Since 4K UHD has already been discussed in some detail in several of my recent blogs, I will keep the introduction very brief.  4K UHD is considered by many within the consumer electronics industry as the next generation of television.  4K UHD has twice the horizontal and twice the vertical resolution of the best HDTV format (i..e., 1080p).  While the increase in resolution is the most often discussed benefit of 4K UHD over the current HD system, there are also improvements in several other technical areas which allow for a wider color space offering more saturated colors, increased color bit depth and increased chroma (i.e., color) resolution and increase frame rates.  When the potential enhancements are fully realized throughout the video chain from the video source to the display, 4K UHD is capable of presenting a more lifelike image that some viewers have described as having the realism of looking out a window.

4K Standards Update

I have reported extensively on the various industry and international standards related to UHD in several previous blogs (i.e., most recently HERE, HERE and HERE).  I have picked up a little more information since my last previous blog on the subject.  Specifically:

HDMI Version 2.0

Silicon Image (SI) is a major supplier of HDMI chipsets used by many of the leading consumer electronic manufacturers in their products.

On March 8^th SI released a statement that, in part, said:

“Silicon Image, Inc. announced that the long-awaited HDMI 2.0 spec with support for 4K video at 60 Hz likely will be available by mid-year, with the first 2.0-compliant chips expected to reach volume production in 2014. The new HDMI spec had been expected to be released by CES, but with Apple, a long-time DisplayPort supporter, joining the HDMI Forum, the complexion of the negotiations changed.”

Based on the above report from SI and informal information from other manufacturers involved in the development of HDMI 2.0 products, it appears possible that a limited quantity of HDMI 2.0 chipsets may become available late this year with large scale production next year.  For information on why HDMI 2.0 support is important see the final section of this blog below.

ITU H.265 – HEVC Standard

The initial version of the ITU standard for High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) was released in January 2013 and at that time is was indicated that work was underway on developing an amendment intended to define extensions for additional capabilities.  This initial amendment to H.265 was said to be targeted for released by early 2014.

I discussed the new ITU H.265 standard in an earlier blog – HERE.  The planned first amendment will include 4K UHD extensions to HEVC that will likely add support for 3D, greater color resolution and increased bit depths.  Recently an industry insider involved with the HEVC standards development indicated that the draft text detailing the extensions for 4K UHD with 10-bit depth and 4:4:2 chroma coding was completed in late March and it is expected to go through the approval process and be included in the first amendment that he expected to be issued at the end of this year.  HEVC is important since it is expected to be the encoding used with a number of future 4K UHD video sources, potentially including a future version of 4K Blu-ray Discs.

4K UHD Displays & Projectors

Other than the Sony VPL-VW1000ES projector, which has been available since early 2012, all of the other available and officially announced 4K UHD consumer display devices are LCD/LED flat panel displays.  Sony has released a new 55 inch model (MSRP $4999) that recently arrived at several national retail chain stores in the USA (I saw one last week at the local H.H. Gregg store.  This joins Sony’s previously released 84 inch model and Sony’s 2013 4K UHD TV line up will be filled out with a new 65 inch model to be released within the next couple of months.  These Sony models are full featured “Smart TVs”.

Chinese manufacturer Seiki is now offering a 50 inch entry level 4K UHD TV with a retail price of just $1500.  This model offers only the most basic features, but is by far the least expensive 4K UHD TV currently available.  Seiki plans to add a 65 inch model within the next few months.  Several other mainstream manufacturers, including LG and Samsung, have plans to introduce new 4K UHD models over the next several months while other budget models are expected from Westinghouse and other Chinese based manufacturers.

Consumer Electronics Daily has recently reported that an executive from the a leading LCD panel manufacturer, AU Optronics, is saying that they expect by the end of 2013 that about 20% of all of their production of LCD panels of 55 inch and larger sizes will be 4K UHD models.  AU Optronics is supplying 55 inch and 65 inch LCD panels to Sony, and other manufacturers, and as both production volume and unit yields increase during 2013 the per unit cost by year’s end will be 1.7 to 1.8 times the cost of a 1080p HD LCD panel of equal size.  A spokesman for AU Optronics said they expect 4K UHD TV shipments to total about 1 million in 2013 increasing to perhaps 4 million in 2014.

As for 4K UHD projectors, Sony’s VPL-VW1000ES has now been available since early 2012 and no other consumer projector with native 4K resolution has been available nor announced.  However, new 4K projector models are expected to be announced at the CEDIA Expo in late September and available by early 2014.  The most likely manufacturers to announce plans at the CEDIA Expo for new 4K projectors are Sony, with perhaps a lower priced model as well as a new flagship model replacing the VPL-VW1000ES, and JVC with perhaps a mid-level model based on E-shift technology and/or a new flagship model with native 4K resolution.  More info on JVC’s E-shift technology, as used in current JVC models that provide pseudo 4K upscaled displays, is HERE.  It is also possible that Epson has plans for future 4K LCD-based projectors and perhaps consumer 4K DLP projectors may also be in the works.  We may even see a new flagship 4K projector announced by at least one manufacturer at this year’s CEDIA Expo that incorporates a laser light source rather than being lamp-based.   To be clear, this is all speculation on my part and is not based on any inside information.   I’m certain we will have a lot of 4K UHD news to report in late September as the CEDIA Expo gets underway.

4K UHD Video Sources

Download/Streaming 4K Video Services

In previously blogs I have reported on Sony’s plans for a 4K Video Distribution Service that they plan to offer starting this fall (i.e., perhaps in the Oct. 2013 time frame).  This will require the consumer to purchase a Sony 4K video player and it now appears there will be two options for this.  The first is the Sony model FMP-X1 dedicated 4K video player (pictured below and previously discussed HERE).   It also appears (but not yet officially confirmed by Sony) that the planned Sony PlayStation 4 (PS4) will also be able to serve as a 4K video player with Sony’s 4K Video Distribution Service.

Sony FMP-X1 Video Player

Red Digital Cinema some time ago announced plans to introduce their Redray 4K player (pictured below) while Odemax will provide the companion 4K video download service.  Very little is known about what or when Odemax will be offering their service nor what the associated user costs may be.  The price announced for the Redray player is more than twice that of the Sony FMP-X1 player and perhaps four times the price of a PS4, so only time will tell if the Redray/Odemax offering will be able to compete against the Sony offering.

Redray Video Player

Netflix has indicated they are working on a 4K video streaming service, but this is probably two years away from being offered to Netflix customers.

Update on Progress for Blu-ray Disc 4K Video

The maximum video resolution supported by the current Blu-ray Disc standard is 1080p.  Unfortunately Sony, and perhaps other studios, have recently begun releasing a number of movies on Blu-ray Discs that are said to be “Mastered in 4K”.  These Blu-ray Discs are still just offering 1080p resolution while the original source video from which the disc was created was recorded with 4K resolution.  Thus what is recorded on the Blu-ray Disc is simply taking the source 4K video and digitally scaling it down to normal HD 1080p resolution.  This may be confusing to some consumers who may not understand that such discs, when played on a Blu-ray Disc player and connected to a new 4K display, do not yield a true, full 4K UHD result.  Similar confusion may come Blu-ray Disc players, that have already been on the market for several months, that offer internal upscaling of standard 1080p HD Blu-ray Discs to 4K resolution and are advertised has having a 4K output.  Again this falls far short of what can be expected from native 4K UHD video sources and has the potential for misleading current or future owners of 4K UHD displays, especially once true, native 4K video sources do become available.

An update to the Blu-ray Disc standard is the necessary initial step in producing a next generation optical storage media for native 4K video content.  There has been some recent news, or tidbits of information, on this subject.

As I reported in an earlier blog, the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), that controls the Blu-ray Disc standards and related patents, formed as task force back in the Oct. 2012 time frame to investigate future enhancements to the Blu-ray Disc standard including the potential for higher resolution video formats.

The BDA, in a statement given to and reported by CNET, has indicated that a final recommendation is expected later this year.  The BDA statement indicated:

“As part of its ongoing responsibility to maintain Blu-ray Disc as the premium platform for watching movies and other content at home, the BDA established a task force last year to study a range of possible format extensions, including those that potentially enable 4K content playback on Blu-ray.

Through the first quarter of this year, the task force solicited and received numerous proposals, and is now evaluating the various technologies.

The task force, which is comprised of representatives from BDA member studios, consumer electronics manufacturers and media technology companies, looks forward to sharing with and receiving input from content creators, and is expected to make specification and technology recommendations to the Blu-ray Disc Association board of directors later this year.”

CNET’s concluding paragraph to their article includes, in part, the speculative statement that they “….should hope to see Blu-ray introduce a UHD/4K delivery platform in 2014….”

Thus the bottom line we should take from all of this is that it now seems possible, perhaps likely, that there will be consumer products coming to the marketplace by the end of 2014 that support a new version of Blu-ray Discs with native 4K resolution and the other UHD improvements.

Early Adopters Beware

Although a few consumer 4K UHD display devices are already available with more on the way over the next few months, a word of caution is appropriate.

Input Limitations – All currently available consumer 4K UHD displays/projectors, and those announced to begin shipping over the next several months, come equipped with HDMI version 1.4b inputs.  This version of HDMI can accept 4K video but it limited to frame rates of 24 Hz and 30 Hz.  It is also limited in other technical aspects that negatively impact video quality.  The next generation of HDMI, version 2.0, is important because it is expected to provide support for a much broader spectrum of anticipated future 4K UHD video services.  This includes higher frame rates (i.e., up to 60 Hz.), and improved color resolution and range, and perhaps support for 3D at 4K resolution.  As a result, the initial generation of 4K UHD displays currently available and coming to the marketplace over the next several months have hardware and software limitations.  Such limitations of the near-term 4K UHD displays are expected to only be overcome with the introduction of future 2^nd generation 4K UHD displays that will be equipped with HDMI 2.0 inputs along with internal video processing to support the enhanced features enabled this next generation of HDMI.  It has been reported that Sony will offer a future upgrade for the VPL-VW1000ES, the only currently available 4K UHD projector, to add HDMI 2.0 support.  However, to the best of my knowledge, there has not been any official statement from Sony if or when this upgrade might be available nor has there been any indication from Sony on what would be the cost if this upgrade were offered to the existing VW1000ES owners.

So a word of caution is appropriate for anyone considering the purchase of a new 4K UHD display.  If you really want a 4K UHD display or projector that is as close to “future proof” as possible, then you may want to wait until the 2^nd generation models become available, as these will likely come equipped with HDMI 2.0 inputs and also be capable of supporting the enhanced UHD features (e.g, higher frame rates) enabled by those more advanced inputs  Such 2^nd generation 4K UHD products are expected to become widely available during 2014 and perhaps a few such products may even come to market by very late this year.

News for 4K UHD Video Sources

Sony representatives announced back in January, at the Consumer Electronics Show, plans for a 4K UHD video distribution service to become available in mid-2013.  Sony has now released information, at the NAB show, indicating that the launch date has slipped a few months.  Sony has also announced information and pricing for the 4K Media Player that will be sold for use with their 4K distribution service.  The $699 model FMP-X1 will be available this summer and will come per-loaded with 10 movies in 4K UHD format.  Once the 4K video distribution services goes online a few months later, owners of the FMP-X1 will be able purchase additional 4K video material (movies, etc.).  Below is a photo of the FMP-X1 followed by an excerpt from the Sony press release:

Sony FMP-X1 4K UHD Media Player

“This summer, consumers of Sony’s 4K UHD TVs can purchase the FMP-X1 4K Media Player bundled with 10 feature films and video shorts in true 4K resolution for $699. In the fall of 2013, users of the same 4K Media Player will be given access to a fee-based video distribution service offering a library of 4K titles from Sony Pictures Entertainment and other notable production houses. The feature films included with purchase of the 4K Media Player are Bad Teacher, Battle: Los Angeles, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Karate Kid (2010), Salt, Taxi Driver, That’s My Boy, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Other Guys and Total Recall (2012).”

