Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

New IMAX Digital Camera "4K resolution"

Tom Lowe

Tom Lowe

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 5, 2007
Messages
8,520
Reaction score
1
Points
0
http://collider.com/david-keeley-imax-interview-the-dark-knight-rises-tron-legacy/66297/

Interesting. This exec at IMAX says they are working on a digital IMAX camera with "4K resolution." Does this mean 4K Bayer? Because if the camera is Bayer, it needs to be 5 or 6K to provide "4K resolution."

If 4K projection at IMAX venues is the plan, why are they bothering to develop this camera, when Jim is already planning to make a 6K 3:2 FF35 camera? That should be enough for IMAX screens.
 
Hummm.... IMAX’s prototype digital-capture camera with 4K resolution
That's interesting
 
Tom Lowe said:
Interesting. This exec at IMAX says they are working on a digital IMAX camera with "4K resolution." Does this mean 4K Bayer? Because if the camera is Bayer, it needs to be 5 or 6K to provide "4K resolution."
Click to expand...

While this may be true, I remember when the RED ONE first came out and was criticized for advertising 4K and using a Bayer Pattern sensor, so I think it would be best to reserve judgment until we have seen the imagery it can create. :-)

That being said, I think they are probably too far behind the EPIC program and won't make a significant impact even if their prototype ever ships.
 
Seems like underwhelming news -- when IMAX came out, the jump to 15-perf 65mm was huge, exciting -- they need a similar digital equivalent, something with 3X at least the resolution of what ordinary movies can achieve.

Good 4K camera footage projected in 4K would look great, probably 70mm-ish (the 5-perf 65mm Todd-Ao / Super Panavision format) but IMAX was 3X the size of a 5-perf 65mm negative, which was already 2X the size of 35mm, so even if most movies today are 2K, you'd think IMAX would aim for a 6K format minimum as a digital replacement for 15-perf 65mm, otherwise when more movies are made in 4K, how is IMAX going to be radically better??? They should be trying to build something like that 9K 645 Red camera on the drawing boards.
 
Casey Green said:
I think it would be best to reserve judgment until we have seen the imagery it can create. :-)
Click to expand...

A few of the shots in the Born to be Wild 3D trailer playing in front of Tron are from the IMAX digital camera.
 
Casey Green said:
While this may be true, I remember when the RED ONE first came out and was criticized for advertising 4K and using a Bayer Pattern sensor, so I think it would be best to reserve judgment until we have seen the imagery it can create. :-)
Click to expand...

Red advertised a 4K Bayer camera. I don't think Red ever claimed "4K resolution"? I could be wrong.

I am certainly reserving judgement on this new IMAX camera. But even if IMAX has a large-sensor, 6- or 8K Bayer camera in the works for a "4K resolution" finish, is it going to be better than the Red FF35 6K? 6K should provide a nice 4K finish, and the Epic DSMC modular system is light-weight and super advanced. I wonder if they can really compete?

It seems like if IMAX was developing an 8K Bayer camera, they would probably be mentioning "6K resolution" right now in that interview. I've heard rumors that Vision Research is the company building this digital IMAX camera. No idea if this is true or not. Certainly they are a great company, but Jim seems to be way out in front of the pack right now.

David, you might be right. Eventually, an 8K resolution for IMAX screens would be a lot better, but for now I think we may pass through a 4K projection intermediate stage. If 5,000 cineplex screens in the US are already slated to receive 4K projectors over the next couple years, how does IMAX set itself apart?

One question: Are there any 4K projectors being built now with 3:2 aspect ratio?
 
We always told people that the measured resolution from a 4k file would be about 75% of that, and later, when we were able to measure it, we upped that figure to around 78% to 80% depending. The earliest RED threads on DVXUser have me explaining this...

I wish IMAX lots of luck with their camera. I have an idea how hard it is to make a high resolution digital cinema camera!!

Graeme
 
Why don't they just buy some Epics? It would be a lot cheaper.
 
Haha, correct, Elsie N.
 
I saw THE GREEN HORNET last week on a 4K projector and it looked really great. Nice and clean. This was my first time watching a 4K and most of the digital theaters out my way are 2K only. Night time scenes of cities never look too good on those (KICK-ASS and THE EXPENDABLES both had a few shots that looked horrible in digital projection) but all the city shots in GREEN HORNET looked nice and clean at 4K.
 
A 8K camera would be more interesting, and much closer to IMAX. EPIC 645 seems like the perfect IMAX replacement.
 
Subhadip Sen said:
A 8K camera would be more interesting, and much closer to IMAX. EPIC 645 seems like the perfect IMAX replacement.
Click to expand...

David Mullen ASC said:
They should be trying to build something like that 9K 645 Red camera on the drawing boards.
Click to expand...

Exactly... If it is said that 35mm measured resolution is 6K, I'd expect a camera with at least 12K of actual resolution.

Suddenly IMAX is not that MAX anymore... :wink5:
 
Tom Lowe said:
I've heard rumors that Vision Research is the company building this digital IMAX camera. No idea if this is true or not.
Click to expand...

The Phantom 65 is apparently what they're currently showing.
 
Hopefully they mean fully resolved, full detailed 4k RGB. The only way a "4k" camera would work as an acceptable digital IMAX would be if it's 4k RGB downsampled from something like 8k. That combined with IMAX optics would look good I'd imagine.
 
It's no secret that IMAX has been developing a digital system for a while now. I'm not sure what to make of this though. I would take the resolution statement with a few grains of salt. I personally don't see an IMAX-sized sensor with a 4K resolution, even finished resolution, as a viable solution given that RED has previously announced a ~9K medium format EPIC 645, which would fall within about 87% or so of the size of a 15-perf 70mm IMAX frame size.

We'll see what they ultimately come up with and resolution isn't everything, but I personally don't see a digital system working well for IMAX production unless it has resolution to be comparable to an 8K+ scan or DI -- as was done for The Dark Knight and other recent productions. Of course RED's larger EPIC cameras are still in development, but there is some real IMAX competition coming up here.
 
Graeme Nattress said:
We always told people that the measured resolution from a 4k file would be about 75% of that, and later, when we were able to measure it, we upped that figure to around 78% to 80% depending. The earliest RED threads on DVXUser have me explaining this...

I wish IMAX lots of luck with their camera. I have an idea how hard it is to make a high resolution digital cinema camera!!

Graeme
Click to expand...

Yes, I can confirm this. And I agree with what Tom is saying 100%... I just felt it necessary to comment that the final image is what is important. RED went through this, with all sorts of comments from the peanut gallery... and I feel it is fair to treat other competition with the same regard.

And again, that being said, EPIC will most likely leave them all in the dust. ;-)
 
Tom Lowe said:
Red advertised a 4K Bayer camera. I don't think Red ever claimed "4K resolution"? I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

"No Uprezzing or Pixel-Shifting spoken here!"

Graeme was always clear if you were on DVXUser. RED's website and marketing on the other hand...

I still think it's pretty dubious to emphasize not using pixel-shifting or up rezzing and then use a bayer pattern which from my admittedly ignorant perspective seems to be the exact same principle.

As far as IMAX goes, well they lost their credibility when they started projecting in 2k. Luckily there is a real IMAX here and not just liemaxes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top