CES 2014: 4K round up

Things have now wrapped up in Vegas at CES. With an event deemed one of the largest consumer electronics shows in the world, it’s no surprise that manufacturers will be presenting their top of the line products, what they consider the ‘next big thing’. It’s again no surprise that we find 4K technology at the forefront. 

In this article I’ll aim to round up all the latest 4K announcements, starting with probably the most exciting and relevant to our readers – cameras.

Cameras

In addition to Sony’s latest 4K camera offering we covered in a recent article, we have a new 4K camera from another big player.
There was much anticipation as to when Panasonic was going to jump on the 4K train; it was heavily implied through online documentation that it would come from a micro four thirds mirror camera system, and it has. The GH 4k camera has been revealed, with little more than what seems a re-labelled GH3 to look at in a glass box. Confirmed specs are 200mbps intraframe codec recording, recording to SDXC memory cards and a mini HDMI for live view output. A list of rumored specs include:

16mp
1/8000 shutter
1mil dot OLED screen
21mm OLED viewfinder, 3,000+ dot.
Time code
200mbps mp4 All-i/100mbps IPB
4k up to 30p
4:2:2 10/8bit output
3G-SDI and XLR adaptor





CES 2013 saw debut of the Panasonic HX-A100, a waterproof wifi enabled wearable camera. This year panasonic has brought the POV cam up to date giving it a 4K boost. Like the GH 4k, the ‘prototype’ looks very similar to it’s predecessor. We also don’t have a spec sheet for this, but going by the HX-A100 I’d expect the 4K cam to shoot up to 120p at 720, reducing to at least 30p for 4K.



Televisions

Next we look at TVs; they’re not a subject we usually cover as the link with filmmaking is somewhat indirect, but when ingesting coverage from CES, it’s hard to ignore how many manufacturers have been investing in the technology. Fake 4K, quad 4K, curved 4K, projected 4K, we have it all.

Sharp Quattron Plus

This system is the aforementioned faux 4K; the television transforms HD content 4-fold by create sub pixels from real pixels. A cost effective way of viewing resolution greater than HD without hitting the bottleneck of limited 4K distribution. Does it work? Gizmodo were impressed when comparing it to standard HD side by side.



Panasonic Life+Screen

Panasonic’s offering combines a Smart TV with the latest 4K LED technology that they claim to be plasma-level image quality. They’re Life+Screen line includes screens from 58-65 inches, with also mention of an 85″ 4K LED screen in the future.



Samsung QUHD 8K TV

Is the whole 4K movement a little underwhelming for you? Try Samsung’s prototype 8K television. As it’s name suggests, this quad 4K panel displays a staggering 8K resolution display. The drawback (besides the astronomical price)? There’s no content that will truly take advantage of this. The prototype was displaying an image made up of multiple camera sources.



Sony latest 4K panels and show throw 4K projector

Sony has bolstered its 4K arsenal with release of two TVs opening up a new XBR X950B line. These 4K panels come in 85 and 65 inches, boasting features such as 3D, Wi-Fi, screen mirroring with NFC OneTouch and MHL 3.0.



The more exciting announcement from Sony comes in form of a 4K short throw projector. This stunning piece of tech takes the contemporary approach of less-is-more in its appearance; you simply place the projector close to any wall that can accommodate its 66-inches to 147-inch adjustable display. You’re not likely to see too many of these about, as the projected list price is under $40,000!

LG Flexible OLED 4K TV

We’ve seen curved TVs from



Samsung in the past, and to be completely honest, without experiencing one first hand I’m yet to gain an opinion on how effective/relevant these may be for filmmaking. The price like a lot of revolutionary tech will reserve the format for premium paying consumer users. I can’t see this affecting how we shoot anytime soon. CES saw LG present a prototype OLED 4K curved TV; the said inferior Samsung is not OLED. The LG is 77″ and won’t be available until a fair bit later on in the year.

