University of California demos super high def video

The University of California San Diego is displaying technologies which can display video in 4K - over four times the resolution of high-definition TV.

The demonstration is part of SIGGRAPH, a computer graphics and interactive technologies conference which runs from August 4 to August 9. The event attracts leading experts and artists in computer graphics and new media arts.

As part of the event, the university is displaying a short movie by director Peter Jackson, shot with a prototype RED Digital Cinema 4K camera.

The movie will be streamed from Zaxel servers to a prototype JVC S4K projector, and to a Sony SXRD 4K projector.

4K technology provides approximately 4,000 horizontal and over 2,000 vertical pixels. This is four times the total number of pixels in the widely used 1080i HDTV format, and 24 times that of a standard broadcast TV signal.

Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC, a consortium of the major Hollywood studios, is proposing that 4K and the lower-resolution 2K format, will be used for future digital-cinema theatrical distribution.

The formats are currently being standardised by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE).

The full programme of events for the SIGGRAPH conference at is available at the conference website at http://siggraph.calit2.net