Category Archives: The Future Holds…

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The Future Holds...

Laser Light Engines Addresses Maturing Market

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Replacing the Xenon bulb with laser light via fibre to the projector head has made a few more advances and stumbles in the last 6 months. The requirement of screen shakers to avoid speckle took a dramatic hit this week (is moving standing waves an oxymoron? what if they are multi-colored?), even though high brightness 3D was seen by many and lauded at the same time.

As the industry matures to this obvious point, Bill Beck from Laser Light Engines has continued his educate motif and this week gave a presentation that changed from merely explaining important issues like why picking the correct laser primaries will affect efficiency (read: costs) to “Let’s ask the Right Questions”. Since this is CinemaCon week and there is no time to iterate on the nuance in these slides, we’ll just post them as a PDF, then write another more detailed article next week.

The Future Holds...

Laser Light Engines Addresses Maturing Market

Leave a comment

Replacing the Xenon bulb with laser light via fibre to the projector head has made a few more advances and stumbles in the last 6 months. The requirement of screen shakers to avoid speckle took a dramatic hit this week (is moving standing waves an oxymoron? what if they are multi-colored?), even though high brightness 3D was seen by many and lauded at the same time.

As the industry matures to this obvious point, Bill Beck from Laser Light Engines has continued his educate motif and this week gave a presentation that changed from merely explaining important issues like why picking the correct laser primaries will affect efficiency (read: costs) to “Let’s ask the Right Questions”. Since this is CinemaCon week and there is no time to iterate on the nuance in these slides, we’ll just post them as a PDF, then write another more detailed article next week.

The Future Holds...

IBC…Image Matters…and Sound for DCinema

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As the Image Matters press release indicates, the concept of High Frame Rate for Digital Cinema being 48 or 60 is so 2011. The new I’m XS video board calls out at 120 fps and beyond. We’re not certain when “and beyond…” became a technical term, but it is better than ‘greater than…”

What we know is that 48 is going to be a bridging technology at best. The presentation from the Jackson/Park/Hobbit team at SMPTE/NAB earlier this year mentioned that they had to predict the future with insight (and a strong bet) into how many manufacturers could get to 48. They figured correctly that 48 would be possible, and tests seem to indicate that cinema theaters who want to go that route will have equipment that works.

It seems that Image Matters idea is that the time for arbitrarily picking numbers based on odd circumstance is over. 24 frames per second was chosen for reasons of what passed for sound fidelity many many decades ago. Multiplying anachronism by hyperbole might work…but why let it?

IBC also might be blessed with two competing sound systems in the auditorium. What we know is that the Prometheus showing on Saturday will be with Dolby 3D and Dolby’s new audio system, Atmos. But Auro 3D, marketed through Barco, has announced that they will also be demonstrating in the auditorium. One wonders if they will be ever playing Dualing Banjos together.

One also wonders if we can get a Big Auditorium showing of the Image Matters art and science…

More as it happens.

Image Matters Press Release — They’ll be at booth # 10.D31

(Boncelles, Belgium–September 3, 2012) At IBC 2012, Image Matters will contribute to the evolution in advanced imaging. It will announce a new system for evaluating high frame rate digital cinema quality. Built around the Image Matters I’m XS video board for extreme imaging, the system will allow high frame-rate image streams of 2K 120 fps and beyond.

Delivering playback simultaneously from uncompressed and JPEG 2000 files, the system compares in real time original and encoded-decoded pictures. It displays various picture combinations like side-by-side, butterfly, and pixel-to-pixel differences.

To reach the utmost quality, the system is capable of JPEG 2000 bitrates in excess of 1Gbps — more than four times the current DCI specification. The decoded 2K images are transmitted to four 3G-SDI links to Digital Cinema qualified projector at frame rates of up to 120 fps (or 60 fps per eye for stereoscopic 3D content).

Helping to prepare the content for comparison, the system can encode in multiple JPEG 2000 encoding formats. It can handle image resolutions up to 4K using a single I’m XS board.

At the heart of the system, the I’m XS board provides the JPEG 2000 processing power for 30 frames per second at 4K, or more than 120 fps at HD or 2K, using a compression engine from intoPIX. Multiple I’m XS boards can be linked for even more demanding applications. For example, four boards can be synchronized to deliver 4K images at 120 frames per second.

“IBC is a wonderful opportunity to promote JPEG 2000 and to discuss how to even improve image quality on cinema screens” said Jean-François Nivart, CEO at Image Matters.

More information about this and any other Image Matters products is available at http://image.matters.pro or by phone at +32 495 23 00 08.

Auro-3D Press Release

Auro Technologies Demonstrates Auro-3D® Solution       

Delivering True 3D Sound Experience at IBC2012

The company also presents its Auro-Codec, integrating multi-channel audio into uncompressed PCM streams and offering full compatibility with existing and future playback and distribution formats.

Amsterdam,  3  September, 2012 – At IBC2012, Auro Technologies, a spin-off of the renowned Galaxy Studios, is demonstrating its groundbreaking Auro-3D® audio format, combining an unprecedented immersive sound experience with revolutionarytechnology based on uncompressed audio quality and full compatibility with existing standards and formats. Also during IBC2012, the company is showcasing its new Auro-Codec solution to support the new format and release its full potential. Both solutions offer unrivalled ease of use and new levels of cost-efficiency (bandwidth reduction up till factor 8 without audible loss), and will help bring richer forms of audio entertainment to the market. The Auro-Codec is very attractive for the Auro-3D® format, as well as for Surround and Stereo.

