Leader reports growing interest in 4K
Leader lnstruments reports a buoyant IBC 2014 with strong interest in its LV5490 waveform monitor which allows standard-definition, high-definition and 4K ultra-high-definition to be checked from a single compact unit. Leader was represented at IBC 2014 by Hiro Sawa (president, Leader America), Richard Heath, Koichi Fukugawa and Christian Young.
“IBC show traffic was healthy this year with around 55,000 registered attendees,” comments Richard Heath. “Our stand location in the vicinity of many major camera, lighting and grip equipment manufacturers helped to attract exactly the kind of broadcast and digital film creatives the LV5490 is designed for. We are seeing 4K camera prices follow the pattern experienced in the HD sector a decade ago, becoming more affordable with every passing year.
“The market both in Europe and worldwide has already reached the point where 4K is the logical choice for every production company keen to future-proof its material. The LV5490 is equipped with eight input connectors and accepts up to two 4K signals simultaneously. Another key new feature is the ability to handle the video signals via two-sample interleave as well as square division. In square-division signal mode, the entire image is split into four quadrants and each quadrant is transmitted in turn as a sub-image. In the case of two-sample-interleave, two consecutive pixels are transmitted at a time. The first pair goes to sub-image 1 and the second pair to sub-image 2. The first pair of the next line then goes to sub-image 3, the first pair of the next line going to sub-image 4, and so on. Each sub-image is transmitted separately to the monitor. This type of two-sample interleave is the approved standard for 4K.
“The Focus Assist feature we introduced at IBC this year is a Leader innovation that allows the LV5490 to be used for checking low-contrast content and fine image detail. Other new capabilities include a CIE 1931 color space chart generator. The LV5490 can show 4K signals in the standard’s full ITU Recommendation BT.2020 color space. Operators can also adjust the size of each of the displays on the screen to suit specific tasks. This allows easy magnification and inspection of detail on the instrument’s 9 inch full 1920 x 1080 HD LCD monitor screen instead of being limited to fixed size quadrants. The LV5490 is a uniquely versatile and portable package with a footprint just 223 wide by 360 millimeter deep and a height of 189 mm.”
Making its first appearance at IBC2014 was Leader’s LT4600 multi format video generator. Based on the established LT4400 HD-SDI and SD-SDI generator, the LT4600 adds compatibility with 3G-SDI and dual link systems. Features include two SDI outputs which can be used independently, lip sync testing function (previously optional and now standard), QVGA ID character generation and safety area markers. The LT4600 can generate 32 channels of embedded audio. Frequency and level can be set for each channel.