“With a variety of options already available for the home theater, only Sony can bring true 4K content to consumers. Last November, in another first, Sony gave native 4K movies and video to consumers who purchased the XBR-84X900, Sony’s first and biggest 4K Ultra HD TV. Making good on its promise to periodically update and add content to the system, Sony recently began delivering new 4K content to 84-inch XBR owners with the home server. Along with a slew of new 4K video shorts, the classic film Lawrence of Arabia has been added to their libraries, which was recently remastered in 4K resolution by Sony Pictures Colorworks. Owners of the first generation video server will be able to exchange that device for the FMP-X1 4K Media Player, once the distribution service launches in the fall.”

Also in late February there were some tidbits of news from a Sony official indicating that the upcoming PlayStation 4 (PS4), that is due to be released in the fourth quarter of 2013, will support 4K video output for playback of UHD video, but will not support video games at native 4K resolution.  Although it has not be confirmed by Sony, it is widely assumed that the PS4 will be capable of being used as player for 4K video delivered by the Sony’s 4K distribution service.  The $699 price for the standalone FM-X1 media player, as compared to an expected sub-$400 starting price for the PS4, may be justified since the FM-X1 comes pre-loaded with 10 movies plus several short subjects in 4K resolutions.  Assuming PS4 is capable of serving as a client (media player) on Sony’s 4K distribution service, it is probably a good assumption that it will not come with any pre-loaded 4K UHD movies while the FM-X1’s pre-loaded programming would have a value of several hundred dollars if purchased separately.

Red Digital Cinema has an exhibit at the NAB show where they are expected to be displaying their latest digital video cameras (4K, 5K and a new 6K model), for the digital cinema and broadcast industry, along with prototypes of their Redray^TM 4K UHD player (previous seen at CES 2013) and their laser-based 4K video projector (an early engineering model was shown at last year’s NAB show).  Red is expected to provide more information on the availability of these products and perhaps also more information about one (or more) third party supplier for 4K video download service that they have partnered with to supply the programming for the Redray player.

4K UHD Displays

Sony remains the only manufacturer currently shipping a consumer video projector with native 4K resolution (model VPL-VW1000ES reviewed HERE).  Perhaps Red Digital Services will provide more information at the NAB show about their plans for their previously announced, but not yet released, 4K projector.

While there is little to report on the availability of consumer 4K UHD projectors, there is some news about lower priced 4K UHD flat panel TVs.  Sony has released pricing and availability information for their planned 55 inch and 65 inch 4K UHD LCD/LED TVs (introduced at CES in January, but with no pricing info).  In their new press release from the NAB show they announced that (the following is extracted from the Sony press release):

“Sony Electronics is announcing prices and availability for its new 4K Ultra High Definition TV sets unveiled at CES in January. The new XBR-55X900A (55-inch) and XBR-65X900A (65-inch) 4K Ultra HD LED TVs will cost $4,999 and $6,999 respectively and are available for order online and at retail beginning April 21, 2013.”

While $4,999 is a lot less than the $20,000+ price for the Sony 84 inch 4K UHD LCD/LED that was released a few months ago, this is still beyond the price range for many consumers.  To address that market segment, lesser known consumer electronics manufacturers are in the process of releasing much lower priced 4K UHD models.  The first of these is from Seiki.

Seiki has released their first 4K UHD LCD/LED TV, model SE50UY04.  This is a 50 inch LCD UHD TV with LED edge back lighting and with native 3840 x 2160 resolution.  I have recently seen it being offered online for under $1300.  This establishes a new low price point for a true 4K UHD TV.

As shown in the information presented in my previous blog (HERE), the viewer would have to sit really close (e.g., ~3 feet) to a 50 inch screen in order to see the full benefits of the 4K resolution and perhaps within 6 feet to even notice any improvement in resolution over an otherwise equivalent 50 inch 1080p display.  4K UHD can really make a noticeable improvement, in terms of visible image detail, when paired with a native 4K video source, but only if viewed from a closer distance than typically used with 1080p displays.  As a result, 4K UHD really makes a lot more sense when large screens are used, such as are typical for a projector-based home theater.  Even so, acceptance of 4K UHD across a broad consumer market will be necessary to ensure the success of the format, including availability of movies and TV programming in 4K UHD format.  Therefore, the availability of smaller and much lower priced 4K UHD displays is a positive sign for the future of the 4K UHD format.

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UPDATE #1 (8 April)

SONY - Alec Shariro (President, PSA Sony Electronics Inc.) stated during the Sony press conference “4K is now a reality for motion picture and episodic TV production and it’s the future of home TV viewing.”  He Also indicated that Sony is producing professional 4K products supporting the entire video path including “camera, workflow technologies and for viewing.”  Some other interesting information and statements by Sony representatives during the Sony press conference at NAB included:

Sony has about 15,000 4K digital cinema projectors installed in theaters worldwide.

Sony Pictures Television is now shooting some American TV shows in 4K as a means of looking forward to a future 4K broadcast TV service.  The first TV show shot by Sony in 4K was a half hour TV series for NBC that began in the fall of 2012.  There have been additional shows for NBC, Showtime and others shot in 4K this year.

The home is the last leg of Sony’s the 4K “lens to living room story.”

Phil Molyneux, president of Sony Electronics talked about Sony 4K UHD TVs.  He introduced the 55 inch and the 65 inch 4K UHD TVs and announced the prices for both models (i.e., $4,999 and $6,999).  He discussed the Sony 4K Media Player and distribution service.  He stated that the 4K media player will be available this summer than later this year the player will be updated to support the 4K distribution service.

NHK – During a panel discussion at the NAB Show, Takayuki Yamashita from the Japanese TV network NHK indicated that NHK intents to begin testing 4K broadcasting in Japan next year, and then in 2016 they plan to begin offering a 4K broadcast service to the public.  Also in 2016, NHK plans to begin testing an 8K UHD broadcast service with the goal of offering the 8K broadcast service to public by 2020.

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UPDATE #2 (9 April)

Ted Schilowitz from Red Digital Cinema said that the Redray 4K media player will ship to Beta customers shortly after the end of the NAB show (i.e., probably meaning within the next couple of weeks) and then after the  beta test cycle they will begin shipping production units to the rest of their customers that have placed on-line orders.  Red was demo’ing the Redray Player using Samsung and Sony 4K UHD flat panel TVs in their exhibit at NAB.   The only programming source announced to date for supplying the Redray player with 4K video content is Odemax and they had a small booth within the Red exhibit.  Their representative was saying they would be going into a test phase within the next couple of weeks and I assume this implies it will be in coordination with the Redray beta testing program.  There was no word from Odemax as to what 4K programming they will be offering (i.e., have they lined up any of the major movie studios in order to offer popular movies?).

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Since the NAB Show is primarily for professional video production and distribution products/services, the above report covers those few products presented at the show that are consumer oriented.

The only consumer 4K video projector currently available is the excellent Sony VPL-VW1000ES.  This projector, pictured below, was announced at the CEDIA Expo back in September 2011 and began shipping in early 2012.  While that model was consistent with the video standards available at that time and it appears Sony attempted to anticipate some future developments, there has been significant progress made by the international standards community since Sony introduced that model in 2011 and future 4K projectors conforming to those more recent standards for Ultra-HD TV are expected to support certain video formats beyond those currently supported by the VPL-VW1000ES.  However, Sony may be able to add support for certain additional capabilities via firmware updates, or possible even hardware upgrades.

Sony VPL-VW1000ES 4K Projector

This relatively new “Recommendation ITU-R BT.2020”, was released in August 2012, by the ITU “Radio Communications sector” (hence the ITU-R label) as a document in their “Broadcast Service (television)” series of recommendations.  The ITU is a standards organization charted by the United Nations (i.e., government supported) and their standards/recommendations are frequently developed in coordination with the industry-supported International Standards Organization (ISO).

BT.2020 can be though of as setting the top-level technical framework for consumer UHDTV services.  I use the term “consumer UHDTV” to distinguish this from the digital cinema 4K related standards.  This ITU recommendation covers both the consumer version of 4K video as well as the even higher resolution 8K video.  The ITU recommendation is intended to be applicable to both UHD program production and to delivery services, including possible future over-the-air UHD broadcast services.

The UHDTV service defined by BT.2020 specifies video with an aspect ratio of 16 x 9 (i.e., 1.78:1), which is the same as for today’s HDTV services.  The 4K UHDTV service is defined to use 3840 x 2160 pixels which is exactly twice the horizontal and twice the vertical resolution (i.e., pixel count) of today’s 1080p HDTV.  In the case of both HDTV and UHDTV formats, the pixels themselves are square in shape.  BT.2020 also defines an 8K version of UHDTV that has four times the horizontal and four times the vertical resolution of 1080p HDTV with 7680 x 4320 pixels.  By retaining the 16 x 9 aspect ratio of today’s HDTV and, to a lesser extent using exact multiples of 1080p’s resolution, the UHD format simplifies the accommodation of HDTV video sources/programs on UHDTV displays.

Note UHDTV, as defined by BT.2020, differs in both aspect ratio and resolution from what is used with commercial 4K digital cinema, where the slightly wider aspect ratio is 1.9:1 is used and the image is composed of 4096 x 2160 pixels.

While the most obvious difference between HDTV and UHDTV may be the increased resolution of UHDTV, there are a number of other technical improvements defined by BT.2020 that will result in higher quality images.  The following paragraphs summarize each of these improvements and provides some brief background information on each.

Note:  The codec to be used for the transmission or distribution of UHD programming is not defined by BT.2020.  ITU has published Rec. h.265 which defines HEVC as one possible codec for coding of UHD video (plus audio).  However, that standard currently only covers 2D video and lower frame rates for 4K UHD video.  An update to h.265 is currently under development which is expected to add support for both 3D video and higher frame rates and this is expected to be issued as an amendment in early 2014.

INCREASED RESOLUTION

The increase in image resolution enabled with UHDTV will only be of obvious benefit to the viewer if the screen size is large enough and/or the viewing distance is short enough.   At the same time that BT.2020 was issued, ITU-R also released report BT.224601, titled “The present state of ultra high definition television.”  Among other information included in this report are recommendations for the optimum viewing distance for video of various resolutions.  These recommendations are based on persons with normal 20/20 vision (or visual acuity of 1.0).  For a given screen size the viewer much be seated closer to the screen in order to achieve the full benefits of increased resolution.  This also will result in a more immersive viewing experience since the image will now fill a larger portion of the viewer’s total visual field of view.  The following chart compares the optimum viewing distance vs. screen size (diagonal size of a 16 x 9 aspect ratio screen) for both 1080p HDTV and for 4K (3840 x 2160) UHDTV based on the recommendations from ITU-R BT.2246-1.  The recommended viewing distances shown in the chart below represent approximately how close to the screen you would need to be in order to be able to perceive all of the image details capable of being supported with that specific video resolution (either 1080P or 4K UHD).  ITU has based their recommendations on a 32 degree horizontal viewing angle for 1080p video and a much wider 58 degree viewing angle for 4K UHD video.  This assumes the video source, as well as the display, supports the full resolution possible with that specific video format.  Note that a 1080p source video that has been upscaled for display on a 4K UHD display would not support the recommended shorter viewing distance shown on the chart for 4K UHD as that curve on the chart is for a native 4K UHD video source viewed on a native 4K UHD display.  However, with excellent upscaling of 1080p source material for display at 4K UHD resolution, a seating distance of somewhat less than that shown for 1080p displays should be acceptable.

