LEGACY BAGGAGE

LEGACY BAGGAGE

I've been researching this notion of Legacy Baggage and how it often unfortunately impairs the development of new technologies. 2 aspects of video production in particular are victims of this, namely - 2/3" sensors and 29.97/23.98 time code.

The size, 2/3", standard for broadcast camera sensors, lenses, etc. comes from the fact that prior to CCD technology, video cameras used a CRT pick up tube much like the one in your television. This pick up tube was 2/3" in diameter so the video lenses of the day were designed to work with this standard size. Due to the efforts of Sony, Ikegami, and others, eventually pick up tubes were phased out in favor of new CCD sensors. Given this opportunity to introduce a new broadcast video standard, the size of these new chips could have been anything but due to the existing equipment legacy, 2/3" was chosen so that all those thousands of video lenses out there could continue to work. It's the exact same situation with time code. Time code was originally a solid 30 fps. With the advent of color television back in the 1950's, the frame rate was slowed by 0.01% to become 29.97 which could accommodate analog color sync. Years later when 24 fps video production became a reality, the frame rate of 23.98 was introduced so that the new technology could fit into existing workflows. Now here we are again in the process of adopting a new 100% digital TV standard, where there are no analog related sync issues. HDTV broadcasts could quite easily utilize a solid frame rate and we would be done with 59.94/29.97/23.98 forever but instead, it was deemed easier and safer to make the new accommodate the old. Legacy Baggage.

Within reason, newer companies like RED and Vision Research have minimal existing equipment legacies to deal with so are therefore free to design with much less limitation. Take this new RED Digital Stills in Motion Camera idea. Unlike Canon, RED doesn't already have a pro video product line that would be rendered instantly obsolete with the introduction of this one product. (They do however have a certain 4k digital cinema camera that could be jeopardized, that is if they don't continue to support and develop it in its own right.) 

No legacy baggage = technological innovation

These are just some quick thoughts. It plays in with my earlier post on stills/video convergence. Just wondering where all this technology is leading us.. I'd love to hear what other people have to say about it.

Film Camera Gates vs. Digital Sensor Sizes - numerical data

Film Camera Gates vs. Digital Sensor Sizes - numerical data

I was going through some old research the other day and found something I made that I feel is worth posting here. It's basically a table that lists the physical dimensions of various film camera apertures and video camera sensors. Awhile back I was trying to find a "normal" lens size for each format, i.e., in Super 35 a "normal" lens is considered to be a 35mm. Of course by "normal" lens I mean, one that basically recreates the natural, undistorted perspective and field of view of the human eye.

This is determined by measuring the diagonal distance of the imaging area (sensor or aperture). A lens size that corresponds to this diagonal distance in milimeters theoretically should recreate an undistorted Field of View. In practical application the actual dimensions of 1/3" and 2/3" camera sensors varies widely from manufacturer to manufacturer. The "1/3" and 2/3"" label are used more as a camera classification than an actual size. Therefore, there really isn't a way to accurately systematize and correlate lens sizes and Field of View to video camera sensors. This information can help get you in the ball park though and is useful for finding equivalent lenses across various formats. 

Have a look:

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The Human Eye

The Human Eye

In my nerdiness, I've been researching the ASA equivalent of the human eye and I've found that the eye's sensitivity can't really be quantified like that. No surprise really as our eyes are able to adjust to vastly different lighting conditions. There's a detailed description as to why here:

www.cinematography.net/TheHumanEye.htm.webloc

However the latitude and "frame rate" of the eye can apparently be quantified and has been measured at about 1,000,000:1 or 30 stops operating at the equivalent frequency of 60 frames per second. This is the extended dynamic range of the eye which accounts for its ability to resolve in both extreme brightness and low light. The typical working range for most people though is 30,000:1 or about 15 stops. Additionally, people without color vision problems can discern roughly 10 million colors. Very interesting stuff.