Olympus showed a new high-resolution camera system-the SH-880TM camera and SH-880TR hard disk drive recorder-that acquires 1,600-line images with four 8.3 million-pixel HD image sensors at the recent Hollywood Post Alliance (HPA) Retreat, in Rancho Mirage, Calif. The company calls it "Quad HD" recording. On the prism, each sensor is offset by a half pixel in a Bayer array configuration.
Olympus is positioning this as a digital cinema camera for feature productions, live concerts, sports and medical training. Veteran DP David Stump, ASC, is currently testing the camera in his Studio City, Calif., facility.
Leveraging the company's expertise in digital still cameras, the output of the camera is said to be 3840×2160 with over 1,600 TV lines of horizontal resolution. The camera weighs about 20 pounds and uses 2/3-inch lenses. It also includes an optical cable interface, allowing data to be transferred over a distance of one kilometer or more.
Data can be transferred directly from the recorder to an uncompressed editing environment in real-time using the four-channel HD-SDI fiber connection, or to a PC via Gigabit Ethernet.
The companion 480 GB SH-880TR recorder offers a hard disk capacity of an hour of video. Both camera and recorder can operate under battery or AC power.
Olympus has developed the VisionPlex automatic image calibration system for large-screen display with multiple projectors, the finished images can be reviewed at the full 1,600 line resolution.
To showcase the "Octavision" system, Olympus has opened a theater with complete digital movie production and editing facilities at its Hatagaya plant in Tokyo.
For more information, visit:
http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/news/2004a/|nr040414sh880e.cfm/