The next-generation 3D theatre sound system, Auro-3D® is the only solution offering a true 3D immersive experience, based on a newly developed recording and production process and a unique loudspeaker placement in theatre settings. Auro-3D® adds a height layer around the audience above the traditional 2D surround sound system, creating a unique sensation of authentic life-like spatial sound. Apart from being fully compatible with existing production processes and theatre systems, it also offers a host of advantages such as Single Inventory Distribution (multiple formats are combined in one PCM carrier) and full DCI compliancy.  Thanks to its seamless compatibility and supporting encoding/decoding technologies, Auro-3D® is easy to implement in existing workflows and DAW stations, offering the most cost-efficient solution to provide a truly immersive listening experience.

The patented all-in-one Auro-Codec format offers the following key benefits:

  • encoding of multi-channel audio into a single PCM stream with fewer channels (e.g. 9.1 into 5.1), which can be played back by existing systems without the need for a decoder. When the decoder is used, though, the extra channels can be retrieved in their original audio quality
  • decoding of the original multi-channel audio with 100% channel separation
  • audible lossless compression with greater compression ratios than lossy codecs without the use of any kind of perceptual coding or masking techniques
  • highest compatibility (backward and forward) with existing playback and distribution formats

New standard

Auro-3D® is the only independent and viable alternative to existing 3D sound processing solutions, exceeding the audio quality of competitive technologies. It meets the existing and future needs of a wide variety of professional and consumer markets, ranging from cinema, broadcasting and automotive to consumer electronics, multimedia and mobile devices. With its ease of use, end-to-end compatibility and affordability, Auro-3D® offers all it takes to become the next-generation standard for 3D audio reproduction.

Coming up: Beautifyer™

Coinciding with IBC2012, Auro Technologies is also launching the Beautifyer™ app, an audio player for iPhone and iPod Touch that quickly transforms your digital music library into a totally new sound experience through headphones. Beautifyer™ enhances the quality of any compressed stereo music file playable on iTunes (MP3, AC3 or AAC) by expanding its impact and depth. For more info and downloads, go to www.beautifyer.com.

Find us, hear us at IBC2012

Visit Auro Technologies at IBC2012 in the RAI Conference Centre in Amsterdam. You will find us at Stand 3.A40, in Hall 3.

The Future Holds...

IBC…Image Matters…and Sound for DCinema

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As the Image Matters press release indicates, the concept of High Frame Rate for Digital Cinema being 48 or 60 is so 2011. The new I’m XS video board calls out at 120 fps and beyond. We’re not certain when “and beyond…” became a technical term, but it is better than ‘greater than…”

What we know is that 48 is going to be a bridging technology at best. The presentation from the Jackson/Park/Hobbit team at SMPTE/NAB earlier this year mentioned that they had to predict the future with insight (and a strong bet) into how many manufacturers could get to 48. They figured correctly that 48 would be possible, and tests seem to indicate that cinema theaters who want to go that route will have equipment that works.

It seems that Image Matters idea is that the time for arbitrarily picking numbers based on odd circumstance is over. 24 frames per second was chosen for reasons of what passed for sound fidelity many many decades ago. Multiplying anachronism by hyperbole might work…but why let it?

IBC also might be blessed with two competing sound systems in the auditorium. What we know is that the Prometheus showing on Saturday will be with Dolby 3D and Dolby’s new audio system, Atmos. But Auro 3D, marketed through Barco, has announced that they will also be demonstrating in the auditorium. One wonders if they will be ever playing Dualing Banjos together.

One also wonders if we can get a Big Auditorium showing of the Image Matters art and science…

More as it happens.

Image Matters Press Release — They’ll be at booth # 10.D31

(Boncelles, Belgium–September 3, 2012) At IBC 2012, Image Matters will contribute to the evolution in advanced imaging. It will announce a new system for evaluating high frame rate digital cinema quality. Built around the Image Matters I’m XS video board for extreme imaging, the system will allow high frame-rate image streams of 2K 120 fps and beyond.

Delivering playback simultaneously from uncompressed and JPEG 2000 files, the system compares in real time original and encoded-decoded pictures. It displays various picture combinations like side-by-side, butterfly, and pixel-to-pixel differences.

To reach the utmost quality, the system is capable of JPEG 2000 bitrates in excess of 1Gbps — more than four times the current DCI specification. The decoded 2K images are transmitted to four 3G-SDI links to Digital Cinema qualified projector at frame rates of up to 120 fps (or 60 fps per eye for stereoscopic 3D content).

Helping to prepare the content for comparison, the system can encode in multiple JPEG 2000 encoding formats. It can handle image resolutions up to 4K using a single I’m XS board.

At the heart of the system, the I’m XS board provides the JPEG 2000 processing power for 30 frames per second at 4K, or more than 120 fps at HD or 2K, using a compression engine from intoPIX. Multiple I’m XS boards can be linked for even more demanding applications. For example, four boards can be synchronized to deliver 4K images at 120 frames per second.

“IBC is a wonderful opportunity to promote JPEG 2000 and to discuss how to even improve image quality on cinema screens” said Jean-François Nivart, CEO at Image Matters.

More information about this and any other Image Matters products is available at http://image.matters.pro or by phone at +32 495 23 00 08.

Auro-3D Press Release

Auro Technologies Demonstrates Auro-3D® Solution       

Delivering True 3D Sound Experience at IBC2012

The company also presents its Auro-Codec, integrating multi-channel audio into uncompressed PCM streams and offering full compatibility with existing and future playback and distribution formats.

Amsterdam,  3  September, 2012 – At IBC2012, Auro Technologies, a spin-off of the renowned Galaxy Studios, is demonstrating its groundbreaking Auro-3D® audio format, combining an unprecedented immersive sound experience with revolutionarytechnology based on uncompressed audio quality and full compatibility with existing standards and formats. Also during IBC2012, the company is showcasing its new Auro-Codec solution to support the new format and release its full potential. Both solutions offer unrivalled ease of use and new levels of cost-efficiency (bandwidth reduction up till factor 8 without audible loss), and will help bring richer forms of audio entertainment to the market. The Auro-Codec is very attractive for the Auro-3D® format, as well as for Surround and Stereo.

