Direct-type LED TVs featuring Flip Chip LED technology are becoming more prevalent in the market and many China- and Korea-based TV vendors are expected to start using the technology in units released in 2015 in order to reduce LED costs.

The sources added that currently 42-inch direct-type LED TVs used 24 LEDs, which could be reduced to 12-16 LEDs in 2015 by using the technology.

Yep, direct type TVs are now cheapest, and instead of using dense RGB backlight we are going opposite way.

Video coming soon.

We have our small team at Photokina:

• Dieter Knüttel
• Igor Drozdovsky
• Nick Driftwood

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

Check http://www.personal-view.com/faqs/photokina/2014 for more organized view (updated with delay)

The Promotion will commence at 10:00am PST on October 14, 2014 at 6801 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028, Hollywood & Highland Center (the “Promotion Location”) and shall last until close at 7:00pm PST on October 14, 2014 (the “Promotion Period”) or until such time as Promoter shall choose to end the Promotion in its sole discretion.

http://www.samsung.com/us/common/digital-imaging-campaign.html

That same day, someone forced open doors to the electrical room at Black magic Design Distribution Center on the 2800 block of Bayview Drive and then cut Sheetrock to get inside the warehouse.

The men again cut Internet, security and phone lines, Bosques said. The business reported the men took about 350 cameras and computers valued at $1.2 million to $1.5 million.

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_26679975/police-millions-electronics-stolen-from-fremont-business-warehouses

No mid-range digital cameras for sale at US$300-400 were launched in the global market in the third quarter of 2014 possibly due to increasing competition from smartphones, according to Digitimes Research.

Among seven major Japan-based digital camera vendors, Nikon, Sony and Olympus did not launch new consumer models in the third quarter.

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20140930PD212.html

Following in the path of Sony and its Vaio PCs, Samsung has decided to exit the laptop market stopping sales of Ativ Windows and Chromebook devices in Europe.

"We quickly adapt to market needs and demands. In Europe, we will be discontinuing sales of laptops including Chromebooks for now. This is specific to the region – and is not necessarily reflective of conditions in other markets."

Osaka, Japan /Wetzlar, Germany (September 19, 2014) - Panasonic Corporation and Leica Camera AG today announced they have extended their partnership agreement and agreed to expand and strengthen their technological cooperation in the digital camera field.

The agreement includes the extension of license agreement for use of Leica's trademark on Panasonic's digital camera products as well as expansion and strengthening of technological cooperation between the two companies.

Based on this agreement, Panasonic will be able to commercialize digital camera products with Leica lenses over the next five years, from October 2014 to September 2019 while Leica will be able through the expansion and strengthening of technological cooperation to utilize Panasonic's digital technology in its own product development. The agreement will allow both companies to boost product competitiveness by combining Leica's optical technology and Panasonic's digital technology.

The companies had signed a cooperative agreement for digital audiovisual equipment lenses in August 2000 and agreed to cooperate in the digital camera sector in July 2001.

Since then, the companies have built up a cooperative relationship in optical technology and quality control, and brought high-performance and high-quality digital cameras to the market by fusing Leica's superior optical technology with Panasonic's digital technologies such as image processing.

The technological cooperation newly agreed upon in this agreement will reinforce the partnership between the two companies, enabling them to accelerate the development of excellent digital camera products with enhanced appeal to the global camera market.

Yoshiyuki Miyabe, President of AVC Networks Company, an internal company of Panasonic, stated: "It is a great honor to be able to strengthen our bonds with Leica as a strategic partner. Panasonic will continue to incorporate Leica's century-worth of optical technologies and camera traditions into the DNA of Panasonic's digital cameras to further expand our business."

Alfred Schopf, Chief Executive Officer of Leica Camera, said: "The signing of this agreement is significant for Leica as we seek further growth in the digital imaging sector. Strengthening our cooperative relationship with Panasonic is essential to Leica's continued growth."

http://panasonic.co.jp/corp/news/official.data/data.dir/2014/09/en140919-4/en140919-4.html

http://opc.olympus-imaging.com/

The 4K Photo mode encourages a new way of photography first proposed by Panasonic. It encourages users to capture spur-of-the-moment, high resolution, 4K photos by cropping out a designated frame from a 4K video. With the new firmware for GH4, it is easier to get 4K photo by using the dedicated mode.

