The Case for 4K Resolution
Pat Hernandez, president of AV integration firm IGI of Commerce, Mich., hadn’t envisioned himself attending the National Association of Broadcasters’ annual trade show last month in Las Vegas. But there he and his firm were, helping conduct the 4K Forum with Sony, nVidia, Assimilate, and Da Vinci Systems. The Forum was meant to walk video and broadcast pros through an end-to-end workflow for using 4096×2160 video in their operations.
Pat Hernandez, president of av integration firm IGI of Commerce, Mich., hadn’t envisioned himself attending the National Association of Broadcasters’ annual trade show last month in Las Vegas. But there he and his firm were, helping conduct the 4K Forum with Sony, nVidia, Assimilate, and Da Vinci Systems. The Forum was meant to walk video and broadcast pros through an end-to-end workflow for using 4096×2160 video in their operations.
IGI made its mark building high-resolution visualization systems for Detroit’s automakers, among others. Auto engineers could see their designs on-screen before building prototypes. “4K resolution gave them the aesthetic accuracy they wanted,” says Hernandez. “They could see right down to the dials.”
Proponents say 4K can be used for more. Sony, which has an interest in 4K through its line of SXRD 4K projectors, touts benefits for large venues, auditoriums, and post-production facilities. Andre Floyd, Sony’s marketing manager for SXRD, says 4K can help places like museums and theaters entice savvy audiences. “These locations need to differentiate themselves from the home theater experience.”
Sony is readying a pair of new SXRD models, the SRX-T110 and T105, that offer more brightness (11,000 and 5,500 lumens, respectively) and a higher contrast ratio (2,500:1).
Interest in 4K should mean even more work for IGI, which formed a second company, Immersion Graphics, for handling general AV systems. Recently IGI finished a $2.2 million project for ITC Holdings, an electric company in Novi, Mich. In addition to general AV, the firm installed a 4K projection system for ITC’s control room (pictured above). Twin stacked SXRD projectors make it possible for operators to read ITC’s intricate electricity distribution map from anywhere in the room. “The SXRDs took the place of 80 or 90 display cubes,” says Hernandez. Cost savings? About 70 percent, according to IGI.
