philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

The Pirate Bay now offers a way to download 3D objects

[Philip Lelyveld opinion: this is why any discussion of SOPA, IP, piracy, and new business models must take physical objects and patents into account.  Physical objects will become just the physical manifestation of digital files, just as movies are the a/v manifestation of digital files, in the very near future.]

The Pirate Bay can now give you torrent files used by 3D printers, which “print” physical objects, which can be made from a variety of materials including ceramics, plastics, silver, steel and glass. While most “prints” are nothing more than simple toys or sculptures, a few designs have already begun exploring a new way to create jewelry, gears and even iPhone cases. And The Pirate Bay expects these designs only to grow in diversity and scope, helping society in ways that will be as disruptive as the first phone lines:

We believe that in the nearby future you will print your spare parts for your vehicles. You will download your sneakers within 20 years. The benefit to society is huge. No more shipping huge amount of products around the world. No more shipping the broken products back. No more child labor. We’ll be able to print food for hungry people. We’ll be able to share not only a recipe, but the full meal. We’ll be able to actually copy that floppy, if we needed one.”

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What is 4K? Next-generation resolution explained

Conclusion
Will the extra resolution offered by 4K make movies better? You could argue that it depends on the format of the original film. For example, "The Blair Witch Project" and "28 Days Later" were both shot with standard-definition camcorders, and there would arguably be little extra benefit to buying either movie in a 4K native format over a DVD--depending on the quality of the scaler in your brand-new 4K screen, of course.

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Even with reference-quality native 4K material, however, a 4K-resolution TV or projector won't provide nearly the visible improvement over a standard 1080p model that going from standard-def to high-def did. To appreciate it you'll have to have sit quite close to a large screen--sort of like being in the front few rows of a movie theater.

But whether it's 4K or 8K, you can bet that manufacturers haven't run out of cards when it comes to trying out the next "must-have" feature in the coming crops of televisions.

Technology Trends 2012 (SMPTE Pres/EVP interview)

4K

High Frame Rates

3D

And the stereoscopic phenomenon isn't about to go away, Ludé and Aylsworth agree. The big movement, they suggest, could be into what Ludé calls "efficient or low-cost 3D production"—widening the stereo net, in other words.

"I think 2012 will be the year that producers really learn how to make high-quality 3D at a budget that is at, or near, the same as regular HD production," Ludé says. "Existing cameras, workflows, and processing tools will all improve. This will require new production approaches and efficient technology, but as we've seen recently, the cameras, rigs and workflows are all becoming optimized for this kind of work. What they need to do now is have better quality control standards. Quality assurance for 3D is tricky—how do you quantify edge violations and vertical disparity to determine how good is 'good enough'? As we develop more efficient workflows for 3D TV production, we will get a lot smarter about how to assess quality, based on some (new) metrology."

Ludé suggests that, eventually, 3D camera rigs for budget-conscious shooting will become simpler. Some manufacturers like Meduza Systems are already placing two imaging sensors into a single camera body, although achieving the best width between lenses for optimal interaxial distance remains a challenge. Ludé also points to research being done on time-of-flight systems for stereoscopic capture, which measure the time it takes infrared light pulses to travel between a camera and its subject so that independent images can be depth mapped and put together later in post as 3D imagery.

"These are approaches to capturing depth by using a single camera for visual spectrum imager composition, color and texture, and other sensors to calculate and measure depth," he says. "Time of flight might be that other sensor. There are already fascinating Light Field still cameras (such as Lytroand Raytrix), and they build still images you can re-focus in post. Five years ago, it would have been crazy to suggest such a thing. The big question is whether they have practical applications for movies."

Processing Power

Storage

Streamlining Standards

And More ...

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