Revolutionary Digital Cinema at NAB: Star Wars Episode III

[Michael Anderson]

OK, dumb question of the day.

As I do the math, this (beautiful) projector is using 35 megabyte files (10 bit DPX) for each frame. This works out to be about 4.5TB for a 90 minute feature, fully uncompressed.

4.5TB is about 12 400GByte disk drives. 500GB is shipping to OEMs now, and 1TB drives are right around the corner.

Given the endless debates about the artifacts introduced by compression, my dumb question is: Why should anybody bother to compress this kind of material? That would end the debate, and 6 to 12 disk drives have two compelling attributes – they cost less than film, and they can be reused. Quite a few times. Maybe for years.

Comments? I must be missing something…

Michael H. Anderson
Chief Engineer
Huge Systems

[Scott Evans]

Michael,
I think your idea and rhetorical question is right on. When some of the leading broadcast technology companies talk of an IT mentality starting to take hold, they mean it. But the problem is that better than half of the industry (be it film, video or broadcast) is still in a video or imaging mindset. So it is not a question of the math, it is a question of the mindset.

What we saw screened that night has never been seen by the public before. It’s never been possible. But now it is.

Scott Evans
nab_report@yahoo.com
Reporting on HD Camera Technology from NAB-2005

[Michael Anderson]

Hey Scott,

It’s all really really interesting stuff. I remember reading about people who believed television would displace movies, because people could stay home and watch them. But the “movie experience” still only happens in a theatre.

I didn’t see the presentation, but I’ve heard from a few people that it was nothing short of amazing. The next level of entertainment might well be digital media direct to theatres, however it gets there.

I guess we’ll all find out together.

Best Regards

Michael H. Anderson
Chief Engineer
Huge Systems