The push to create the ideal digital cinematography camera has now been going on for, arguably, two decades. There were a couple of standout attempts in the 1980s involving high definition tube cameras, but the introduction of Sony’s HDCAM tape format in 1998 served more or less as the starting point of recognizably modern digital cinema. Since then, a huge effort has been made to meet the standards of a century of conventional, photochemical moviemaking. Arguments about whether that’s been achieved, or ever will be achieved, seem likely to rage forever, but in 2019 there seems at least some interest in going way, way beyond (some parts of) what 35mm film could ever do. The question is why.
People have been making pictures for both the big and small screens for almost a century. In an industry with a history that long, it’s no surprise that the perpetual search for something new has long been tempered by a certain respect for tradition. Or, to put it another way, directors of photography are very often looking for ways to make pictures look different, and different in a way that’s somehow appropriate.
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Every three to five years, government delegations from around the globe gather at the Radiocommunication Assembly (RA) and World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) conducted by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) — the United Nations (U.N.) specialized agency for information and communication technologies. Their mission is to review emerging technologies, negotiate use of radio frequencies (RF) that enable wireless devices, harmonize frequency bands to specific applications, and codify binding international treaties.
This past summer the NBA did a little experimenting using 5G and mobile phones to cover their summer league. This is not User Generated Content (UGC) by any means. It also was not an off the shelf deployment of 5G and demonstration of its capability.
Few memories in broadcasting are more powerful than that rich, booming “Voice of God” sound heard on RCA ribbon microphones in early TV and radio studios. Those mics made most voices sound much better than they actually were — elevating the ego of many a disc jockey or announcer.
Cyber security impacts everyone and every industry. One unifying comment from cyber security experts is the bad guys are mostly winning. The good guys are fighting the good fight and we each need to do our part. One of the more challenging aspects of cyber security is cyber policy, governance, guidelines and training. I call this “good cyber hygiene”.
Each year, as the TVs in our homes grow larger and brighter, DOPs have to wonder how this will affect our craft and the integrity of our images. As it is, HDR is touted as a kind of industry panacea, addressing in an orderly way (more or less) the vastly improved color, highlight detail, and dynamic range, in the latest sets.
Lawo’s Christian Struck looks at the potential for production automation in immersive sports broadcasting, and how it can help move towards a personalized, object-based experience.
