What is 4K Video?

TimeScapes 4K from Tom Lowe

I came across this video called TimeScapes yesterday. It is basically a demo video showing off the capabilities of 4K technology. 4K is a term we might see popping up more frequently and simply put "4K" refers to a higher than high def video format; creating videos at 4096 x 2304 pixels. If you don't know... this is madness.

I remember hearing a couple of years ago that higher than hi-def video tended to make people nauseous, but I guess we are taking that leap. One of the biggest proponents of this new technology is Peter Jackson. He is currently filming two new Lord of the Rings movies, (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again) and not only are they shooting in 4K, but they are also shooting in 3D and at 48 frames per second (as opposed to the typical 24 fps). This should make for a very unique viewer experience. Here is one of the Hobbit video blogs that talks a little more about the technology and filming with the Red Epic camera to capture video in 4K.

Gadget Day This Wednesday

Join us this Wednesday, December 7, in the Weigle Information Commons for our Fall 2011 Gadget Day!

This time around we're looking at Evernote, iPads, smart phones, Wordpress, Google Hangouts, and more--including a lunchtime "Bring Your Own Gadget" show-and-tell session.

See the details and full schedule at http://wic.library.upenn.edu/wicshops/gadget12072011.html

Wacom Inkling

Wacom has produced a new, unique product that we are very excited to try out. It is called the "Inkling" and it has the ability to capture what you draw with a physical ink pen on any plain sheet of paper. You can then transfer your drawing into the computer as vector lines. This is an incredible idea that will be very useful for illustrators, designers, and anyone who likes to doodle. Here is Wacom's promotional video for it.

Here is a comparison of a scan of an original drawing (left) and the vector file (right) that Inkling generated.

You can see it isn't exact, but still pretty impressive. If you click the image above you can see the YouTube review of the Inkling that this still was taken from. The lab will hopefully be adding the Inkling to our checkout inventory soon. Wacom has been releasing it in small batches on Amazon, and we haven't been able to grab ours yet.

3D Images on the iPhone

We discovered (actually it was featured on Make:Blog and CNN) a really fun and groundbreaking app today for the iPhone. It is called Trimensional and it allows you to make a low quality 3d image using just the camera on your iPhone or iPad. This file can then be emailed as an actual 3d model file (which you could then print on a 3d printer) or as an animated gif. These are examples of images we took in the lab.

Here is a link to the app in the iTunes store and a video from the creator if you'd like some more details about the app. Feel free to try out the app on our iPad2 in the lab.

iPad 2

Come try our brand new iPad 2! We already had an original iPad, so feel free to try them side-by-side to compare them. (The white one with the fancy lime green magnetic cover is the new one, and the black one is the original model.) We've already added the new GarageBand and iMovie, which are very cool to use. Let us know if there are specific apps you'd like to see and we'll do our best to install them for you to try. Enjoy!