 (16:9) sensor. For the sake of simplicity only the resulting images with surround view off are shown below. However, surround view can also be switched on.

De-squeeze [OFF] (1.3x)

Using a 1.3x anamorphic lens with "de-squeeze off", viewfinder and/or MON OUT will deliver the full sensor image, horizontally squeezed by a factor of 1.3, so a circle is again egg-shaped. The dotted lines indicate the frame lines that will result in a 2.39:1 image once the image is de-squeezed. These frame lines are 1.838:1 (2.39 divided by 1.3 = 1.838), which is of course very close to the 1.78:1 aspect ratio of the available pixels on the ALEXA sensor.

De-squeeze 1.3x

Using a 1.3x anamorphic lens with "de-squeeze 1.3x" enabled, viewfinder and/or MON OUT will deliver the full sensor image, properly de-squeezed, so a circle is a proper circle again. The dotted lines show you the 2.39:1 aspect ratio. As you can see, you will record just a little bit more image on top and bottom.