It should be pointed out just how close to the screen you would really need to be seated in order to get the full benefits of 4K UHD.  For example, with a 120 inch 16 x 9 screen the optimal viewing distance (using the ITU recommendation) is approximately 15 ft. for a HD 1080p display but would be only about one half that distance for viewing a 4K UHD display.  Of course that doesn’t mean you would have to sit this close to see some benefits in resolution from a 4K UHD display.  For example, at a 10 ft. viewing distance from a 120 inch screen there would still be a perceived increase in resolution, as compared to 1080p, but with normal eyesight you would not be experiencing all of the benefits possible from the increased resolution of UHD.  The bottom line is when you consider upgrading your home theater from a 1080p projection system you may want to consider moving up to a larger screen size and/or decreasing your viewing distance.  However, trade-offs in the seating arrangements in your home theater will probably need to be made since for many years to come much of the available source material will be limited to 1080p resolution.

Note that some other industry sources have offered viewing distance recommendations for HD and/or UHD that differ a little from those summarized above from ITU.

HIGHER FRAME RATES

The current HDTV standards have a maximum frame rate of 60 Hz (i.e., 60 frames per second) for 720p video sources while 1080p video sources are generally limited to 24 Hz (1080p/24), or 30 Hz in a few cases.  Note that while Blu-ray Disc players offer a 1080p/60 output mode, the source material recorded on the disc itself is 24 Hz. for virtually all movies.  The recommendations of BT.2020 include support for frame rates up to 120 Hz for UHD video.  The 4K UHD video sources and displays we are most likely to see come to the consumer marketplace within the next few years may be limited to maximum frame rates of 60 Hz for 4K UHD video.  That being said remember that virtually all existing movies where created at a 24 Hz frame rate (the only exception is “The Hobbit” which was shot at 48 Hz.).  Therefore, we can expect the see the vast majority of UHD video distributed with a 24 Hz. frame rate.  Looking into the future it is possible that 4K UHD content delivered on optical discs or perhaps via over-the-air or satellite broadcast services may be able to support the higher frame rates for certain programming (e.g., sporting events or the occasional high frame rate movie).

INCREASED COLOR SPACE

The HD video standard (ITU Rec. 709) specifies a more limited color space that what has been specified for UHD by BT.2020.  This difference in the colorimetry standard means that increased saturation of the displayed colors will be offered with UHD as compared to HD.  The figure below shows (solid line) the color space specified for HD in ITU Rec. 709 vs. the expanded color space specified for UHD in BT.2020.

DIGITAL REPRESENTATION

The technical details of how the video chroma (i.e. color) and luminance information is represented in digital form will impact the quality of the resulting displayed image.

The current HD standards, used for both broadcast and recorded media, limit the encoded video to 8-bit coding and with a digital range limited to 16 to 235 for encoding of the video levels for each of the three primary colors.  This limits the maximum number of different colors and levels that can be represented to approximately eleven million values.  While this may sound like a lot, it is really is a limitation of the current HD system and is less capable that the number of colors that can be encoded by the digital cinema standard or by many digital cameras.  The UHD standard, defined by BT.2020, specifies that UHD will use either 10-bit or 12-bit encoding.  10-bit coding increases the total number of color and levels that can be represented to approx. one billion.  This increased bit depth will reduce the occurrence of color banding sometimes seen on HD displays when displaying certain video scenes and may allow for UHD to provide improved shadow detail to be displayed with some source material.

Another important technical difference between the coding of HD vs. UHD that will impact the quality of the displayed video is how the chroma (i.e., color) information encoded.  With HD source material (i.e., broadcast or Blu-ray Disc) chroma subsampling (Wiki article is HERE) is used where the color information contained in a block of 4 pixels (2 vertical by 2 horizontal) is combined into a single (e.g., averaged) value.  This results in a 50% reduction both the vertical and horizontal chroma resolution.  This is referred to as 2:2:0 YCbCr subsampling.  While UHD, as defined by BT.2020, continues to allow 2:2:0 subsampling as an option, it also allows the use of subsampling using the higher fidelity 2:2:2 format (i.e., combines chroma information from 2 horizontal pixels) and also it allows the use of the highest fidelity 4:4:4 format (i.e., retains full chroma resolution).

THE BOTTOM LINE

UHD video sources and displays that are capable to supporting the technical features recommended by ITU will not only provide for a substantial improvement in image resolution but will also support improvements in a number of other areas effecting image quality.

New Projectors

Note the following new projectors were announced as the ISE 2013 trade show in Amsterdam.   These new models were announced for release in Europe this year.  Similar versions will probably be also sold in the USA, but have not yet been announced.

Optoma -

Optoma has shown a new DLP 1080p 3D projector, model HD91, at the ISE 2013 trade show.  Based on information posted by some European web sites reporting from the show, it appears this new model may use the same Texas Instruments DMD (i.e., DLP) display chip (Dark Chip 3 – DC3 series) as is being used in the recently released BenQ W1070 (review is HERE).  The Optoma HD91 is said to operate with up to a 144 Hz refresh rate for 24 Hz video sources (e.g., Blu-ray Discs).  It appears the upcoming Optoma HD91 is a high-end model in the Optoma 2013 projector line-up as it uses a LED light source and includes both horizontal and vertical lens shift.  It is spec’ed by Optoma to have 1300 lumens of light output.  It is said to support both “DLP Link” 3D glasses and also RF 3D glasses.  The HD91 is schedule for European release in the Sept. 2013 time frame.  The price and plans for release in the USA are unknown.

Optoma has also announced at ISE 2013 two new entry-level UHP lamp-based 1080p 3D DLP projectors.  The base model is the HD25 while a higher light output variation carries the model number HD25LV.  The HD25 is rated by Optoma to have 1300 lumens of light output while the HD25LV is rated at 3000 lumens.  These projectors appear to use the same, or very similar, DMD (DLP) chip (Texas Instruments DC3 series) as the Optoma HD91 (and also the BenQ W1070).  In keeping with being entry-level models, the HD25 and HD25LV do not offer frame interpolation, but unlike most other entry-level DLP projectors they do support RF 3D glasses in addition to the more common DLP-Link 3D glasses.  The rated on/off contrast ratio is 20,000:1 while the rated ANSI contrast ratio is 2,000:1.  Pricing information has not yet been released nor has the schedule for availability.  Plans for a North American version have not yet been announced.

Sony -

Sony, also at the ISE trade show in Amsterdam, announced a new laser based business projector that will be introduced into Sony’s “F Series” of business projectors.  This new model has 1920 x 1200 pixels and is said to have a very bright 4,000 lumens of output.  In part, the Sony press release (available HERE) says:

“Based on Sony’s Laser Light Source Technology, the projector incorporates lasers, rather than LEDs, to achieve optimum brightness.  the white light, like traditional UHP light sources, is directed into the 3LCD engine to deliver incredible picture quality.  As a result, the Laser Light Source Projector has substantially brighter images, better contrast ratios and outstanding colour stability.”

Price and the schedule for release were not announced by Sony.

BenQ –

BenQ recently held a preview event in Munich for CeBit (a major European electronics show) as well as at ISE 2013 show in Amsterdam where they showed a new model W1500 1080p 3D DLP projector.  This model features wireless HDMI connectivity, in addition to wired HDMI connections.  It is equipped with a 1.6X zoom lens and includes a vertical lens shift adjustment.  It also includes a color management system (CMS) as well as support for frame interpolation.  It uses a Dark Chip 3 DMD (DLP micro display chip) and has a rated light output of 2200 lumens.  There will also be a very similar model W1400 that lacks the wireless HDMI feature.  These new projectors appear to be positioned in the 2013 BenQ lineup as a step up from BenQ’s new W1070 model (recently reviewed HERE) and placed just below the existing W7000 (or perhaps an as yet unannounced 2013 replacement for that model).  Price for the European version of these projectors is said to be the 1500 to 1800 euros range and they are expected to be available in the April/May time frame.  No price or availability for a North American version is available.

4K Ultra HD Related Industry Standards

Before I start on the subject of 4K video I need to briefly explain the use of the terms 4K and Ultra HD (or UHD).  The term “4K Video” originates from the commercial digital cinema world and corresponds to video with a maximum resolution of 4096 pixels wide by 2160 pixels high.  This corresponds to a native aspect ratio of approx. 1.9:1.  Consumer HDTV has a different aspect ratio of 1.78:1 (also know as 16×9).  Several manufacturers of consumer flat panel TVs that are labeled as being ‘4K’ have retained the 1.78:1 aspect ratio displays and have a resolution of 3840 x 1920 pixels.  This has lead to some confusion as to what is actually meant by the term ‘4K’ when applied to the new generation of displays.  The Consumer Electronics Association, an electronics industry organization, has recently defined what amounts to a consumer version of 4K video that retains the 1.78:1 aspect ratio of today’s HDTV and simply doubles both the vertical and horizontal pixels to produce in image that is 3840 pixels wide by 2160 pixels high.  A projector that provides the full digital cinema 4096 x 2160 pixel resolution will also be able to display Ultra HD video in 1.78:1 aspect ratio by simply using only 3840 of the available 4096 horizontal pixels by leaving the unused pixels as vertical black bars long each side of the image (or falling off the sides of a 1.78:1 screen).  This is what the current Sony VPL-VW1000es projector does and we may see future projectors take this approach or alternatively incorporate 1.78:1 display chips using the pixel count specified for Ultra HD.  For my following write up I have attempted to use the term Ultra HD, UHD or 4K UHD, rather than just 4K, when I am talking about products specifically aimed at the consumer market.

I had discussed in a previous blog (HERE) what is known to be happening on the development of three industry standards that when, and if, completed will facilitate bringing Ultra HD video into the consumer’s home.  The three items previously discussed were:

• -  the next generation of the HDMI standard;
• -  an update to the Advance Video Coding –AVC (commonly called
  • MPEG-4) codec with the new version to be called High Efficiency
  • Video Codec – HEVC; and
• -  the potential a future standard to define a Ultra HD version of
  • Blu-ray Discs.

I now have a few updates share on these 3 critical developments.

HDMI – Based on information coming from statements made at CES 2013, the schedule out of the HDMI Forum for the completion of the next generation HDMI standard (perhaps to be called version 2.0) is now the “first half of 2013”.  This is as much as half year delay from the previous prediction of 4^th quarter 2012.  This new HDMI standard will be very useful to provide upgraded support for Ultra HD since it will offer support for higher video refresh rates and color depth as compared to the very limited 4K video support offered by the current HDMI 1.4b standard.

ITU H.265 Standard – The H.265 standard has slipped just a little as it was not released by the “end of 2012” as originally planned.  However, in a January 25, 2013 press release (available HERE) the ITU announced

“A new video coding standard building on the PrimeTime Emmy award winning ITU-T H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC was agreed by ITU members today. “

The press release went on to say, in part:

“ITU-T H.265 / ISO/IEC 23008-2 HEVC will provide a flexible, reliable and robust solution, future-proofed to support the next decade of video. The new standard is designed to take account of advancing screen resolutions and is expected to be phased in as high-end products and services outgrow the limits of current network and display technology.”……..

