Text
iPad going invisible
| m |
On March 14th, Apple made good on a number of rumors with the release of its 3rd installment of iPad. While they don’t officially call it the iPad 3, people in my circle are quickly defining it as such so as to distinguish it from previous iterations.
About 2 weeks ago I had the pleasure of hosting a really cool group of people that belong to the Independent Filmmakers of the Inland Empire (IFIE) led by Eric Harnden. This was just before the latest iPad came out. It’s not uncommon for my company to host different groups and give tours of the facility. I always think that sharing knowledge with others trumps keeping it to yourself. That is why we pride ourselves as educators and do our best to maintain a transparent identity with the community. After the tours, myself and a few of my partners sat down to talk about tools, technology and techniques with the group. One of the members of IFIE asked a great question: “What is it that bothers you most about the current state of tools and technology?” I think a few of us gave answers because it’s always a rare opportunity to answer such a bold question. I think my colleagues and close friends commonly agree that what bothers us the most is the way in which technology can be an obstruction. It’s becoming clearer to us that there are people in different parts of the industry that are using technology in ways to influence or even validate their position. In some cases I feel there are types of people that are opportunistic, others are just part of a transition. But the equation remains:
As time goes on > Moore’s Law applies > new technology develops > people’s expectations go up > masters of the technology immerge > technology becomes innate > all people master it > need for masters goes away > and the cycle repeats
In other words, we are a society with the immense capability to acclimate. I think every sociologist would agree with that. And in that acclimation there are times where we need to be led, and then times where we take the lead. And in that transition to becoming a user/master/leader of a technique or technology the need for help dissipates. That is where some people use technology to create an overt level of complexity (in some cases unnecessarily), where the technology is literally designed to be a wall between the filmmaker and the end goal in order to justify existence. Almost no one does this maliciously, but this is a growing problem that few are able to detect until well after a technology has matured. After technological maturity and adaptation passes 2/3rds, the need for help becomes harder to justify. But it’s not all the fault of the masters, in fact some people ask me routinely, “Where do you think my job went?” I tell them the same metaphor, “Some hosts eventually accept the transplant.” Once a transplant is accepted, the host no longer needs a routine doctor or even medicine. But this isn’t all bad. I actually think for many it’s a sign of massive opportunity because as the cycle repeats, the same early masters of the technology can re-immerge and become new masters and lead people through the next wave! The mistake is when you ride the wave too long and wonder how you got so far out to sea.
And so comes quite possibly the world’s best example of this: the modern Apple company. This is a group of people who have found ways to repeat the cycle of architecting a new technology, then relying on masters to adapt it, then enabling everyone to adapt it, then making it so “normal” that the next iteration is accepted with less hesitation than the preceding cycle. They build and built upon this until they are not just leading the market, they (in many cases) control the market. An example of this is with Meg Whitman, CEO of HP, who recently spoke about a new tablet device HP is designing. She said it was going to be a great addition and impact on the tablet market. She was then corrected by someone in suggesting, “It’s not the tablet market, it’s the iPad market.” Apple iPad has greater than 90% in the tablet world…so if you want to get into the world of tablets, there is only one object to design against. And Apple is not selling people short, they start out their latest iPad introductory video with a statement that I identify with, I believe in, I focus on, and I want to live by example:
“We believe that technology is at its very best when it’s invisible.”
Man, I love that. I love realizing that the most complex item I own is the easiest to use. Could there be a better resolution to the evolution of the computer in which we initially measured them by size in square feet? Occam’s Razor suggests that the path of least resistance in a given problem is likely the best solution. When technology becomes invisible, then everyone can leverage its benefits. For some, that’s an invasion of space. For others, it’s purely liberating. And when I opened and turned on my new iPad, the cycle reset, fresh ideas poured in, and the technology continued to disappear.
3 years ago when the first iPad was announced I was in a meeting with a post production supervisor for a movie we were about to start shooting. I told her that 2 weeks after production started, the iPad 1 would come out and we would send a few to production for dailies viewing. She looks at me and says, “Why would anyone ever want to use an iPad for viewing dailies?” 3 years later, iPad dailies review has become the preferred method of image delivery (at least amongst my circle). The physically-limited endangered species known as “DVD” has been falling further and further behind the technological developments of file-based tools such as iPads. And when the rumors of a Retina displaying iPad was in the works, I knew that was the technological breakthrough that we needed in order to retire DVDs and tapes forever.
The A5X chip is enabling a major amount of pixels to be populated. With a screen of 2048x1536, the iPad is able to display nearly the exact same resolution of a 2K film scan. With 1 million pixels more than an HDTV, the new iPad is putting HDTV on notice. Consider this:
In 2002 Apple effectively told the music industry, “This is how you’re going to operate and why.”