The next-generation 3D theatre sound system, Auro-3D® is the only solution offering a true 3D immersive experience, based on a newly developed recording and production process and a unique loudspeaker placement in theatre settings. Auro-3D® adds a height layer around the audience above the traditional 2D surround sound system, creating a unique sensation of authentic life-like spatial sound. Apart from being fully compatible with existing production processes and theatre systems, it also offers a host of advantages such as Single Inventory Distribution (multiple formats are combined in one PCM carrier) and full DCI compliancy.  Thanks to its seamless compatibility and supporting encoding/decoding technologies, Auro-3D® is easy to implement in existing workflows and DAW stations, offering the most cost-efficient solution to provide a truly immersive listening experience.

The patented all-in-one Auro-Codec format offers the following key benefits:

  • encoding of multi-channel audio into a single PCM stream with fewer channels (e.g. 9.1 into 5.1), which can be played back by existing systems without the need for a decoder. When the decoder is used, though, the extra channels can be retrieved in their original audio quality
  • decoding of the original multi-channel audio with 100% channel separation
  • audible lossless compression with greater compression ratios than lossy codecs without the use of any kind of perceptual coding or masking techniques
  • highest compatibility (backward and forward) with existing playback and distribution formats

New standard

Auro-3D® is the only independent and viable alternative to existing 3D sound processing solutions, exceeding the audio quality of competitive technologies. It meets the existing and future needs of a wide variety of professional and consumer markets, ranging from cinema, broadcasting and automotive to consumer electronics, multimedia and mobile devices. With its ease of use, end-to-end compatibility and affordability, Auro-3D® offers all it takes to become the next-generation standard for 3D audio reproduction.

Coming up: Beautifyer™

Coinciding with IBC2012, Auro Technologies is also launching the Beautifyer™ app, an audio player for iPhone and iPod Touch that quickly transforms your digital music library into a totally new sound experience through headphones. Beautifyer™ enhances the quality of any compressed stereo music file playable on iTunes (MP3, AC3 or AAC) by expanding its impact and depth. For more info and downloads, go to www.beautifyer.com.

Find us, hear us at IBC2012

Visit Auro Technologies at IBC2012 in the RAI Conference Centre in Amsterdam. You will find us at Stand 3.A40, in Hall 3.

The Future Holds...

Beyond DCI – The Need for New D-Cinema Standards

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Those of us who create and manufacture digital cinema projection equipment face the challenge of knowing what standards to aim for as frame rates jump from 24 to 48, 60 and beyond. At 24 fps, the DCI-specified peak bit rate of 250 Mbps for the picture is satisfactory. It seems logical then that, by doubling the frame rate to 48, we also need to double the bit rate to 500. Indeed, the general industry direction for exhibiting 48 fps 3D material is leaning toward a bit rate of 450 Mbps, leaving some room for peaking to 500.

As we move toward HFR and its necessary twin, high bit rate (HBR), the whole production and exhibition chain must move in unison. Cameras, servers, IMBs and projectors all have to be modified and advanced to keep up with the necessary speeds. Nowhere is this more evident than in the giant screen venues, which require multiple synchronized projectors and servers that can handle high bit rates and high frame rates. As an industry facing change, we need to come to agreement on what is necessary and update the DCI and SMPTE specs for the D-cinema industry. Before we can, we need to address some technical issues, namely the need for HFR content to test, how to measure frame rate specs of equipment, and what to do with mixed content within the same show. An additional concern is the special needs of Giant Screen exhibition, namely servers capable of streaming 4K 3D data to dual synchronized projectors.

First, there is the problem that testing new equipment at high frame rates and high bit rates requires content. This won’t be an issue if filmmakers begin filming at 48 or 60 fps. We’re looking forward to The Hobbit presentations later this year to see the full potential of the media.

Another technical issue is the varied ways in which bit rate is measured. We saw at NAB and CinemaCon this year that most manufacturers of D-cinema projection equipment now stream 48 fps data at aggregate speeds of 500 Mbps. However, this does not necessarily mean that all the internal independent components within the JPEG 2000 codestream, each of which may have limitations, can run at bit rates of 500 Mbps. DCP providers need to be aware that these limitations exist when making decisions about mastering. We will need to ensure that manufacturers report both aggregate and component bit rates.

An interesting dilemma that has not yet been solved is what to do with content of different speeds played in the same show. Servers and projectors will behave differently when switching between content with different frame rates and this can lead to viewing problems. What if a 24 fps trailer is played before a 48 fps presentation of The Hobbit? We will need to hear from exhibitors and content owners about want they want to provide in terms of an acceptable user experience. The Inter-Society Digital Cinema Forum (ISDCF) is aware of this problem and has been conducting tests with various manufacturers and content owners involved.

One major limitation to implementing HFR stereo 3D that we have solved is that of moving data at sufficient speeds from server to projector. This has been accomplished by swapping the HD-SDI cable for an Ethernet connection, as well as embedding IMBs in projectors. IMBs have now become industry-standard equipment shipped with all servers, and a necessary part of any new spec. Coupled with improvements in Series 2 projectors, including image brightness, the IMB’s increased speeds will certainly enhance image quality and alleviate some of the viewer discomfort during stereo 3D projection.

How Qube handles these challenges

The Qube XP-I server is capable of a bit rate of 1 Gbps, while each Xi IMB can handle up to 500 Mbps, with no component bit rate limitation. This is in keeping with current storage throughput and image decoder specs. Qube servers have the same component and aggregate bit rates.