“The ITU/ISO/IEC Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC) (formerly JVT) will continue work on a range of extensions to HEVC, including support for 12-bit video as well as 4:2:2 and 4:4:4 chroma formats. Another important element of this work will be the progression of HEVC towards scalable video coding. The three bodies will also work within the Joint Collaborative Team on 3D-Video (JCT-3V) on the extension of HEVC towards stereoscopic and 3D video coding.”

The bottom line is it appears the version of the HEVC standard that has just been released provides the basic tools for the more efficient coding of 2D UHD video, as well as HD formats, but there are future extensions to the H.265 standard planned to add support for 3D, greater color resolution and increased bit depths.  So the new HEVC standard is a first step, but full support for the coding of 3D and higher quality versions of Ultra HD video will have to wait for a future revision to the H.265 standard.

Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc – The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) is the controlling body for the standards applicable to Blu-ray players and the optical discs themselves.  It is supported by virtually all of the major consumer electronics companies.  Throughout 2012 the BDA had been silent about plans, if any, for a new generation of the Blu-ray Disc standard that would add support for 4K or Ultra High Definition video.  Sony and LG trade show representatives speculated, as far back as 2011, about the potential for a future version of Blu-ray Discs to support the higher resolution but it appears the BDA was not actively working on this.  However, recent news out of CES 2013 includes Andy Parsons, the president of the BDA, quoted as saying:

“We created a task force three months ago to study the prospects of adding new technologies to the format,”……“We will evaluate three criteria, starting with the technical feasibility of doing 4K, which is four times the picture quality of 1080p.”

So it now appears that the BDA created a task froce in the October 2013 time frame that is starting to investigate the technical feasibility of an upgrade of Blu-ray to support 4K.  In this context I would assume 4K means the consumer Ultra HD variation.

It seems to me that among technical decisions and trade-offs considered by the BDA, assuming they decide to move forward with the development of a Blu-ray Ultra HD standard, will be the following technical considerations:

• -  What specific resolutions will be supported:  i.e., only Ultra HD
  • 3840 x 2160 format or will the digital cinema standard
  • 4096 x 2160 format also be supported?
• -  Will enhanced color encoding formats be supported
  • (e.g., 4:2:2, 4:4:4)?
• -  Will enhanced bit depth be supported (e.g., 10-bit, 12-bit)?
• -  Will 3D be supported at full UHD resolution?
• -  What refresh rates will be supported for 2D and for 3D UHD
  • video (i.e., 24Hz, 48Hz, 60Hz, etc.)?
• -  Which codec(s) will be supported for UHD (e.g., HEVC)?
• -  What total storage capacity will be needed to support
  • Ultra HD with the most demanding of the allowed
  • features/options and will more than the current
  • two data layers be necessary to support the increased
  • storage capacity requirements?

If I get out my (perhaps not ultra high definition) crystal ball, I can foresee new Ultra HD TVs and projectors becoming available by the first half of 2014 that are equipped with next generation HDMI inputs and perhaps the first generation of Ultra HD capable Blu-ray players and the first Ultra HD movie discs becoming available to consumers possibly by the end of 2014, but sometime in 2015 is probably a better guess.  Perhaps as was the case when Blu-ray was first introduced in 2006, the next generation of Sony’s PlayStation (i.e., PS4) may become the vehicle to get an Ultra HD video player into millions of homes.  While there are no official details on any 4K or Ultra HD support with Sony’s new game console (expected by many within the industry to be released perhaps as early as mid-year but certainly before the end of the year), there is a lot of speculation that it will include, or be upgradeable via firmware, to offer some level of support for the new 4K Ultra HD format.  This support could be as 4K UHD video player for Sony’s already announced 4K UHD video download service (planned for mid-year startup) and perhaps also as a player for UHD Blu-ray Discs.  As a side note many of you may recall that that Sony was able to add support to the PS3 for such things as Blu-ray 3D, Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD-MA, etc. via firmware updates.  It is possible the PS4 will also evolve over time to include UHD support beyond what is offered when the PS4 initially goes on sale.

The bottom line seems to be that while there are still many technical and business decisions that must be made by the Blu-ray related consumer electronics associations and manufacturers, it does now appear that the enabling pieces are starting to fall into place to make a Ultra HD version of Blu-ray possible.

LG introduced the Hecto laser based short throw projector (2D only) that comes with a 100 inch (diagonal) screen.  This package is being sold as a HDTV as it offers a full set of both video and audio capabilities and it is viewed by LG as a viable alternative to a traditional flat panel HDTV.  I would not expect it to be a big seller as the retail price is expected to be near $10,000.  Art mentions it in his blog from CES – HERE.

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Optoma was privately showing some upcoming DLP projector models (perhaps slated for mid-year production), but the information about these upcoming projectors was provided under a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), therefore no details can yet be published.

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BenQ announced at CES they are releasing a new entry-level 1080p DLP 3D projector model W1070 and Art received one for review in advance of CES.  His review is now posted HERE.  This small entry-level model provides an extensive feature set that when combined with this model’s impressive 3D performance and good 2D performance places it well above other low cost  projectors in this price range (i.e., $1000).  It has a 1.3X zoom lens and a modest amount of vertical lens shift adjustment.  It also offers a Color Management System (CMS) for precise color calibration.  Both the lens shift and the CMS are not normally found with projectors in this price range. BenQ also has announced a new model W1080ST, which is essentially a short throw variation that is otherwise similar to the W1070.

BenQ W1070 - 1080p DLP 3D Projector

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Wolf Cinema has introduced two new projectors, using DILA light engines sourced from JVC, intended for sales through custom home theater installers.

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Epson introduced their new Home Cinema 750HD projector at CES with a suggested retail price of $899.  This is a very bright 720p 3LCD 3D model.  With the rated 3000 lumens (in brightest mode) and 3D capability, this should be a good entry-level projector capable of putting out enough light for a bright 3D image even with a moderately large screen.  Art has posted a blog on this new Epson model HERE.

Epson Home Cinema 710HD - 720p Projector

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As for Sony, Panasonic, and JVC, they had introduced new 2013 models at the CEDIA Expo back in September 2012 and did not announced any new home theater oriented projectors at CES.

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I reported in my past two blogs about the 4K Ultra High Definition flat panel TVs from a number of manufactures.  I also reported about upcoming 4K video players from Sony and Red.  See those previous posts (i.e., HERE and HERE) for more information about these products.

JAN. 7 updates from Press Conferences

LG –

The LG press conference covered not only home entertainment electronics, but also LG major appliances (e.g., washers, dryers, ranges, etc.) and LG smart phones.

LG’s new theme is “Touch the Smart Live” with lots of devices with touch screens.  LG was promoting their “one touch connection” to link their products with each other, such as your smart phone with your washing machine or refrigerator.  Also new LG Smart TVs will feature user voice inputs and user gesture inputs to control the TV.

LG was displaying their 55 inch OLED flat panel TVs (1080p).  It has previously been reported they have been having production issues with OLED display and this has resulting in a delay in bringing these to the market.  At last year’s CES LG said the 55 inch OLED HDTV would be shipping by the end of 2012.  Now LG is reporting their model 55EM9700 55 inch OLED HDTV be begin shipping in Korea in February 2013 and in the USA in March for a list price of about $12,000.  This is billed as the “World’s Largest and Slimmest OLED TV.”  The LG OLED TV is only about a thick as a pencil.

LG was also promoting the “Google TV” function supported in 7 models of their Smart TVs.

LG is promoting their 84 inch 4K Ultra HD LCD/LED TV that first came to the USA market in October 2012.  New Ultra HD models are being added for 2013 in sizes of 55inches and 65 inches.

The LG Hecto laser 1080p projector (with a very short 22 inch throw distance) with 100 inch screen was briefly mentioned and it was indicated that it will be available this month in Korea and March in the USA.

There will be 21 TVs in the “Cinema 3D” series and all of LCD TVs in LG’s 2013 lineup will use LED backlighting.

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Sharp Electronics–

Sharp is promoting their new IGZO LCD technology which is claimed to be better 20 to 40 times faster than conventional TFT LCD display technology while operating at lower power consumption than conventional LCD.  LG annou ced plans to release a 32 inch 4K LCD monitor using IGZO display technology.  IGZO will also be used in smart phones and tablets in 2013.  Sharp is said to be the first company to mass produce IGZO displays.

Sharp also introduced a 4K Ultra HD 60 inch TV (called ICC Purios) with THX certification.  It will ship in the summer of 2013.  Sharp is also introducing a 4K Aquos series Ultra HD 3D TV using a 240 Hz LCD panel and built-in 4K upscaler with features similar to the regular 8 Series (see below).  The new 4K Aquos will ship in the second have of 2013.

Sharp will bring their Aquos line of 1080p LCD/LED HDTV to stores staring in March 2013 with 21 models in screen sizes of 60, 70, 80 and 90 inch screen sizes with improved audio and video performance.  Quattron is featured in 10 of these models (adds a yellow sub-pixel along will the regular red, blue and green sub-pixels).  There will 3 series of models (6 series, 7 series and 8 series).  The new top of the line 8 series has a super bright model said to be 50% more light output.  Sharp Smart TV have increased processor power and enhanced interactive features.

There was no mention of Sharp projectors at the press conference.

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Panasonic –

Panasonic introduced their new projector flagship PT-AE8000 back in Sept. 2012. Therefore, nothing new projector-wise was expected to be announced at the Panasonic’s CES conference.

Panasonic a very short press conference where they introduced “Smart Viera TV” in their higher end 2013 plasma and LCD/LED TVs with an emphasis on personalization and ease of access to services.  These smart TVs will feature “My Home Screen” to integrate all of the entertainment options onto a single personalized screen.  Some models have a built-in TV came than can be used to recognize different viewers and bring up a personalized screen for that viewer.  Also featured is the integration between the Smart Viera TVs and mobile devices (i.e., smart phones and tablets).  This  is provided via a wifi connection.  New features for the Smart Viera TVs will include a Home Shopping Network “Shop by Remote” service as well as new YouTube features.

For 2013 Panasonic will introduce 16 new plasma HDTVs and 16 new LCD/LED models with screen sizes up to 65 inches (same as for 2012) but with virtually no information on any improvements to the display quality over the 2012 models.  The 2013 VT60 series of Plasma HDTVs will include the “My Home Screen” feature while the ZT60 series features a new 3000 Hz. “Focused Field Drive” and includes Viera Connect.  The new Smart Viera WT and DT series of LCD/LED HDTVs feature a wide viewing angle.

Bottom line is Panasonic provided info no new smart features but very little information at their press conference about actual performance improvements to their plasma for LCD/LED flat panel HDTVs.

UPDATE – Panasonic showed a prototype OLED 56 inch OLED 4K Ultra HD TV.  No timeframe for production units nor price information as given.

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Samsung –

Samsung is the world’s largest consumer electronic company.  This year their theme seems to be creating better ways for humans and computer based (i.e., smart) devices to interact.  This will provide consumers a simpler way to find what is important to them.

Samsung introduced a new flagship Blu-ray player, model BD-F7500 that includes upconversion of 1080p video to a 4K video output (some 2012 models, such as Sony’s flagship model, also had this feature).

Samsung announced many new LCD/LED and Plasma TV models and the 55 inch model KN55F9500 OLED TV.  This OLED TV supports multi-view so that two users wearing special glasses (similar to active 3D glasses but with ear buds for the audio) can be watching two different TV programs at the same time.

Samsung’s most advanced Smart TVs will incorporate “Smart Hub” as the user interface to manage functions and media content.  Live TV and on-demand streaming video are integrated as well as other integrated on-line services.

