4K Opinions & Interviews

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At four times the resolution of HD, 4K (or Ultra HD) increases the level of detail and realism and provides an enhanced visual experience with crisper text and graphical overlays. Getting up close and personal with an immersive video experience also helps to increase audience engagement times, which allows providers to deliver more ads with which users will interact during their viewing.

When I'm looking to make my content piece more interactive, by adding a list or poll, etc., I like to use a tool called Boombox. Boombox is a self-described "creative suite for publishers" and I think that's a pretty appropriate description. Visit, https://www.boombox.com/ to learn more.

​ 4K/UHD TVs offer the best picture available whether you are watching a 4K source or regular HD.

The first thing you have to understand with this HD/2K/4K/6K/8K race is that it is analogous to the "Mega-Pixel War" in still digital-photography. In the 2000's every camera release was heralded by another jump in mega pixels.. First it was 10, 15, then 25 megapixels... so on and so forth. This is in large part a marketing tactic by the camera industry, because resolution is a very easy thing for consumers to understand technically speaking. It is also a relatively easy engineering issue for camera makers to focus on, much easier than things like bit-rates and chrominance sub-sampling. But eventually consumers had enough with the nonsense (I think it was around the same time Nokia came out with a 41mp cell phone) and now still cameras are going through a transitional phase with things like mirror-less shutters and photo/video hybrids. So in short there is a lot of hype around the issue, manufactured by the industry and driven by the consumer.

VideoBlocks started providing our customers with access to 4K content over four years ago, and we are finally starting to see the rest of the competition catch up to provide some great content. Everything we shoot for VideoBlocks is done in 4K. But the reality is that there is still not a huge demand for 4K content, because virtually all current productions are being released in HD. We are starting to see an uptick in 4K downloads, but it is still a small part of our download volume compared to HD.

Since 2009, we have been commissioned by the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles to produce documentaries to complement its ongoing photographic exhibitions. The Photography Space uses 4K HFR (high frame rate) projection technology for playback on two 7' x14' screens; therefore, 4K production has always been a necessity. Because the films focus on photography, image quality is critical to the storytelling, and our live action scenes need to be as sharp and compelling as the still photos, whose native resolution far exceed 4K.

The 4K TV sets are the only screens available today for consumers to watch 4K.
These 4K TVs are still scarce but prices of these TVs are continuously dropping and adoption is growing.

4K is currently widely used for video/media production. Over the next year or two we should begin to see 4K video content more publicly available through television broadcasts and home video i.e Blu-ray discs. With most video production being done in 4K, it’s the distribution and delivery that will need to be upgraded. On the consumer side, people have not yet upgraded to 4K televisions as many have recently purchased 1080p televisions or not willing to invest in 4K yet. However, 4K TV prices are dropping rapidly and adoption should start to kick in over the next year. 4K is coming and it’s coming fast!

The production pipeline will greatly benefit from broader 4K codec support across non-linear editing software. Another big help will come from higher capacity, faster storage media capable of handling the enormous data volumes coming off of today’s 4K (and higher resolution) cameras. While not a product per se, the Academy Color Encoding System (ACES), which attempts to preserve as much information as possible during a production while removing dependency on specific capture and display formats, will have a major impact on 4K and higher content availability. Lastly, creatives need monitors that can faithfully reproduce the images and sound. For consumers, 4K just needs to work seamlessly. CE manufacturers have to continue to innovate, while removing concerns over technical obsolescence. That will continue to be a problem as long as ‘4K’ TVs and monitors are sold without 10-bit color support, or support for HDR.

SGO has been working hard on bringing an integrated workflow strategy to the market which addresses specific parts of the post-production process. We are referring to the workflow concept as Multi-Dimensional and will be rolling out solution based applications across the next few months. The first phase of solutions includes Mistika VR and Mistika Insight, both of which we will be launching at NAB in just over a weeks’ time. These solutions all run off Mistika Technology and are essentially parts of Mistika Ultima – our hero suite offering, so industry professionals and post-production facilities can expect unparalleled integration and flexibility. Mistika VR, is an affordable VR focused solution that offers real-time stitching using our optical flow technology. SGO’s ‘Hero Suite’ previously referred to as Mistika has been renamed to become Mistika Ultima, which still remains one of the most advanced DI post-production solutions in the industry. All the developments that are made to Mistika Technology will be invested into Mistika Ultima so existing clients and professionals wanting a turnkey solution will benefit from the evolution of our specific solution-based applications. Also, we’ve re-launched Insight, SGO’s educational programme that provides ‘Ultima’ as a learning tool for students. We’ve made the software more accessible and available on Mac, Windows and Linux.

Brett Eichenberger: I’ve been a filmmaker since I was a 12 year old. As a child of the 80’s I’ve always been interested in sci-fi and the paranormal. I’ve done a few narrative features, including a drama and a comedy but I’ve always wanted to do a paranormal documentary. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest and having connections to the world of Bigfoot, I saw an opportunity to bring a cinematic mindset to tell the story of this mysterious cryptid.