Panasonic on November 28 announced that it has developed LCD panels with a contrast of one million-to-one and display quality equivalent to that of OLED panels. Panasonic will begin sampling in January 2017 and start production of 10- to 100-inch models specifically for use in medical care and automotive displays in the third quarter.

After phasing out from plasma TV panel production in 2013 and LCD TV panel production in 2016, Panasonic no longer has panel products for B2C sales and its only panel production plants in Japan currently only supply panels for B2B applications with a utilization rate of 25%.

With the new panel technology, the company is expected to be able to manufacture using its existing production lines and will be able to avoid costs from investing in new OLED production line.

Hulu’s first batch of 4K includes the company’s lineup original shows and 20 James Bond films.

Wile that’s pretty good news for 007 fanatics, well, it doesn’t do much for everyone else.

I noticed a huge difference with ISO calibration from A7S and X5R (Dji camera). The X5R at 800 ISO is sensitively practically same than A7S at 3200 ISO

This is not the first time I noticed an ISO sensibility difference between cameras. But this is the first time I see a small sensor does as well as a large sensor with less ISO.

If you have an explanation you are welcome !

Intel is preparing a significant round of job cuts across business units this spring, according to multiple sources inside the company familiar with its plans.

The cutbacks will reduce employment in some parts of the business by double-digit percentages, according to Intel insiders, amounting to thousands of job cuts across the company by the end of the year. The planned downsizing could begin soon after Intel reports its first-quarter financial results Tuesday, though sources say timing and specifics remain fluid.

http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/index.ssf/2016/04/intel_planning_for_thousands_o_1.html

Info from http://www.curtpalme.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39508

Around $34 now.

https://www.amazon.com/Revesun-Splitter-1080p-Ultra-Definition/dp/B014EZ7266/

For 30fps and below must work good.

It is just small hello to idiots at Netflix.

Dealers warning note.

Samsung Electronics today announced five further enhancements to its shareholder return program.

• For 2016 and 2017, the Company will allocate 50 percent of free cash flow (“FCF”) to shareholder returns, which is at the top of the 30-50 percent range announced in 2015.
• The Company will increase total dividends in 2016 by 30 percent compared with 2015, bringing the annual dividend amount to 4 trillion won. Taking into account the recent share buybacks and cancellations, this will result in a 36 percent rise in 2016 dividends per share, to 28,500 won.
• The remaining portion of 50 percent of FCF after the dividend payouts, plus 0.8 trillion won from 2015, will be used to repurchase shares starting at the end of January 2017. The repurchased shares will be cancelled.
• Samsung Electronics will initiate quarterly dividend payments starting in April 2017.
• The Company will seek to further enhance its capital allocation policy to improve shareholder returns beyond 2017.

https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-announces-comprehensive-roadmap-to-enhance-long-term-shareholder-value-creation

Principle 1. All big sales are made to bring profit to seller.

This can be four ways:

Way 1. Previous item price had big margin (both for manufacturer and seller), and during sale they agreed to cut it.
Way 2. Sale is totally fake or near it, original price usually being inflated not long before sale (common for some countries).
Way 3. Sale item being catch to make you buy other items, software, accessories or some service you do not need.
Way 4. Using discount make you buy it via credit. Possible due to owners of big retail giant and bank giant being sometimes same.

Principle 2. Most sellers rely on the impulse sales. Where people do not think if they actually need the item they get.

Solution 1. Make the list of things you really need and add to each item the actual price before sale for few big retailers.
Solution 2. Never buy on impulse. Always rely on logic, but also understand that our brain is very clever in finding logical reasons to buy things we don't need.
Solution 3. If you are in offline store, do not put item in basket or plastic bags right away. Make few long circles around shop instead. As if you put it bag or such your monkey brain try to defend the items with any arguments he could find.

To be continued today and up until Monday.

None of even latest generation NVidia and Radeon GPUs or any older Intel CPUs will work for 4K.

Also requires Windows 10 aka Total Horror and Microsoft Edge, browser that no one uses.

To avoid negativity storm Netflix even did not release any official PR.

Samsung Electronics’ System LSI business division is largely divided into four segments; system on chip (SoC) team which develops mobile APs, LSI development team, which designs display driver chips and camera sensors, foundry business team and support team. According to many officials in the industry, Samsung Electronics is now considering forming the fabless division by uniting the SoC and LSI development teams and separating from the foundry business."