Samsung introduced an “Evolution Kit” (a small plug-in hardware box) for their smart TVs to allow the smarts (processor, software, etc.) of the TV to be easily upgraded by the user for new functions/features and increased processing capabilities.  For example, today’s Samsung smart TV can be updated to add the features introduced in next year’s models.

The Samsung F8000 is their flagship 1080p LCD/LED Smart TV series with a very thin profile with a quarter inch wide bezel and with screen sizes up to 75 inches.  The F8000 series will include LED micro-dimming for improved images.  This series of smart TVs features includes voice command and visual movement inputs.  Support will be provided for the new H.265 codec (HCVC) for steaming video.

The UN85S9 is a 4K Ultra HD TV.  This 85 inch model uses an unusual configuration with a frame around the “floating” screen (referred as the “timeless gallery design”) with built-in speakers with 120 watts of audio.  Also a 110 inch 4K Ultra HD model is being introduced and demo’ed at the Samsung booth at CES (not showen at the new conference).

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Sony –

Sony only introduced one new projector at the Sept. 2012 CEDIA show and that was their entry-level model VPL-HW50ES.  Last year’s highly rated flagship 1080p VPL-VW95ES and the 4K VPL-VW1000ES have remained in the line since first announced nearly a year and half ago CEDIA in Sept. 2011 and have now been available to the consumer for a year, or more.  As I reported in my previous blog, the big question (projector-wise) for Sony going into CES 2013 was if they would announce any new mid-to-high end projectors.

Sony’s slogan for this year’s products seems to “make.believe”.  Sony introduce a new Android smart phone with a 5 inch full HD 1080p display (if you like to watch your HD video on a 5 inch screen).  Sony is promoting connectivity between smart phones and their other consumer electronic devices.  They have a series of “one touch” products to allow information/media to be transfer between devices by simply touching the source device to the output device (TV, media player, etc.).

An updated line of flat panel HDTV was introduced with Sony’s “Triluminos” display technology claimed to offer truer colors on both 1080p and 4K TVs.  Sony is adding 55 inch and 65 inch 4K Ultra HD TVs to join the recently launched 84 inch model.  The new smaller and less expensive models will go on sale in the spring of 2013.

Sony is going to launch a 4K video distribution system in the USA during the summer 2013.  Native 4K movies by Sony Pictures and other media companies will be offered by the 4K video distribution system.  This will require the use of a 4K player connected via the internet to the Sony 4K distribution service.  As previously reported, Sony is providing consumers that purchase their 84 inch 4K Ultra HD with the loan of a 4K Ultra HD Video Player.  I assume this is intended as an interim measure before the 4K video distribution system and it own 4K players are released.  Also it is certainly possible that the upcoming Playstation 4 will support this 4K video distribution service, but the PS4 is not being announced at CES, so we will have to wait for that announcement, most likely coming sometime later this year.

Sony is exhibiting a prototype 4K camcorder designed for the consumer at their display booth (no price or production data mentioned at the press conference).

Sony will release of series of “4K line up of Blu-ray Discs this coming spring”.  It appears they are only talking about conventional 1080p Blu-ray Discs made from 4K masters and not a next generation of Blu-ray that has a native 4K resolution.

Sony announced and displayed a prototype OLED 56 inch 4K Ultra HD TV.  No pricing or availability information on this OLED TV was released at the press conference (but it could be perhaps a year or two away from production).

There was no mention of consumer projectors during the Sony press conference.  However, it’s still possible something will show up when the trade show opens tomorrow (Tuesday, Jan. 8^th).

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That is the end of the info from the Pre-Show News Conferences

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My earlier CES preview info is below

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NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR 2013

It appears that 2013 will be the year 4K (Ultra High Definition) consumer projectors using laser-based light engines make their appearance.  Professional video camera manufacturer RED is set to begin production, within the next few months, of a 4K resolution projector with a laser-based light engine.  The lasers are housed in a separate box connected to the projector head via a fiber optics cable.  The laser box can be remotely mounted several feet away from the projector head.  Red showed an early prototype at the NAB show last spring but they may not make an appearance at this month’s CES.  Red is not listed as having their own exhibit booth but there is a chance a Red projector may show up someone else’s booth.  Also it is possible that Sony will be showing their own 4K laser-based projector (just a rumor at this point).

As discussed in my previous blog (HERE) it is anticipated there will be some announcements about 4K video sources that likely incorporate a new generation of HDMI interfaces (i.e., HDMI version 1.5?) and a new, more efficient video codec (i.e., H.265).  There may be information released at CES about whether the Blu-ray Disc Association has decided to move forward with the development of a new standard for a 4K Blu-ray disc.  Such a new Blu-ray standard is necessary in order for the consumer electronics manufacturers to develop the next generation of Blu-ray players and the movie studios to produce discs that support 4K (i.e., Ultra High Definition).  Also it will be interesting to see if there are any announcements at CES for new hard drive based 4K video players.  I’ve seen no specific product announcements released in advance of CES for 4K video sources other than the info on the Sony and Red 4K hard drive based video players discussed in my previous blog.  However, some information may come out as early as the Monday, Jan. 7^th press day events.

PRE-SHOW PRODUCT ANNOUCEMENTS

As discussed in my previous blog (HERE) a few products announcements came out well in advance of CES.  The only new projector described in my previous blog was the new LG Hecto short throw, laser-based, projector with an included 100 inch screen.

LG Hectro Laser Projector

Another interesting home theater product (but not projector related) announced for CES, and discussed in my earlier blog, is 110 inch LCD/LED 4K (Ultra High Definition) flat panel displays from Westinghouse, TCL and perhaps some other companies.  See my earlier blog (HERE) for more info on these products.

Gefen is introducing a new 3D video converter that separates the left and right 3D video streams to support use of a pair of regular 2D video projectors for a passive 3D setup.  I discussed such an arrangement in a 10-part series of blogs last year (first one of the series is HERE).  Below is an excerpt from the Gefen press release:

The 3D Split Image Converter can also deliver 3D video when its two DVI outputs are connected to two stacked projectors at the same time. Imagery can be configured as left eye/right eye or as identical 2D signals, depending on your preference. 3D content can be viewed using standard, polarized 3D glasses.

“In both cases, the 3D Split-Image Converter will also extract digital audio from the HDMI source and deliver it as a separate optical output to feed an audio amplifier and increase your sound making it great for home theaters,” said Hagai Gefen, president, Gefen.

Increased brightness adjustments on the 3D Split Image Converter enable a high quality picture. High definition resolutions up to 1080p full HD are supported.

The 3D Split-Image Converter works with all hi-def video sources capable of producing 3DTV content including Blu-rays, set-top boxes and gaming consoles. It offers control through front panel buttons, IR remote or RS-232 interface.

Wolf Cinema has been selling video projectors through custom home theater installers.  Their projectors are based on imaging electronics sourced from JVC.  Wolf has issued a press release announcing two new models.  Their new SDC-12 model appears to be using what JVC calls eShift and what Wolf calls V4K for an upscaled (i.e., not native), pseudo 4K image.  Below is an excerpt from the Wolf Cinema press release:

Wolf Cinema, a leading manufacturer of high–performance home cinema projectors, announces the release of two all-new 3D projectors – the model SDC-8, also known as the “GRAYWOLF” and the model SDC-12, called “GRAYWOLF 4K”.  Suitable for home theater screens up to 11’ wide, these two fully-featured home cinema projectors deliver all the 2D and 3D [stereoscopic] viewing excellence expected from Wolf Cinema, but at ore affordable retail prices.  The SDC-8 boasts a next generation three-chip, D-ILA® [Direct Drive Image Light Amplifier] light engine for ultra-high-fidelity 1080p viewing, while the SDC-12 adds our remarkable V4K™ technology to deliver enhanced 3840 x 2160 on-screen imaging from all standard video sources.  Both models release in January 2013 and at North American Suggested Retail Prices of $8,000.00 [model SDC-8] and $12,000 [model SDC-12].

Wolf Cinema SDC-12 Projector

In recent years Lumagen has been manufacturing some of the best video processors for use with home theater projectors and about a year ago Darbee Vision began offering a single purpose video processor for providing detail enhancement.  Lumagen has recently licensed the rights to incorporate the Darbee functions into their line of video processors.  An exceprt from a Lumagen press release is below:

According to Lumagen’s president, Jim Peterson, “Darbee Visual Presence is a great fit for our video processor product line, which includes the CEA™ 2010 Platinum award winner for Video Product of the Year, the RadianceXE. We are always working to improve the video quality available to our customers and see Darbee as a great way to add value to our products. We look forward to offering Darbee-enabled products beginning in the first half of 2013.” Darbee and Lumagen will demonstrate their technologies working in tandem to the international consumer electronics market at the 2013 CES show in Las Vegas,

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I’ll Post a new blog after CES is underway and also be sure to check out Art’s Blogs (HERE) and Art’s tweets (HERE) for his CES observations.

Below is sampling of exhibitors listed for CES 2013 that may be introducing new video projectors or other noteworthy home theater oriented video products:

Note:  The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has officially endorsed the terminology “Ultra High Definition” for 4K video displays and sources.

BenQ

No pre-show announcements have been released by BenQ, but perhaps they will announce a replacement for the now year old W7000 projector (just speculation).

LG

Based on a pre-CES press announcement, LG is set to introduce a new laser based short throw projector designed to fill an included 100 inch (diagonal) screen from just 22 inches away.  This new 1080p projector model is called “Hecto^TM”.  The Hecto projector includes a digital tuner and built-in speakers.  It also has three HDMI inputs and uses a laser light source rated with a 25,000 hour life.

LG Hecto Projector

While LG will be sure to also be promoting their 4K resolution LCD/LED flat panel Ultra High Definition (UHD) TVs (announced at CEDIA Expo 2012 back in September), word is that they (and perhaps also Samsung) are having serious manufacturing issues with the OLED display panels intended for use in the 55 inch OLED HDTVs they first announce a year ago at CES 2012.

Mitsubishi

Mitsubishi introduced two new DLP projectors (i.e., HC7900DW and HC8000) at the Sept. 2012 CEDIA Expo and it is doubtful they will be introducing any other new models at CES.  However an announcement for a new LCoS (SXRD) projector (i.e., as a successor to the now discontinued HC9000D) or perhaps another DLP model, while unlikely, cannot be ruled out.  As a side note, it appears the days for consumer Rear Projection TVs (RPTVs) are at an end as Mitsubishi, the last remaining RPTV manufacture, will be ceasing production of RPTVs.  This is being reported by CEPro, where they have reported that Max Wasinger, long-time exec with Mitsubishi, said “We are in the midst of an orderly exit from the DLP TV business. MEVSA will now focus on B-to-B (projectors, display wall, printers, digital signage, monitors, etc.) and the home theater projector business.”

Optoma

So far there are no pre-show announces from Optoma, but perhaps replacements for one or more of Optoma’s current DLP projector models (e.g., HD33, HD8300) will be unveiled at CES (just speculation).

