When High-Definition Just Isn’t Enough

With all the buzz about high-definition television, some folks might be wondering what comes next. How about a 56-inch LCD TV with 3,840 by 2,160-pixel resolution?

These days the television industry is all abuzz about getting high-definition televisions into consumers’ hands. Sure, 480 lines of resolution on a 17-inch CRT might have been good enough for our grandparents, they tell us, but to really appreciate a good movie, you need at least a 50-inch screen displaying 1080 lines of resolution. And, wow, do they have a deal for you right over here….

But what comes next after “high-def?” After all, computer displays these days regularly exceed the 1,920 by 1,080 pixel resolution of high-definition television displays. What’s the next bump in resolution going to be? What do professionals and cinematographers want to have in their living rooms and editing booths?

The Astro Systems DM-3400 is one of the answers. With a screen size of 56 inches, it might seem like an ordinary flat-panel LCD—at least, until you look at the specs and realize it offers a so-called “4K by 2K” resolution, in this case 3,840 by 2,160 pixels. Designed for use in digital cinemas, editing studios, and broadcast facilities, the DM-3400 also sports four DV-D inputs and four HD-SDI inputs, along with RGB 4:4:$ signals. Users can even hook up multiple input signals for a quad display view on a single monitor. The system supports SMPTE 294M/292M/296M/372M (important for matching up video and audio). And the system weighs about 100 pounds and consumes 500 Watts of power.

As for pricing, Astro Systems doesn’t exactly put price tags on their products. The truly interested will just have to contact them directly and see about making a deal.