Susie Ogihara welcomes attendees to Panasonic Hollywood Labs at Universal City
The visit to Panasonic started with a discussion how they serve the needs the studios and up-n-coming media producers to master A/V content on DVDs and now Blu-ray disc titles.
To better understand Blu-ray profiles, they included a summary of the 3 main profiles for Blu-ray:
1.0 - Provides basic Blu-ray playback.
1.1 - Blu-ray playback with bonus view and p-in-p capability, plus 64kb persistent storage to view all possible static content on the Blu-ray disc.
2.0 - 1.1 profile with 1GB of persistent storage, and networking capabilities (players must say "BD-Live" to be BD-Live capable).
There is also an automotive BD profile: 3.0 - relevant to BD playback in automotive BD hardware, mainly on the audio side.
BD-Live requires a network connection, and providers of BD content are working to create online sites to provide ongoing features related to BD titles, so that the user experience is not static, but ever-changing to take advantage of seasonal and holiday opportunities to offer new content or online commerce, as well as games and promotional material that tie in with the BD title at hand.
One of the neater presentations was the projection of original 4k source content along side with the 1080p AVC encoded Blu-ray video footage from The Fantastic Four and the Rise of the Silver Surfer. The projection was split diagonally, and it was virtually impossible to tell which was the 4k mastered content and which was the 1080p AVC encoded content on a relatively large screen (I estimate it being 22 feet wide by 12 feet tall). They even invited us to get next to screen for a better look, which still produced no certainty amongst our group members as to which side was the original 4k master, and which side was the 1080p AVC encoded video. It was a very impressive demonstration of their video encoding techniques.
-Patrick Sun
I never realized just how good the AVC codec is until I saw this demonstration. I was one of the people who went right up next to the screen. Then I tried stepping back a few feet. And event though I thought I could see some tiny differences between the two areas, I finally gave up trying to determine which was the compressed version and which was the uncompressed. It's that good.
-Michael Reuben
Compression is a craft and requires creativity and insight on the part of the person configuring and tuning the codec's operation. It's FAR from a plug 'n' play solution and the skill of the compressionist is MUCH more important than the available bandwidth etc (that is, the issues that were so highlighted during the HD DVD/BR format war. And, FWIW, I've edited two books on video compression.)
The folks at Panny have been doing AVC compression longer than almost anyone and have superb artisans on their staff.
-Bob Lindstrom
Next up was a slide presentation and discussion on the merits of the newest Panasonic home theater LCD projector, the PT-AE3000. It is finally available in the US starting this month. It has some nice features over its predecessor, the PT-AE2000, such as:
Increase black level performance due to the addition of a pure contrast plate in the light path, and decreased light leakage.
60,000:1 contrast ratio
Optical zoom up to 2x.
Processing of these modes: 21x9, 16x9 and full HD mode.
Frame creation which makes for solid panning experience, and 120Hz or 100Hz framerate playback
Lens Memory settings of zoom/focus for different aspect ratios
-Patrick Sun
(Pictured left) Deputy Director Yoshiichiro Kashiwagi.
Personally this was my favorite non-studio visit because I am a big fan of Panasonic products. After seeing the AE3000 demo, I have one on pre-order. I was blown away.
A BD35 is also in my future.
Thank you so much for inviting us and for that remarkable demo. -Jason Perkins
I was very impressed with the hardware demos that Panasonic provided and I think there may be a BD-35 in my near future (my first Blu-ray player).
-Rob Willey
This was a fun and really interesting visit.
Panasonic really wowed with their technology.
I think a BD35 may be in my future too.
-Dave Whipps
Panasonic Hollywood Labs was kind enough to provide our large group with an outdoor catered lunch, and the meal was very good and tasty. We had our choice of ribs (truly delicious and so tender that it almost fell off the bone) and fried chicken, with sides of green beans, pork-n-beans, mashed potatoes and gravy. Dessert featured peach cobbler, pound cake, and truly rich gooey butter cake (I only finished half a slice due to its richness, and cursed my failure to finish the slice because it was really yummy).
Each participant was given a Panasonic promo bag filled with such items, like a coffee mug, pen, small hand-held fan, 1GB USB memory stick, and some literature on their latest Blu-ray player models (BD-35 and BD-55 with comparisons to older models), and their first HT system in a box that incorporates a Blu-ray player and wireless connectivity and 7.1 audio.
It is with great appreciation for Panasonic who hosted our group, and provide us with a nice balance of informative Blu-ray content and their latest home theater projector offering. Plus, lunch was a hit amongst our members. Thanks, Panasonic Hollywood Labs!
-Patrick Sun
Brian Shaw with the world’s largest HD Plasma Display
