Jason Murphy
05-05-2007, 01:53 PM
So after reading some of the threads here on 4K projection, I found myself with a few questions, and I was hoping that someone who knows more about what's going on in terms of 4K projectors could answer them:
1. Besides the recent lineup of Sony SXRD projectors, and (obviously) the as yet unknown RED 4K projectors, what else in the way of 4K projection is either out there right now, or is on the horizon? Obviously, there hasn't been a serious migration over to 4K yet, and we're at LEAST a year and then some away from a RED feature, I assume, so I'm assuming the market is pretty limited currently. Christie, as far as I know, is producing only 2K DLP projectors.
2. What display technology (as far as is publicly known) is being used in the current or next-generation of 4K projectors? Obviously, Sony's is SXRD/LCoS, and I assume that DLP will still be very much a viable technology for 4K projection. Any others that have been announced or discussed as possibilities?
3. Have any full features been projected in 4K as (obviously a very small) part of a commercial release? What were the reactions from those who saw it?
4. Is there a general refresh rate that these projectors operate at? The one 4K projection test I saw (on an SRX-R110) was refreshing at 96 Htz, though I was led to believe that this could be varied. Does anyone know more about this? Could this be used (or would it even be desirable) to introduce film-like "flicker"? (This is certainly subjective; I'd like to hear people's thoughts on it).
5. What 4K projectors are RED using for their own internal testing and projection? What were the projectors used to display the PJ short at NAB?
As mentioned above, I've only had one experience with viewing 4K projection, on a SRX-R110. It was under less than ideal conditions (screen was relatively small, there were a few glitches with the projector itself; it was projecting 4x2K images in quadrants, and they were misaligned, which certainly was distracting; the tech who was overseeing the screening couldn't fix the problem, of course). A bunch of different acquisition formats were projected at 2K and 4K, including 4K, 65mm, 35mm, 1080p, etc.
Anyway, my thought was that although the image was certainly very smooth and stable, and the color was quite nice, the blacks in the image weren't very deep or rich (which I have heard is a problem with Sony's current 4K SXRD lineup, don't know what other projectors are like), leading to a somewhat washed-out or less-heavy look (can't quite put it in words at this moment, but I hope people here will understand what I mean). All this led me to believe that 4K projection isn't QUITE there yet in terms of image quality. Of course, I can't (and shouldn't) really judge anything from this one screening, so I was wondering what people who interact with 4K projection on a much more regular basis have to say about their impressions of it (particularly vs. high quality film projection in terms of color/black levels - it's definitely sharper and more stable than 35mm projection).
1. Besides the recent lineup of Sony SXRD projectors, and (obviously) the as yet unknown RED 4K projectors, what else in the way of 4K projection is either out there right now, or is on the horizon? Obviously, there hasn't been a serious migration over to 4K yet, and we're at LEAST a year and then some away from a RED feature, I assume, so I'm assuming the market is pretty limited currently. Christie, as far as I know, is producing only 2K DLP projectors.
2. What display technology (as far as is publicly known) is being used in the current or next-generation of 4K projectors? Obviously, Sony's is SXRD/LCoS, and I assume that DLP will still be very much a viable technology for 4K projection. Any others that have been announced or discussed as possibilities?
3. Have any full features been projected in 4K as (obviously a very small) part of a commercial release? What were the reactions from those who saw it?
4. Is there a general refresh rate that these projectors operate at? The one 4K projection test I saw (on an SRX-R110) was refreshing at 96 Htz, though I was led to believe that this could be varied. Does anyone know more about this? Could this be used (or would it even be desirable) to introduce film-like "flicker"? (This is certainly subjective; I'd like to hear people's thoughts on it).
5. What 4K projectors are RED using for their own internal testing and projection? What were the projectors used to display the PJ short at NAB?
As mentioned above, I've only had one experience with viewing 4K projection, on a SRX-R110. It was under less than ideal conditions (screen was relatively small, there were a few glitches with the projector itself; it was projecting 4x2K images in quadrants, and they were misaligned, which certainly was distracting; the tech who was overseeing the screening couldn't fix the problem, of course). A bunch of different acquisition formats were projected at 2K and 4K, including 4K, 65mm, 35mm, 1080p, etc.
Anyway, my thought was that although the image was certainly very smooth and stable, and the color was quite nice, the blacks in the image weren't very deep or rich (which I have heard is a problem with Sony's current 4K SXRD lineup, don't know what other projectors are like), leading to a somewhat washed-out or less-heavy look (can't quite put it in words at this moment, but I hope people here will understand what I mean). All this led me to believe that 4K projection isn't QUITE there yet in terms of image quality. Of course, I can't (and shouldn't) really judge anything from this one screening, so I was wondering what people who interact with 4K projection on a much more regular basis have to say about their impressions of it (particularly vs. high quality film projection in terms of color/black levels - it's definitely sharper and more stable than 35mm projection).