Standards

SMPTE Receives Epic Games Grant to Jumpstart Establishing VR Standards

Thu, 11/18/2021 - 12:10 -- Nick Dager

SMPTE, the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, today announced that — through its newest program, Rapid Industry Solutions On-Set Virtual Production Initiative — has received a prestigious Epic MegaGrant from Epic Games. Drawing on the expertise and contributions of diverse technology and thought leaders, the RIS OSVP is working quickly to assess challenges; establish goals; and make interoperability specifications, workflows, and best practices open and free to the industry along with supporting educational courses and webcasts

SMPTE, MESA Collaborate on Language Metadata Table

Tue, 02/09/2021 - 11:24 -- Nick Dager

In collaboration with the Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers is bringing the media industry's first human- and machine-readable Language Metadata Table into its public review process, an early step toward SMPTE standardization. Published as a SMPTE Public Committee Draft, the vetted and approved list of language codes will be readily available for public comment, implementation, and validation.

UNIC Announces Support for NATO’s Technology Evaluation Program

Mon, 10/07/2019 - 11:32 -- Nick Dager

The International Union of Cinemas (UNIC), the trade body representing cinema operators and their national associations across 38 European territories, has voiced its support for the National Association of Theatre Owners resolution laying out aspects of its digital cinema technology evaluation program. The technology evaluation program was approved last month by NATO’s executive board at the organization’s annual meeting.

Final Speakers Set for Digital Cinema Summit

Thu, 01/17/2019 - 09:39 -- Nick Dager

The final roster of speakers has been set for the first Digital Cinema Summit. These top digital cinema technology authorities from around the world will address a range of issues facing professionals in all phases of the motion picture industry. The half-day event takes place February 6 at the Okura Hotel in Amsterdam the Netherlands. Nick Dager, Editor & Publisher of Digital Cinema Report created the Summit in conjunction with Integrated Systems Europe. The theme is Transforming the Moviegoing Experience; its purpose is to give digital cinema technology center stage.

Making Sense of the SMPTE DCP Standard

Tue, 10/23/2018 - 11:48 -- Nick Dager

Despite the fact that the industry adopted an internationally ratified SMPTE DCP standard nearly a decade ago, there remains widespread confusion and disagreement about what constitutes a universally accepted digital cinema package. If that sentence makes no sense to you, you’re not alone. For months the European Digital Cinema Forum with sponsorship from the International Union of Cinemas has been developing a web portal to address this problem. Their mission statement is, “To act as an informational resource for the industry on the SMPTE DCP and its operational use, and to provide a point of reference of on-boarding for those individuals/organizations willing to aid in the transitional process on a territory by territory basis.”

It’s Not Just Black and White

Mon, 07/09/2018 - 11:39 -- Nick Dager

[Editor’s Note: In a new white paper, Barco senior product manager Tom Bert makes a strong case for the importance of contrast ratio in cinema.] In any visualization system, the contrast ratio is one of the key parameters that define image quality. A metric for comparing the brightest whites to the darkest blacks in the image, you could say that a good contrast ratio truly adds depth to the image. A low contrast ratio makes an image look washed out. Details as well as the artistic intent get lost. This is true for direct view displays as well as for projectors.

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Defining Digital Cinema Technology

Thu, 02/01/2018 - 14:33 -- Nick Dager

Digital cinema technology is defined by a collection of documents developed by many different organizations. No one organization defines it all, and in one case, the organization no longer exists. To address that situation, industry veteran Michael Karagosian has launched the website Cinepedia. His goal is to provide a single source of information about cinema technology. Among his many accomplishments Karagosian represented the technology interests of the National Association of Theatre Owners for eleven years during the digital cinema transition and is co-chair of the ASC Technology Subcommittee on Next Generation Cinema Display. I recently spoke with him about Cinepedia.

Deluxe Authoring Services Now Dolby Vision Approved

Tue, 10/17/2017 - 14:55 -- Nick Dager

The Deluxe Entertainment Services Group announced today that its compression and authoring services are now Dolby Vision approved, which will rapidly facilitate the release of more high-quality 4K UHD Blu-ray content into the market. Paramount Pictures’ Transformers: The Last Knight will be one of the first Dolby Vision 4K UHD Blu-ray titles delivered.

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