DLP making the jump to 4k

1
THR wrote:DLP making the jump to 4K
Follows on heels Sony d-cinema deal with Regal, AMC

DLP Cinema is going 4K.

Facing a competitive challenge from Sony Electronics' sale of thousands of 4K-resolution digital systems to Regal Cinemas and AMC Entertainment, execs at the d-cinema vendor is set to announce today that DLP will offer chips and related electronics for use in 4K projectors to be manufactured by partner hardware companies Barco, Christie and NEC. The news follows by just a few months DLP's announcement of a next-generation 2K platform.

DLP will make its next-gen projector platform available by year's end, with its three partners expected to deploy d-cinema systems incorporating its 2K upgrades beginning next year. It's unclear when systems using DLP's 4K chips will be ready.

There has been a debate for years over whether the optimum resolution for d-movie projection is 2K or the more ambitious 4K.

The greater resolution capabilities of 4K systems are mostly theoretical until filmmakers begin using digital cameras capable of 4K image-capture. That's because filmed images can be digitally transferred only into 2K images, and even most digital cameras capture only 2K images.

Meanwhile, nobody can say when -- or even if -- filmmakers might start making broader use of 4K cameras. But this year's pacts between Sony Electronics and the nation's two biggest theater circuits offer indisputable evidence of a shift in momentum toward Sony and its once-flagging 4K campaign.

Sony's 4K systems will be integrated into hundreds of Regal and AMC theaters in waves of deployments planned into 2012. Most new d-cinema implementation -- and related 3-D hardware installations -- has been held up by the protracted credit crunch, which stalled efforts to finance the costly rollouts.

DLP's next-gen projector platform was announced in March at ShoWest. But its sudden move to include 4K in its product plans is an acknowledgment of a continued emphasis in the marketplace on raising image quality.

"DLP Cinema remains dedicated to its customers," said Kent Novak, senior vp and GM of DLP Products. "Through shipping millions of units, we are able to provide a significantly lower cost structure in comparison with our competitors."

DLP products manager Nancy Fares declined to say when projectors using DLP's 4K electronics might hit the market. But No. 3 U.S. exhibitor Cinemark has committed to using such hardware when available.
when it comes to hi-def, you ever get the feeling that most execs making the decisions are right out of Idiocracy?

Pvt. Joe Bowers: What *are* these K's? Do you even know?
Secretary of State: They're... what they use to make Hi-Def!
Pvt. Joe Bowers: But *why* do they use them to make Hi-Def?
Secretary of Defense: [raises hand after a pause] Because Hi-Def's got K's.

more K's is better, right? ;)

Re: DLP making the jump to 4k

2
TC wrote:The greater resolution capabilities of 4K systems are mostly theoretical until filmmakers begin using digital cameras capable of 4K image-capture. That's because filmed images can be digitally transferred only into 2K images, and even most digital cameras capture only 2K images.
Um, no and no. First, while there are no digial cameras higher than 2k (at this moment - they are in development), there is still this thing called, what was it again, oh yeah...film! Which has a resolution much higher than 2k. And many digital intermediates today are being done at a 4k resolution (though effects are often still done at 2k). So if you have a movie shot on film with a 4k DI, then a 4k system will show the higher resolution. To say 4k is pointless because there are no 4k digital cameras forgets about film cameras, and to say that images can only be transferred to 2k is outright false. Whomever wrote that article is an idiot. Not to mention they forget the many other non-cinema applications where a 4k projector could be used, such as fulldome video (of which I just finished working on a project that used 14 2k Christie projectors).
Just cut them up like regular chickens