Sony

Although many people expected Sony to announce a replacement for their flagship 1080p projector (i.e., model VPL-VW95ES) at the CEDIA Expo, Sony only announced a new entry 3D model (VPL-HW50ES) that replaced last year’s VPL-HW30.  Although there is no official pre-CES information from Sony, perhaps a replacement for the VPL-VW95 projector will be unveiled.  Other speculation is Sony may introduce a new projector that falls price-wise into Sony’s projector lineup above the current VPL-VW95ES and below their only 4K consumer model (i.e., VPL-VW1000).  It is virtually certain Sony will be showing their 4K flat panel Ultra High Definition (UHD) TVs (announced at CEDIA Expo 2012 back in September) and their 4K video player (discussed in my previous blog) that is provided on loan to those consumers that purchase their new 55 inch UHD TV.  Also Sony may have an announcement about a 4K video source for owners of their 4K projector and perhaps there will be some information about plans for the development of an industry standard for next generation of Blu-ray players and discs supporting 4K video (just speculation). Note that some other manufacturers showing new 4K UHD TVs at CES may also be providing information about industry plans for such a 4K upgrade to Blu-ray.

Westinghouse

Westinghouse has already indicated they will be introducing an new 110 inch LCD/LED 4K UHD TV at CES.  Westinghouse is also expected to have 4K UHD TV models in smaller sizes of 50 inches, 55 inches and 65 inches.  The 110 inch model is rumored to be using a LCD panel manufactured by TCL in China and other TV manufactures, including TCL itself, are expected to also introduce 110 inch UHD models at CES using this same LCD 4K panel.

Wolf Cinema

Wolf Cinema has been marketing high-end home theater projectors based on JVC supplied light engines/electronics.  While there has been no pre-show announcments from Wolf, they may introduce new models based on the latest JVC designs (just speculation).

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My next blog (January 2013) will discuss some of the new video products actually introduced at CES 2013.

Background of 4K Video

Let us first provide a little background on 4K video.  The term “4K” comes from the commercial digital cinema world where it corresponds to a projected image with a maximum resolution of 4096 x 2160 pixels (i.e., a total of 8.8 Mpixels with each pixel being square). Thus the term 4K is derived from the approximately 4,000 (i.e., 4K) horizontal pixels that make up the image.  The 4K digital cinema format, when all 8.8 Mpixels are used, has an aspect ratio of image that is approx. 1.9:1 while fewer pixels (i.e., 3996 x 2160) are utilized when displaying the more common 1.85:1 aspect ratio image used for many commercial movies.  4K video with its 8+ Mpixels offers approximately 4 times the number of pixels of the consumer 1080p HD format and as a result is capable of providing an extremely detailed image, even on very large displays (or screens).

4K as being developed specifically for consumer products is sometimes referred to as “Ultra High Definition” (UHD) TV or “Quad Full High Definition” (QFHD) TV. Consumer HDTV uses an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and a similar industry consumer 4K standard for QFHD has been defined with a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels, which is exactly double the vertical and double the horizontal resolution of Full HD 1080p.  While some 4K display devices, such as the Sony VPL-VW1000ES, support the full resolution of the digital cinema standard (i.e., 4096 x 2160 pixels), such displays can also accommodate the slightly less horizontal resolution defined for QFHD by simply not using all of the display chip’s pixels (in this case leaving vertical black bars on the sides of the image).

Enabling Technologies

There are two new industry standards currently being developed that can be considered as essential for enabling the full potential for future 4K video sources.

Next Generation HDMI

I discussed this at some length in my August 1, 2012 blog (HERE).  I suggest you read that earlier blog more details, but the following is a very quick summary as related to 4K video.  The current HDMI standard is version 1.4b and that version offers very limited support for 4K video with only provisions for 2D 4K video at 24 Hz.  The Next Generation HDMI standard (perhaps to be called ver. 1.5) is expected to support 4K video at higher refresh rates (e.g., 48 Hz, 60Hz) and perhaps 3D at full 4K resolution.  The updated HDMI standard has been under development for one year and is expected to be released very soon.

Enhanced Video Codec

Currently the most widely used consumer HD video encoding/decoding technique, outside of broadcast digital TV, is called Advanced Video Coding (AVC) as defined by the part 10 of the ITU H.264 standard (wiki article is HERE).  This codec (developed jointly by the International Telecommunications Union – ITU and by the MPEG group within the International Standards Organization – ISO) is one of three different codecs used for Blu-ray Discs and is also widely used for consumer HD video camcorders.  AVC evolved from earlier MPEG-4 versions and is now nearly a decade old.  The H.264 standard was extended in 2009 to add support for 3D video and the 3D version of the codec is called Multiview Video Coding (MVC), which is now used for all Blu-ray 3D video discs.   While AVC does include an option for 4K resolution, it is limited in refresh rate similar the HDMI 1.4b limitations at that resolution.  This 4K option is not supported by the current Blu-ray Disc standard.  Also the current version of the AVC codec (i.e., as used for Blu-ray Discs) is limited to an 8-bit (per color) color depth.

A joint ITU/ISO technical working group is now finishing up the standard for the next generation codec, to be defined within the new H.265 standard.  The H.265 standard defines a new codec called “High Efficiency Video Codec” (HEVC).  HEVC is not just for 4K video as it supports everything from low resolution video, as used for web videos and video captures by mobile phones, all the way up to 8K video, which may be coming in the not far too distant future as the top-of-the-line standard for commercial digital cinemas.  While the H.265 standard will support many different applications, at the core all of these will use a common very efficient encoding/decoding technique.  AVC has been around for nearly a decade and by comparison the new HEVC codec provides improved coding efficiency that is achieved with the use of increased processing power that has been made possible through technology advancement.  Improved coding efficient is important for the distribution of 4K video, either in support of delivery via the internet or via a future version of Blu-ray discs.  A stated goal for the new HEVC codec is that it will be (at least) twice as efficient as AVC and this will be an enabling technology in support of the distribution of 4K video, i.e., requiring only one half the data rate and storage space as for the same video encoded with AVC.

4K Video Players

Two companies have recently announced first generation 4K video players.

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Sony is providing a 4K video player that will be loaned exclusively to their customers that purchase the new Sony 84 inch model XBR-84X900 flat panel Ultra HD LED TV.  The hard drive-based video player is referred to as the 4K Ultra High Definition Video Player. The player will have 10 feature films pre-installed plus some independent movies and short subjects.  Sony says they will subsequently provide, at no cost to the customer. Additional 4K content on Blu-ray data discs that can be loaded onto the player’s hard disk using the player’s built-in Blu-ray optical drive.  The pre-loaded Hollywood feature films include:

• The Amazing Spiderman
• Total Recall (2012)
• The Karate Kid (2010)
• Salt
• Battle Los Angeles
• The Other Guys
• Bad Teacher
• That’s My Boy
• Taxi Driver
• The Bridge on the River Kwai

The Sony press release includes a statement from Chris Cookson, president, Sony Pictures Technologies indicating: “Sony Pictures leads the industry in building a library of new releases and restored classics mastered in 4K, so it is both exciting and appropriate that we can provide the first 4K movies that consumers will be able to experience in their homes.”

Although Sony has only announced plans to loan their 4K Ultra High Definition Video Player to customers purchasing their 4K 84 inch Ultra HD TV, there have been hints they have something in the works to offer to their customers that already have, or will be purchasing their 4K video projectors.  Perhaps an announcement of the longer term plans will be forthcoming from Sony next month at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.  Also one must wonder if Sony views the loaner 4K video player as a short term solution while the longer-term plans are based on a 4K version of Blu-ray discs (see below) along with a future 4K video download service perhaps supported by the next generation of Playstation and/or a dedicated standalone 4K video player.

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Red is a well known U.S. based manufacturer of 2K and 4K video cameras for the commercial movie industry.  for example, the recently released “The Hobbit” was shot using Red Epic cameras.  They have announced, and are now taking orders for a 4K video player called the “Redray 4K Cinema Player”.

Redray 4K Cinema Player

Red describes the Redray as “the first 4K Cinema Player to bring ultra high-definition content to your home, business or local theater using internet file based distribution. Capable of playing HD, 3D or 4K media, REDRAY utilizes a 1TB internal drive to store all of your content. Advanced networking and low data rates let you distribute content via FTP transfer or solid-state media.”

The Redray 4K player sells for $1450 and 4K video content will be available, for a fee, that can be downloaded to the Redray player via an internet connection.  Red is using a video encoding codec (perhaps a Red proprietary codec) that offers a high level of compression such that the average data rate used for the 4K video in only about 20 Mbps, which is well under the 30+ Mbps data rate used on many 1080p Blu-ray discs (encoded using  Blu-ray’s AVC codec).  Also the Red Player’s codec provides increased color depth with 12-bits per color vs. Blu-ray’s 8-bit per color.  Also Red states that “REDRAY delivers with playback of 3D media at up to 60 fps per eye in 4K.”

Unlike Sony, who owns a movie studio and has an in-house source for 4K video content, Red will need to rely of outside sources for video content and content distribution  To this end Red has linked their Redray player with the Odemax distribution network which Jarred Land (Red co-owner) says is the “only comprehensive distribution solution for 4K.” However, while Odemax will initially be able to offer movies from some independent film producers, it is still unknown if or when any of the major movie studios will offer their movies for distribution by Odemax in 4K format.  The Odemax service is scheduled to come online in January 2013 and the Redray players should begin shipping early in 2013.  I expect more details will be released soon about what Odemax will be offering.

The Redray player should be compatible with the existing Sony VPL-VW1000ES 4K projector, as well as Red’s own laser-based 4K projector planned for release during 2013.

Blu-ray Disc 4K

The current Blu-ray Disc standard limits the resolution to 1080p.  There are no confirmed reports out of the Blu-ray Disc Association as to if or when we can expect to see an update to the Blu-ray Disc standard to add support for 4K video.  However, a Sony representative at the CEDIA trade show in September 2011 indicated that such a upgrade to the Blu-ray standard was likely and subsequently a representative from LG earlier this year indicated he expected to see the first Blu-ray 4K players/software by the end of 2013.  Note such true 4K Blu-ray players (i.e., capable of playing discs recorded with 4K resolution video) are not to be confused with the few currently available Blu-ray players that offer upscaling of standard 1080p video to provide a 4K output.  Only industry members of the Blu-ray Disc Association have access to any draft materials and status information related to Blu-ray 4K, so at this point I can make no fact-based claims about when we might see 4K Blu-ray players available along with a selection of Hollywood blockbuster movies released in 4K format.  However, it is interesting that we do know that there are updated standards for both more efficient coding of 4K video (the H.265 codec) and for the next generation HDMI standard with more comprehensive support for 4K.  Both of these standards would likely be needed, and incorporated by reference, into any updated standard for Blu-ray that adds support for 4K video.  So the bottom line is that the technology pieces are now falling to place to make Blu-ray 4K possible and perhaps there will be some form of announcement concerning Blu-ray 4K at next month’s Consumer Electronic Show.

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I will be keeping my eyes open for any news about 4K video sources that may come out at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show (January 2013).  I’ll cover any such news in a future Blog.

Programmable/Learning Remote Controls

There is already an overview of programmable remote controls (Click HERE) on the Projector Reviews web site.  While there are quite a few manufacturers of very low cost remotes that are sold as universal remotes, that permit you to control several different devices, my focus here is about more capable remotes that allow to control your home theater as an integrated system, and not just control the individual components within that system.  Logitech makes what is perhaps the most popular line of such remotes and I will use their remotes as an example of a relatively low-to-moderate cost solution for controlling your home theater system.  These Logitech remotes are sold under the Harmony^TM product name (their web site is HERE).  While there are some really low cost Harmony remotes being sold, the current models capable of controlling a modest home theater system start at just under $80 MSRP (e.g., Model 650).  More complex home theater systems require a higher-end model, such as the popular “Harmony One^TM” ($199 SRP), pictured below.

