Conference CineGrid Day 2012 – the future with 4K

Conference CineGrid Day 2012 – the future with 4K
The second edition of the “CineGrid Day – the future with 4K” conference was held on 5th September 2012 in Amsterdam. It was organized by the Waag Society in cooperation with the Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center as a technology partner. The conference was devoted to the development and use of 4K technology in various fields of science, art, entertainment and industry. Invited guests represented filmmakers, producers, distributors, scientists, research institutions and companies involved in development of 4K technology.

PSNC in cooperation with SURFnet prepared a demonstration presenting advanced streaming technologies required for transmission of ultra high-resolution multimedia streams. During the demonstration three scenarios were presented. The main one was transmission of 4K live stream at 60 frames per second (60p 4K) from studio arranged in Poznan to Amsterdam. In addition, the transmission of FullHD 3D live content was shown as well as FullHD H.323 videoconferencing system. Transmitted data streams required around 700 Mbit/s of network capacity in total. For the purpose of the demonstration a dedicated link was established. The link was based on the resources of the international HPDMnet organization which is dedicated for experiments related to the transmission of multimedia content. Whole 4K 3D equipment required to conduct the demonstration was provided by PSNC in scope of the VISIONAIR project, whose goal is to provide access to unique facilities offered by the project partners for the European scientific community.

The main aim of the demonstration was to compare current and future forms of streaming and the presentation of 4K 60p technology, which has a chance to become a standard for television transmission due to ITU-R standards approved by the EBU (European Broadcasting Union).

The hardware and software provided by PSNC was also used for presentation of all 4K materials provided by the conference speakers and also for review of prize-winning one-minute 4K films produced under the patronage of theoneminutes organization.