The future of cameras seem to be heading to is smaller, more portable, more disposable and mirrorless (DSLRs have a mirror). When Nokia’s Executive Vice President Anssi Vanjoki told 2010 that Cell Phone Cameras Will Replace DSLRs, I could not believe that on time. But it really seems to become more and more to truth in 2014: Nowadays you can take professional level (“good enough photos”) using consumer level cameras and smart phones. Technical quality is good enough for majority. There is going on a rampant replacement of point and shoot cameras of all flavors and varieties with smart phones and their built in cameras. Now the market is being effectively gutted. Gone. Non-existent. Same thing is happening to video as well.
Part of the technical race came to a (maybe temporary) end: “How can I match and exceed the quality of conventional metrics that we used to get from medium format film.” There’s nothing else pressing to solve, technically. Many photographers are fully equipped but uninspired to move forward. We have have set down for “good enough.” The engineering idea is that we’ve hit the sweet spot and to go for a Six Sigma improvement would be costly and unnecessary.
DSLR sales were down in 2013, worldwide, by 18.5% according to CIPA. The total decline in the entire dedicated camera market is closer to 43.5%. The decline will continue. Credit Suisse prediction: “Only those who have a strong brand and are competitive on price will last – and only Canon, Nikon and Sony fullfil that criteria”. Mirrorless cameras are not a big market: According to CIPA is the total sales of mirrorless system cameras in N. America was slightly fewer than 39,000 units. Total.
The challenge will be: How do you bridge that gap between high photo-capture quality and high-quality camera devices and the cloud where every amateur photographer’s images live? The company which has the most innovative post-processing, easy to share photos feature set wins! The future of photography is same as future in pretty much everything: software and connectivity. Camera manufacturers have been slow on those: we are just now seeing cameras with full operating systems like Android The advantages to smart phones are size, constant (annoyingly constant) access, multi-task tool set, and the ability to send your images, electronically, to an audience just about anywhere in the world.
Several smartphone makers have clear strategies to take photography to extremes: 40 megapixel camera is already on the market and several manufacturers are playing with re-focus after shooting options.
Consumer video device trend is that separate classic video cameras have pretty much faded from market. New smart phones have high definition video cameras in them, so for most users there is no need for separate video camera. For special uses there are small “action” video cameras that are so tiny that you can place them almost anywhere and they can take some beating while you perform your extreme sports. If the video quality of those do not suffice, many people use their DSLR to shoot higher quality high definition video. For professional video production there is still some market left for professional and prosumer video cameras.
The world seems to be heading to situation where separate DSLRs and separate video cameras will be more like high fidelity audio, which used to be common selling point in 1970s, 80s and early 90s, but now only some geeks care about audio quality. This will more or less happen to photographs and video.
Connected TV technologies get more widely used and the content earlier viewable only on TV can be now seen on many other screens. Your smartphone is the screen in your pocket. Your computer is the screen on your desk. Your tablet is a screen for the couch. This development is far from ready. Gartner suggests that now through 2018, a variety of devices, user contexts, and interaction paradigms will make “everything everywhere” strategies unachievable.
Video streaming has really become mainstream as Netflix And YouTube Account For Over 50% Of Peak Fixed Network Data In North America. Because of the rise in video services like Netflix and YouTube, peer-to-peer file-sharing has dropped (meaning less piracy of movies and TV series). Netflix remains the biggest pig in the broadband python, representing 31.6% of all downstream Internet traffic in North America during primetime hours in September — well ahead of any other streaming service. In other parts of the world, YouTube is the biggest consumer of bandwidth. In Europe, YouTube represented of 28.7% of downstream traffic.
Post HDTV resolution era seems to be coming to TVs as well in form of 4K / UltraHD. It was introduced in the 2013, and the manufacturers start to push it more in 204 because all LCD makers are looking to move their business models on from cheap mass production to higher-margin, premium offerings. They try to innovate and secure their future viability by selling fewer, but more profitable displays. On this road giant curved TVs is gaining ground: LG announces that it will present the “world’s first ” 105-inch curved ultra-hd-TV in January in Las Vegas at CES. Almost at the same time , however, Samsung also announced the proposal at CES “the world’s first and curved” 105-inch ultra HD television.. TV screens are in fact higher resolution the basic 4k level of ultra hd: Samsung and LG screens resolution is 5120 × 2160 pixels in the image (11 megapixels).
4K resolution ecosystem will get more ready for use. Netflix is testing out 4K video streaming and Netflix’s House of Cards was shot in 4K. Amazon Studios also just recently announced that it will shoot all of its 2014 shows in that format as well.
4K and 4K streaming are definitely coming in 2014 regardless of how many people can actually view it. 4K will still require a lot of work “with the compression and decode capability” to be ready for mainstream use. There are a great many things that need to happen before 4K really becomes a reality or needs to do so.
PC hardware with 4G capable graphics cards is already available, so decoding the stream is not a problem. The biggest issue is that the market penetration of 4K-capable televisions needs to grow, but to that happen the prices must drop to ranges for the average consumer. Many users have already fast enough fixed broadband connection, but can the networks handle peak usage 4K streaming? According to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, it won’t require more than a stable 15 Mbps to stream 4K.
Extreme overkill resolution will also push to tablet and smart phone markets. There are already smart phones with full HD resolution. In high-end smartphones we may be moving into the overkill zone with extreme resolution that is higher than you can see on small screen: some makers have already demonstrated displays with twice the performance of 1080-progressive. Samsung is planned to release devices with 4k or UHD resolutions. As we have seen in many high tech gadget markets earlier it is a very short journey to copycat behavior. And we will see also see smart phones that can shoot 4K video.
For a long time music has been listened mainly with small portable MP3 player and such, which for most users provide “good enough” audio quality. The market had already shifted from separate MP3 players to the same functionality included to other devices (smart phones and tablets), so sales of music players sales have plummeted in year 2013 as much as as one-third. Separate music players mostly only used for listening music during fitness hobby, and growing popularity of fitness hobby is full of players saved the market from total collapse. Uncompressed music player to appreciate the need of a decent storage capacity, so some hifi people buy some high-end separate players, but that’s a small market.
