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Reader SurveyTelecines & Film Recording
Jun 13, 2003 12:00 PM, By D.W.L.
Telecines & Film Recording
With ITK now absorbed into Cintel (if you can't beat 'em, re-join 'em) and buzz that Sony might cease further development of the Vialta, the telecine scene at NAB was one of consolidation amidst measured optimism, as the digital intermediate phenomenon gathers commercial momentum.
For its C-Reality and DSX scanners, Cintel introduced GRACE, a grain reduction system that draws upon technologies developed for OLIVER (originally called OSCAR), Cintel's unique semi-optical, front-end dirt and scratch removal system (no frame stores). For its newly acquired Millennium scanner, Cintel introduced new lenses for 16mm, 35mm, and 65/70mm (designed by Stuart Hunt), plus new software to improve aperture correction, color tracking, and transfer speeds. And most significantly, an enhanced CRT design by Cintel's sister company, Brimar.
Thomson/Grass Valley introduced its long-anticipated Spirit 4K DataCine scanner module, which hikes DataCine performance to 2K in realtime and 4K at 6-8fps. Internal 4K processing runs at 16-bit depth and includes shading correction, RGB primary color correction, and aperture correction. Optional plug-ins add secondary color correction, 4K "Scream" grain reduction, and digital oversampling of images at 4K for output at 2K.
FilmLight, disentangled from ITK, showcased its highly respected 35/65mm Northlight flatbed scanner and took square aim at the weakest link in digital intermediaries with an impressive introduction of its Truelight precision color management and monitor calibration system.
Celco debuted its newest product, Firestorm, a significantly lower-cost CRT film recorder that nevertheless outputs near-2K HD images onto 5245 camera neg at 2.5 seconds per frame. Celco also announced enhanced performance for its flagship, Fury, including 1 second per frame for HD to 5245 and less than 2 seconds per frame for a full 2K DPX image onto Kodak intermediate 2242 stock.
Film recorder newcomer MetaFilm introduced an altogether different approach, giving up laser and CRT sources in favor of high-resolution LCDs at near-4K resolution (3840x2400 pixels). Based on newly developed German technology, MetaFilm's Flash outputs to 5245 at 1 second per frame at either 2K or 4K (all images are scaled to the LCDs' full resolution, regardless of original resolution), requires virtually no maintenance (estimated 50,000-hour LCD life), and at $245K, competes in cost with the low end of CRT film recorders, minus the costs of tube replacement or service contracts.