Once selecting the 4K Photo Mode, recording format, picture quality setting, brightness level are automatically set to the optimum parameter for photo shooting. Users can record high quality video either in 4:3, 3:2 or even 1:1 aspect, in addition to 16:9, all which can provide a still image with 8-megapixel equivalent resolution. Each JPEG image cropped out of the video footage complies with EXIF just as a normal still picture. While recording the 4K video in 4K Photo Mode, it is possible to mark the designated part by just pressing the [Fn1] button. This can reduce postproduction work for searching the spur-of-the-moment worth cropping out. Furthermore, 4K video can be recorded continuously with Loop Rec function which keeps on saving 5 newest 2-minute video files before you press record. This means users can patiently wait for the perfect photo opportunity to come along for as long as they want through keeping the camera recording.

There are more functional upgrades such as an addition of 4K video recording in 23.98p (MP4, AAC) and enhancement of controllability over ISO setting or light amount of flash emission. Also, the DMC-GH4 now expands its connectivity with external equipment. For example, the PC software “USB Tether*2” enables remote camera control (shooting, setting or image data transfer) by PC via USB.

The PHOTOfunSTUDIO 9.5PE and Panasonic Image App for iOS/Android will also be updated to support these functional upgrades.

The new firmware program is scheduled to be released with more information in detail at the Panasonic LUMIX Support Site at http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/dsc/ in the beginning of October, 2014.

Imagine a still camera that can shoot 16.5 stops dynamic range at 19 megapixels. It's also modular, which means it's infinitely customizable via proprietary and third party accessories. It can also use lenses by Canon, Nikon, and an huge library of PL mount cinema lenses. In addition, it can also shoot up to 6K RAW video files at the frame rates of 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 47.96, 48, 50, and 59.94. It would also have a similar form factor and size to popular digital medium format still camera systems. Sounds amazing right? When does it come out you say? It's out NOW.

http://fstoppers.com/editorial/exclusive-red-has-big-plans-be-your-still-camera-maker-34469

Panasonic revived technics brand starting making top end amplifiers.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/03/technics-coming-back/?ncid=rss_truncated

Olympus Imaging Corporation has been providing Worldwide warranty for digital cameras and accessories since April 1, 2004, except for some countries and regions.

However, the time has come to stop providing Worldwide warranty because of regulation by laws and differences in the infrastructure of the repair facilities in individual countries.

Please kindly be informed that Worldwide warranty will not be provided with most of our Micro Four Thirds System and compact digital camera products shipped after September of 2014.

The Worldwide warranty card you have, is currently still valid as long as it meets the conditions required for warranty repair. Also, the Worldwide warranty card enclosed with the new products which you purchase from now, is also valid. Local warranty card is valid only in the country where you purchase the product and all repairs undertaken in other countries will be a chargeable service.

http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/support/imsg/digicamera/info/info20140828.cfm

Yoshiaki Sugiyama has worked on the design of Canon SLR systems since 1978, including the T90 (1986), the EOS 650/620 (1987) and the EOS-1 (1989) cameras. CPN spoke to him about the history and development of EOS-1 series SLR designs.

CPN: When you design a camera, what user criteria do you take into account?

YS: “The base user for each category differs. The standard for the EOS-1 [series] is the professional photographer. These are people who have mastered functions and can intuitively handle the camera. In line with this, the weight balance is also thoroughly considered, taking into account telephoto lenses. Additionally, because the market in recent years also includes more women and beginners, designers are at the core of development, and we use user needs surveys to collect information that can be used in product development.”

CPN: How have materials – for example, plastic, magnesium alloy and rubber – and their use influenced the way you design a DSLR?

YS: “As designers, we focus more on functions that will satisfy users rather than materials. The EOS-1 category is heavily focused on functionality. We almost never choose components simply for cosmetic purposes. With regards to plastic and magnesium alloy, which make up the main construction of the camera exterior, recent advances in production methods allow for a virtually difference-free form for both. However, there are vastly more choices for exterior processing when plastic materials are involved.”