Apple’s iPod continues to lead an ever-shrinking market of portable media players with a staggering 72 percent of the market for standalone music players. Apple has never been afraid of reducing demand for one of its devices by creating demand for another, in this case iPhone. The future of separate music players looks bleak.
Smartphones have taken the music player market. The growing popularity of smart phones and music streaming services will rise in the future to eat even music players sales. If smart watch will become a hit, the music player may be lost in exercisers shopping list.
1,214 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Speaking of the 4K video–resolution capabilities of the new mobile Kaveri, Macri noted that although 4K is all well and good, there’s very little 4K content available at present. “The best way to experience 4K today,” he said, “is to take 1080p content and upscale it. Well, if you upscale it, you better have some great post-processing. Otherwise you’re going to end up with a pretty ugly image on your beautiful monitor.”
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/04/amd_releases_new_kaveri_mobile_apus/?page=4
Tomi Engdahl says:
Not just for phones: Samsung shows Tizen-powered TV, cameras
http://www.cnet.com/news/not-just-for-phones-samsung-shows-tizen-powered-tv-cameras/
Company has been pushing the open-source OS — an Android alternative — in everything from wearables to TVs.
The Korean electronics company, which earlier this week unveiled a new smartphone running the open-source operating system, on Tuesday showed off Tizen-based TVs, cameras, and wearables — some of these devices for the first time. The gadgets, displayed at the Tizen Developer Conference in San Francisco, all are part of Samsung’s efforts to create a broad ecosystem for Tizen, its alternative to Android.
Samsung and partner Intel are hosting a conference this week to boost developer support for Tizen. Though Tizen is an open operating system, Samsung and Intel have spearheaded the development of the standards behind it. Tizen has been mentioned most often in the context of smartphones, but Samsung has vowed to release the software in everything from cars to smartwatches.
“Cross-convergence is the one [area] Samsung can do best, since we do have various parts and finished products,”
Samsung co-CEO BK Yoon last year said Tizen-powered TVs likely would hit the market in 2014.
Samsung isn’t the only company pushing a complete operating system in TVs. LG bought the WebOS business from Hewlett-Packard and showed off TVs running the operating system at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. Korea-based LG said Monday that it has sold more than 1 million WebOS-enabled smart TVs since the lineup debuted in March, and it expects sales to hit 10 million by the first half of 2015.
Google also has targeted the market, though full-fledged Google TVs largely have flopped.
Apple also is believed to be working on its own complete TV offering to complement its current Apple TV product, but Eddy Cue, the company’s head of Internet software and services, said last week that “TV is a hard problem to solve.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
New Chip to Bring Holograms to Smartphones
Ostendo’s Tiny Projectors Are Designed to Display Crisp Video, Glasses-Free 3-D Images
http://online.wsj.com/articles/new-chip-to-bring-holograms-to-smartphones-1401752938?mod=LS1
Ostendo’s CEO says that ‘display is the last frontier.’ Pictured, a company chip that can produce a hologram.
In the future, virtual reality won’t require strapping a bulky contraption to your head.
Instead, imagine stepping into an empty room and then suddenly seeing life-size, 3-D images of people and furniture. Or looking down at a smartwatch and seeing virtual objects float and bounce above the wrist, like the holographic Princess Leia beamed by R2-D2 in the movie “Star Wars.”
A key to this future may lay in Carlsbad, Calif., where startup Ostendo Technologies Inc. has spent the past nine years quietly working on miniature projectors designed to emit crisp videos and glasses-free 3-D images for smartphones and giant screens.
Ostendo’s projectors, in contrast, are roughly the size of Tic Tacs, powered by a computer chip that can control the color, brightness and angle of each beam of light across one million pixels.
One chipset, small enough to fit into a smartphone, is capable of projecting video on a surface with a 48-inch diagonal.
The race to disrupt the screen is intensifying as both upstarts and technology giants try to find new ways to bring content to life.
Microsoft Corp. MSFT -1.23% and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD -0.76% are both working on their own virtual reality rooms, building a complex system of projectors and computers. Hewlett-Packard Co. HPQ +0.78% recently spun out a company called Leia, that like Ostendo, is trying to bring 3-D imaging to smartphones. Meanwhile, Facebook Inc. FB -0.33% agreed in March to spend $2 billion to buy Oculus VR Inc., maker of the Oculus Rift headset that pulls users into 360-degree virtual environments.
During a recent test reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Ostendo showed a working prototype: a set of six chips laid together that beamed a 3-D image of green dice spinning in the air. The image and motion appeared consistent, irrespective of the position of the viewer.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Inexpensive lidar contains MEMS-tunable VCSEL
http://www.laserfocusworld.com/articles/2014/05/inexpensive-lidar-contains-mems-tunable-vcsel.html
A potentially very compact and inexpensive lidar unit developed by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) is built around a (vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) that is wavelength-tunable via a movable micro-electrical-mechanical-systems (MEMS) element. The device is designed for sensing to distances of about 10 m, which is the “sweet spot” for applications such as self-driving cars, smartphone gesturing from afar, and interactive video games similar to Microsoft’s Kinect.
“This [10 m] range covers the size of typical living spaces while avoiding excessive power dissipation and possible eye-safety concerns,”
The UC Berkeley device has the potential to be integrated into a chip-scale package.
The new device is based on frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) lidar
This type of system emits frequency-chirped laser light (chirped by the resonant MEMS element in the VCSEL) and then measures changes in the light frequency that is reflected back.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Netflix Ditches Silverlight For HTML5 On Macs
http://apple.slashdot.org/story/14/06/04/1351210/netflix-ditches-silverlight-for-html5-on-macs
“Netflix yesterday furthered its plans to ditch Silverlight for HTML5 on Macs, having already done so last year in IE11 on Windows 8.1.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Netflix ditches Silverlight for HTML5 on Macs too: Available today in Safari on OS X Yosemite beta
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/06/03/netflix-ditches-silverlight-html5-macs-available-today-safari-os-x-yosemite-beta/
Netflix says it has been “working closely” with Apple to implement its Premium Video Extensions in Safari. These extensions allow playback of video directly in the browser without plugins such as Silverlight or Flash, but still keep publishers happy that their content won’t be ripped off.