-No one believed them.
In 2007 Apple effectively told the telecommunications industry, “This is how you’re going to operate and why.”
-Few believed them.
I predict in 2013 Apple will effectively tell the broadcast industry, “This is how you’re going to operate and why.”
-Who will believe them?
If I were laying the groundwork for taking on broadcasting and migrating it to broadbanding, I would need three major things:
1. I would start with releasing tools that enhance the viewing experience, not inhibit it (Retina). Every person that I show the new iPad to is literally floored with the pictures. And I realized this is the first step in getting consumers acclimated to images that make high definition seem mediocre.
2. I would need to find a way to integrate that tool into the existing monitoring system (televisions). Last year, Apple made a big push for AirPlay which allows you to easily and wirelessly push content from your computer or iPad to your television.
3. I would need a single place in which to control and distribute all content without the limitations of terrestrial broadcast, satellite or cable (Apple Television). While this hasn’t even been announced yet, I predict that Apple is building a device that enables the power of interconnected device control (iPhone, iPad, MacBook, etc) to a computer that is the hybrid of a television and computer in one. This cloud-centric device means you will control it with your phone (goodbye TV remote) and view what you want, when you want through an Apple Television application similar to iTunes (maybe iViews).
Clearly Apple has a plan and I think we’re experiencing some major foundational components that are required for the release. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the isolated power of this latest chip set on the new iPad.
For me and my team, we took a moment to do some experiments with the display, the resolution and some high fidelity files that we had. First, we took some resolution charts and loaded them on the ipad to see how well the display handled. This picture is not the file itself, rather a 600dip, 6K (6299x4725) resolution file loaded onto the iPad, then screen captured on the iPad and off-loaded. The result is amazing. I can see nearly twice as deep into the zone as my 15” Macbook Pro.
***Note: the images on the Tumblr blog are 1/4 the resolution of the source. These frame grabs unfortunately do not exhibit the actual resolution of the iPad. For the exact files themselves, I encourage you to download and inspect them using my FTP site. You can find the images at:
webftp.lightiron.com
user: ipad
pass: resolution
This file does the same, only it shows 2K all the way to the edge without and banding or aliasing.
But the more important question is how does this affect dailies? I decided to go from some really good source material. I went to some high quality DI sources of some recent projects (The Muppets, Dragon Tattoo, Shanghai Calling, The Social Network) and decided to create some mock-dailies from this material. 2048 files are currently unaccepted by the iPad, so 2K dailies are possible on the Retina, but Apple will have to enable Quicktime decoding of that resolution in the future. Today we are limited to 1920x1080. So I made some H.264 files at 6Mbs, 8Mbs and 12Mbs per second. 8 and 12Mbs looked identical, so I’m considering a 1920 8Mbs H.264 the “butter zone” for iPad dailies. When I did this, I showed some of the content to a few of the DPs that shot these films who were conveniently in-house and the expression on their face was amazing. Not one, but two people actually said “it looks better than the DCP!” I agreed. With the brightness, contrast, detail, vibrance, texture and pure resolution of this display it literally takes on a characteristic all its own. While H.264 is not without its limits, what the latest iPad does with a good source outweighs the limits of the codec.
Here are some screen captures that were from the iPad itself. These were taken from a Muppets trailer at 8Mbs.
In frame one, notice how banding artifacts are very low.
In frame two, notice how Amy’s skin is soft and multi-coloered, yet her fly-away hairs remain alias free
In frame three, notice the smallest of details and the gradients of the the color separation
In frame four, notice the deep red, the sharp blue and the controlled blacks that do not clip
In frame five, notice how well low-light is rendered and displayed and even smoke is not breaking up and details don’t go too mushy on the sides.
By the above example, I believe the latest Apple iPad will have a major affect on the film industry and ultimately, the consumer exhibition industry. This is the first motion display device that works with consumer portability that out-resolves your home theater system. By a lot! A mere 4 years ago roughly 40% of the panel makers for HDTVs were still building 720p displays. And if you have not seen this device in person, I assure you: people will not need to be told the difference, they will instantly experience it. And what changes? That’s the best part, the technology in this devices is invisible. The migration to the latest iPad changes nothing about the ergonomics, the space, the touch and operation, and even the price change is minimal. This device is as much a portal into how clear the future will physically look as it is a nail in the coffin of DVDs. I am excited to begin offering dailies on this iPad immediately and it has nearly zero affect on the process in which we produce dailies today. And a device this advanced that automatically improves the quality work and doesn’t require one to change anything is, perhaps, what makes it, in fact, the most advanced. How transparent is that?
