F3: A top DP went 2K and not 4K

[Nate Weaver]

I think 4k RAW is a mess, too big and too much data - I might only chose this for a feature film or select projects but in the meantime I am quite enjoying and happy with the 4k XAVC 10-bit 422 from the F55.

If you are doing things right, eventually you will get on bigger jobs where other people will be hired to take on the implications of the decision, and it will have very little or no impact on you and the way you work.

You will be free to make the best images you can.

 

[Tom Roper]

+1

Acquisition is one thing, display is a whole other kettle of fish.

+2

 

[Razz16mm]

There is 4k for displaying, and then there is 4k for acquisition.

I don't see absolutely any benefit in 4k for display, but 4k for acquisition does have some merits.

As the Redshark article above points out, the new 4k and UHD standards coming out support a much wider color gamut for both acquisition and display. With REC709 and 2k standards we are still limited to the NTSC/PAL/SMPTE-C color gamut.

 

[Tom Roper]

As the Redshark article above points out, the new 4k and UHD standards coming out support a much wider color gamut for both acquisition and display. With REC709 and 2k standards we are still limited to the NTSC/PAL/SMPTE-C color gamut.

The poster you quoted acknowledged the merit of 4k acquisition but felt there was no benefit to 2160p displays, to which you cited above the wider color gamut holding back HD displays. And while Rec. 2020 does indeed expand the addressable color gamut, as well as encompass 10 bit and 12 bit, there are other things to consider:

1.) Right now, all UHD displays are still LCD, a situation not likely to change soon.
2.) LCD is behind Plasma and OLED for purity of colors, so having the addressable gamut is not the same as having the actual color gamut on display.
3.) Of the other HD displays, Plasma and OLED have better color purity within the limited rec. 709 than LCD are showing in the wider rec. 2020.
4.) HEVC (h.265) would be the transmission codec for most UHD consumers. As proposed, twice the compression within the same bit rate as h.264 means 8 bit and 4:2:0. That's fine but if true not an environment to differentiate rec. 2020.
5.) Taken together, none of that stops UHD displays from coexisting with HD but the uptake is going to be really protracted.

With many reviewers wowed by HD OLED, and not so much with UHD, it's natural to conclude that better pixels trump more pixels, at least until the screen sizes get very large or the viewers get very close.