The Qube XP-I server and Xi IMB are capable of frame rates up to 120 fps per eye. This gives a frame rate of up to 240 fps for dual projection driven by a single server streaming a single DCP for stereo 3D.

Qube has also shown that exhibition of 4K 3D content on Giant Screens is possible from a single XP-I server, streaming data at 1 Gbps and 30 fps to dual synchronized ultra-bright projectors. This greatly enhances the 3D viewing experience at Giant Screen venues.

When updating digital cinema specifications, we should aim high with respect to HFR in anticipation of where filmmakers might go. In this way we will be future proofing the next set of standards.

Rajesh Ramachandran is the CTO of Qube Cinema.

The Future Holds...

Beyond DCI – The Need for New D-Cinema Standards

Leave a comment

Those of us who create and manufacture digital cinema projection equipment face the challenge of knowing what standards to aim for as frame rates jump from 24 to 48, 60 and beyond. At 24 fps, the DCI-specified peak bit rate of 250 Mbps for the picture is satisfactory. It seems logical then that, by doubling the frame rate to 48, we also need to double the bit rate to 500. Indeed, the general industry direction for exhibiting 48 fps 3D material is leaning toward a bit rate of 450 Mbps, leaving some room for peaking to 500.

As we move toward HFR and its necessary twin, high bit rate (HBR), the whole production and exhibition chain must move in unison. Cameras, servers, IMBs and projectors all have to be modified and advanced to keep up with the necessary speeds. Nowhere is this more evident than in the giant screen venues, which require multiple synchronized projectors and servers that can handle high bit rates and high frame rates. As an industry facing change, we need to come to agreement on what is necessary and update the DCI and SMPTE specs for the D-cinema industry. Before we can, we need to address some technical issues, namely the need for HFR content to test, how to measure frame rate specs of equipment, and what to do with mixed content within the same show. An additional concern is the special needs of Giant Screen exhibition, namely servers capable of streaming 4K 3D data to dual synchronized projectors.

First, there is the problem that testing new equipment at high frame rates and high bit rates requires content. This won’t be an issue if filmmakers begin filming at 48 or 60 fps. We’re looking forward to The Hobbit presentations later this year to see the full potential of the media.

Another technical issue is the varied ways in which bit rate is measured. We saw at NAB and CinemaCon this year that most manufacturers of D-cinema projection equipment now stream 48 fps data at aggregate speeds of 500 Mbps. However, this does not necessarily mean that all the internal independent components within the JPEG 2000 codestream, each of which may have limitations, can run at bit rates of 500 Mbps. DCP providers need to be aware that these limitations exist when making decisions about mastering. We will need to ensure that manufacturers report both aggregate and component bit rates.

An interesting dilemma that has not yet been solved is what to do with content of different speeds played in the same show. Servers and projectors will behave differently when switching between content with different frame rates and this can lead to viewing problems. What if a 24 fps trailer is played before a 48 fps presentation of The Hobbit? We will need to hear from exhibitors and content owners about want they want to provide in terms of an acceptable user experience. The Inter-Society Digital Cinema Forum (ISDCF) is aware of this problem and has been conducting tests with various manufacturers and content owners involved.

One major limitation to implementing HFR stereo 3D that we have solved is that of moving data at sufficient speeds from server to projector. This has been accomplished by swapping the HD-SDI cable for an Ethernet connection, as well as embedding IMBs in projectors. IMBs have now become industry-standard equipment shipped with all servers, and a necessary part of any new spec. Coupled with improvements in Series 2 projectors, including image brightness, the IMB’s increased speeds will certainly enhance image quality and alleviate some of the viewer discomfort during stereo 3D projection.

How Qube handles these challenges

The Qube XP-I server is capable of a bit rate of 1 Gbps, while each Xi IMB can handle up to 500 Mbps, with no component bit rate limitation. This is in keeping with current storage throughput and image decoder specs. Qube servers have the same component and aggregate bit rates.

The Qube XP-I server and Xi IMB are capable of frame rates up to 120 fps per eye. This gives a frame rate of up to 240 fps for dual projection driven by a single server streaming a single DCP for stereo 3D.

Qube has also shown that exhibition of 4K 3D content on Giant Screens is possible from a single XP-I server, streaming data at 1 Gbps and 30 fps to dual synchronized ultra-bright projectors. This greatly enhances the 3D viewing experience at Giant Screen venues.

When updating digital cinema specifications, we should aim high with respect to HFR in anticipation of where filmmakers might go. In this way we will be future proofing the next set of standards.

Rajesh Ramachandran is the CTO of Qube Cinema.

The Future Holds...

Then there were 3: Atmos Eats ImmSound

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Your editor wrote an article after spending time with all 4 systems back last April during the run up to CinemaCon. The article went unpublished since there are too many friends involved and who wants to harm anyone’s income? …or maybe there was inside data that is too intertwined with the public un-known un-knowns…

Suffice to say though that of the four companies involved (Barco, Dolby, Iosonno and Imm Sound), the one least likely to finesse enough program material from the important studios and get the technology right and get it into enough facilities to remain viable in the long run wasn’t going to come from a Barcellona university project (however exciting the 2009 CinemaEurope display was.

But: It is logical that they would come up with technology that would be interesting to the likely front runner. The portfolio that makes progress quicker and simpler and cheaper and allows entry into the consumer market sooner will be the most interesting thing to the impressive layer of executives of the Atmos group.

