WHY 4K?
Quote:
What is 4K TV? 10 reasons why you should care
by John Archer 03 May 2013 | Go to comments
NTEK has proved they can stream 4K content
so this is VERY IMPORTANT STUFF HERE....
Reason #1: 4K is not just a fad
The story of 4k resolution starts – as do so many other great
stories – at the movies. And it starts much longer ago then you
might expect.
Way back in 2002, the big film studios got together to form the
Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI). Its focus was to get cinemas to
convert from their old analogue film systems with their costly
and easily damaged reels to digital ones that played more easily
distributed and endlessly pristine digital image files.
Part of the DCI’s work involved creating a set of standards that
cinemas should meet in converting to digital, dangling the carrot
of financial help (or the lack of it) to entice cinemas to join up.
Within these standards was the stipulation that the projectors
installed must deliver a 2K or 4k (4,096 x 2,160) resolution.
Sony, the only member of the DCI with feet in both the hardware and
filmmaking camps, immediately focussed on producing 4K projectors,
with the first 4K projector being installed in a cinema in 2006.
So effective has the DCI initiative been since then that, at the
time of writing, there are more than 20,000 4K projectors globally,
with 40% of all US commercial screens now using 4K digital
projectors.
This is an impressive growth rate for 4K by any measure, and it’s
actually increasing all the time. So as well as having a history
of more than 10 years, 4K as a format is very much here to stay
in the cinema world.
Reason #2: 4K film and TV is already common and it's growing
With the number of 4K-capable cinemas already high and growing
fast, more and more new films are either being converted into 4K
digital masters from 35mm celluloid, or filmed directly in the 4K
digital format using a new generation of 4K-capable digital
cameras, including the $120,000 Sony F65 pictured.
Sony's F65 4K camera costs $120k and it's easy to see why.
So, when people say there are no 4K sources, that couldn’t be
further from the truth. There are loads of them. What’s missing
is a mean means of distributing those 4K sources – something
we’ll come back to later.
It’s not just films that are getting the 4K-treatment, either. More
and more TV shows are now shot in 4K. This might seem strange given
the current, though soon to change, dearth of 4K-resolution TVs and
projectors, but as well as making it possible for 4K-produced TV
shows to deliver slightly better picture quality than 2K productions
even on 2K TVs, shooting in 4K now future proofs TV shows for the
next generation of TV technology. Shooting and post-producing in
4K lets TV show makers to ask for more money during syndication
negotiations.
At the time of writing 14 TV series (including America’s No. 1 quiz
show, Jeopardy!) shoot in 4K. This number is only going to grow,
not least because Sony Pictures now insists that any new TV series
shot on its Culver City lot uses the 4K format.
Reason #3: 4K can recreate the look of 35mm film digitally
Tucked away in Hangar 7 of Sony Pictures’ 44.5-acre Culver City plot
is Colorworks: an in-house post-production company set up five
years ago that specialises in creating 4K masters of new films
and 4K remasters of back-catalogue films.
During my meeting with the film-obsessed employees there, it became
abundantly clear that it’s only once you get up to the 4K pixel
level that you can scan 35mm film into digital form without losing
significant amounts of the texture, detail, graduation subtlety and
colour refinement contained in the ‘analogue’ celluloid image. Even
the natural grain of the film’s stock is retained in a 4K transfer.
This shows how 4K allows Colorworks – and other post-production
studios – to master digital files for digital cinemas from movies
shot on film without any loss in quality.
Just as importantly, 4K’s affinity with film means that films shot
digitally using 4K cameras can be lasered onto film reels for use
in older cinemas.
Reason #4: 4K is far closer to 'the cinema at home' than 2K
From point two, it follows that the only way to see at home a film
that looks pretty much exactly as the people who made it wanted it
to look when they made it for a cinema, is to own a 4K display able
to render 4K digital film files in their native resolution.
This cinematic authenticity aspect of 4K should instantly make the
format nigh-on irresistible to serious film fans.
Reason #5: 4K delivers detail 2K and Full HD cannot reach
It’s worth detailing what specifically it is about 4K that makes it
able to reproduce so well the cinema experience at home compared
with normal HD.