The extensions are made up of three components, all of which Apple has included:
The Media Source Extensions (MSE), using the “highly optimized video pipeline” on OS X. Since Media Foundation supports hardware acceleration using the GPU, Netflix can achieve “buttery smooth” 1080p video playback with minimal CPU
The Encrypted Media Extensions (EME) provides the content protection needed for media services like Netflix.
The Web Cryptography API (WebCrypto), which allows Netflix to encrypt and decrypt communication between its JavaScript application and its servers.
Netflix says it is looking forward “to a time when these APIs are available on all browsers” so that it can ditch plugins once and for all.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Porn Stars Want You to Stop Jerking Off for Free
http://www.vice.com/en_se/read/porn-stars-want-you-to-stop-jacking-off-for-free
Pay for your porn – that’s what some adult industry members are asking consumers to do in a new online campaign. After Samuel L Jackson called Redtube the biggest pop culture achievement of the past 50 years, porn stars and piracy experts teamed up to create the #payforyourporn campaign to fight back against the tube companies they believe are lowering porn films’ profits and quality.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Internet
TV Apps Are Soaring in Popularity, Report Says
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/04/report-tv-apps-are-soaring-in-popularity/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
When it comes to online video, people may not want to cut the cord. Instead, they want to take the cord with them. People are streaming broadcast television on their smartphones in record numbers, according to Adobe’s state-of-the-industry report on digital video viewing.
Among the report’s more interesting findings are that TV Everywhere — a term for authenticated viewing of broadcast shows from channels you subscribe to on your cable or satellite network — is approaching mainstream use and is growing much faster than other online video sources like YouTube, Hulu or Daily Motion.
Most of these apps were announced within the last two to three years
TV Everywhere viewing rose 246 percent (you read that right) over last year, said Adobe, driven mainly by interest in sports programming. (To be clear, those numbers do not include streams of the Sochi Olympic Games, which an Adobe analyst said would have skewed the numbers beyond recognition.)
In another interesting twist, though, Adobe said viewing on game consoles and so-called OTT (over the top) devices increased by the highest percentage of any platform — 123 percent over last year. Granted, the amount of TV watched on those devices is still tiny: They have just 6 percent of the TV Everywhere streaming market
TV Everywhere is still significantly less than everywhere, as even the industry itself admits, and the authentication process for watching shows is legendarily annoying.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Justice Department Plans to Begin a Review of Music Licensing Rules
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/04/business/media/justice-department-is-said-to-plan-a-review-of-music-licensing-rules.html
The music industry has been complaining loudly in recent years about outdated federal regulation. Now it finally has a chance to do something about it.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Looks Beyond YouTube For Video Ad Dollars
Video Publishers Would Sell Their Inventory Using Google’s Ad Tech
http://adage.com/article/digital/google-youtube-video-ad-dollars/293539/
Google has a new message for premium publishers: “Hey, let us help you sell your video ads.”
Partner Select will not be a free-for-all open to any publisher looking to make a penny off their video clips. Google is only inviting a certain number of publishers to sell their pre-roll and mid-roll ads.
Already the dominant in search and display, Google wants to stake a similar claim on the digital video ad market. Through YouTube, Google netted 20.5% of the $4.15 billion U.S. online video ad market in 2013, according to eMarketer estimates. Google still has untapped supply on its video service
Tomi Engdahl says:
Film streaming and downloads to overtake box office in 2017
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jun/04/film-streaming-downloads-dvd-netflix
The growing popularity of downloads and streaming services like Netflix means that Blu-ray and DVD sales are declining
A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has declared that the market for DVDs and Blu-ray is quickly declining, with the slack taken up by increasingly popular on-demand streaming services like Netflix – which will also overtake cinema box office revenues in the coming years.
The study says that revenue from electronic home video (ie streaming and downloading films) will outstrip physical media in 2016, and that the market for physical media will drop from $12.2bn now to $8.7bn in 2018. They also predict that in 2017 electronic home video will overtake the traditional cinema as the biggest contributor to total film revenue in the US, reaching a total of $17bn the following year – double the $8.5bn the sector currently generates.
Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and the popular US streaming service Hulu are funnelling their growth into ambitious production projects: all have quickly made the jump from mere middlemen to creators of original content, with hits like House of Cards and Arrested Development.
That’s not to say the multiplex is under threat – PwC predict a 16% increase in ticket sales over the next five years. “People still want to go to the movies, especially the big tentpole films,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
“You could be liable for $150k in penalties—settle instead for $20 per song”
Growing copyright cop Rightscorp hopes to be a profitable alternative to “six strikes.”
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/06/meet-rightscorp-the-internets-new-for-profit-copyright-cop/
Call them “RIAA-lite.”
Six years after the US recording industry stopped seeking money from file-sharers, a new company is now preparing technology that could flood the Internet with “hundreds of millions of notices” to alleged copyright infringers.
Rightscorp, the company behind the campaign, already sends out thousands of notices to users, while making big promises to investors—and not-so-subtle threats to Internet Service Providers. The company’s whole strategy is based on telling ISPs that they’re likely to face a high-stakes copyright lawsuit if they don’t forward the notices that Rightscorp creates.
It works like this: users accused by Rightscorp are found via IP addresses appearing in BitTorrent download swarms. If ISPs agree to forward Rightscorp’s notices—and an increasing number of them are doing so—the users get notices that they could be liable for $150,000 in damages. Unless, that is, they click on a provided link and agree to settle their case at a low, low price. Typically, it’s $20 per song infringed.
Rightscorp is a small company, with just seven full-time employees, but it’s growing fast.
Since Rightscorp splits its settlement cash 50/50 with its clients, those numbers mean that Internet users paid up almost $750,000 last year over its notices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple introduces MFi specs for Lightning cable headphones, support arriving in future iOS update
http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/03/apple-introduces-mfi-specs-for-lightning-cable-headphones-support-arriving-in-future-ios-update/
We’ve learned Apple has quietly introduced a new specification for manufacturers in its Made-For-iPhone/iPad/iPod (MFi) program that allows them to create headphones that connect to iOS devices using a Lightning connector instead of the usual 3.5mm headphone jack. Apple has not flipped the switch on the audio input support for Lightning cables and existing iOS devices, but it will release a software update in the future that will enable support in devices running iOS 7.1 or later.
The Lightning headphones will be capable of receiving lossless stereo 48 kHz digital audio output from Apple devices and sending mono 48 kHz digital audio input. The input means that the headphones will also support a microphone for audio input following Apple’s upcoming update.
