OT: Roger Deakins, going digital, Alexa

farss schrieb am 15.09.2012 um 17:22 Uhr

"No need for 4k ?"

I don't think even 4K is enough.
I've only watched a couple of Imax movies, even that system failed to impress me, the edge to edge resolution is inadequate. I need to see eveything in the frame to the limit of what my eyes can resolve and it failed to deliver.

Inception was shot on a mix of 35, Vistavision and 65mm. Projected in a local "Extreme Screen" cinema at 2K it also failed to impress and for the same reason. Some scenes at about the same viewing angle that I've watched 8mm at looked about the same, yuck.

In the last decade the only time I've been blown away was by footage from Baraka projected at NAB at 4K. That 4K image was from a 8K scan of the camera original. Everything on a cinema screen has to look that good today, why else part with your hard earned to go to a cinema. By comparison the sound systems in the latest cinemas are very good and you cannot get that quality and level of sound at home, they need to get the image quality up to the same level.

Some of the comments on the page really gave me a laugh, people talk about projected 35mm prints as having absurd amounts of resolution e.g. 6K. That's been proven ever so wrong by exhaustive tests by SMPTE. 35mm camera neg, sure 4K, by the time it gets to the screen from a 35mm print the real figure is around 700 lines i.e. 720p.

Not that great 720p is anything to laugh at, in an arthouse cinema it's perfect. Cinemas today though aren't the dimensions of a shoebox where most of the audience tries to sit at the back.

Bob.

paul_w schrieb am 15.09.2012 um 17:45 Uhr

What i found most interesting about the interview was his honest opinion about the Alexa footage looking so good after up scaling for projection in IMax. He really said it was that great. Now, this guy in my option, is probably top of the food chain as a cinematographer and should really know that what he says can effect the industry and his own reputation if its not correct. So i believe him!. It is of course his opinion, not a scientific fact. And i think this could be the point - yet again we move away from pixel peeping and move more towards 'the image' as a whole. If it looks fantastic, then it is?
I now want to see SKYFALL - on a big screen :) Blueray at very least.

Paul.

JJKizak schrieb am 15.09.2012 um 19:01 Uhr

Cannot get that level and quality of sound at home? Stand by for the darts and rocks.
JJK

farss schrieb am 15.09.2012 um 23:33 Uhr

The lowest frequency that can be accurately reproduced is a function of the size of the room.

Bob.

ChristoC schrieb am 15.09.2012 um 23:53 Uhr

> The lowest frequency that can be accurately reproduced is a function of the size of the room.
Correct. However the attenuation of high frequencies due to distance, which affects clarity, is a major disadvantage of large rooms.

deusx schrieb am 16.09.2012 um 12:25 Uhr

>>>> exhaustive tests by SMPTE. 35mm camera neg, sure 4K, by the time it gets to the screen from a 35mm print the real figure is around 700 lines i.e. 720p.
<<<<

I call bull$hit. It's a completely different format and as such cannot be accurately measured and compared to TV ( or other ) resolutions. If you cripple it and sell it on DVD yes, but shot on film and projected properly it has nothing to do with resolution of any kind. It just isn't even in the same neighborhood. It's not apples and oranges, it's like comparing carrots and black holes.

>>>Cinemas today though aren't the dimensions of a shoebox where most of the audience tries to sit at the back.<<<
Your average screen today is smaller then it was 35 years ago. Especially if you don't count imax. They cram 4 screens/rooms into a space that used to be a single screen 35 years ago.

Sometimes it feels like I'm watching: "Honey I shrunk the theater", no matter what movie is playing.

JJKizak schrieb am 16.09.2012 um 14:10 Uhr

I guess I really can't hear that 19 HZ test tone at 98 dbm SPL from my sub woofer. It must be an illusion on my test meter. But I really can't hear anything over 12 KHZ but my meter can see it at 21 KHZ. My room isn't big enough so I will pretend not to hear those low frequencies. (Size 12 feet X 24 feet)
JJK