Obviously the main point is detail, as having 4096 (or 3840) x 2160
pixels to work with lets displays reproduce not just all the most
subtle details recorded to ‘analogue’ celluloid, but even the very
‘texture’ of the celluloid itself.
4K resolution is in a completely different league to 1080p
(Full HD) or 2K
Having so many pixels of detail also greatly boosts the potential
draw distance of pictures, giving them a much more profound sense
of depth than you get with 2K. So much so that many viewers feel
like 4K images are 3D, even when they’re not.
Being able to break images down into so many more pixels also helps
with colour reproduction, as colours have almost infinite subtlety
when it comes to blends and tonal shifts.
Reason #6: 4K is the perfect resolution for full immersion
Some 4K detractors obsess about the idea that if you sit too far
from a 4K TV then you won’t be able to appreciate its extra
resolution. It is indeed true that pretty much everyone we spoke
to on our Sony Pictures studio visit and during Sony’s 4K hardware
launch afterwards stated that the ideal 4K viewing distance is 1.5x
the height of your TV screen versus the 3x TV height figure usually
talked about for current 2K HD displays.
However, far from being a problem, 4K’s ideal viewing distance
seems like a good thing to me. Why? Because sitting at a distance
of 1.5 x your screen height means that the screen completely fills
your field of vision, making you far more immersed in what you’re
watching. In other words, it’s yet another way that 4K helps you
achieve at home the sort of experience you usually have to go and
seek out at the cinema.
Obviously, the viewing distance situation arguably makes 4K screens
smaller than 50 or maybe even 55-inch less than ideal for your
average living room. But that’s certainly not to say 4K doesn’t
have something to offer on a small screen if you’re sat close
enough to it – such as when gaming on a PC monitor, perhaps.
Reason #7: Native 4K delivery to the home is closer than you think
Actually, some native 4K content is already here. Most exciting,
Sony is shipping a hard disc drive system containing 10 full 4K
movie transfers and some 4K shorts with its upcoming new X series
of 4K TVs, though at the moment this feature looks set to be
exclusive to the US. Grr.
Most digital photos these days, meanwhile, are taken in a native
resolution of at least 4K. Your photo slide shows should look a
hell of a lot better on a 4K screen.
Sony’s also planning a new PS3 App that contains a huge range of 4K
photographs, covering everything from nature and wildlife through
to classic paintings – the latter even including close-ups of
sections of the artworks.
When it comes to broadcasts, a number of broadcasters are already
experimenting with 4K broadcast streams, and are increasingly
starting to shoot shows in 4K. I'm told 4K broadcasting will be
well and truly underway in 3-5 years, and I’m leaning much more
towards the three-year end of this scale.
Despite the large data rates demanded by 4K video, meanwhile,
online video platform Netflix has already announced that it
intends to have 4K streaming via the Internet within two years.
It’s entirely possible, too, that 4K downloads (which aren’t as
dependent on broadband speeds) could happen sooner than Netflix
streaming. Sony in particular is in a prime position to make 4K
sources appear sooner rather than later given its ownership of
both 4K content production and 4K mastering facilities, along
with various online movie and TV delivery services.
Blu-ray’s potential as a carrier of native 4K footage is hindered
by its 50GB storage limits (4K movies usually need at least 100GB,
and can go up as far as 200GB in their uncompressed form). However,
work is underway as we speak to develop and ratify a compression
system capable of squeezing a 4K film onto a Blu-ray, and there
could potentially be an announcement on this by the end of the year.
Reason #8: 4K can solve controversies and get closer to nature
So you know all those sporting controversies like ‘did the ball
cross the line’, ‘did the defending rugby player stop the opponent
from grounding the ball for a try’ and ‘did Suarez really bite
another footballer as viciously as we think he did?’
Well, 4K can solve them all. The way the ultra high-definition
format delivers four times as much resolution as a normal 2K
signal/screen lets referees and the media to zoom in much closer
to the action, without losing so much clarity that it’s impossible
to make a key call.
The ESPN channel already records much of its main footage in 4K
for exactly the reasons given above.
This ability to get high levels of clarity even if you just focus
on a portion of a 4K image also makes it a great format for
shooting nature documentaries, as it means you can film animals
from a greater distance while still delivering a high-resolution
image.