I’m guessing we’ll see a Lightning cable eventually make its way to a pair of Beats. Perhaps Apple will even use Beats as the first pair of Lightning cable headphones to help promote the new tech when it finally flips the switch on support.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google’s secretive 3D-mapping project now has a tablet: here it is
http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/05/project-tango-tablet/
Comprehending the world around us is something we humans take for granted, but it’s not so easy for our technology. Sure, autonomous robots and military-grade research labs have hardware that can approximate the same visual acuity of human eyes, but Google’s Advanced Technologies and Projects (ATAP) division started Project Tango to bring that sort of tech to the masses. Its mission is to make mobile devices capable of using depth sensors and high-spec cameras to craft three-dimensional maps more cheaply and easily than other current efforts. ATAP announced its first piece of hardware in February, a prototype smartphone equipped with Kinect-like 3D sensors and other components, but the team is now expanding the project to a new form factor: a seven-inch tablet that’s packed with a lot more power.
The project’s already getting plenty of support from the graphics community, with renowned game engine builders Unity and Epic among the many companies working with Tango; even Autodesk (the makers of AutoCAD) has several projects in the works. That corporate support, which began with Qualcomm’s Adreno GPU inside the Tango smartphone, should continue to grow stronger on the tablet because of the K1 chip involved. The NVIDIA chip uses desktop GPU architecture, making it easier for companies to port over complex programs that they’ve already spent years developing on PCs.
This 3D-mapping technology is still considered bleeding-edge, but Lee envisions a day in which the enhanced sensing capabilities are expected in a device, much like Bluetooth is a fundamental feature in phones today.
Like Google’s continued experiment in wearable computing, this isn’t a consumer product yet.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Grab the remote: Chromebooks can now watch Play Movies, TV shows offline
http://gigaom.com/2014/06/05/grab-the-remote-chromebooks-can-now-watch-movies-tv-offline/
After what seemed an eternity, Google Chromebook owners can finally watch Google Play video content offline on their devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple To Abandon Headphone Jack? Beats Deal Suddenly Makes Sense
http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2014/06/05/apple-to-abandon-headphone-jack-suddenly-beats-deal-makes-sense/
Suddenly why Apple AAPL +0.39% spent a seemingly ludicrous $3.2 billion buying Beats is starting to make sense. The reason: Apple is being more Apple than we ever imagined and it could mean saying goodbye to your favourite pair of headphones. Furthermore, if my theory is correct, then the new ones you buy will probably have Beats on the logo.
Like most Apple developments, the news emerged from a leak. 9to5Mac has learnt that Apple submitted a specification to its MFi (Made For) licensing program for headphones which connect using the company’s proprietary Lightning port instead of the standard 3.5mm jack.
The 3.5mm jack (technically called a ‘TRS’ connector) is rarely the bottleneck to audio quality, but the Lightning port will enable a switch from analogue to digital audio with an exceedingly high lossless stereo 48 kHz digital output and mono 48 kHz digital input.
Headphones with a Lightning connector would be able to do more than lower/increase volume, end calls and skip tracks.
But let’s cut to the chase. The biggest upside in this switch would be for Apple.
Right now you can plug any pair of headphones or earphones into an iPhone, iPod, iPad, Mac or MacBook, but with the switch Apple would control an essential peripheral and its MFi licensing program would see it start to take a sizeable fee for every pair of headphones sold for use with an Apple device.
As for users who want to stick with their headphones, they would need to pay for an adaptor which – like the $29 Lightning to 30-pin adaptor (below) – would inevitably be expensive and just bulky enough to make you want to buy dedicated Lightning headphones long term.
The problem is most customers will lose out
Make no mistake Apple is not stupid. It knows the state of the headphone market and it knows the risk of trying to impose too much too quickly. That said there is a very simple and effective roll out trajectory:
1. Announce the technology with Beats and headphone partners
2. Unveil clever third party app integration
3. Make this integration inaccessible in any other way
4. Make Lightning port to 3.5mm headphone jack adaptors expensive and bulky
5. In a few years remove the 3.5mm headphone jack from Apple devices citing legacy, greater design flexibility and extra space for a bigger battery
Is there any way such a move could come back to haunt Apple
Tomi Engdahl says:
Advertising to Outpace Consumer Spending in the Migration to Digital for Entertainment & Media Industry, Says PwC US
Electronic Home Video Over-the-Top and Digital Music Streaming See Fastest Growth in Consumer Spending
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/advertising-to-outpace-consumer-spending-in-the-migration-to-digital-for-entertainment–media-industry-says-pwc-us-261746661.html
The Outlook forecasts that global E&M spending is expected to rise from $1.8 trillion in 2013 to $2.3 trillion by 2018, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5 percent. The U.S. remains the largest E&M market, growing at a 4.8 percent CAGR and reaching $724 billion by 2018, from $573 billion in 2013.
Globally, digital E&M spending (excluding Internet access spending) is expected to grow at a 12.2 percent CAGR between 2013 and 2018 and account for 65 percent of global entertainment and media spending growth by 2018 – almost two out of every three dollars.
“The consumer is now at the center of their own entertainment and media world, pivoting from finding to being found by content experiences via every channel and device,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
The circuit camera to record for the 8K video
4K TVs will only come into use, but the Japanese public broadcaster NHK is already developing an even more detailed picture.
NHK half research has developed a CMOS-based image sensor having a massive 133 megapixels. It can be used to capture and store images with a resolution of 8k4k.
8k4k-in-picture pixels is 7680 x 4320. Generally, 8k video capture requires 33 million pixels, and three colors (RGB) would require three separate sensor circuit. NHK worked up the district, which collects data from three different color on one sensor chip. The sensor is implanted RGBB a new filter, which collects 66 mega pixel signal data greens. It allows the district to save 8k image without interpolation.
Sensor circuit size is 37.6 x 21.2 millimeters, resolution is 15360 x 8640 pixels.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1480:kamerapiiri-tallentaa-jo-8k-videota&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sex on screen: No longer taboo?
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20140108-sex-on-screen-no-longer-taboo
Blue Is the Warmest Colour and Nymphomaniac have attracted attention for their graphic sexual content. But what does the explicit trend mean for films? Nicholas Barber reports.
