Link to the full article on the Calit2 website

by Tiffany Fox

San Diego, Calif., Dec. 16, 2009 - Hollywood may be ground zero for cinematic glitz and glamour, but the University of California, San Diego division of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2) was digital cinema industry central last week when the members of CineGrid™ converged here for their fourth annual workshop.

CineGrid is a non-profit international membership organization and represents one of the first major research collaborations at Calit2. It connects people around the world who are experimenting with “extreme” digital media. Headquartered in California and run by Laurin Herr and Natalie von Osdol of Pacific Interface, CineGrid is leveraging next-generation cyberinfrastructure to promote higher-resolution imagery, better sound as well as more secure and efficient distribution of digital media over photonic networks.

“Every year, we set out to impress Hollywood with what we’re doing in the research community,” says Calit2 research scientist Tom DeFanti, a founding member of CineGrid. “This year, we showcased our fully evolved capabilities in distance collaboration for 4K editing and sound.” 4K images have roughly 4,000 horizontal pixels on 2160 vertical lines, offering approximately four times the resolution of the most widely-used HD television format.

Continues DeFanti: “CineGrid demonstrated that people can now collaborate remotely as if they were in same room - without appreciable delays or any kind of awkwardness - and really focus on creative tasks at hand. CineGrid also showed on a 32-by-18-foot screen that 4K is the best medium for everything from stop-motion animation to wildlife photography to computer graphics to wet skin.”

URL