When hearing the imm Sound system with other technical people, there was general agreement that they played material that would be most impressive to people who needed to be impressed. But it wasn’t the immersive sound that the future will bring us. What they did well was show that there is a need for something beyond 5.1 sound, but Dolby did that a few years ago with the experimental systems they showed at CineEurope in 2009 and CinemaCon in 2010. So most of the sound people agreed that we felt we were being conned by the choices of the program material.

So, good luck to us all. Audio can be so much better. Audio needs to be so much better.

[Apologies for the typos and incomplete thoughts in the first draft of this piece. It wasn’t supposed to be released…and then a big crash happened. We’ll try not to repeat that particular mistake again.]

The Future Holds...

Then there were 3: Atmos Eats ImmSound

Leave a comment

Your editor wrote an article after spending time with all 4 systems back last April during the run up to CinemaCon. The article went unpublished since there are too many friends involved and who wants to harm anyone’s income? …or maybe there was inside data that is too intertwined with the public un-known un-knowns…

Suffice to say though that of the four companies involved (Barco, Dolby, Iosonno and Imm Sound), the one least likely to finesse enough program material from the important studios and get the technology right and get it into enough facilities to remain viable in the long run wasn’t going to come from a Barcellona university project (however exciting the 2009 CinemaEurope display was.

But: It is logical that they would come up with technology that would be interesting to the likely front runner. The portfolio that makes progress quicker and simpler and cheaper and allows entry into the consumer market sooner will be the most interesting thing to the impressive layer of executives of the Atmos group.

When hearing the imm Sound system with other technical people, there was general agreement that they played material that would be most impressive to people who needed to be impressed. But it wasn’t the immersive sound that the future will bring us. What they did well was show that there is a need for something beyond 5.1 sound, but Dolby did that a few years ago with the experimental systems they showed at CineEurope in 2009 and CinemaCon in 2010. So most of the sound people agreed that we felt we were being conned by the choices of the program material.

So, good luck to us all. Audio can be so much better. Audio needs to be so much better.

[Apologies for the typos and incomplete thoughts in the first draft of this piece. It wasn’t supposed to be released…and then a big crash happened. We’ll try not to repeat that particular mistake again.]

The Future Holds...

More Quality Assurance From USL

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USL LSS-100 Test DeviceImportantly, it is also a networked device, making it possible for theater owners to monitor auditoriums continuously from a Network Operation Center (NOC) anywhere in the world, providing instantaneous monitoring of luminance, chromaticity, and SPL data.

“We decided to build on the success of our PSA light and PCA color meters to create an automated way to ensure excellent picture quality,” said Jack Cashin, USL’s founder, president and chief technical designer.

The release of these products show that the industry has matured beyond the one-time post-installation set-up. The idea that digital is everything, including stable and reliable, requires one thing that the cost of digital did away with: constant and consistent monitoring. The Projectionist has largely been replaced by the “booth attendant”, which who is not a substitute.

Not that there is anything wrong with the booth attendant, as long as they are able to use the tools given them to learn how to create a better environment for their audience. The advantage of the Meyer/NTi Cinema Audio Analyser, in conjunction with the Harkness Screen Checker is that it brings a pair of eyes and ears into the auditorium.

They can test the picture and the audio from several positions in the room and learn their environment. They can listen for rattles and new hum components. They may not pick it up at first, but just like the audience, they will be aware that something is wrong and seek to get it fixed before the audience decides that their home system is more pleasing.

They can, once a week, run the SMPTE DProVe DCP in every room to check whether things have changed.

SMPTE Digital Leader Demonstration – YouTube
DProVe | Digital Projector Verifier – DCinemaTools
Digital PROjection VErifier – SMPTE Store

They can walk around with a pair of Sony caption Glasses or USL headsets or Doremi OptiGrabs and check the HI/VI system.

“To some extent, this is the problem with a device like the Digital Test Tools Digital eXperience Guardian (DxG) and the USL LSS-100. They rely upon someone setting the parameters so that alarms go off at the right time, and get to the right people,” says Digital Test Tools evangelist (and DCinemaTools editor) C J Flynn.

“Sure, the DxG can let the NOC know that the THD of the left woofer has gone south, or a new rattle has appeared at the right front of the screen, or that the white point has shifted out of the SMPTE spec. But if the NOC is filled with generalists who don’t realize what that means for the picture, then it is little better than a booth assistant who sends an SMS to the Regional Tech Chief that says, “I got some reports that the audio sucks in Theater 6. What changed yesterday? I don’t know – these reports are from a couple weeks ago – when you left on vacation.

“But these tools used in their proper place would be as an adjunct to a constant and consistent Quality Assurance Plan, a procedure that involves everyone in the organization like ISO-9001 does – that would be optimum. That’s way we push Post-Installation Compliance concepts like what was presented to UNIC for CineEurope2012 Innovation Award. This is what we mean by having a feedback loop in the operation, which is the only way that digital can “take care of itself”.

“One has to beware of any press release that “ensures” anything, that says there is “no compromise”. Engineering is the Art of Compromise. There can only be so many seats in prime position, but the most astute owners can minimize the flaws when they pay attention to details and don’t get seduced by simple solutions that “ensure” success.”

For these and other reasons, DCinemaTools has begun the series called, The Art of Compromise: A Series of White Papers Explaining the Considerations and Choices Involved in Getting from There to Here.

[Was the editor really quoting himself? Yes, just to make sure it was clear that he was wearing a different hat as a manufacturer for that bit and not as the writer of this piece…weird but trying to be disclosing.]

The Future Holds...

More Quality Assurance From USL

Leave a comment

USL LSS-100 Test DeviceImportantly, it is also a networked device, making it possible for theater owners to monitor auditoriums continuously from a Network Operation Center (NOC) anywhere in the world, providing instantaneous monitoring of luminance, chromaticity, and SPL data.