When I saw the first television commercial for Sony’s 4K TV a couple of months ago, my initial thoughts we’re “way too premature”. And I stand by this. 4K content is currently still so niche. We don’t broadcast in 4K, there’s no 4K disc format, and online content is very limited. We still don’t even have a standardisation; there are two resolutions currently in use, ultra HD at 3840×2160, and 4K is 4096×2160. Investment in the format for end use can easily wait another 18 months.



Netflix’s latest announcement offers reassurance to the format however. CEO Reed Hasting’s was quoted at CES that all future original Netflix content will be shot in ultra HD. More news like this will provide relevance to the format, more desire to own technology that can cater for it.

Monitoring

For filmmaking, I stand by those who consider 4K’s primary uses not for final output. But for reframing, stabilizing, and downscaling to enhance HD. There’s many that will disagree. Either way, 4K has arrived and it’s building in numbers. Should we embrace, and get in line for the latest 4K consumer TV? Maybe not just yet. As filmmakers, more relevance lies in the form of 4K acquisition, and 4K monitoring. 2013 paved the way for the former, I’m excited to see more of the latter.



Asus has responded with announcement of a 4K 31.5″ monitor. It offers an UHD resolution at 3840 x 2160. It’s ultra thin and features dual HDMI for simultaneous output. Asus has a previous track record for good quality v price (I own an Asus myself as a result), with a price looking to be $799, one half of the formula is already complete.

Dell has released a few 4K monitors now;  

The initial two carried fairly steep price tags ($1,299 for the 24 inch model and $3,322 for the 32-inch). However their new 28″ display, the 2815Q is a little more entry level conscious, beating the Asus in price at just $699. Like the Asus, it will have a resolution of 3840 x 2160 via an anti-glare TN panel. The usual USB hub, HDMI and mini display outputs are included.

Last is a release from Lenova. The ThinkVision Pro2840m shadows the spec of the Dell; it has a 28″ 3840 X 2160 display. It utilizes an unknown panel however is said to meet a 72% color gamut. The monitor has edge-to-edge glass and features touch sensitive controls; I’m not overly fussed on this, I can imagine it being a heaven for greasy fingerprints surrounding your screen.



The next step from these computer displays would be reference monitors. This category can often make one wince when considering the damage a purchase can do to the wallet. Naturally, a 4K reference monitor is not going to let you off lightly.

Panasonic has recently announced a 31.5″ monitor entering this category. The Panasonic BT-4LH310E is a 2k/4k LCD reference monitor. Here’s an extract from Cinescopophilia:

“Boasting a 4096 x 2160 resolution 10-bit horizontally-aligned IPS LCD panel with high contrast (1450:1) and 178o degree vertical/horizontal viewing angles, the BT-4LH310E monitor supports 4K 4096 x 2160, QFHD 3840 x 2160, 2K, HD and SD work-flows.
A true cinema production tool, the BT-4LH310E supports DCI-P3 colour space, which is defined by more than 96 percent coverage of DCI-P3, and facilitates digital cinema workflow with a LUT upload function. The BT-4LH310E can also accurately display industry standard colour space with 100 percent coverage for ITU-R BT.709, EBU and SMPTE-C.”



At £28K, this won’t be at the top of many people’s realistic wish list. But this doesn’t come close Canon’s 40K offering. The DP-V3010, announced towards the end of last is a 16:10 4K reference monitor. It has a 30″ 4096X2560 display, providing a 2000:1 DCI complaint contrast ratio.

With the speed of the industry moving at its current rate, this article will undoubtedly become out-dated very soon. But with the doors just closing at CES in Vegas, it seemed only fitting to provide you with an overview of some of the current/future 4K products we have to look forward to.

via Gizmodo/ Appleinsider/ cinema5d

Dell's new display is the most affordable 4K monitor yet

Editor's note: This article was originally published on 1/8/14 but was updated on 1/9/14 with details about the monitor's refresh rate.

