UHDV is a new format that was pioneered by engineers from Japan Broadcasting Corporation. The new format allows ultra-realistic video at resolutions that are 16 times (1) that of current high-definition formats.
The supported resolution is 4,000 lines, compared to 1080 (HDTV) and 525 (NTSC). At 7,680 × 4,320 pixels, the size of a single frame is 33 megapixels. The engineers built a custom camera using 2.5″ CCDs and recorded the video on an array of 16 (4×4) HDTV recorders. The 18 minutes of footage consumed a total of 3.5 terabytes. Uncompressed video ran at 24 gigabits per second.
The custom camera was fixed to a car and then driven around “town”. The audience viewing the video on a 4×7 meter screen commented that they felt nausea because of the ultra realistic images presented.
Considering we saw the first HDV consumer cam just an year ago (Sony FX1), I think it’ll be at least a decade before we see this monster-cam put to good use. I better hurry up and put an UHDV request for the Panasonic HVX200 on the DVX forums site. I love giving Panasonic a hard time responding to all these requests.
I wonder if they could use it to shoot the video equivalent to the 70mm version of Lawrence of Arabia. Why bother though? The movie’s perfect as it is.
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