“We decided to build on the success of our PSA light and PCA color meters to create an automated way to ensure excellent picture quality,” said Jack Cashin, USL’s founder, president and chief technical designer.

The release of these products show that the industry has matured beyond the one-time post-installation set-up. The idea that digital is everything, including stable and reliable, requires one thing that the cost of digital did away with: constant and consistent monitoring. The Projectionist has largely been replaced by the “booth attendant”, which who is not a substitute.

Not that there is anything wrong with the booth attendant, as long as they are able to use the tools given them to learn how to create a better environment for their audience. The advantage of the Meyer/NTi Cinema Audio Analyser, in conjunction with the Harkness Screen Checker is that it brings a pair of eyes and ears into the auditorium.

They can test the picture and the audio from several positions in the room and learn their environment. They can listen for rattles and new hum components. They may not pick it up at first, but just like the audience, they will be aware that something is wrong and seek to get it fixed before the audience decides that their home system is more pleasing.

They can, once a week, run the SMPTE DProVe DCP in every room to check whether things have changed.

SMPTE Digital Leader Demonstration – YouTube
DProVe | Digital Projector Verifier – DCinemaTools
Digital PROjection VErifier – SMPTE Store

They can walk around with a pair of Sony caption Glasses or USL headsets or Doremi OptiGrabs and check the HI/VI system.

“To some extent, this is the problem with a device like the Digital Test Tools Digital eXperience Guardian (DxG) and the USL LSS-100. They rely upon someone setting the parameters so that alarms go off at the right time, and get to the right people,” says Digital Test Tools evangelist (and DCinemaTools editor) C J Flynn.

“Sure, the DxG can let the NOC know that the THD of the left woofer has gone south, or a new rattle has appeared at the right front of the screen, or that the white point has shifted out of the SMPTE spec. But if the NOC is filled with generalists who don’t realize what that means for the picture, then it is little better than a booth assistant who sends an SMS to the Regional Tech Chief that says, “I got some reports that the audio sucks in Theater 6. What changed yesterday? I don’t know – these reports are from a couple weeks ago – when you left on vacation.

“But these tools used in their proper place would be as an adjunct to a constant and consistent Quality Assurance Plan, a procedure that involves everyone in the organization like ISO-9001 does – that would be optimum. That’s way we push Post-Installation Compliance concepts like what was presented to UNIC for CineEurope2012 Innovation Award. This is what we mean by having a feedback loop in the operation, which is the only way that digital can “take care of itself”.

“One has to beware of any press release that “ensures” anything, that says there is “no compromise”. Engineering is the Art of Compromise. There can only be so many seats in prime position, but the most astute owners can minimize the flaws when they pay attention to details and don’t get seduced by simple solutions that “ensure” success.”

For these and other reasons, DCinemaTools has begun the series called, The Art of Compromise: A Series of White Papers Explaining the Considerations and Choices Involved in Getting from There to Here.

[Was the editor really quoting himself? Yes, just to make sure it was clear that he was wearing a different hat as a manufacturer for that bit and not as the writer of this piece…weird but trying to be disclosing.]

The Future Holds...

More Quality Assurance From USL

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USL LSS-100 Test DeviceImportantly, it is also a networked device, making it possible for theater owners to monitor auditoriums continuously from a Network Operation Center (NOC) anywhere in the world, providing instantaneous monitoring of luminance, chromaticity, and SPL data.

“We decided to build on the success of our PSA light and PCA color meters to create an automated way to ensure excellent picture quality,” said Jack Cashin, USL’s founder, president and chief technical designer.

The release of these products show that the industry has matured beyond the one-time post-installation set-up. The idea that digital is everything, including stable and reliable, requires one thing that the cost of digital did away with: constant and consistent monitoring. The Projectionist has largely been replaced by the “booth attendant”, which who is not a substitute.

Not that there is anything wrong with the booth attendant, as long as they are able to use the tools given them to learn how to create a better environment for their audience. The advantage of the Meyer/NTi Cinema Audio Analyser, in conjunction with the Harkness Screen Checker is that it brings a pair of eyes and ears into the auditorium.

They can test the picture and the audio from several positions in the room and learn their environment. They can listen for rattles and new hum components. They may not pick it up at first, but just like the audience, they will be aware that something is wrong and seek to get it fixed before the audience decides that their home system is more pleasing.

They can, once a week, run the SMPTE DProVe DCP in every room to check whether things have changed.

SMPTE Digital Leader Demonstration – YouTube
DProVe | Digital Projector Verifier – DCinemaTools
Digital PROjection VErifier – SMPTE Store

They can walk around with a pair of Sony caption Glasses or USL headsets or Doremi OptiGrabs and check the HI/VI system.

“To some extent, this is the problem with a device like the Digital Test Tools Digital eXperience Guardian (DxG) and the USL LSS-100. They rely upon someone setting the parameters so that alarms go off at the right time, and get to the right people,” says Digital Test Tools evangelist (and DCinemaTools editor) C J Flynn.

“Sure, the DxG can let the NOC know that the THD of the left woofer has gone south, or a new rattle has appeared at the right front of the screen, or that the white point has shifted out of the SMPTE spec. But if the NOC is filled with generalists who don’t realize what that means for the picture, then it is little better than a booth assistant who sends an SMS to the Regional Tech Chief that says, “I got some reports that the audio sucks in Theater 6. What changed yesterday? I don’t know – these reports are from a couple weeks ago – when you left on vacation.

“But these tools used in their proper place would be as an adjunct to a constant and consistent Quality Assurance Plan, a procedure that involves everyone in the organization like ISO-9001 does – that would be optimum. That’s way we push Post-Installation Compliance concepts like what was presented to UNIC for CineEurope2012 Innovation Award. This is what we mean by having a feedback loop in the operation, which is the only way that digital can “take care of itself”.

