Real newbie question

[Karthik Vijayaraju]

Hi,

Okay, so I browsed through a couple of posts and you guys are really technical. So please bear with this stupid question:

Lets say I have a 2 MP still picture, and I can blow it up to fill my 19 inch computer monitor before it starts pixellating.
If I copied this image on to an actual film and project it on a 30 feet by 40 feet movie screen it would be awfully blurred.

I checked the resolution of RED One and it offers about 2000 x 1000 (approximately). I have also seen experts talking about how 2K resolution is good and that, that is scan resolution used when film is mastered into digital format for special effects.

What am I missing??

Thanks

 

[Brandon Fraley]

unless im doing my math way wrong, then 2MP is about 1080p, so you should be able to project it nicely. No need to worry.

 

[Ryan S]

This was hard for me to wrap my head around when I was first learning about resolution. Let's see if I can explain...

First, the Red One's sensor is actually 4520x2540, of which 4096x2048 is used (for 4K 2:1, slightly more in 4K 16:9). There's also 4.5K, but I won't get into that just now.

Your image will start to pixelate (appear blocky) if you try to make it fill more pixels than it was recorded with. Your 19 inch monitor likely has a maximum resolution of 1920x1200, but let's assume 1920x1080 (1080P) to keep it simple. A 2K image has more pixels than 1920x1080, so it won't pixelate. A DV image of 720x480 has far fewer pixels than 1920x1080, so each pixel in the DV image must be magnified by 2.75, making them appear much larger, and causing the blocky effect to be much more apparent.

When projecting on a theatre screen, the projector is likely a 1080P or 2K projector, so it is not digitally magnifying the image as it would with a DV (720x480) image. The reason it looks so nice on a 30-foot screen has to do with the physics of light projection, which I'm afraid I don't fully understand- I just know it looks lovely.

I hope that helps a bit.

 

[Conrad Hunziker]

You also need to factor in the viewing distance into the equation. If you sat one foot away from a 30' screen projecting a 2k image you would see some pixelation. But since you are most likely going to sit 2.5x the height of the screen away, you wont see it.

 

[Karthik Vijayaraju]

Cool. A couple of keywords from your replies: physics of light projection and viewing distance, are good starting points. I will research more on that.

Thanks for your responses.

 

[David Rasberry]

Cool. A couple of keywords from your replies: physics of light projection and viewing distance, are good starting points. I will research more on that.

Thanks for your responses.

Go see a current feature film projected in a digital theater. You will typically be seeing a projected 2k digital cinema format image. 2048 x 1080p for standard widescreen 1:1.89. Kodak developed this format to be the visual equivalent of a projected 35mm film print.

 

[Daniel Meador]

So it sounds like a movie shot with HD 1080p should project nicely in a digital theater since it is close to 2K. Right?

 

[David Mullen ASC]

There have been so many 1080P-shot movies released in theaters already to answer that question... A few examples:

Sony F900: "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones", "Once Upon a Time in Mexico"

Sony F950: "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith"

Sony F23: "Speed Racer", "Public Enemies"

Thomson Viper: "Collateral", "Miami Vice", "Zodiac", "Benjamin Button"

Panavision Genesis: Click, Get Smart, Forbidden Kingdom, Apocalypto, Superman Returns, 21, The Other Boleyn Girl, Bedtime Stories (in fact, almost all Adam Sandler comedies starting with Click), Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, many more...

Of course, don't assume that all 1080P cameras deliver the same amount of detail, resolution, whatever -- recording formats, post, lenses, etc. can all affect the image quality.