LAS VEGAS—Dell's making good on its promise to deliver a sub-$1,000 4K PC monitor during CES 2014—and amazingly, "sub-$1,000" didn't mean "999." Dell's new 28-inch UltraHD monitor is priced at $699 and is going on sale worldwide on January 23. The new monitor features the same resolution (3840-by-2160) as Dell’s UltraSharp 24-inch and 32-inch monitors announced in December.

With a $700 price tag, the consumer-focused 28-inch P2815Q won’t gouge your pocket book quite as much as its pro market predecessors. Those two monitors are currently priced at $3,500 for the 32-inch UP3214Q and $1,300 for the 24-inch UP2414Q.

Just how Dell was able to get the price of the P2815Q down to almost half of the UP2414Q is unknown, as Dell hasn’t announced detailed specs for the new 28-inch monitor yet. But we’ll do our best to find out what this monitor is packing and what corners Dell had to cut when we talk to the company at CES this week.

Dell is promising the same “screen performance” in the P2815Q as in the UltraSharp models that preceded it. And just like the other 4K models, the P2815Q also comes with Dell’s Premium Panel Guarantee that promises a straight-up exchange if you find even a single pixel misbehaving during the warranty period.Porting to 4K

When Dell introduced the UltraSharp models in December they both came with an impressive array of ports, including HDMI, DisplayPort, mini-DisplayPort, four USB 3.0 ports, and a 6-in-1 media card reader.

Is this where the “budget” 4K model will take a downgrade? Perhaps. Then again, when Dell first teased the P2815Q in early December, the company said the monitor would offer “multiple input ports…to display content from smartphones and…connect laptops, PCs and essential accessories.” We're also intrigued to see the monitor's refresh rate.

(Update: And the catch is known: The monitor has a refresh rate of just 30Hz at full 4K resolution, which isn't good if you're into gaming. The refresh rate jumps to 60Hz if you downgrade the monitor to 1080p resolution, but why would you buy a 4K display to use it at 1080p?)

Even if the P2815Q turns out to be the 4K monitor of our dreams, a 28-inch monster is still awfully large for most of us who stand or sit little more than a foot away from our computer screens. It’s not as overwhelming as a 31.5-inch flat panel, mind you, but it’s certainly not as comfortable as a 24-inch model would be.

At $699, Dell’s UltraHD monitor is the cheapest 4K panel to show up at CES this week, although Lenovo and Asus aren’t far behind with separate 28-inch UltraHD monitors priced at $799 and rolling out in the spring. Whether 4K enthusiasts should drop their dough on Dell’s monitor or wait for Asus or Lenovo's models to arrive should become clearer as CES winds on.

From: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2084966/dells-28-inch-4k-desktop-monitor-will-only-cost-700.html 

CES 2014: 4K televisions are ultra-sharp

Mirror gadget man Dan Silver says that 4K video on Sony's flagship Bravia sets is of even better quality than looking out of a window.

Sony 4K set: Breathtaking detail (you'll have to take our word for it)

Will 2014 be the year that 4K finally takes off?

Walking around the showfloor at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, you could be forgiven for thinking that it already has.

The new video display format was everywhere, from the curved TV screens shown off by Samsung, LG and others to camcorders, smartphones and projectors.

At Sony’s keynote presentation on Monday, new president Mike Fasulo compared watching 4K video on his company’s flagship Bravia sets to looking out of a window. He was wrong – it’s better.

The picture quality on the ­Japanese giant’s new series of top-end televisions – what Fasulo refers to as “the reference standard for 4K” – is genuinely breathtaking.

If the transition from SD to HD felt like having scales removed from your eyes, this step up is akin to having them temporarily removed and given a thorough polish.

Several manufacturers unveiled concept 4K TVs with curved screens for increased immersion and a pseudo-3D effect. But a Samsung set that turns from flat to bendy at the push of a button and an LG TV that can be adjusted with the remote went that little bit further.