“One has to beware of any press release that “ensures” anything, that says there is “no compromise”. Engineering is the Art of Compromise. There can only be so many seats in prime position, but the most astute owners can minimize the flaws when they pay attention to details and don’t get seduced by simple solutions that “ensure” success.”

For these and other reasons, DCinemaTools has begun the series called, The Art of Compromise: A Series of White Papers Explaining the Considerations and Choices Involved in Getting from There to Here.

[Was the editor really quoting himself? Yes, just to make sure it was clear that he was wearing a different hat as a manufacturer for that bit and not as the writer of this piece…weird but trying to be disclosing.]

The Future Holds...

Touché Disné Research

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Touché: Enhancing Touch Interaction on Humans, Screens, Liquids, and Everyday Objects

Never mind touchscreen phones, tablets and TVs. Now virtually any material, including liquid water, can instantly become an incredibly sensitive, multi-touch interface thanks to an ingenious new sensory system designed by a scientist fromDisney Research in Pittsburgh, PA, and collaborators at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Tokyo, Japan.

The system, called Touché, has already been demonstrated in a number of impressive practical prototypes created by the researchers — from a “smart doorknob” that can sense precisely how it is being gripped and lock or unlock itself accordingly, to a container full of water that can detect when a person’s hand is skimming the surface or completely submerged to even a person’s own body, which can be turned into an input for controlling the volume of a smartphone or other digital music player.

A “sensing couch” using Touché automatically detects when a user is sitting and turns on their TV, then adjusts the room’s lighting when the user reclines, finally turning the TV and lights off if the person falls asleep in front of their TV.

See the entire article at: Anything Can Be A Touch Screen Thanks To Disney Research’s ‘Touché’ | TPM Idea Lab

References:

Touché: Enhancing Touch Interaction on Humans, Screens, Liquids, and Everyday Objects

Disney Research: Touché: Enhancing Touch Interaction on Humans, Screens, Liquids and Everyday Objects

Disney Research Lab – Carnegie Mellon University

Disney Research: Touché: Enhancing Touch Interaction on Humans, Screens, Liquids and Everyday Objects

The Future Holds...

Touché Disné Research

Leave a comment

Touché: Enhancing Touch Interaction on Humans, Screens, Liquids, and Everyday Objects

Never mind touchscreen phones, tablets and TVs. Now virtually any material, including liquid water, can instantly become an incredibly sensitive, multi-touch interface thanks to an ingenious new sensory system designed by a scientist fromDisney Research in Pittsburgh, PA, and collaborators at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Tokyo, Japan.

The system, called Touché, has already been demonstrated in a number of impressive practical prototypes created by the researchers — from a “smart doorknob” that can sense precisely how it is being gripped and lock or unlock itself accordingly, to a container full of water that can detect when a person’s hand is skimming the surface or completely submerged to even a person’s own body, which can be turned into an input for controlling the volume of a smartphone or other digital music player.

A “sensing couch” using Touché automatically detects when a user is sitting and turns on their TV, then adjusts the room’s lighting when the user reclines, finally turning the TV and lights off if the person falls asleep in front of their TV.

See the entire article at: Anything Can Be A Touch Screen Thanks To Disney Research’s ‘Touché’ | TPM Idea Lab

References:

Touché: Enhancing Touch Interaction on Humans, Screens, Liquids, and Everyday Objects

Disney Research: Touché: Enhancing Touch Interaction on Humans, Screens, Liquids and Everyday Objects

Disney Research Lab – Carnegie Mellon University

Disney Research: Touché: Enhancing Touch Interaction on Humans, Screens, Liquids and Everyday Objects

The Future Holds...

Touché Disné Research

Leave a comment

Touché: Enhancing Touch Interaction on Humans, Screens, Liquids, and Everyday Objects

Never mind touchscreen phones, tablets and TVs. Now virtually any material, including liquid water, can instantly become an incredibly sensitive, multi-touch interface thanks to an ingenious new sensory system designed by a scientist fromDisney Research in Pittsburgh, PA, and collaborators at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Tokyo, Japan.

The system, called Touché, has already been demonstrated in a number of impressive practical prototypes created by the researchers — from a “smart doorknob” that can sense precisely how it is being gripped and lock or unlock itself accordingly, to a container full of water that can detect when a person’s hand is skimming the surface or completely submerged to even a person’s own body, which can be turned into an input for controlling the volume of a smartphone or other digital music player.

A “sensing couch” using Touché automatically detects when a user is sitting and turns on their TV, then adjusts the room’s lighting when the user reclines, finally turning the TV and lights off if the person falls asleep in front of their TV.

See the entire article at: Anything Can Be A Touch Screen Thanks To Disney Research’s ‘Touché’ | TPM Idea Lab

References:

Touché: Enhancing Touch Interaction on Humans, Screens, Liquids, and Everyday Objects

Disney Research: Touché: Enhancing Touch Interaction on Humans, Screens, Liquids and Everyday Objects

Disney Research Lab – Carnegie Mellon University

Disney Research: Touché: Enhancing Touch Interaction on Humans, Screens, Liquids and Everyday Objects

The Future Holds...

500Mbps Good Enough Tests

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hfr test logo image mattersMany eyes and many tests later, the specifications for quality digital cinema playback was decided upon by the community. Then, in the spirit of ‘good enough’, Stereoscopic 3D quality problems were ignored. And more recently, it appears that High Frame Rate (HFR) and in particular HFR S3D is moving like an unexamined juggarnaut into the future.