In fact, by the same logic if current HD broadcasters started
filming their shows in 4K, while still broadcasting HD, they would
be able to select relatively small portions of any overall 4K-shot
image for broadcast, creating a whole new level of creativity and
programming choice for content producers.
Reason #9: 4K does wonders for 3D and is essential for ‘glasses-free’
Most people agree that passive 3D on normal HD TVs offers the
simplest and most relaxing 3D performance. But serious AV fans
also know that passive 3D offers a reduced-resolution 3D
performance versus active 3D processing.
Watch passive 3D on a 4K TV, however, and the horizontal resolution
compromise of the passive format is completely removed, leaving you
with a stunningly detailed picture unaffected by the crosstalk,
loss of brightness and potential flickering issues associated with
the active 3D format.
Perhaps even more importantly, as the Toshiba 55ZL2 proved, 4K TV
panels are pretty much essential for manufacturers wanting to
deliver a convincing glasses-free 3D TV experience, on account of
the amount of pixels such TVs need in order to support multiple
viewing positions.
Reason #10: 4K isn’t as pricey as you think and will get cheaper
Yes, OK, 4K didn’t get off to the most auspicious of starts where
pricing was concerned, with both LG and Sony’s debut 84-inch 4K
TVs costing north of £20k.
But then Sony caught us all by surprise by announcing that its
new 55-inch and 65-inch 4K TVs would start at just under $5,000,
despite also having magnetic fluid speakers and a comprehensive
smart TV system.
This is a surprisingly aggressive starting price start for more
‘mainstream-sized’ 4K screens, and I’ve already had Philips
predicting hefty 4K price erosion ahead of the launch of its own
4K TVs at IFA at the end of August. One new set, the Seiki
SE50UY04, is on sale for a frankly ridiculous - and suspcious -
$1,500.
In other words, getting your hands on the 4K advantages we’ve just
explained really might not be that much of a pipe dream after all.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/4k-tv-...JuOEyjq.99
NTEK STREAMS 4K HERE!!! (PROOF)
NTEK
Quote:
What is 4K TV? 10 reasons why you should care
by John Archer 03 May 2013 | Go to comments
NTEK has proved they can stream 4K content
so this is VERY IMPORTANT STUFF HERE....
Reason #1: 4K is not just a fad
The story of 4k resolution starts – as do so many other great
stories – at the movies. And it starts much longer ago then you
might expect.
Way back in 2002, the big film studios got together to form the
Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI). Its focus was to get cinemas to
convert from their old analogue film systems with their costly
and easily damaged reels to digital ones that played more easily
distributed and endlessly pristine digital image files.
Part of the DCI’s work involved creating a set of standards that
cinemas should meet in converting to digital, dangling the carrot
of financial help (or the lack of it) to entice cinemas to join up.
Within these standards was the stipulation that the projectors
installed must deliver a 2K or 4k (4,096 x 2,160) resolution.
Sony, the only member of the DCI with feet in both the hardware and
filmmaking camps, immediately focussed on producing 4K projectors,
with the first 4K projector being installed in a cinema in 2006.
So effective has the DCI initiative been since then that, at the
time of writing, there are more than 20,000 4K projectors globally,
with 40% of all US commercial screens now using 4K digital
projectors.
This is an impressive growth rate for 4K by any measure, and it’s
actually increasing all the time. So as well as having a history
of more than 10 years, 4K as a format is very much here to stay
in the cinema world.
Reason #2: 4K film and TV is already common and it's growing
With the number of 4K-capable cinemas already high and growing
fast, more and more new films are either being converted into 4K
digital masters from 35mm celluloid, or filmed directly in the 4K
digital format using a new generation of 4K-capable digital
cameras, including the $120,000 Sony F65 pictured.
Sony's F65 4K camera costs $120k and it's easy to see why.
So, when people say there are no 4K sources, that couldn’t be
further from the truth. There are loads of them. What’s missing
is a mean means of distributing those 4K sources – something
we’ll come back to later.