Nymphomaniac: How hardcore is Lars von Trier’s latest?
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20140210-how-hardcore-is-nymphomaniac
In 2013, producer Louise Vesth told The Hollywood Reporter: “We shot the actors pretending to have sex and then had the body doubles, who really did have sex, and in post [production] we will digital-impose the two. So above the waist it will be the star and then below the waist it will be the doubles.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Arrogant” Apple managers are the reason Apple needs Beats
http://thetechblock.com/arrogant-apple-managers-reason-apple-needs-beats/?comments=1
Apple’s high-profile acquisition of Beats Music has brought the tech giant’s future in the streaming and recommendation music business into sharp focus. As the company begins to incorporate the Beats team and products under the Apple umbrella, new information from two Apple sources suggests that, ahead of the Beats deal, the iTunes team was plagued by shortsighted management who ignored competitors while engineers used other streaming products rather than Apple’s.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple’s ‘arrogance’ wrought mediocre iTunes Radio and led to Beats buy, report says
http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/06/05/apples-arrogance-wrought-mediocre-itunes-radio-and-led-to-beats-buy-report-says
By AppleInsider Staff
Amid the furor of Apple’s $3 billion purchase of Beats, pundits asked why the Cupertino company would sink so much capital into what amounts to a brand name. A report on Thursday now claims a shortsighted and credulous iTunes management team put out an inferior product in iTunes Radio, which in turn forced the acquisition.
Citing multiple sources, Buzzfeed claims the Apple’s iTunes managers ignored competing streaming music offerings like Pandora to the point where some didn’t know that popular app Spotify was a subscription service. The resulting product, iTunes Radio, is feature deficient compared to rival streamers, in both content curation and purpose, these people said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Arrogant” Apple Managers Are The Reason Apple Needs Beats
http://www.buzzfeed.com/azafar/arrogant-apple-managers-are-the-reason-apple-needs-beats
Apple employees shed some light on the willfully ignorant execs that paved the way to Apple’s acquisition of Beats Music.
Apple’s high-profile acquisition of Beats Music has brought the tech giant’s future in the streaming and recommendation music business into sharp focus.
Past and current employees in the company with direct knowledge of iTunes and Apple’s services Ping and iTunes Radio told BuzzFeed that Apple engineers involved with those products often preferred to use Spotify and Pandora.
When it launched in 2003, iTunes revolutionized the digital music industry by offering songs and albums à la carte. But it’s been largely criticized in recent years as it has struggled to compete with newer streaming services.
Ping, sources agreed, was designed to prompt users to click and buy songs, rather than to facilitate the sharing of playlists or discussion
“But the biggest reason why Ping failed was because Apple was not interested in making a network — they were interested in making a purchase pusher.”
Apple employees confirmed that management actively ignored iTunes’ streaming competitors,
Apple has rarely looked outside for help, and when news of the Beats purchase broke, many wondered why they’d do so now.
“They’re having trouble capturing the younger generation,” the former employee said. “The Apple coolness is kind of fading away.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Red Button Flaw Exposes Major Vulnerability In Millions of Smart TVs
http://www.forbes.com/sites/bruceupbin/2014/06/06/red-button-flaw-exposes-major-vulnerability-in-millions-of-smart-tvs/
No one sees the hack coming. The drones, launched from the roof of a tall apartment building, carry a small payload of electronic gear that can capture incoming digital broadcasts, inject a bit of malicious code to the data portion of the stream, and send it back out on the same frequency.
Without any trace or sign of vandalism, an entire neighborhood’s smart TV sets have been compromised. The home owners don’t know it yet, but the hackers are already moving deeper into the home, sniffing for weakly or unprotected WiFi routers and PCs that may be attached. The hackers can lurk around as long as no one turns off the set or changes the channel, and when the hackers decide to go there’s no way to retrace their steps.
This flaw behind this “Red Button attack,” so-called because of the red button on remotes that usually controls interactive TV features, has never been published before. It could throw a wrench into the interactive dreams of the TV industry. The vulnerability affects any brand of Smart TV sold that is compatible with the new HbbTV standard (short for hybrid broadcast-broadband) which is widespread in Europe (90% of the German market is covered and millions of sets have been sold). It’s on the verge of mass adoption in the U.S. as it was recently added to NTSC standards used in North America.
Broadcasters and advertisers have been eager to use the HbbTV to target ads more precisely and add interactive content, polls, shopping and apps, to home viewers. But millions of TV sets would be vulnerable to hackers with the right gear, as long as the sets are receiving an over-the-air digital broadcast signal. Some 30% of all Smart TV sets are not plugged in to the Internet.
A hacker with a $250 1-watt amplifier could cover a 1.4 square kilometer area.
Red Button can best be thought of as a classic “man-in-the-middle” attack, or a particularly insidious descendant of the signal injections of the early days of cable TV. Those were pranks, like the Max Headroom vandalism. Today’s TVs are wide open for business, connected to home networks and social sites and apps that can lead to a hacker deeper into homeowners’ Web presence and physical security.
Red Button exploits two security flaws in the HbbTV standard. One is caused by the fact that software or content embedded in the HbbTV broadcast stream is not linked in any way to a Web server and thus has no implicit origin “The security implications of this is staggering,” says Oren, and it goes against a basic Web security model known as same-origin policy.
There are a few ways to thwart the Red Button attack, says Oren. The most brutally effective would be to completely cut off Internet access to all broadcast-delivered HTML content. That’s not likely to happen.
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘Popcorn Time’ Gives Users Anonymity With a Free Built-In VPN
http://torrentfreak.com/popcorn-time-gives-users-anonymity-with-a-free-built-in-vpn-140607/
One of the Popcorn Time forks has included a free VPN option in its software, allowing users to hide their IP-addresses from the public, This feature is a response to copyright trolls, who regularly send settlement requests to users who pirate movies via BitTorrent.
The Popcorn Time phenomenon took the Internet by storm earlier this year. The software became the subject of hundreds of news articles, as it offered P2P streaming in an easy to use Netflix-style interface.
