AV News 178 - November 2009
Congratulations
Joan & Glyn Horne - Previous Editors
Congratulations on another winning issue! Now you have done the first four,
you can at least relax just a wee bit. The fourth one is quite a challenge, isn’t
it? We found it so as there is a bit of a dip in activities during this season. We
do enjoy reading it though and it is rather nice to see it all fresh!
We were very interested with David Findlay Clark’s article (177 Page 4).
We have met him several times and he always commented on the isolation of
working so far away. It is good to know that he has solved the problem in quite
a unique way. It's good to look ‘out of the box’, isn’t it? Maurice Dybeck has
been involved in a huge project this time too, hasn’t he? He is so enthusiastic
that it’s quite infectious. And now Africa are getting involved!
We are still reading issue 177, there is plenty to read and it is so interesting.
We know how hard you have worked to produce it – thank you!
Screen Resolution
Howard Bagshaw ARPS
At the recent RPS AV Group AGM, I raised the issue of screen resolution for
the projection of AV sequences. I recognise that there can never be a
standard, but a screen resolution of 1024 x 768px (4:3 ratio) has been the
recognised and commonly accepted 'norm' for a number of years.
Inevitably projector technology progresses and for the first time in a major
AV competition in this country, the Nationals were shown using a 1400 x
1050px projector (4:3 ratio). This incidentally is the 'standard' currently
advocated by the PAGB. The RPS AV distinctions panel also uses this format,
but notes that "…it is anticipated that this will change to 1920 x 1080 pixels
Full High Definition…" (16:9 ratio).
At the Nationals the increase in pixel size caused no problems and unless
the sequence was made for that resolution and you were looking out for it,
made little perceptible difference in quality from where I was sat. What was
noticeable, however, was that the laptop struggled at times with animations
and even occasionally with some dissolves.
What I would like to raise for discussion, through your pages, are the issues
of projector resolution, image format and the concomitant need for computers
with more powerful graphics cards. I would like to think that the RPS AV group
could, in time, offer some guidance to sequence makers, to event organisers
and to bodies purchasing projection/computing equipment.
Personally I suspect that we are moving towards 1920 x 1080 projectors,
at least at major AV events. Should we continue to make sequences at 1024
and let the projector up-scale them? A 4:3 ratio sequence shown on a 16:9
projector will be left with black bars left and right; perfectly acceptable, but will
there be some sub-conscious penalty for not 'filling the screen'? And as for
computer power, does anyone know of a laptop which can correctly project a
1080p animated sequence without jerks and judders?
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