Da Vinci And Sony Support 24 Progressive HD Format For Film Transfers
Sony and da Vinci last week at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention in Las Vegas jointly exhibited a fully operational 24 frame HD telecine system with advanced color correction. The system constituted the heart of the new 24 frame progressive HD post production system being introduced by Sony. (See Web News April 26, 1999.) Film images scanned from the Sony FVS-1000 ""Vialta"" telecine were processed real-time with da Vinciís 2K color enhancement system. According to Robert Coleman, Vice President of Production and Post Production for Sony Electronicsí Broadcast and Professional Company, the combination of the HD ""Vialta"" telecine and da Vinci color corrector will marry the superb picture quality of the transferred progressive scan HD original with the greatly expanded prowess of the 2K color enhancement system. This augmented picture quality is central to the creation of the singular 24P digital master, from which all of the HDTV and SDTV distribution formats will subsequently be derived using sophisticated digital filtering and interpolation. ""Sony set out to produce the highest performance HD telecine in the industry,"" said Coleman. ""We paid particular attention to achieving the highest image stability and signal to noise ratio because of the huge importance of each in a new era that will see significant MPEG compression for distribution and DTV transmission."" The FVS-1000 ""Vialta"" telecine combines a superb intermittent motion film transport system with a Sony-patented new optical image stabilization system to achieve image stability on the order of plus or minus one pixel. ""Maintaining a 1920x1080P/24 image throughout the transfer, color enhancement and post production processes solves the multi-format debate by delivering a single digital master from which all HDTV and SDTV distribution formats can subsequently be derived,"" Coleman added. The three two-million pixel RGB sensors used in the FVS-1000 ""Vialta"" telecine create a high-resolution HD video original, which is maintained in the progressive scan mode throughout the post production process. A highly innovative primary color correction system, employing real-time frame-by-frame RGB light control, is integral to the telecine system design by ensuring a high signal to noise ratio, which in turn supports a wide range of secondary color correction. The FVS-1000 ""Vialta"" telecine features a powerful, newly designed, real-time, frame-based, RGB independent digital video processing. In order to faithfully capture the wide density range of film stock, the signal processing starts with a maximum of 12 bit Log bit depth. The 74MHz sampling rate per RGB channel enables real-time processing of frame-based high-resolution images. ""Although the 2K accommodates all current image standards, the 24P single master concept promises to be the most comprehensive solution for post production,"" said Michael Arbuthnot, President of da Vinci, ""we are excited to join forces with Sony and promote this simple, cost-effective solution."" Carrying on the tradition of their renowned Renaissance 8:8:8 digital color enhancement system, the new 2K system is based upon a 4K x 4K ""engine,"" endowed with new and extended capabilities for real time and non-real time high resolution video processing. High definition secondary color correction has been made far more flexible with a greater range of frame by frame adjustments on hue, saturation, and luminance of individually selectable colors, coupled with more sophisticated techniques for color isolation, chroma filtering, and custom gamma enhancements. The ""Vialta"" telecine and da Vinci color correction system are linked by the SMPTE 292M (standards) serial digital interface. This transports, in real-time, the HD 1080P/24 frame progressive video format as a 22:11:11 Y/Pb/Pr video format according to the SMPTE 274M production standard, and as originated in the telecine (for normal 60i telecine transfers the da Vinci can be linked via a 1080/60i HD SDI interface). In the future, the further capability of transporting a 22:22:22 RGB 24 frame progressive digital video format (via a dual-link HD SDI interface) for 24P color correction will be added.