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Our very first monthly newsletter (September 2008) included a brief look at megapixels and how they relate to digital image resolution. Well, it’s now almost two years removed from those early Tech Tip days and times have changed. Well, not all that much, really. But, enough has changed that makes it worth an updated look at pixels, this time from a video and film perspective.


We’ve discussed HDTV and other forms of high definition video previously. As a quick refresher, HDTV is broadcast in two formats - 720p and 1080i. 720p displays sixty 1280 x 720 progressive frames per second and works best for sports and action or anything with a lot of motion or camera movement. 1080i displays thirty 1920 x 1080 interlaced frames per second and is best for nature, drama and other general TV programming. Keep in mind that most HDTVs sold today have a video display that presents all footage as either 720p or 1080p; this means that the incoming broadcast signal may need to be downscaled, upscaled or de-interlaced before being displayed on your screen. This can cause a decrease in image quality for all formats except for 720p on a 720p screen. I tend to prefer the 720p broadcast format because 720p upscaled to 1080p looks better to me than 1080i de-interlaced and reconfigured as 1080p. So why is 1080p considered the best? Blu-ray, my friend. Blu-ray discs are almost exclusively produced in 1080p and look awesome on a 1080p (or 720p) display.


So, what about digital projection in a movie theater? To begin, be aware that about 16,000 of the 32,000 movie theater screens in the U.S. have converted from film projection to digital projection. Film projection isn’t tied to a specific resolution because the image you see on the screen is created by a beam of light passing through a frame of film; it’s an optical process, not a digital one. In essence, 35mm film’s only resolution limitation is the grain structure of the film emulsion. If you continue to enlarge the projected image of a film frame, you will eventually begin to see more and more grain structure and, at that point, which will be different to viewers at varying distances, the film will have reached it’s resolution limits. More on that in a moment.

June 2010 Newsletter

Project of the Month

Yellowstone National Park Stock Photography

Tech Tip

Revisiting pixel dimensions

All original imagery and written content copyright © 2010 by Digital Media Services & Consulting LLC. All rights reserved.

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Marketing Tip

Developing turnkey marketing products

If there’s one thing this extended down economy has taught us, it’s that small business owners who have managed to stay afloat are rightfully watching their expenses more closely than ever. Not only does this mean that marketing budgets may often be smaller but also that those budgets need to be strictly adhered to.


In order to address this issue, Digital Media Services has developed two products that have been very well received by our small business clients. Our Express Web Video, as you know, provides an economic means for a company to introduce professional video production to their Website. Expanding on that idea is our new Express Brand Video, a more in-depth product with higher production value that is suitable for serving as the central component of a coordinated marketing campaign. Both products have a fixed price so the business owner knows exactly what to budget for.


The challenging aspect of developing a product of this type is in coming up with a customizable service with controllable expenses. This isn’t always easy in the creative industry. You’ll likely have to be very specific in what you offer for a given price point. And be thoughtful about what potential issues may arise with different types of clients so you know how to respond ahead of time.


We suggest you assemble a team, perform a little research and then brainstorm ideas. The goal is to come up with a unique product that addresses a need, is priced right, has controllable costs and allows you to realize at least a minimal profit. This formula has allowed us provide a service to a new  group of clients that I’m confident will return to us for their next project, with possibly a bigger budget.

Digital Media Services provides content to several different stock footage companies. Stock companies provide still imagery and video footage that can be purchased and licensed for use in commercial projects. Need a generic image of the Empire State Building? Well, you could fly up to New York, get a permit, wait on good weather conditions, shoot a bunch of shots and hope you get what you need. Or, you could browse through an online stock footage collection and purchase a professionally-produced image, all from the comfort of your cubicle. Usually, custom-shot imagery works best because you’re guaranteed to get exactly what you need. But, for those times when a general representation of your subject matter or concept will suffice, stock may be the way to go.


While we don’t set aside an abundance of time during the year to shoot stock imagery, we do maintain communication with our stock footage providers and let them know when we’ll be on the road and available to shoot for them. If they need footage of a locale we’ll be visiting, we capture what we can and offer it up for their libraries.


This June, DMS photographer Robert Kildoo found himself in Yellowstone National Park. I’m sure the very nature of the subject matter requires no further prompting for you to click the image above and view a sample of the view through his lens.

During June, Sean Deren shot portfolio imagery for fashion model Christy and consulted on an auction photo shoot for Bonhams. Robert Kildoo worked on projects for Palm Beach Media Group and at the Smoke Out chopper rally in South Carolina. Brian Satchfield began a project for the American Victory, provided consulting work for several home theater clients and contributed to various press articles. Lance Robson continued his work for Bud Lee, assisted on an architectural shoot and attended a screening of his Bro Bowl documentary film.

For digital projection, we deal exclusively in pixels. Remember our 1080p HDTV? 1080p displays have 1,920 vertical lines and 1,080 horizontal lines. It’s those vertical lines we’ll use as our baseline. Professional-grade digital projectors came on the market at a 2K resolution. Specifically, the image projected by a 2K projector has a maximum resolution of 2048 x 1080, which is a little better than our HDTVs at home. 2K projection - named for it’s 2,000+ vertical lines - is pretty good. But we can do better. The latest in digital projection is 4K resolution. 4K projectors can display images up to 4086 x 2160 or four times what a 2K projector can display. Read more about Sony 4K digital projectors at the Digital Media Services blog.


There’s no doubt that we’ll see digital projection resolution continue to improve over the coming years. 8K projection may be next, which would represent another four times improvement over the current state of the art. Once we get to 16K, we’re likely reaching the grain structure limits of 35mm film, the traditional recording medium for the vast majority of studio productions of the 20th century.