Logitech Harmony One Remote

The Harmony remotes are programmed on your computer (PC or MAC) using Logitech software (provided with some remotes or can be downloaded from the Logitech web site) that connects via the internet to the Logitech-Harmony site.  This on-line service includes a data base of the remote commands for vast array of electronic devices.  In the event your home theater system includes a device (or specific command) that is not in the Logitech data base then, with your Harmony remote connected via USB to your PC or MAC, you can record the commands from your device’s original infrared remote control.

Using the Logitech Harmony program installed on a PC or MAC you first select and install the remote command set for each of your devices (those equipped with a remote control) that make up your home theater system.  In most cases your devices will already be listed in the Logitech’s online data base and if not there may be a very similar model listed which uses the same remote commands.  For example, if you have recently purchased a new model of Blu-ray Disc player, it probably will use the same remote commands as the prior year’s model.  In case a compatible device is not found, then you will need to take the time to learn the essential remote commands from the device’s original remote.  While the lower-end Harmony model 650 supports a maximum of 5 devices, the higher-end models (e.g. as the Harmony One, the Model 900 and Model 1100) support up to 15 devices.

Once the commands have been added for each of the electronic devices that make up your system, you can then create what Logitech calls “Activities”.  Activities can be defined for such things as “Watch TV”, “Play Movie”,  “Listen to FM”, or whatever else you decide.  For each activity you define which devices within your system are used and how each device is configured.  For example let’s assume for the “Watch TV” activity your home theater uses a Cable TV set-top-box connected via HDMI to a AV Receiver and the output from the AV Receiver is connected via HDMI to a video projector.  For this example you would use your Harmony remote to select “Watch TV” and the remote would send the commands to turn on your Cable TV box, AV Receiver (AVR) and Projector and to selected the correct HDMI input for the AV Receiver, and the correct HDMI input selected for the projector.  In this simple example the Harmony remote will need to send a series of commands to each the cable TV box, the AVR and to the projector.  For your part, you only need to use the Logitech program on your computer to identify the required system configuration for each activity.

There are a number of things that can make the required operation of the Harmony remote more complex.  One complexity that the Harmony remote automatically deals with is going directly from one activity to another, such as from watching a movie using your Blu-ray Disc player as the source device then going to the previously described “Watch TV” activity.  In this case the projector and AVR are already turned on, but the Harmony must send the commands to select the correct HDMI input on the AVR and perhaps also a different HDMI input on the projector.  Also when transitioning between these two different activities the Blu-ray Disc player’s power should be turned off and the power for the cable box needs to be turned on.

Additional complications may arise as the result of limitations of the available remote control commands that can be accepted by some electronic devices. One such issue is if you have one or more devices that have only a single toggle remote command that alternates the power on or off rather than having individual discrete commands for power on and for power off.  The Harmony will attempt to keep track if the device is already on or off when it is called upon to either turn a device on or off, but a single missed command between the remote and the device can get the remote and the device out of sync.  This is not a potential issue unique to Harmony remotes as this can be an issue with any programmable remote providing system-level control.  A similar issue can arise when a device, such as an AV receiver or a projector, lacks discrete remote commands to select the specific signal input.  In some cases where the original remote supplied with the electronic device lacks separate buttons for power on vs. power off and/or for each signal input, the component itself may actually accept discrete inputs.  As a result it is not unusual for the Harmony data base to include additional discrete remote commands beyond what is supported by the device’s original remote.

With the Harmony remotes, when an activity is created the Logitech software on the computer will assign functions to the remote’s buttons and also assign functions to the “soft buttons” (i.e., displayed on the LCD screen of the remote).  You will normally want to modify several of these to better suit how you want to control your system so that frequently used functions can be easily accessed.  This reassignment of functions to the remote’s buttons is easily accomplished via your computer using the Logitech software.

Once you have used the Logitech software tool to define your configuration to include all devices and all desired activities you can save your configuration (saved on Logitech’s server) and to then download the configuration into your remote (connected to your PC or MAC via a USB cable).

I’ve used more than half a dozen different models of Harmony remotes over the past 6 years and generally have found that over the first couple of weeks of use I will usually find a few things that need to be either corrected or additional commands that would be useful to add.  The Logitech approach makes it relatively easy to implement the desired changes to an existing configuration.

Video Image Enhancer

In Art’s recent reviews of the Sony VPL-HW50ES and the Epson Home Cinema 5020UB he describes each of these projectors feature to digitally process the video to create the appearance of a increased details in the projected image.  Sony calls their detail enhancement function “Reality Creation” while Epson’s detail enhancement function is called “Super Resolution”.  Both the Sony and Epson detail enhancement functions are far more effective than the simple sharpness control found on virtually all TVs for the past few decades.  Art found the Sony approach more effective than Epson’s when he wrote:

“True, Epson has Super-Resolution – it’s in the game, but Sony is far more effective. Sony’s raised the bar If you use Reality creation in modest doses (20-35 is about all I’ll use out of 100), it does produce what seems to be a sharper, crisper image.”

There is now a modestly priced add-on video processor box that offers a very sophisticated detail enhancement capability that can be used with any modern 1080p projector.  The DarbeeVision Darblet is a nifty little single purpose video processor that is capable of increasing the apparent details and contrast for the areas of the image exhibiting fine structures/textures.

Darblet Video Processor

The Darblet has a MSRP of under $350 and is capable of providing a subjective improvement to the image details, especially if the connected projector already produces a high quality 1080p image.  A few months ago I had about an hour to evaluate a Darblet connected to the superb Sony VPL-VW1000ES projector (with the Sony doing its own 1080p to 4K upscaling for display).  The input source was a Blu-ray Disc and I observed the Darblet’s ability to provide detail enhancement in both 2D and 3D modes.  For some scenes the effect of the Darblet was not so obvious while in other scenes where there were very fine details or textures present (such as the details visible in a person’s hair or the visible texture of the clothing worn by the actors) the effect of the Darblet was much more obvious.  The Darblet lets the user set the level of detail enhancement and a setting in the range of 40 to 45 seems to produce improvements to the perceived details without introducing noticeable noise or other objectionable processing artifacts.  Several Darblet owners that are lucky enough to also own a Sony VW1000 have reported success in using the Darblet (with the above suggested setting) in combination with the projector’s Reality Creation feature (when the Reality Creation is set to provide a only modest level of enhancement).  The Darblet is a relatively low cost home theater addition capable of making images from your 1080p projector look even better.

Simplifying the Transition to 3D

If you are replacing (or have recently replaced) your video projector with a model that supports 3D, then you may run into one of the more common issues for home theater owners.  This is the lack of 3D support by the existing electronic devices in the video signal path.  While all but the lest expensive entry-level AV Receivers (AVRs) now incorporate HDMI 1.4 inputs/output and will at least pass-through 3D signals, older HDMI equipped AVRs and Preamps/Processors (Pre/Pro) typically had HDMI 1.2 or 1.3 inputs which do not generally support 3D signals.  Since Blu-ray 3D is the highest quality source of 3D, this is also the most important 3D source for most home theater owners.  There are now several available Blu-ray 3D players featuring dual HDMI outputs that are intended to offer a work around for those situations where the home theater system has a perfectly good AVR or Pre/Pro that has HDMI 1.3 (or 1.3a) inputs.  With this type of Blu-ray 3D player one HDMI output can be connected directly to a 3D capable video projector and the player’s second HDMI output is then connected to a HDMI input on the older generation AVR or Pre/Pro (e.g., with HDMI 1.3 inputs).  With this setup the 3D video signal is sent from the Blu-ray player to the projector via a HDMI 1.4 connection and the audio signal is simultaneously sent to the AVR using the HDMI format supported by that AVR (e.g, HDMI 1.3).

Panasonic offers their model DMP-BDT320 player ($199 MSRP) and their flagship model DMP-BDT500 ($349 MSRP).  Sony offers their model BDP-S790 ($249 MSRP) while Samsung offers their model BD-E6500 ($229 MSRP) player.  Oppo, a long favorite among home theater enthusiasts, offers their new models BDP-103 ($499 MSRP) and the BDP-105 ($1199 MSRP).  Any of the above players offers a simplified transition path for enabling 3D without the expense of replacing your HDMI equipped AVR or Preamp/Processor.

A few of the above Blu-ray player models go even further toward accommodating older AVRs and Pre/Pro devices by also including discrete 7.1 channel analog outputs.  Such Blu-ray players can be used with older AVRs and Pre/Pros that have an external 7.1 (or 5.1) analog input but lack HDMI inputs, or only have pre- ver. 1.3 HDMI inputs and does not offer decoding of the lossless audio formats found on most Blu-ray discs.  Blu-ray disc players with this feature include the Panasonic DMP-BDT500 and both Oppo models listed above.

The other consideration with making the transition to 3D is the type of HDMI cables being used.  All HDMI cables are now classified as either “standard speed” or “high speed.”  HDMI cables certified as “high speed” should have the bandwidth to support the demands of 3D including the link from the Blu-ray 3D player to an AVR or to a 3D capable video projector.  However, that does not mean that certain cables classified as standard speed will not be able to support 3D.  Generally when you are upgrading to 3D you wait to see if your existing HDMI cables actually work with the new equipment.  However, you should only purchase HDMI cables certified as “high speed” for any new HDMI cables needed to connect up new devices in your system.  If an existing HDMI cable does not have sufficient bandwidth to support 3D, then you typically will see either “sparklies” (random noise) in the projected 3D image or simply a blank screen, perhaps with a “no signal” on-screen message being displayed.  When doing a system upgrade, it’s handy to have one or two high speed HDMI cables on hand so you can replace the exiting cables one at a time to find which one(s) is not able to support the extra bandwidth requirements of the 3D signal.

Lamp Overview

The vast majority of projectors available today that are suitable for use in a home theater use mercury vapor arc lamps (bulbs) with the mercury vapor gas contained within a glass envelope.  The gas is under high pressure within a gas envelope and such lamps using this technology are most frequently referred to as a UHP (Ultra High Pressure) lamp, or for certain less common variations they are referred to as a SHP (Super High Pressure) lamp.  For the remainder of this blog I will refer to the overall class of such lamps as UHP.  These are arc lamps meaning they contain no filament, as used in common incandescent or halogen light bulbs. Instead, UHP lamps require a high voltage electrical pulse to be applied to the lamp or order to create an electrical arc between internal electrodes which triggers the ignition of the lamp.  The UHP lamp is a technology that was developed by Philips in 1995.  Virtually all projector manufactures purchase the UHP lamp itself (i.e., bulb) used in their lamp assemblies from one of very few UHP lamp manufacturers, including Philips, Osram, Ushio, Iwasaki, etc..  The lamp assembly, or module, used within a projector includes a housing that contains a UHP bulb that is placed in front of a curved (e.g., parabolic) mirrored reflector.  This reflector, placed toward the rear of the lamp assembly, is used to focus the light which exits the lamp assembly through a clear glass window in front of the bulb.  The two photos below show these part of the lamp assembly (photo is of a JVC lamp assembly).

Lamp Assembly - Photo 1

Lamp Asssembly - Photo 2

How Lamps Age and Fail

The light output of UHP lamps will decrease over time.  The light output will be the greatest when the lamp is new and will typically lose on the order of 20% of the original light output over the initial several hundred hours of use.  After that the rate of loss of the light output will typically slow down during the remaining nominal life of the lamp.  Ideally a UHP lamp’s light loss will be gradual and well behaved in reaching one-half of the original light output after a few thousand hours of use.  The lamp life for the UHP lamps used in consumer front projectors is typically rated by the projector manufacturer somewhere between 2,000 hours and 4,000 hours.  This rating is for a 50% loss of the original light output.  Most projectors will have a high lamp and a low lamp setting (labeled various names by the different projector manufacturers).  Many manufacturers will rate the lamp as having a longer operating life when the projector is operated in the low lamp mode.