Samsung is in talks with Lenovo to sell all computer department that still makes notebooks for some markets.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/nov/24/black-friday-shopping-lies-consumerist-hell

Samsung Electronics and Harman International Industries, Incorporated today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Samsung will acquire HARMAN for $112.00 per share in cash, or total equity value of approximately $8.0 billion. Upon closing, the transaction will immediately give Samsung a significant presence in the large and rapidly growing market for connected technologies, particularly automotive electronics, which has been a strategic priority for Samsung, and is expected to grow to more than $100 billion by 2025¹ . HARMAN is the market leader in connected car solutions, with more than 30 million vehicles currently equipped with its connected car and audio systems, including embedded infotainment, telematics, connected safety and security. Approximately 65% of HARMAN’s $7.0 billion of reported sales during the 12 months ended September 30, 2016 are automotive-related, and its order backlog for this market at June 30, 2016 was approximately $24 billion.

https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-to-acquire-harman-accelerating-growth-in-automotive-and-connected-technologies

Harman brands:

• AKG Acoustics - microphone/headphones
• AMX - video switching and control devices
• Bang & Olufsen Automotive
• Becker - car infotainment
• BSS Audio - signal processing
• Crown International - pro amplifiers
• dbx Professional Products - signal processors
• DigiTech - guitar products
• HardWire - guitar pedals
• HiQnet - audio digital network, based on Ethernet
• harman/kardon - home/car audio
• Infinity - home/car speakers
• JBL - home/car speakers & amplifiers, professional speakers
• Lexicon - digital processing
• Mark Levinson Audio Systems - home/car audio
• Martin Professional - stage and architectural lighting and effects fixtures
• Revel - home speakers
• Selenium - home, car and professional speakers, amplifiers, sound tables/mixers
• Soundcraft - mixing consoles
• Studer - mixing consoles

CMOSIS a member of the ams AG (SIX: AMS) group, a leading provider of high performance sensors and analog ICs, today launched the CMV50000, an industry first global shutter CMOS image sensor offering high resolution of 48Mpixels, more than twice the resolution of its previous generation CMOSIS global shutter CMOS image sensors.

The CMV50000 is a medium format 48Mpixels sensor with 7920 x 6002 4.6-µm sized pixels using the patented 8-transistor pixel architecture to offer low noise and excellent electronic shutter efficiency. Global shutter operation means, that images of fast-moving objects can be captured without distortion.

Its pixel offers 64dB optical dynamic range at full resolution and up to 68dB in subsampled 4k mode, and the imagers benefits from the implementation of sophisticated new, on-chip noise-reduction circuitry such as black level clamping to enable it to capture high quality images under low-light conditions

Operating at a fast 30 frames/s with 12 bit pixel depth at full resolution or a binned 4k mode, and at up to 60 frames/s with pixel subsampling to 4k resolution, the sensor is suitable for use in high-speed machine-vision systems, as well as in TV broadcasting and video cameras.

The CMV50000 provides detailed views of a large surface area required in factory automation applications such as automated optical inspection (AOI) systems and systems for the inspection of displays of mobile phones, tablets, laptops and TVs. The combination of high frame rate and high re-solution allows further increase of the already high throughput rates at consumer product assembly plants.

A High Dynamic Range (HDR) mode is supported by an odd/even row dual-exposure operation.

The CMV50000 is expected to replace high pixel-count charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors used in machine-vision cameras and high-end security cameras. Compared to the older CCD sensor technology, CMOS image sensors are easier to integrate in camera designs, use less power, and can operate at much higher frame rates.

“The introduction of the 48Mpixel CMV50000 gives camera manufacturers the opportunity to enjoy the design and operating advantages of a CMOS image sensor while gaining the ultra-high resolution, which has previously only been available through the use of CCD sensors”, said Wim Wuyts, Marketing Manager for image sensors at ams.

“The CMV50000’s advanced noise-reduction features such as black level clamping combined with its high optical dynamic range, results in high picture quality at full operation speed without the need for complex analog output matching required for multi-tap CCD image sensors and therefore also decreases the camera development time significantly.”

The monochrome version of the CMV50000 is sampling now. The color version will be available for sampling by the end of 2016. Unit pricing is €3,450.

I've never been their before. I've decided today that I should go. It's like a mini NAB. I did go to the one in Las Vegas in 2014. The one in New York is obviously far closer to Massachusetts. I'm just going for a day and the round trip bus from Boston to New York and back ended up being $18. Not too bad unlike Las Vegas in which I had to pay for the airfare and hotel.

Anyway, like NAB in Las Vegas, you can also get into it for free if you know where to find a code. That's fine if you just want to see the exhibits. You do have to pay for the workshops.

I decided to post this here in case anyone else might have an interest in checking it out.

Sony had few meetings where they decided to postpone production and announcements. They also decided to spend more on marketing instead of design and engineering and punish big gray sellers.
It is expected that margins I new generation will rise from 15 to 30% compared to previous generation.

October 27 is the birthday of Panasonic digital camera brand "LUMIX". On this day in 2001 the first LUMIX cameras - "LUMIX LC5" and "LUMIX F7" had been released.

http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1026864.html

Panasonic today struggle to survive on rapidly falling camera market.
Depending on cameras division sales we can even see some organization changes and even Lumix brand abandonment in 2017.

Canon researchers work on high-resolution, large-format CMOS imaging technology for use in high-performance cameras large enough to take photographs and videos at ultra-high-definition resolution.

