Displaying 4k images Help!

ChillTravelers

I recently completed an HDR shoot at the Reagan Ranch in Santa Barbara. I quickly realized that the projection system they had and their computer screens were so low a resolution that it did not give a semblance of the depth and resolution of the HDR shots. So, the experience caused me to seek out the highest resolution picture frame, tablet or projector to show clients and others the images. I was surprised to not be able to find anything close to my native resolution. So far, the best I have found is the New iPad at just north of 1500.

Any ideas of how to get a portable display that will display 4k+ resolution?

Thanks for any help.

Bob

Overfocused

There are barely even desktop displays with 4K resolution, and forget about portability. The most portable option would be a projector paired with a device that can output 4K, neither of which are affordable by any means whatsoever right now. Its high end commercial territory right now, so think $20k+ just for a projector.

Anyway, I think you're over reacting a little. The depth is up to the contrast and color reproduction abilities of the projector, and not as much the resolution. You definitely don't need 4k res to make it look fantastic. You just need 1 decent display with good reproduction capability to do it, and an appropriately sized photo to match. 1920x1080 projections look amazing if they're on a good surface, with a projector that has the capability to display with high quality.

I suggest looking into portable 1080p projectors. Do your homework, and figure out one that has a good overall capability by checking up on reviews and tech spec sheets. (brightness, contrast, color reproduction) If you want to spend $1500 bucks on something, you should be able to find an excellent good portable 1080p projector, and probably a device that can be paired with it, too.
Looks like a good place to start: http://www.projectorcentral.com/


I bet the projectors they had were 640x480, which isn't even 1MP, and a standard that is decades old. It'd make anything look bad.

ziggy53

The problem with projectors is that the gamut can vary widely with the screen and room environment and lighting.

A 1080x1920 screen looks very nice if the attendees are allowed close (a few feet) to the display and if you can dedicate to 2 systems and 2 displays; one system for landscape orientation and the other system to portrait orientation. Also, make absolutely sure that you use IPS displays, because if you use anything less, colors and tints can get off unless the viewers are square to the screen. Stay away from a glossy display screen too.

Overfocused

ziggy53 wrote: »

The problem with projectors is that the gamut can vary widely with the screen and room environment and lighting.

A 1080x1920 screen looks very nice if the attendees are allowed close (a few feet) to the display and if you can dedicate to 2 systems and 2 displays; one system for landscape orientation and the other system to portrait orientation. Also, make absolutely sure that you use IPS displays, because if you use anything less, colors and tints can get off unless the viewers are square to the screen. Stay away from a glossy display screen too.

^

If you want to take a computer screen with you, most any 1080p matte IPS monitor should be more than enough for you. Just make sure it doesn't have terrible reviews. I personally have a Dell U2410, which has the option to physically rotate between landscape and portrait. It might just be better to take 2 with you but if you did landscape first then all the portrait next it might work out well enough with a monitor that has the rotational feature.

ChillTravelers

Thanks for the input. I am rarely in a situation where I have to depend on the technology of others. I use a Dell U3011 with a screen resolution of 2560 X 1600. I have typically used Adobe Premiere to convert the images to 1920 x 1080 in a MP4 format and then make a Blu Disk. In the case of the Reagan, they have a DVD player and a 720 projector. We ended up huddling around a MacBook Pro they had to zoom into the images to show the resolution and depth. This caused me to to think about what I could use to give a quick look at images in quick situations where dragging a monitor and computer around is not practical.

It sounds like the best bet for my application is to buy the new iPad wifi which has a resolution of 2048 x 1536 at ~ 3 Mpx. I can treat it like a uber picture frame.

I am starting to shoot HDR with a Red Scarlet which will run the resolution up to 12K when layered. The only way for people to see the difference is to do long zoom in's from full-frame.

I am truly getting tired of being bleeding edge ;-]

Thanks again for the help.

Bob

Overfocused

ChillTravelers wrote: »

It sounds like the best bet for my application is to buy the new iPad wifi which has a resolution of 2048 x 1536 at ~ 3 Mpx. I can treat it like a uber picture frame.

I am starting to shoot HDR with a Red Scarlet which will run the resolution up to 12K when layered. The only way for people to see the difference is to do long zoom in's from full-frame.

I am truly getting tired of being bleeding edge ;-]

Thanks again for the help.

Bob

I think your main problem now is the actual size of the monitor, rather than resolution. 720P is not enough for a good large display or projection; its OK, but for real details, 1080p has %225 more pixel count, and does very well at large sizes. For that res, a Macbook pro screen proved too small, and I have a hunch that the iPad screen will still disappoint you and give you a really hard time, if not harder. I have a laptop with a 1920x1200 17" screen, and it pretty much sucks for displaying to a crowd. Its awesome for editing, but for display its just too small. Essentially, you'll still be holding a really sharp 8x10 when the crowd needs a 20x24. So for the iPad, you'll still have to really squint and peep do all even more manual zooming and manual labor to truly show people. 12MP images shouldn't be a problem at all to represent at a res of 1920x1080. I regularly stitch together 40MP+ images, and even then some of them represent extremely well on the 23" 1920 wide monitor that I use. Size combined with resolution makes a huge difference over just one or the other. (as well as an image optimized at the proper resolution) Down sampling with bicubic sharper setting, and then applying an unsharp mask at the right pixel width to optimize it for that specific resolution makes a huge difference. I usually use 0.2 pixels at %500 once or twice and it makes the 72dpi screen output look extremely good.

Maybe use the iPad + some type of small portable 1080 projector output for the places that it would work well in?

Zerodog

Man 1080P TVs do a spectacular job here HDMI input from your computer and you are done. Beyond that, an ipad 2 screen is also amazing to look at. How much detail do you think people see? Yes I know you loose some, but they will not know. The colors and details on these small screens can make a terrible picture look awesome. So an awesome picture looks awesome.

With the 1080p screen you can go as big as you need for not much money comparitvly. I use a 36" TV as a display for events and do slideshows with Picasa off of my laptop. Easy, fast and the pics are stunning.

Zerodog

Just saw your post about the Red Scarlet HDR!! Wow!!!