While high vs. low lamp mode can impact lamp life there are other significant factors that should be considered.  These are the number and frequency of on/off lamp cycles and having adequately cooling for the lamp.

Lamp life is reduced each time the lamp is turned on.  Also lamp life can be shortened by not allowing adequate time for the lamp to fully cool down after being turned off before being started again.  While I have not seen any scientific study to confirm the specifics, there seems to be a general opinion among many experienced users that to achieve maximum lamp life, at least a 30 minutes cool-down period should be allowed before turning the projector back on again.  Thus if you are temporarily not going to be watching video from your projector but you expect to be watching it again within thirty minutes, it is probably best to leave the projector turned on.  The bottom line is that your viewing habits and the way you operate the projector have the potential of shortening the lamp life by cycling the lamp on and off more frequently that what has been assumed by the projector manufacturer in coming up with their ratings for lamp life.

Providing adequate cooling for the lamp (and other elements of the projector’s light engine) starts with the projector manufacturer providing an adequate thermal design to ensure the heat produced by the lamp is adequately vented away from the projector’s light engine.  It is the responsibility of the projector owner to ensure the projector is mounted such at airflow from the projector’s inlet and outlet air vents are not impeded, the projector’s air filter is kept clean, and if operated at high altitudes the projector is configured for high altitude operation (i.e., which increases the speed of the projector’s cooling fan).  Also the projector’s cooling fan will normally continue to run for a short time after turning the projector off.  You should not remove power (e.g., unplug the power cable) from the projector before the cooling fan has finished the cool down period.

Sooner or later all UHP lamps will fail and such failures can generally fall into one of three cases:

Case 1.  Slow graceful aging where the lamp’s brightness drops to 50% of its original light output at approximately the manufacturer’s rated lamp life (or even longer).  In this case it usually just becomes the projector owner’s decision as to when the projected image has become too dim and it is time to replace the lamp.

Case 2.  Gradual dimming followed by a very rapid dimming.  This failure mode frequently occurs after several hundreds (or more) hours of gradually dimming of the lamp (as typical for case 1 above).  In this case this can be one mode for a premature lamp failure which is typically cased by a defective lamp.  However, if this were to occur after a few thousand hours of normal bulb dimming it would not necessarily indicate an abnormal failure of the lamp.  In either case, this failure mode is characterized by the lamp going from having a nominal light output then all at once the lamp very quickly dimming by 50% to 90% over just a few hours, to a few tens of hours of use.

Case 3.  This failure mode is a catastrophic failure where in the worst case the UHP bulb itself explodes.  If you are lucky the lamp will simply fail to start or if the bulb does explode the best case is where the shattered pieces of glass are contained by the lamp housing.  If the worst really happens with a bulb explosion, you will be cleaning pieces of glass out of the projector before inserting the new lamp assembly.  Luckily, this is probably least common failure mode, but it certainly still happens all too frequently.

Tracking my Projector’s Light Output

Projector manufacturers provide warranty coverage for the lamp which may be for a shorter time period than for the projector itself.  Some manufacturers place both a time and “hours-of-use” limit for warranty coverage on the original lamp installed in a new projector.  For those projector owners that experience dimming of the lamp while the lamp is still under warranty, it can be useful to have hard data as to how much dimming has actually taken place.  Again, the industry standard is a 50% decrease in light output represents the end-of-life for the lamp.  For example, if your new projector has a 1 year warranty on the lamp and after just 10 months you have data to show that the lamp’s light output has decreased by 60% and you have not exceeded any hours-of-use-limit stated in the warranty, then you should have justification to request a replacement lamp from the manufacturer.

Some hobbyists have begun tracking the light output of their projectors in order to understand how well, or poorly, the lamp is aging.  This has become more practical over the past few years as suitable light meters have become much more affordable.  This type of light meter measures the light level in units of lux.  Technically ‘lux’ is a measurement of luminous flux per unit area (Wiki for a detailed explanation is HERE).

Pictured below are two different models of economical lux meters (the one pictured on the left typically sells for under $100 and the one pictured on the right sells for under $50).  Both of these models are sold under several different brand names from such on-line sites as Amazon and eBay.

Two Inexpensive Lux Meters

Such inexpensive lux meters may not have high absolute accuracy (their accuracy may vary by perhaps 10% from what would be measured with an expensive professional light meter), but the important thing is their relative accuracy from one measurement to the next (perhaps taken months or even years apart) should be adequate to track the dimming of the projector over time, as the lamp ages.

A projector’s light output is normally specified in lumens and this value is independent of the screen size or gain.  Lumens is a measure of the total amount of visible light emitted by the projector (Wiki for a detailed explanation is HERE).  For projectors that are two common methods in which the lumens are measured and specified.  In either case, a 100% white test pattern is input to the projector.

Peak lumens are measured at the center of the projected image (i.e., at the center of the screen).  This is typically the brightest point of the projected image.

ANSI lumens are the average of measurements taken at 9 points within a 3 x 3 grid across the projected image (as illustrated below).  This is a standard measurement technique defined by the American National Standards Institute and gives a better indication of the overall image brightness as it provides an average across the projected image rather than just a measurement at the brightest point.  Many projector manufacturers specify their projector’s light output in ANSI lumens.  However unless the lumens value in a manufacturer’s spec sheet specifically indicates the value is based on the ANSI standard, then most likely peak lumens (which will normally be a higher value than ANSI lumens) are being used.

If all you are attempting to do is to track how much your projector’s lamp is losing light output as it ages, then a simple peak lumens measurement should suffice.

The correct approach for measuring a projector’s light output and to track any changes over time is to use the exact same conditions for each measurements.  Below are my recommendations:

Test Tools:

1.  light meter capable in measuring in units of lux (i.e., lux meter)

2.  DVD or Blu-ray Disc player connected to the projector

3  DVD or Blu-ray test disc that includes a 100% white screen test pattern.  Commercially available test discs such as the Digital Video Essentials disc (DVE is available in both DVD and HD-Blu-ray Disc versions).  Also there are freeware test discs available as image files that can be downloaded to a PC and then burned onto a DVD (or Blu-ray Disc).  One such freeware image file is the AVS HD Calibration Disc (ISO file that can be burned on a DVD +/- R or a BD-R) that is described and can be downloaded HERE. Once downloaded you can use a commercial program such as Nero, or a freeware program such as IMGBURN, to burn a disc playable in most Blu-ray Disc players.

4.  I have prepared an Lumens Calculator spreadsheet file (for use with Microsoft Excel), that can be download from the link below, that lets you enter your screen size, and your measured lux values then it will calculate the projector’s lumens output.  It can be used to calculate either peak lumens or ANSI lumens based only our lux measurements with the light meter.  Download this file and run it with an Excel compatible spreadsheet program on your PC.

Link to download the Spreadsheet: Lumens Calc

Once you have the test tools in place it is time to actually perform the measurements.  The procedure is as described below:

1.  The projector must be set to the same user setting for the all measurements that are to be made over the life of the bulb.  You can use one of the factory presets for this, such as vivid or dynamic picture mode with the settings (e.g., contrast, brightness, etc.) at their factory default settings and with the lamp set to high output mode.  This combination is normally the brightest factory preset mode, but also the least accurate in terms of grey scale and color.  In any case, in order to be able to compare your initial measurements for the projector’s light output with later measurements, the projector must be operated under the same conditions each time a measurement is being made.

2.  Play the test disc and project the 100% white test pattern (you must use a full screen test pattern if you are going to do an ANSI lumens measurement).

3.  Using the Excel Spreadsheet that I have provided (see download link below), record the diagonal size and aspect ratio of the image.  This image size is typically the diagonal screen size (in inches) plus perhaps 2 to 4 additional inches to allow for the overscan of the image onto the black borders of the screen.  Note that all numeric units on this spreadsheet are in English units rather than metric.  Most modern HD projectors have a native 16 x 9 aspect ratio (or 16/9 = 1.78 aspect ratio which is the default value for the spreadsheet).  As explained in one note on the spreadsheet, while it is not essential for the lumens calculation, you should also enter the horizontal throw distance (in inches) from the screen to the lens of the projector.

4.  The room must be very dark with all light sources, other than the projector, turned off or blocked out (e.g., windows).  If you cannot fully block the light coming through any windows in the room then I suggest you perform the measurements at night.

5.  The light meter should be set to measure in lux (many such meters also give the you the option of measuring in foot candles) and if there is a peak vs. average reading setting (or fast vs. slow measurement setting) then in most cases the average or slow setting will work best.  Finally you should set the meter range to allow measurements of up to perhaps 1000 lux as a starting point then change to a lower range if the initial lux measured value falls within the next lower range on the meter.  For example, if the specific meter has one range for 0-to-200 lux and the next higher range is 0-to-2000 lux, then start off with the 0-to-2000 range and if the initial measurements fall below 200 lux then switch to the 0-to-200 range for the current and future measurements.

6.  The lux meter probe has a white dome behind which is the light sensor.  The back of the probe should be placed very close to the screen surface with the white dome facing toward the projector.

7.  If you are only wanting to measure the peak lumens, then place the probe at the center of the screen and record the lux reading from the meter into the Excel spreadsheet.  If you cannot run the attached Excel spreadsheet on your computer, then see the note below for how to manually calculate the lumens.

NOTE: Manual calculation of lumens.  If you do not have an Excel compatible spreadsheet program on your PC or Mac then you can manually calculate the lumens once you have made the lux measurement by using the following formula:

Lumens = (Image Area* in square feet) x (Measured Lux) x (0.0929)

* The image area is simply the width of the image times the height of the image measured in feet.  For example the viewable portion of a 100 inch (diagonal) screen with an aspect ratio of 1.78 (regular 16 x 9 HD aspect ratio) is approx. 87 inches wide by 49 inches high.  If you allow the image to extend approximate one extra inch onto the right and left black borders of the screen this will produce an image that is approx. 89 x 50 inches with an area of approximate 89 x 50 = 4450 square inches which is 4450/144 =  30.9 square feet.

8.  If your want to perform the ANSI lumens measurement, then use the lux meter to take 9 readings with the probe placed near the center of each of the 9 rectangles as shown in the figure above.  Record these 9 lux readings in the Excel spreadsheet.

9.  Create a log and record the number of hours on your projector’s lamp and the measured lumens value (calculated using the attached Excel spreadsheet).  The hours of use on the lamp can usually be accessed through the projector’s user menu.  For example, my Epson projector displays the lamp hours under the user “Info” menu and my JVC projector displays the lamp hours under a similar user “Information” menu.  While with most projectors this can be found under an info menu directly available to the user, with some other projectors this information may only be found in a service menu.  Check your projector’s owner’s manual or Google for how to find this info for your specific projector model.

By repeating the same measurements, under the same conditions, at different points in time (e.g., after every 200 hours of time on the lamp) you can track the light output of your projector and thus determine to what extent your projector’s lamp is dimming over time.  If you measure a sudden drop in lumens or you find that the projector’s lumens output has dropped below 50% of the original (with a new lamp) value, then it is time to consider replacing the lamp.

While there are now a few home theater oriented projectors that use LED or LED/Laser hybrid light sources, rather than UHP lamps, lamp-based projector are expected to dominate the market for at least the next few years.

I hope that some projector owners will find the above information useful.