Overwhelmed by the response the original team quickly retired. However, since the code is open source, many competing forks quickly adopted the project, each taking it in a different direction.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Red Button Flaw Exposes Major Vulnerability In Millions of Smart TVs
http://www.forbes.com/sites/bruceupbin/2014/06/06/red-button-flaw-exposes-major-vulnerability-in-millions-of-smart-tvs/
No one sees the hack coming. The drones, launched from the roof of a tall apartment building, have a clutch of electronic gear aboard that can capture incoming digital broadcasts, inject a bit of malicious code to the data portion of the stream, and send it back out on the same frequency.
Within a minute or two, residents’ printers are spewing out unwanted coupons and phony Yelp YELP reviews and Facebook posts are being created using their login credentials. Without any trace or sign of vandalism, an entire neighborhood’s smart TV sets have been compromised.
This flaw behind this “Red Button attack,” so-called because of the red button on remotes that usually controls interactive TV features, has never been published before. It could throw a wrench into the interactive dreams of the TV industry. The vulnerability affects any brand of Smart TV sold that is compatible with the new HbbTV standard (short for hybrid broadcast-broadband) which is widespread in Europe (90% of the German market is covered and millions of sets have been sold). It’s on the verge of mass adoption in the U.S. as it was recently added to ATSC standards used in North America.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Movidius Redefines Computer Vision
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1322651&
You’ve heard about the Movidius Myriad 1 vision processing unit (VPU) inside Google’s Tango prototype — a handset that, for one thing, can map 3D spaces just by walking through them. But what about this VPU at its heart, that Movidius Ltd. in San Mateo, Calif., claims is 10-times faster and bears little resemblance to the graphics processing units (GPU) with which we are all familiar.
“We believe that cameras in general and mobile cameras in particular are going through a revolution which we call computational imaging which brings in new functionality,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
SoundClear Technology
http://www.eeweb.com/company-news/cirrus_logic/soundclear-technology/
SoundClear Technology of Cirrus Logic is a technology that offers different features for voice, audio playback (stereo headphone and speaker modes) as well as speech. It offers unique advantage for applications such as in smartphones and tablets and as well as wireless speakers.
Cirrus Logic offers RAPID2 (Real-time Audio Perfection and Integration Diagnostics), a PC-based tool that allows developers to easily monitor and tune programmable parameters in real-time via a simple Graphical User Interface (GUI).
Tomi Engdahl says:
NASA Beams Hi-Def Video From Space Via Laser
http://science.slashdot.org/story/14/06/08/1231246/nasa-beams-hi-def-video-from-space-via-laser
“NASA successfully beamed a high-definition video 260 miles from the International Space Station to Earth Thursday using a new laser communications instrument.”
“175-megabit communication for the Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS)”
Tomi Engdahl says:
GAME ON: Top 10 tellies for a World Cup kicking
Staying in for the footie
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/09/product_round_up_ten_televisions_to_watch_the_world_cup_on/
Tomi Engdahl says:
You know what today’s movies need? MORE DRONES
US aviation authority mulls it over after film crews ask for permits
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/03/drones_movie_tv_industry/
The US aviation authority is considering whether it should hand over permits for film and TV firms to use drones to take aerial photo and video shots.
Seven photo and production companies, backed by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) have asked the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for regulatory exemptions that would allow the industry to use unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), as it likes to call them, for the first time.
At the moment, public entities – such as law enforcement, firefighters, border patrol, search and rescue among others – can apply for a waiver of the rules to allow them to use drones in civil airspaces.
Commercial requests have to be authorised on a case-by-case basis, which ensures they have a certified craft and licensed pilot.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How Best-Kept Tech Secret Got Tank Man Images Out of China
Sony, Canon & tech journalists hushed news of first digital cameras
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1322623
History-shattering events happened 25 years ago this week. The Chinese government’s absolutely worst fear was happening.
However, the advent of digital technology was about to confuse China’s leaders on an unprecedented scale. For millennia, physical blockades and censorship kept secrets inside China. They did not know that digital camera technology and ordinary telephones were about to unleash the scale and scope of their very private citizen killings to the outside world.
Remember, this was an time before the Internet
There was no such thing as “online” in 1989.
Enter the brand new science of digital photography. Only Sony (in the lead) — and Canon — had very early (professional) digital camera systems which could use an analog phone line to transmit their megapixel images to a faraway location — in this case, a distant newspaper, news service, magazine, or TV news station. An analog modem was used to convert the picture — pixel by pixel
Chinese officials and soldiers were watching airports, sea terminals, trains, and boats to Hong Kong. The government order was that no film must escape. No camcorders or movie film. Nothing. Tourist cameras were opened and emptied. Videocassettes were seized. Anything the size or shape of a 35mm film canister was seized. Officials took no chances.
The leaders were completely unaware of the dozens of digital cameras capturing every citizen’s courage — and every government stumble and massacre.
“I’m going to appeal to you to not report the digital camera news we had here this week.”
“Too many lives are at stake.”
Sony and Canon were willing to forgo free publicity for the greater good. It was the opposite of traditional PR mandates.
Soon we all agreed that no news stories revealing the digital camera technologies of Sony, Canon, Casio, Kodak, and others were to be reported for now. No one was to write up how these “film” images were escaping Chinese censors and militia.
Digital camera technology was revealed later that summer of 1989.
By not doing our “jobs” that day, the world had changed. For the better.
Tomi Engdahl says:
4K TV misses its World Cup goal
Soccer showcase highlights the struggles facing Ultra High Definition
By Sam Byford on June 5, 2014 11:00 am Email @345triangle
http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/5/5782382/why-cant-you-watch-the-world-cup-in-4k
The World Cup is the biggest single sporting event in the world, and that means one thing for the TV industry — it’s the biggest opportunity to sell new sets.
“We expect the demand for TVs to increase considerably due to the upcoming World Cup matches,” said Samsung VP Simon Sung on the company’s last earnings call.
And this is a year in which TV makers have been pushing upgrades harder than ever. Ultra High Definition (UHD), or 4K, sets dominated CES 2014, and are now becoming available at reasonably affordable prices. “We believe that the UHD TV era will unfold this year,” Samsung tells The Verge. Sony agrees: it “finds opportunity in the World Cup as a vehicle to introduce our new technologies.” A new TV format on the market in time for this year’s World Cup in Brazil sounds like perfect timing.
There’s just one problem — you can’t actually watch the World Cup in 4K.
