Pixelworks, Inc. (NASDAQ: PXLW), a global leader in visual processing solutions, today announced the launch of the industry’s first end-to-end platform for motion imaging. TrueCut® Motion is a powerful solution that offers directors advanced mastering tools to control how motion is visualized in their films, new streaming and theatrical distribution tools as well as device certification to solve motion issues which have long been a struggle for directors and consumers alike. The platform will allow viewers to experience incredible motion, consistently presented across every screen seamlessly.
“Advancements like 4K and HDR have improved image quality over the years, but motion, intrinsic to the filmic experience, has not kept pace. It’s been an issue for filmmakers and viewers alike,” said Richard Miller, EVP Technology, Pixelworks.“Filmmakers want to push the boundaries for motion, and camera and production technologies have enabled them to do so. Unfortunately, key elements of motion imaging at the display are stifling creativity in this respect. Today’s state-of-the-art, large screen televisions have achieved incredible advances in resolution, color, dynamic range, and sheer screen size, but at the expense of motion integrity. Judder levels are increasingly distracting viewers from the story. De-blur, which is great for games and sports, changes creative intent for shutter angle, and subtly but importantly, changes the feel of the title. Higher brightness is necessary for the typical home viewing conditions, and we all want bigger screens, but these attributes amplify motion problems even further. This is a difficult problem to solve, and only an end-to-end platform can bring the next level of brilliant motion imaging consistently across every screen.”
The TrueCut Motion platform has been in development for several years at Pixelworks, and its motion grading tools have been acknowledged by the industry with technical excellence awards from Lumiere and the Hollywood Professional Association. Now an end-to-end solution, the platform includes a new content delivery format and device certification program to guarantee a consistent filmmaker-approved viewing experience across all screens.
TrueCut Motion gives filmmakers the ability to address motion looks shot by shot during post production, optimizing the in-theater as well as the at-home viewing experience through powerful software algorithms in order to explore a much larger range of incredible motion looks. And this can all be achieved in lockstep with color grading at the same facility, neither complicating nor adding to post-production workflows.
“As cinematographers we have to manage every aspect of motion imaging amid continuous advances in imaging technologies such as greater resolution, and high dynamic range,” said Curtis Clark ASC, chairman of the ASC Motion Imaging Technology Council (MITC). “But these imaging technologies are affected by the way they are rendered via the camera frame rate (fps) combined with movement of the camera (e.g. pan, track, etc.), along with choreographed movement of actors, and all of which impacts the creative look of the images on screen. For example, the latest high resolution, high dynamic range, large screen displays for both next generation cinema and television using higher luminance levels tend to enhance judder and reduce motion blur depending on camera fps, lens focal length, panning and/or tracking speed. The TrueCut Motion technology from Pixelworks is a timely and much needed solution to help bring consistency to presentation across different screens, and therefore provides more creative options for using motion to finesse the creative look.”