Archive of the Digital Cinema Category

A brief visit to Panasonic‘s booth today reminded me how far we‘ve come when it comes to codecs. Their AVC-Intra, based on H.264 a/k/a MPEG-4, is twice as efficient as DVCPRO HD. In a split-screen demo on the show floor, video compressed using AVC-Intra at 50 Mbps (1440/4:2:0/10 bits) matched identical video compressed using DVCPRO HD at 100 Mbps. Differences in resolution or artifacting were undetectable. In another split-screen, AVC-Intra at 100 Mbps (1920/4:2:2/10 bits) matched D-5 HD (north of 230 Mbps). Same impressive result.

Where this gets particularly interesting is in the case of Panasonic‘s new P2 flagship, the AJ-HPX3000. The shape and size of the chic black 3000 affirm its lineage to 3-CCD ENG camcorders, yet resemblance ends there. With 2.2 million-pixel CCDs (1920 x 1080) and 14-bit, 4:2:2 signal processing, the 3000 is a spirited thoroughbred more in league with Sony’s F900 than a Varicam. However at $48K list, it‘s half the cost of an F900. more

Thomson Corporate Research General Manager Henry Gu, PhD, was an enthusiastic fountain of information a few minutes ago about the company’s research division, and some of the prototype technologies coming out of that division that are being revealed for the first time publicly at NAB.

We at Millimeter and Digital Content Producer tend to write frequently about the goings-on at Thomson’s systems’ division (Grass Valley) and service division (Technicolor), but Gu suggests research is where the action really is. He also points out that the research division (400 researchers worldwide, “most” of whom are PhD’s, according to Gu) also impacts not just the Thomson bottom line, but the industry as a whole, since much of the technology eminating from the group will eventually get licensed to manufacturers and users outside the Thomson umbrella. more

Director Steve Anderson and his colleagues made a detailed presentation about the making of the 3D version of Disney’s Meet the Robinsons during Sunday’s Digital Cinema Summit at NAB. Before that presentation, I sat down with Anderson, a first-time director, to discuss the making of 3D movies, managing the production process, and the future of CG animation and 3D. Click here to listen to our conversation.

–Michael Goldman

I still have Sunday on my mind. So much innovation to absorb. From Samsung, Apple, Panasonic, Sony… for instance Sony‘s sensational F23 digital cinema camera, or XDCAM EX flash memory Handycam (at right, promised this fall), or the replacement to their outstanding BVM-A series of HD CRT monitors, the sure-to-be-award-winning 22.5-inch, 1920 x 1080, LED-backlit LCD BVM-L230 — 1080/60p and digital cinema 2K (plus every lesser format) with waveform and audio level displays!

(When it comes to flash memory recording and professional LCD monitors with waveforms, it‘s only fair to credit Panasonic with starting these balls rolling at previous NABs.)

It was only yesterday that HD itself was precious and exotic. But Sony‘s NAB mantra this year is “HD for All.” Apple, in turn, boasts of its ongoing effort to “democratize” professional video and HD. (Popularization and professionalization are wildly clashing ideals Apple seems to enjoy juggling like a watermelon and an egg.) Both echo JVC‘s proletarian 2003 NAB motto, “HD for the Masses.” This got me to thinking about the roles of language and marketing at NAB. more

Today’s Digital Cinema Summit (put on by the Entertainment Technology Center at USC) was heavy on the 3D theme and its impact on both the creation of content and the distribution and exhibition of that content. The topic was apropos coming on the heels of Disney’s Meet the Robinsons–the subject of an afternoon session at the conference. During that session, panel members cited statistics indicating that the 3D version of “Meet the Robinsons” opened on 892 screens simultaneously worldwide, making it, according to them, “the biggest D-cinema release to date.” more

The Entertainment Technology Center’s Digital Cinema Summit’s morning session ended moments ago with news from Wade Hannibal, VP of Cinema Technologies at Universal Pictures, that the Digital Cinema Initiatives consortium has officially updated the Digital Cinema Spec.

As of this week–the spec is now known as the Digital Cinema Specification, version 1.1. Also, in response to the 3D frenzy, a topic of much discussion at this year’s Summit, the DCI group also announced the Draft Stereoscopic Digital Cinema Addendum, Version 0.9. DCI is also pushing ahead with a new phase of its DCI Compliance Test plan, and has a variety of other new initiatives going on as well as part of the ongoing struggle to standardize the digital cinema formats. You can read papers on the newest DCI announcements at the DCI site–dcimovies.com.

Interestingly Hannibal did not take any questions before the session broke for lunch …

–Michael Goldman

I blew into town this morning with an hour‘s sleep, expecting not much more than a slow day of stem-winding Digital Cinema Summit panels perfect for napping. Instead I got a fast day of welcome surprises.

Cooling my jets in the press lounge while a squad of black-clad IT guys tapped at my iBook trying to puzzle out why the friendliest of laptops can‘t connect to NAB‘s wireless network — after a 20-minute session, the verdict: “Your computer and our network don‘t get along.” No point in my pointing out that that every notebook in sight is a Mac — I encountered CML‘s Geoff Boyle, brimming with excitement. (Geoff, a U.K.-based Director of Photography, founded and runs the influential Cinematography Mailing List, an Internet exchange for professional DPs, ACs, DITs, and camera techs.) more

Yesterday I blogged that my eyes had seen the glory of the coming of 4K (hum that to the Battle Hymn of the Republic, you won’t get it out of your head) at Filmlight’s demonstration of 4K color grading of 4K Dalsa Origin clips over a Sony 4K SXRD projector. But that was yesterday. Today my eyes have a new hero: NHK’s Ultra High Definition Video, which delivers sixteen times the definition of HD. And seeing is believing. more