It’s not just films that are getting the 4K-treatment, either. More
and more TV shows are now shot in 4K. This might seem strange given
the current, though soon to change, dearth of 4K-resolution TVs and
projectors, but as well as making it possible for 4K-produced TV
shows to deliver slightly better picture quality than 2K productions
even on 2K TVs, shooting in 4K now future proofs TV shows for the
next generation of TV technology. Shooting and post-producing in
4K lets TV show makers to ask for more money during syndication
negotiations.
At the time of writing 14 TV series (including America’s No. 1 quiz
show, Jeopardy!) shoot in 4K. This number is only going to grow,
not least because Sony Pictures now insists that any new TV series
shot on its Culver City lot uses the 4K format.
Reason #3: 4K can recreate the look of 35mm film digitally
Tucked away in Hangar 7 of Sony Pictures’ 44.5-acre Culver City plot
is Colorworks: an in-house post-production company set up five
years ago that specialises in creating 4K masters of new films
and 4K remasters of back-catalogue films.
During my meeting with the film-obsessed employees there, it became
abundantly clear that it’s only once you get up to the 4K pixel
level that you can scan 35mm film into digital form without losing
significant amounts of the texture, detail, graduation subtlety and
colour refinement contained in the ‘analogue’ celluloid image. Even
the natural grain of the film’s stock is retained in a 4K transfer.
This shows how 4K allows Colorworks – and other post-production
studios – to master digital files for digital cinemas from movies
shot on film without any loss in quality.
Just as importantly, 4K’s affinity with film means that films shot
digitally using 4K cameras can be lasered onto film reels for use
in older cinemas.
Reason #4: 4K is far closer to 'the cinema at home' than 2K
From point two, it follows that the only way to see at home a film
that looks pretty much exactly as the people who made it wanted it
to look when they made it for a cinema, is to own a 4K display able
to render 4K digital film files in their native resolution.
This cinematic authenticity aspect of 4K should instantly make the
format nigh-on irresistible to serious film fans.
Reason #5: 4K delivers detail 2K and Full HD cannot reach
It’s worth detailing what specifically it is about 4K that makes it
able to reproduce so well the cinema experience at home compared
with normal HD.
Obviously the main point is detail, as having 4096 (or 3840) x 2160
pixels to work with lets displays reproduce not just all the most
subtle details recorded to ‘analogue’ celluloid, but even the very
‘texture’ of the celluloid itself.
4K resolution is in a completely different league to 1080p
(Full HD) or 2K
Having so many pixels of detail also greatly boosts the potential
draw distance of pictures, giving them a much more profound sense
of depth than you get with 2K. So much so that many viewers feel
like 4K images are 3D, even when they’re not.
Being able to break images down into so many more pixels also helps
with colour reproduction, as colours have almost infinite subtlety
when it comes to blends and tonal shifts.
Reason #6: 4K is the perfect resolution for full immersion
Some 4K detractors obsess about the idea that if you sit too far
from a 4K TV then you won’t be able to appreciate its extra
resolution. It is indeed true that pretty much everyone we spoke
to on our Sony Pictures studio visit and during Sony’s 4K hardware
launch afterwards stated that the ideal 4K viewing distance is 1.5x
the height of your TV screen versus the 3x TV height figure usually
talked about for current 2K HD displays.
However, far from being a problem, 4K’s ideal viewing distance
seems like a good thing to me. Why? Because sitting at a distance
of 1.5 x your screen height means that the screen completely fills
your field of vision, making you far more immersed in what you’re
watching. In other words, it’s yet another way that 4K helps you
achieve at home the sort of experience you usually have to go and
seek out at the cinema.
Obviously, the viewing distance situation arguably makes 4K screens
smaller than 50 or maybe even 55-inch less than ideal for your
average living room. But that’s certainly not to say 4K doesn’t
have something to offer on a small screen if you’re sat close
enough to it – such as when gaming on a PC monitor, perhaps.
Reason #7: Native 4K delivery to the home is closer than you think
Actually, some native 4K content is already here. Most exciting,
Sony is shipping a hard disc drive system containing 10 full 4K
movie transfers and some 4K shorts with its upcoming new X series
of 4K TVs, though at the moment this feature looks set to be
exclusive to the US. Grr.