Most CMOS imagers use a rolling shutter, which captures an image at slightly different times at different areas of the imager. This can lead to image artifacts, especially for moving targets, because the image is taken while the subject is in different positions in the field. Imagers with global shutters capture light from each pixel in the imager at the same time, eliminating these artifacts. However, a global shutter usually leads to less dynamic range and higher noise and dark current, and thus to inferior photographs.

The Canon researchers developed a new architecture that enables the readouts of multiple pixels to be accumulated and stored in memory, and then processed all at once. This technique enabled the implementation of a global shutter while also delivering excellent noise and dark current performance and high dynamic range (92dB at a standard 30fps frame rate).

The images of a vibrating ukulele were taken at the same shutter speed (1/5000 sec.). In the global shutter mode (a) distortion is successfully suppressed, while (b) shows distortion from a rolling shutter. The bottom images show the difference between (a) quadruple charge accumulation with the global shutter and (b) single charge accumulation, both at a 1/90 sec. shutter speed.

Via http://www.btbmarketing.com/iedm/

Sony Corporation ("Sony") has decided to establish Sony Imaging Products & Solutions Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary that will be responsible for its imaging products and solutions businesses. All functions currently held within the Imaging Products & Solutions Sector within Sony, including the functions related to the consumer camera business, solutions business with a focus on broadcast- and professional-use products, and medical business, will be transferred to the new company. Sony Imaging Products & Solutions Inc. will aim to commence its operations on April 1, 2017. Shigeki Ishizuka, currently Corporate Executive Officer in charge of the imaging products and solutions businesses at Sony, is expected to be appointed President and Representative Director of this new company.

As part of its mid-term corporate strategy announced on February 18, 2015, Sony outlined its intention to sequentially split out the business units within Sony to form new subsidiary companies. The aim of these measures is to ensure clearly attributable accountability and responsibility from the perspective of shareholders, management policies with an emphasis on sustainable profit generation, acceleration of decision-making processes and reinforcement of business competitiveness. The establishment of Sony Imaging Products & Solutions Inc. forms part of this strategy, and upon completion of the transfer, all major businesses of Sony group will be operated by its subsidiary companies.

Yet, catchy title, I know. But logically correct.

Small video showing their drone, remote controlled gimbal and various new plastic VR rigs.

State

• Covered by our long time members

See more at http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/15741/photokina-2016-support-our-team

Interesting new cameras at Photokina

• Canon: Canon M5 camera
• Olympus: Olympus M1 II with 4K video (prototypes), cheap E-PL8 camera
• Panasonic: LX15, FZ2000, G80 and GH5 (GH5 under the glass, as prototype)
• Sony: A99 II
• Nikon: Action camera only.
• Fuji: Medium format camera prototype.
• Yi or Xiaoyi : New M1 m43 camera, Hall 09.1, Booth A-032

Interesting new lenses at Photokina

• Olympus : 30mm f/3.5 macro, 25mm f/1.2 and 12-100mm f/4.0 PRO lenses
• Panasonic: 8-18mm f/2.8-4.0, 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0, 50-200mm f/2.8-4.0 lenses
• Canon: 18-150 F3.5-6.3 IS STM and 70-300 F4-5.6 IS II USM lenses
• Zeiss: Zeiss Loxia 85mm
• Tokina: Cinema lenses lineup
• Sigma: Cinema lenses lineup, 85mm Art, 12-24mm Art, 500mm f/4 DG OS HSM lens
• Samyang: Cinema lenses lineup, 16mm Xeen
• Laowa/Venus 12mm and 15mm lenses

Interesting new gear at Photokina

• DJI - Karma drone

• None for now.

Fujifilm filed a lawsuit against over 50 camera market participants, alleging the defendants engaged in the sale of “gray market” cameras, which include cameras intended for foreign markets that are illegally reimported. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, alleges that the defendants knowingly passed off gray market products as legitimate.

Just look at the words used.

GoPro Hero 5 and Hero 5 Session are no longer sold by Amazon itself, as GoPro want to keep huge margins that they usually have despite lackluster sales. And price reductions made by Amazon impact their margins.

We have our small team at Photokina (doing 3rd Photokina in a row):

• Dieter Knüttel
• Igor Drozdovsky

Remember to donate to guys as we did two and four years ago (just use Buy Now button on top and leave comment) !

Main exhibition topic

http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/15513/photokina-2016-topic#Item_14

Interview with Carol Hartfree about Panasonic new small portable camera, focusing on new features - such as better control, smartphone apps, 4K videos and such.

Very short overview of their new products.

Exhibiton will take place in October 20-22, New York, USA.

http://www.photoplusexpo.com/

To our US members - let us know if you plan to visit it.

Just small chat about 16mm Cine lens

No new info, as they are all under NDA.

Because the creator is a commercial Director/DP...

Pretty interesting though.