Sony is perhaps better placed than most to take advantage of the new format. It holds the unique position of being both a ­manufacturer – of everything from professional 4K movie cameras to cinema projectors – and, via Sony Pictures, a content creator.

In Las Vegas Sony also announced that its 4K cameras will be used to film the World Cup final in Brazil. Whether you’ll be able to watch it is a moot point. Sky Sports ­experimented with 4K last year but few industry insiders can even guess when British broadcasters will adopt the format.

Understandably hardware ­manufacturers are trying to fill the void themselves. Samsung, Sony and LG all announced partnerships with Netflix at the show. Its CEO Reed Hastings confirmed that all its own new series – including the second season of the political drama House of Cards, starring Kevin Spacey – are being filmed in 4K.

Sony has also struck deals with YouTube, ESPN and photography website 500px, while its own Video Unlimited download service is expanding to offer 140 feature films in 4K.

And its new Bravia television sets have impressive upscaling software built in which will make your existing SD and HD content look dramatically better, too.

I also got my hands on Sony’s stunningly-small 4K Handycam. When it launches in the UK this spring it will let you create your own 4K content. As long as you have £2,000 to spare, that is. Which highlights 4K’s main drawback – cost.

Early adopters looking to buy the cheapest 4K TV won’t get much change from £4,000. And despite all the big manufacturers at CES loudly declaring the new format as their main focus in 2014, none would commit to price strategies.

As we saw with HD sets, those costs will eventually tumble, but it’s unlikely to happen any time soon.

The 4K revolution will be televised, but you might have to wait a little longer to be able to watch it in your own home.

Key trends for 2014

What else was trending at the Consumer Electronics Show?

• Virtual reality gaming

Virtual reality could finally go mainstream this year. Oculus Rift is leading the charge with its incredible gaming headset, which offers full 360 degree, stomach churningly realistic 3D for PC games. It should finally get a commercial release later this year.



Virtually here: Oculus Rift set

• Hi res audio

Sony is championing this new audio format, which aims to redress the loss of sound quality suffered by MP3s. With between three and seven times the amount of information per track than music stored on compact discs, it’s a real treat for the ears.



Listen up: Sony sound

• Wearable tech

From connected watches and wristbands to jewellery that lights up when your phone receives a text, wearable tech was everywhere at CES. Mention must go to Sensoria, though, for its Bluetooth-enabled socks and sports bras (yes, really) designed to help athletes monitor their performance.



Push-up notification: tech bra

From: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/technology/ces-2014-4k-televisions-ultra-sharp-3015414

CES2014: Panasonic Announces Toughpad FZ-M1 Fully Rugged 7” Windows 8.1 Pro Tablet

Panasonic adds to its range of Toughpad rugged tablets today with the unveiling of the FZ-M1 at CES 2014, which Panasonic is touting as the world's thinnest rugged 7-inch Windows 8 tablet (although how many of those can there actually be?).

I’ve had a lot of fun with Panasonic Toughbook PCs, including some torture testing. It’s great to have a PC that you can take almost anywhere and use in almost any environment. Today, Panasonic has introduced an exciting new fully ruggedized 7” Toughpad tablet running Windows 8.1. This new Toughpad is the FZ-M1.

The Toughpad FZ-M1 was designed with “can-do” in mind. This tablet is both small and portable, and ruggedized to take on almost any situation. Because the Toughpad FZ-M1 is built on a 4th generation Intel Core i5 vPro processor, it can run any Windows app you want to throw at it. With a claimed 8 hours of battery life, you can take this rugged PC with you anywhere and work with it all day without charging.