At least, not in the way you would want and expect. Only three matches will actually be filmed in the format, with Sony handling the production; these will form part of the official World Cup documentary movie, which you’ll be able to download at some point after the tournament is over.
anyone planning to watch the tournament on their new 4K set will have to make do with regular 720p channels
It’s understandable that those in the market for a new TV would want to future-proof themselves with a 4K panel, so companies aren’t letting the lack of native 4K content dissuade them from pushing UHD TVs alongside the World Cup. Sony tells The Verge that it expects the tournament to boost sales of 1080p sets as well as 4K models. Samsung, meanwhile, is touting the “Soccer Mode” on its 2014 lineup
That may not be the most convincing pitch, but 4K TVs can still deliver better-than-HD results by upscaling the content to fit the higher resolution — at least in theory.
Live 4K becomes possible “once super-fast, high-capacity broadband is rolled out to every home”
That’s not to say the internet won’t play a role in getting 4K content into the home. The BBC and Japan’s NHK collaborated on 8K broadcast experiments for the 2012 Olympics, using university network Janet to beam “Super Hi-Vision” live images into theaters around the UK, with NBC taking a feed to the US. “Once super-fast, high-capacity broadband is rolled out to every home, then live 4K and 8K coverage of sport in living rooms becomes a real possibility,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bluetooth Wireless Digital Audio with PIC32
http://www.eeweb.com/company-blog/microchip/bluetooth-wireless-digital-audio-with-pic32/
Dave Richkas, Product Line Manager of Microchip Technology discusses the PIC32 Bluetooth Audio Development Kit, a development tool that will help you in a great wireless digital audio into your designs.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sony brings games streamer, Uncharted and Little Big Planet for PS4 to E3
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2349120/sony-brings-games-streamer-uncharted-and-little-big-planet-for-ps4-to-e3
Playstation TV is a €99 gadget that lets Sony’s Playstation 4 (PS4) users take their gameplay to any television in the house. Sony said that it will be out for the PAL region sometime this year. Japan already has it as the Playstation Vita TV, and Sony said that it has been revised since its November release.
Using the small slim box around the home will let gamers play a title on the main television before retiring to another room to complete it. Sony said that the unit will work with Dualshock 3 and 4 controllers and will play previous Playstation titles.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon Stops Taking Advance Orders for ‘Lego’ and Other Warner Videos
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/10/amazon-stops-taking-advance-orders-for-lego-other-warner-videos/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
The Everything Store is shrinking again.
The retailer’s refusal to sell the movies is part of its effort to gain leverage in yet another major confrontation with a supplier to become public in recent weeks.
In a standoff with the Hachette Book Group, Amazon is refusing to take advance orders and delaying shipments.
Disputes between retailers and vendors happen every day. What is unusual here is not Amazon’s relentless desire to gain margin from its suppliers, but the suppliers’ growing resolve to hold the line.
Amazon’s tactics with Warner Home Video are unlikely to provoke as much of an uproar, since DVDs do not carry the cultural weight of books. And the films are readily available from other vendors, including Target and Barnes & Noble.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Netflix’s new plan: save a buck with SD-only streaming
Netflix buys a sandwich for all the customers stricken with bandwidth caps.
http://arstechnica.com/business/2013/12/netflixs-new-plan-save-a-buck-with-sd-only-streaming/
Netflix has added a new streaming plan to its slate: for $6.99 per month, customers can get a plan that allows streaming to a single screen at one time, in standard-definition only, Engadget reported Monday. This plan costs a dollar less than what was previously the basic Netflix streaming plan.
While a dedicated standard-definition plan seems backward-looking, Netflix is far from the only video content provider to offer independent SD options; both iTunes and Amazon offer purchases in both SD and HD on many of their wares.
The plan may not be specifically designed to benefit ancient TVs, either. Many mobile devices, including the iPhone 5S and older tablets like the iPad 2 or Nexus 7, cannot benefit from full “Super HD.” If customers use those devices to stream exclusively, they may be tickled to learn they are now able to save all of 100 cents each month.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ON Semi’s Aptina Acquisition Aims at Automotive
Builds image sensor brain trust
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1322691&
ON Semiconductor’s $400 million acquisition of Aptina Imaging Monday is a smart move on the part of a $2.8 billion behemoth looking for growth opportunities. The deal will make ON Semiconductor one of the leaders in the image sensor market — almost instantaneously. The company, in particular, has high hopes to become a key supplier of automotive and industrial image sensors.
Sure, Omnivision, Samsung, and Sony rule the image sensor market when it comes to the handset segment.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon Music Streaming Service Is Expected Soon
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/12/business/media/amazon-said-to-be-close-to-unveiling-music-streaming-service.html?_r=0
Amazon plans to introduce a limited music streaming feature as early as Thursday, according to several people briefed on its plans.
The new feature, which has been rumored in the music industry for months, will give subscribers to Amazon’s Prime service access to thousands of songs free and without interruptions from advertising.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Songwriters Are Losing $2.3 Billion A Year Due To Outdated Government Regulations
http://www.buzzfeed.com/peterlauria/songwriters-are-losing-23-billion-a-year-due-to-outdated-gov
The National Music Publishers’ Association, the lobbying group for songwriters, said the lost revenue is based on what it believes its constituents could collect if government regulations were lifted. The claim is the latest salvo in a heated debate between the music industry and satellite, streaming, and other new music distribution services over royalty rates.
But there’s a caveat: The lost revenue calculations are based on what the NMPA assumes the industry could collect in the absence of government regulation.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Comcast to test its YouTube competitor by the end of the year
http://gigaom.com/2014/06/11/comcast-to-test-its-youtube-competitor-by-the-end-of-the-year/
Comcast wants to give niche audiences access to a wider variety of content trough its set-top boxes, and is looking to test a streaming service later this year.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Computex 2014: CVision’s Glasses-Free 3D
by Kristian Vättö on June 11, 2014 12:10 PM EST
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8154/computex-3d-asdasd
One of the most interesting things I saw at this year’s Computex was CVision’s glasses-free 3D technology. You likely have not heard of the company before because they are currently not spending any money on B2C marketing or PR as they are focusing on selling/licensing the technology to OEMs to bring it to the mainstream market.