At the SMPTE event last month held in conjunction with NAB, Dr. Marty Banks tossed some landmines into the Knowledge Base. Then one of the people who did tests that made the 48 frame per second decision for the Hobbit gave their historical view. His bombshell was that 48 was chosen because it wasn’t known whether (enough…any?) hardware manufacturers  could come to the plate with working equipment by the time of the release in late 2012.

One part of the DCI and SMPTE and ISO Specification for D-Cinema is a 250Mbps interface between the projector and the media player. In the early days this meant the link from the server, but since Series II TI systems capable of running 4K material (and all systems from Sony), this means an internal media block.

[Update: Qube announced at CinemaCon that their IMB supplies a 1Gig stream to the projector. A quick scan of the interwebz and the memory of other visits at CinemaCon puts the rest of the manufacturers at 500Mbps.]

24 frames per second times 2…OK, let’s double the Mbps into the projector…500Mbps is the bar that seems to be accepted wisdom for ‘good enough’ 48 frames per second stereoscopic 3D material, such as The Hobbit. Anyone got a problem with that? Answer: Who could? No one really has varied sources of material or even firm software to test it with.

Enter the new company image-matters. They have assembled equipment that will be able to show material at speeds above and below 1Gbps. They will show this at 6 cities around the world for the next 6 months. People will look and talk.

Here is the link for the press announcement:

High Frame Rate & High Bit Rate Test Equipment and Test Series

April 14, 2012, NAB Show, Las Vegas, for immediate release.

Image Matters, intoPIX, MikroM and Virident collaborate beyond the state of the art. The target is a series of tests on June 7 and 8 2012 in Burbank CA, coordinated by Michael Karagosian of MKPE Consulting, and cinematographers Kommer Kleijn SBC and David Stump ASC, as co-chairs of the SMPTE 21DC Study Group for Higher Frame Rates.

These tests will be conducted in collaboration with studios and the creative community. They will measure the minimum JPEG 2000 codestream bit rate requested by high frame rate content to reach the visually lossless quality demanded by digital cinema applications.

The experimental equipment set will enable playback of JPEG 2000 codestream bit rate higher than 1 Gbps (i.e. more than 4 times the current DCI specification). The decoded 2K images will be transmitted to a single projector at a frame rate of up to 120 fps (i.e. 60 fpe for Stereoscopic 3D content).

In order to speed up the test process and to allow the easy production of multiple encoding flavours, the equipment set will also be capable of encoding high frame rate content from uncompressed files in near real-time.

The assembled equipment will consist of one server incorporating 4 Virident FlashMAX boards and one intoPIX JPEG 2000 PRISTINE-P4 board. The PRISTINE will playback the decoded codestream on four 3G SDI links to the MikroM IMB inserted into the projector. The MikroM’s IMB will receive the four 3G-SDI links and pass the uncompressed image data directly to the projector backplane. Image Matters will insure project coordination and integration.

The integration has enough headroom to allow, on request, multiple equipments to be combined to achieve higher bit rates and/or higher frame rates.

Storage

  • Four 1.4 TB Virident FlashMAX MLC cards: 
    • total capacity of 5.6TB
    • total read bandwidth of 5.2 GB/s
    • total write bandwidth of 2.2GB/s on XFS file system.
  • Each Virident card has: 
    • a half height and half length form factor
    • a PCIe x8 Gen1 bus • power consumption of 25 W
    • a sustainable random read of 1,3 GB/s

JPEG 2000 Encoding/decoding

  • One intoPIX PRISTINE P4 board
    • 2K & 4K JPEG2000 decoder FPGA IP-cores
    • high frame rates capacity: up to 120 Fps
    • high bitrate capacity: up to 1 Gbps
    • four 3G-SDI outputs
    • one Genlock input
    • One MikroM Integrated MediaBlock MVC 201
      • four 3G-SDI input
      • Formatting and pass through of uncompressed image data
      • Up to 120 2K fps

      Information

      Please contact Jean-François Nivart
      [email protected]
      +32 495 23 00 08

      About Image Matters

      Image Matters offers innovative hardware and software modules for professional image and sound handling. This new venture helps OEMs, integrators and end-users to develop advanced imaging systems and applications easily and quickly.

      More information on www.image.matters.pro

      About intoPIX

      intoPIX is a leading supplier of image compression technology to audiovisual equipment manufacturers. We are passionate about offering people a higher quality image experience and have developed FPGA IP cores that enable leading edge JPEG 2000 image compression, security and hardware enforcement. Achieving a major breakthrough in digital cinema, intoPIX has achieved a leading position in the professional image compression industry based on the JPEG 2000 standard. More information on our company, customers and products can be found on www.intopix.com

      Interested in HFR technology? Contact Gael Rouvroy, intoPIX C.T.O. – [email protected] – +32479774944

      About MikroM

      MikroM is a leading design house and provider of state-of-the-art audio/video technologies for selected professional markets. The portfolio covers silicon-proven IPs, ASICs, PCBs and Systems in combination with professional design services. With a variety of products and services MikroM focus on application-specific and reliable solutions for system integrators and OEMs in quality-driven markets as HD Broadcast, Digital Cinema and Advertisement/Presentation.

      About Virident

      Virident Systems’ professional Storage Class Memory (SCM) solutions deliver unconditional consistent performance that supports the most data-intensive content and applications. Virident Systems is backed by strategic investors, Intel®, Cisco® Systems and a leading storage hardware and software solutions provider as well as venture investors Globespan CapitalPartners, Sequoia Capital, and Artiman Ventures. For more information visit www.virident.com.

      References:

      High Frame Rates – The New Black, Getting to Speed

      HFR-S3D Post SMPTE/CinemaCon Hobbit

      Combine 3, Drop 2, 120 becomes 24