Most digital photos these days, meanwhile, are taken in a native
resolution of at least 4K. Your photo slide shows should look a
hell of a lot better on a 4K screen.
Sony’s also planning a new PS3 App that contains a huge range of 4K
photographs, covering everything from nature and wildlife through
to classic paintings – the latter even including close-ups of
sections of the artworks.
When it comes to broadcasts, a number of broadcasters are already
experimenting with 4K broadcast streams, and are increasingly
starting to shoot shows in 4K. I'm told 4K broadcasting will be
well and truly underway in 3-5 years, and I’m leaning much more
towards the three-year end of this scale.
Despite the large data rates demanded by 4K video, meanwhile,
online video platform Netflix has already announced that it
intends to have 4K streaming via the Internet within two years.
It’s entirely possible, too, that 4K downloads (which aren’t as
dependent on broadband speeds) could happen sooner than Netflix
streaming. Sony in particular is in a prime position to make 4K
sources appear sooner rather than later given its ownership of
both 4K content production and 4K mastering facilities, along
with various online movie and TV delivery services.
Blu-ray’s potential as a carrier of native 4K footage is hindered
by its 50GB storage limits (4K movies usually need at least 100GB,
and can go up as far as 200GB in their uncompressed form). However,
work is underway as we speak to develop and ratify a compression
system capable of squeezing a 4K film onto a Blu-ray, and there
could potentially be an announcement on this by the end of the year.
Reason #8: 4K can solve controversies and get closer to nature
So you know all those sporting controversies like ‘did the ball
cross the line’, ‘did the defending rugby player stop the opponent
from grounding the ball for a try’ and ‘did Suarez really bite
another footballer as viciously as we think he did?’
Well, 4K can solve them all. The way the ultra high-definition
format delivers four times as much resolution as a normal 2K
signal/screen lets referees and the media to zoom in much closer
to the action, without losing so much clarity that it’s impossible
to make a key call.
The ESPN channel already records much of its main footage in 4K
for exactly the reasons given above.
This ability to get high levels of clarity even if you just focus
on a portion of a 4K image also makes it a great format for
shooting nature documentaries, as it means you can film animals
from a greater distance while still delivering a high-resolution
image.
In fact, by the same logic if current HD broadcasters started
filming their shows in 4K, while still broadcasting HD, they would
be able to select relatively small portions of any overall 4K-shot
image for broadcast, creating a whole new level of creativity and
programming choice for content producers.
Reason #9: 4K does wonders for 3D and is essential for ‘glasses-free’
Most people agree that passive 3D on normal HD TVs offers the
simplest and most relaxing 3D performance. But serious AV fans
also know that passive 3D offers a reduced-resolution 3D
performance versus active 3D processing.
Watch passive 3D on a 4K TV, however, and the horizontal resolution
compromise of the passive format is completely removed, leaving you
with a stunningly detailed picture unaffected by the crosstalk,
loss of brightness and potential flickering issues associated with
the active 3D format.
Perhaps even more importantly, as the Toshiba 55ZL2 proved, 4K TV
panels are pretty much essential for manufacturers wanting to
deliver a convincing glasses-free 3D TV experience, on account of
the amount of pixels such TVs need in order to support multiple
viewing positions.
Reason #10: 4K isn’t as pricey as you think and will get cheaper
Yes, OK, 4K didn’t get off to the most auspicious of starts where
pricing was concerned, with both LG and Sony’s debut 84-inch 4K
TVs costing north of £20k.
But then Sony caught us all by surprise by announcing that its
new 55-inch and 65-inch 4K TVs would start at just under $5,000,
despite also having magnetic fluid speakers and a comprehensive
smart TV system.
This is a surprisingly aggressive starting price start for more
‘mainstream-sized’ 4K screens, and I’ve already had Philips
predicting hefty 4K price erosion ahead of the launch of its own
4K TVs at IFA at the end of August. One new set, the Seiki
SE50UY04, is on sale for a frankly ridiculous - and suspcious -
$1,500.
In other words, getting your hands on the 4K advantages we’ve just
explained really might not be that much of a pipe dream after all.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/4k-tv-...JuOEyjq.99
NTEK STREAMS 4K HERE!!! (PROOF)
NTEK