The way their technology works is unique. Instead of requiring a special panel or hardware, all that is needed is a custom film, or convergence of thin-film barrier as it’s officially called, that is applied on top of the panel. That film along with CVision’s software is able to produce a 3D experience that doesn’t require glasses and to be honest, the quality was just awesome. CVision showed me a couple of short videos to highlight the 3D experience and I didn’t notice that it was 3D unless I specifically looked for it.
CVision’s software even supports 2D to 3D conversion on the fly, so playing Angry Birds in 3D wasn’t a problem at all and it was actually very cool as the game itself suits well for 3D.
The main advantage of CVision’s technology is that it can be applied to any device without the need for major re-engineering. The film itself is very thin and it is the only thing that is needed in terms of hardware and the prototype devices CVision had at their booth were as slim as any other high-end smartphone in the market. Currently the cost is about $3 per inch but CVision believes that they can cut this to half with higher volumes.
Tomi Engdahl says:
370-inch TV costs more than the mansion you’d need to house it
http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/10/titan-zeus-370-inch-4k-tv/
What will Panasonic make of this, then? The Japanese manufacturer’s enormous 152-inch 4K set has been superseded by a rival giant — the “Titan Zeus” — which is more than four times the size and triple the price. At a cost of £1 million sterling ($1.6 million), the Zeus also promises a full 4K resolution, but this time stretched out across a 370-inch (8m by 5m) panel that is said to be suitable for both indoor and outdoor domestic use.
similar sets from Titan have been widely used at public events
Tomi Engdahl says:
Panasonic’s Lumix FZ1000 is a camera that wants to do it all
http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/12/panasonic-lumix-fz1000/
Panasonic is introducing the FZ1000, a compact shooter that offers 4K (30fps) video-shooting capabilities to folks who may not want to spend too much money.
Inside, there is a 1-inch, 20.1-megapixel “high-sensitivity” MOS sensor, paired with a 16x Leica DC Vario-Elmarit optical zoom lens. For $900, you’ll also get a 3-inch articulating LCD, WiFi features, a top ISO of 12,800 and a newly minted AF system
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sony Creates Curved CMOS Sensors That Mimic the Eye
http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/semiconductors/devices/sony-creates-curved-cmos-sensors-that-mimic-the-eye
The retinas of humans and other animals line the curved inner surface of the eye. Now, in a bit of biomimicry, Sony engineers reports that they have created a set of curved CMOS image sensors using a “bending machine” of their own construction.
A curved CMOS sensor has a few advantages over a planar sensor, Itonaga said. Because of the geometry, it can be paired with a flatter lens and a larger aperture, which lets in more light. Photodiodes at the periphery of a sensor array will be bent toward the center, which means light rays will hit them straight on instead of obliquely. What’s more, the strain induced on a CMOS sensor by bending it alters the band gap of the silicon devices in the sensor region, lowering the noise created by “dark current” — the current that flows through a pixel even when it is receiving no external light.
All told, the curved systems were 1.4 times more sensitive at the center of the sensor and twice as sensitive at the edge, according to the Sony engineers.
This isn’t the first curved image sensor to be developed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sony Unveils Curved Sensor Technology
http://petapixel.com/2014/04/02/sony-unveils-curved-sensor-technology/
Originally found in patents back in 2012, Sony published an official presentation on the technology just before the Technology Symposium.
According to them, this curved CMOS sensor and integrated lens will make for almost zero light loss in the corner of the images and create a great deal less curvature aberration. It will also be capable of creating richer blacks due to its lower dark current.
There’s no word on when this technology might make its way into the consumer market
Tomi Engdahl says:
More on Sony Curved Sensor Paper
http://image-sensors-world.blogspot.fi/2014/04/more-on-sony-curved-sensor-paper.html
“It doubles the sensitivity at the edge of the image circle while increasing sensitivity at its center by a factor of 1.4, with a 5x reduction of dark current (Jd) compared to a planar BIS. Moreover, a common problem known as lens field curvature aberration (Afc) is mitigated by the curved sensor itself”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sony is very very very serious about the curved sensor tech!
http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sony-is-very-very-very-serious-about-the-curved-sensor-tech-new-official-announcements/
“Curved CMOS Image System: When light transmitted by a lens strikes a perpendicular target such as a CMOS image sensor, it forms a circle of light called an image circle. It’s difficult for a flat (planar) CMOS image sensor to deliver high image sensitivity at high resolution (highly scaled pixel pitch) because of the fundamental physical limit known as quantum efficiency. To break through that physical limit and to achieve higher sensitivity anywhere within the image circle at higher resolution, Sony built and will describe an imaging system that comprises a hemispherically curved, back-illuminated CMOS image sensor (BIS) and integrated lens.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Comcast May Launch A New Video Service — But It’s Not The YouTube Killer Everyone’s Talking About
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/comcast-video-service-2014-6#ixzz34V4PWfGd
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to think in dB
http://www.edn.com/design/test-and-measurement/4423318/How-to-Think-in-dB
Sound level power has a huge range. It starts at the threshold of hearing (TOH) with a sound level of about 10-12 W/m². The onset of pain is about 10W/m², and the power level to rupture an eardrum is 1000W/m².
The loudest recorded man-made sound is from rocket launches. The Saturn V produced 100W/m² of sound level power about 1 mile from the launch pad.
There are 15 orders of magnitude between the threshold of hearing and the rupture level. When there is such a large dynamic range, it is more convenient to describe the values in terms of the log of the ratio of the power levels to a reference level.
Over the past 85 years, the dB scale has been adapted to describe not just the log of the ratio of sound power, but the log of the ratio of any two powers.
Now comes the subtle part. When we want to compare two quantities that are not powers, we have to somehow convert them into powers so we can use the dB scale.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung Debuts Thin Galaxy Tab S With Super AMOLED 2560X1600 Display
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/14/06/13/0312244/samsung-debuts-thin-galaxy-tab-s-with-super-amoled-2560×1600-display
Samsung unveiled its latest flagship tablet, the Galaxy Tab S, at an event in New York City tonight, and the new device is thin, lightweight, and sports a killer Super AMOLED display. Samsung boasts that the Galaxy Tab S’s 2560×1600 display has 73% better color reproduction than conventional LCD displays and can match colors up to 94% of “nature’s true palette” with deeper blacks and a 100,000:1 contrast ratio.