Here are some specs for the Toughpad FZ-M1: (detailed specifications available HERE)

• Operating System: Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit 
• Processor: 4th generation Intel Core i5 vPro 
• Durability rating: MIL-STD-810G, 5’ drop, IP65 fully sealed fanless design 
• Screen: 7” daylight-readable 1200 x 800 10-point multi-touch, optional stylus 
• Storage: 128GB SSD (256GB SSD optional) 
• RAM: 8 GB 
• Weight: 1.2 LB 
• Thickness: 0.7” 

That’s a lot of capability that Panasonic has built into a 0.7” thick package weighing just 1.2 LB! The specs are impressive on the Toughpad FZ-M1, but there are some great options that make this rugged tablet highly customizable as well. Some of the options include dedicated GPS, barcode reader, NFC reader, SmartCard reader, 10’ range RFID, magnetic stripe reader and multicarrier embedded 4G LTE wireless connectivity. Just like other Toughpad and Toughbook PCs, the Toughpad FZ-M1 can be optimized for a wide variety of tasks and scenarios.

The Panasonic Toughpad FZ-M1 will be available early Spring 2014 with a street price of $2,099. If you demand both extreme portability and extreme ruggedness, this Windows 8.1 PC will be one to check out! If you can’t wait until spring, you can check out the Toughpad FZ-M1 at CES 2014 in Central Hall at Booth #9806 with the rest of the Panasonic PCs.

Panasonic also plans to launch a cheaper model with an Intel Atom Bay trail processor that should be available later this year. Both versions will be available with Windows 8.1 Pro or Windows 7 Professional.

Follow the Toughpad™ Brand (#Toughpad):

The Panasonic Toughpad brand can be followed on various social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and our blog, Panasonic for Business.

*World's lightest and thinnest rugged 7-inch fanless tablet with a 4th generation Intel® Core™ i5 processor as of Jan. 6, 2014 (standard configuration)

***First rugged 7-inch 4th generation Intel® Core™ i tablet with a fanless design as of Jan. 6, 2014

Toshiba unveils world's first 4K Ultra-HD display laptops with Windows 8.1 at CES 2014

Over the last two days, all major computing and mobile technology related firms have been making interesting showcases of their upcoming products and technologies at CES 2014. Jumping onto the bandwagon, Toshiba, on Tuesday unveiled what seem to be the world's first ever 4K laptops at the ongoing event in Las Vegas. 

This year’s CES promises to be another breakthrough year for 4K technology. While CES 2013 brought an onslaught of high-end 4K TV product announcements, for 2014 things will get very interesting with 4K becoming much more mainstream. Today Toshiba has made 4K display technology more accessible to mobile professionals and enthusiasts by announcing two exciting new Windows 8.1 laptops that feature integrated 15.6” 4K Ultra-HD displays. Coming in mid-2014, these new Toshiba 4K laptops will take laptop screen resolution to the next level!

Tecra W50

Designed for professionals working with graphically-intensive applications, the Tecra W50 is a thin and light 15”-class mobile workstation ready for demanding tasks.



With integrated NVIDIA Quadro professional graphics, this mobile workstation is optimized to work seamlessly with apps like SolidWorks and AutoCAD.

Here’s some preliminary specs for the Tecra W50:

• Processor: 4th generation Intel Core 
• GPU: NVIDIA Quadro K2100M with 2GB dedicated memory 
• 15.6” 4K Ultra-HD display (3840 x 2160), 282 PPI, color calibrated

I can’t wait to learn more about this awesome 4K mobile workstation!

Satellite P50t

If you’re dreaming of a 4K laptop that also integrates a responsive touch screen, the Toshiba Satellite P50t will be worth waiting for!

 

This laptop will feature a screen with the same size and resolution as the Tecra W50, but will also integrate touch functionality for an amazing experience with Windows 8.1. The 4K Ultra-HD screen that’s available with the Satellite P50t will also feature edge-to-edge glass with amazing color, clarity, and contrast. The Satellite P50t will also be available mid-2014.

These Windows 8.1 4K laptops from Toshiba will provide new capabilities for mobile professionals and enthusiasts. I only wish I could get one of these today! The big question is: which one would I pick? What do you think? Please let me know!