Read rest at http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/education/technical/developing_the_eos_1_series_design.do

• 3.1μm pixels
• 4K output at 60fps

http://www.sharp.co.jp/corporate/news/140820-a.html

PV is looking for organizers (including people who already organized PV meetings, of course) in LA, New York, London, Paris, Barcelona etc

Fujitsu has decided to withdraw from semiconductor manufacturing and will sell two facilities over the next several years, according to the Nikkei Asian Review. The company plans to sell its Mie plant that handles operations such as system chips for image processing to United Microelectronics (UMC) and Fujitsu has entered the final stages of talks to sell its facility that makes microcomputers for automobiles and other devices to ON Semiconductor.

Fujitsu Ltd plans to transfer its main Mie semiconductor plant in central Japan to a joint venture it will set up with Taiwan's United Microelectronics Corp, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. Fujitsu has sought to cut its exposure to semiconductors.

Several Japanese companies have sold off or reduced their exposure to semiconductor operations in recent years.

Panasonic Corp transferred three domestic chip plants to a joint venture majority owned by Israeli foundry TowerJazz Semiconductor Ltd, while the Renesas deal with Sony was part of a restructuring drive to focus on the auto sector.

Elpida Memory, which had consolidated the PC memory chip operations of Japan's big electronics companies, was bought by Micron Technology Inc after it filed for bankruptcy.

http://www.icinsights.com/news/bulletins/IC-Suppliers-Shift-Strategies-To-Counter-Decline-In-Digital-Still-Cameras/

Frame.io acts as a home base for all your creative projects. It replaces the hodgepodge of using Vimeo, Dropbox, and Gmail to work with media files online. We solve cloud storage, client review, transcoding, and light asset management into one seamless app. We have great tools for video like time based comments and annotation so you can draw directly on video frames. We have version control and comparison tools built in so you can see what’s changed over time. Frame.io is social too. Every action performed is tied to an individual user and tracked so you get notifications about what’s going on. It’s built for teams from the ground up so you can create a private workspace for each project you’re working on and decide who has access to what.

http://frame.io/

Intel Corporation today announced that it has entered into a manufacturing agreement with Panasonic Corporation's System LSI Business Division. Intel's custom foundry business will manufacture future Panasonic system-on-chips (SoCs) using Intel's 14nm low-power manufacturing process.

Panasonic's next-generation SoCs will target audio visual-based equipment markets, and will enable higher levels of performance, power and viewing experience for consumers.

"Intel's 14nm Tri-Gate process technology is very important to develop the next- generation SoCs," said Yoshifumi Okamoto, director, Panasonic Corporation SLSI Business Division. "We will deliver highly improved performance and power advantages with next-generation SoCs by leveraging Intel's 14nm Tri-Gate process technology through our collaboration."

Intel's leading-edge 14nm low-power process technology, which includes the second generation of Tri-Gate transistors, is optimized for low-power applications. This will enable Panasonic's SoCs to achieve high levels of performance and functionality at lower power levels than was possible with planar transistors.

http://newsroom.intel.com/community/intel_newsroom/blog/2014/07/07/intels-custom-foundry-will-manufacture-future-panasonic-system-on-chips-using-intels-14nm-low-power-process

Very good news.

http://lumixgtheone.panasonic.co.uk/

We are asking you to tell about your neighborhood, people and nature places you love, passion you have with your friends.

Terms

1. You can submit ONE video clip per month, made by you personally using any camera. Just post it in this topic.
2. Clip must reside on vimeo or youtube video hostings and must have "personal-view contest" and link to contest page (for contest time).
3. Clip must be no shorter than 2 minutes and no longer than 10 minutes in length (for any exception with length you must PM me).
4. Only new videos are accepted. Do not submit your one year old video.
5. Video must have story to tell, must have interview part and part showing nature, must be interesting.
6. Deadline - end of each month, each month will bring new winner. Whole contest length - until September 1st.
   Prizes for winners will be announced each month.

We are waiting for your videos.

http://photorumors.com/2013/05/18/the-code-of-the-samsung-nx200-and-nx300-mirrorless-cameras-is-now-available-as-open-source/

Some folks might find this interesting.