Lenovo takes a swing at MacBook Pro Retina with 4K Ultra HD Y50

Lenovo is entering MacBook Pro Retina territory with its new Y50 and Y40, a disk drive-less additions set of notebooks featuring Ultra HD 4K displays. 

Featuring an optional Ultra HD 3840 x 2160 screen, the 15.6-inch Lenovo Y50 is pegged as a lightweight Ultra HD 4K gaming laptop. The Y50 can be optioned up to a 4th generation "Haswell" Intel Core i7-4702HQ processor as well as one of the latest Nvidia GeForce GTX graphics card.

Of course the biggest change from Lenovo Y500 - other than that one less zero - is Lenovo scrapping the disk drive to make the new laptop just 23.9mm (0.94in) thin. The Y50 also comes with 16GB of DDR3L memory stock. Customers will have options to swap out the 1TB HDD for an 1TB hybrid drive with 8GB of SSD cache or a 512GB SSD with Windows 8.1 preloaded.

The Y50's 14-inch little brother, the Lenovo Y40, is similarly spec'd though it comes with a 4GB AMD Radeon R9 M270 dedicated graphics card. Both the notebooks also have a 720p HD webcam, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports, HDMI-out, and a 2-in-1 card reader.

Lenovo stated the new ultra-portables will enter the market beginning in May starting at $999 (about £608/AU$1,115).Thin and light



The Lenovo Z40 comes in a trio of colors

Keeping in line with maintaining portability, Lenovo also introduced two other lightweight notebooks, the Z40 and Z50.

The 15.6-inch Lenovo Z50 features a 16:9 inch widescreen with an optional maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080. Underneath, the processor can be bumped up to a Haswell Intel Core i7-4500U processor, a 4GB Nvidia GeForce 840M for graphics, and 16GB DDR3L memory.

The Lenovo Z40, the Z50's littler 14-inch brother, comes outfitted with the same hardware. The smaller Z40 road-warrior also weighs a bit less at four pounds (2.1kg), where as the Z50 is a five pounder (2.5kg).

Windows 8.1 comes preloaded on the Z50 and Z40's 1TB HDD or 1TB Hybrid Drive with 8GB of SSD cache. Lenovo promises its Z-line of notebooks will have a battery life of five hours when they land later this March for $599 (about £365/AU$668).Space-saving All-in-Ones



Lenovos's WQHD AiO entry, the A740

In the last line of lightweight designs, Lenovo also brought out the C560, an All-in-One desktop bringing 23-inch touchscreen interactivity to the family.

With a 1920 x 1080 multitouch display, the C560 will swipe quickly through animations as it comes powered with an Intel Core i3-4130T processor and 1GB Nvidia 705A graphics card. On board, there's also 8GB of RAM and a 2TB 7200rpm HDD with Windows 8.1 preloaded.

Another ringer in the AiO line up, Lenovo also added the A740. The biggest thing about the A740 is its honking 27-inch, WQHD 2560 x 1440 desktop screen. There's also more than a handful of internals to gawk at, including the Haswell Intel Core i7-4558U processor, Nvidia GeForce GTX graphics card, and 8GB of RAM.



Android comes to Lenovo's desktops

Moving Android to the big screen, the Lenovo N308 is perhaps the first time we've seen Jelly Bean blown up on a 19.5-inch touchscreen. Like a beefed up tablet, it's powered by the Nvidia Tegra quad-core processor and an integrated 72-core GPU, as well as 2GB DDR3 memory. We doubt it's for ideal carrying around at 4.6 pounds and a battery life of 3 hours, but at least it comes with a 320GB of base storage.

Lenovo has priced and scheduled the C560 to arrive in February for $659 (about £401/AU$735), A740 AiO this June for $1,499 (about £913/AU$1673), and the $450 (about £274/AU$502) Lenovo N308 in February.

It's a lot of AiOs and laptops to take in, but soon we'll get our hands on them and suss out the keepers in Lenovo's lineup here at CES 2014.