Samsung Electronics integrated the Digital Imaging Business Division, in charge of cameras, with the Wireless Business Division. Samsung Electronics began to create synergies between smartphones and cameras in a bid to capture the largest share of the global mirrorless camera market in 2015. Also, earlier this year, the company created the Enterprise Business (EB) Team, and turned the global B2B Center into a quasi-business division. Its intention is to reinforce B2B sales as the consumer goods market is saturated.

Samsung Electronics executed reorganization on December 11.

Samsung Electronics maintained the 3-company business system: vice-chairman Kwon Oh-hyeon (DS: Device Solution), CEO Yoon Boo-geun (CE: consumer electronics) and Shin Jong-gyun (IM: IT Mobile). Global economic recession continues, but they performed excellently. We need to keep an eye on the IM Company during this organizational realignment. Samsung Electronics removed the Digital Imaging Business Division in charge of cameras. Samsung Electronics reshuffled it into the Imaging Business Team, and plans to make full use of the Wireless Business Division which has the leadership in the global market.

Samsung Electronics explained, “We will transplant the brand, sales networks, software competency and manufacturing competitiveness of the Wireless Business Division into the Camera Business Division, and integrate the technical know-how of the two business divisions into competency for differentiating our smartphones.” To increase its share of the camera market, it will take advantage of the networks and marketing know-how of the Wireless Business Division and enhance the camera competitiveness of smartphones at the same time. Under the Media Solution Center of the IM Company, Samsung Electronics created the Big Data Center. It looks like a measure to actively respond to changes in trends by means of Big Data analysis. Some business divisions, such as the Washing Machine Business Division, have already capitalized on the Big Data analysis technique to produce visible outcomes.

CSR, the Cambridge-based microchip maker (they got all Zoran developers and assets), has announced a retreat from the digital camera market as sales decline and amateur photographers increasingly rely on smartphones.

The company said it would take a $90m (£54.6m) one-off impairment charge, mostly attributable to goodwill, to shut down its camera-on-a-chip business.

Joep van Beurden, chief executive of CSR, said: "We continue to take a disciplined approach to capital allocation and cost control and have decided to withdraw investment from the COACH [camera-on-a-chip] platform due to weakness in the digital still camera market."

He said the company would redeploy some camera-on-a-chip engineers in higher-growth divisions. Some 200 jobs will be lost in the second quarter of 2014, however.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/electronics/10507743/Chipmaker-CSR-retreats-from-camera-market-as-smartphones-take-over.html

I am waiting to hear back from the publican shortly - he's going to ask me about numbers so let me know ASAP if you think you can make it - the food beer and vodka are all good and if you feel like hanging around and catching some mighty fine blues afterwards - Mark Evans. ex AC/DC will be playing an unplugged acoustic guitar set with his mate Dave Tice at 5pm.

Please email me at PVMeetUp@TheDoco.Co to RSVP ASAP OK!

http://www.sony.net/Products/SC-HP/new_pro/december_2013/imx174_e.html

Specs also have some explanation how 720 and 1080 modes work.

Also interesting is that 1920×1080×4 = 8 294 400 and 1270×720×9 = 8 229 600

http://www.semicon.panasonic.co.jp/ds8/c3/IS00006AE.pdf

http://www.flyingsolo.com.au/workinthenudeday

ITU has announced a draft Recommendation for next-generation ‘immersive’ and ‘personalized’ audio systems for television and radio.

Audio is an essential part of the television experience, as the quality and ‘perception’ of sound enhances the image on screen. A number of new techniques have been developed that will heighten the experience and bring it to a new level, while allowing the audience to personalize their experience.

Twenty years ago, the ITU Radiocommunication Sector’s Study Group 6 approved Recommendation ITU-R BS.775 which established 5.1 channels as the surround sound system for broadcasting. This involved the optimum use of five loudspeakers set at ear level surrounding the audience plus a low-frequency sub-woofer.

Now, Study Group 6 has developed a system for the next-generation ‘immersive’ and ‘personalized’ audio system, which will allow TV audiences to be ‘‘enveloped’ in the sound as it traces the source of the audio track both laterally and vertically across the screen

Deciding which technique the ITU-R should specify has been one of the hottest subjects of the audio world for many years. A single coherent approach was needed that could provide sufficient flexibility to allow a variety of techniques to co-exist. The newly agreed system has now achieved this.

In the new approach, the audio landscape that surrounds the viewer is delivered either by supplying more channels of audio that can be ‘rendered’ for use by any additional loudspeakers that may be present, or by delivering audio elements that are ‘dynamically rendered’ into the existing speakers.

The audience can make use of the new sound system with existing stereo and 5.1 channel speakers systems; or they can choose to enjoy more ‘immersiveness’ by installing additional speakers around the room, including elevated speakers. The key to the new system is that the delivered channels and sound elements are fully described by metadata labelling that drives the rendering as well as the reproduction.

The new system may be used with forthcoming ultra-high definition or UHDTV systems, existing HDTV or even older SDTV, as well as for immersive audio without images, such as in radio and audio compact discs and packaged media. The system enables an environment where the user can interact with the receiver to create the audio landscape that he or she wishes.

This new draft Recommendation ‘Advanced Sound System for Programme Production’ is being submitted to ITU Member States and Sector Members for the combined adoption and approval procedure. ITU-R Study Group 6 is undertaking further work to precisely define the universal labelling (‘metadata’) system needed.

“Good quality sound is an essential part of enjoying television programmes,” said ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré. “The new ITU-R Recommendation will add tremendously to the overall experience of television viewing and this agreement comes at a time when we are progressing rapidly towards transitioning to digital broadcasting and adopting ever higher standards for television, such as UHDTV.”

Mr François Rancy, Director of ITU’s Radiocommunication Bureau, commented: “This is a really important achievement for the media world, and we are proud that the ITU-R has been the means to achieve it.”

http://www.itu.int/net/pressoffice/press_releases/2013/69.aspx#.UqBiurHIOUk

Sony's spirit is creating something new, which never existed before. And also, downsizing technology as well -- make it smaller, more compact, even the camera system itself. Then, we investigated customers' demands, such as digital SLR users. Everyone has got some stress to carry those camera systems, because they're heavy, but actually, the demand is to get a better picture than the compact digital still cameras. Also, at the moment, smartphones started to increase their penetration. Some users started to say, "That picture quality is good enough for my pictures." In that case, I don't need to take a digital still camera instead of my smartphone. But actually, I want to take a better picture -- then the customers started to have some interest in the digital SLR type of product.

Thinking about something new, though, [we asked] do we really need a mirror box? Of course, we have some excuse, but we can fulfill the customer's demand to make it small, light, and easy to carry. That is one of the conclusions which led to the NEX-5 type of product -- that's the reason why we started to develop that type of small product. In line with those philosophies, currently this problem is existing, because full-frame cameras are quite heavy. It's very tough to use for most consumers; therefore, entry-level users don't like that kind of heavy, big camera system, because they're heavy and expensive -- and also the lens itself is too big.

That's when we started to realize the upgrades, and relieve that stress -- we considered what was the best way to reduce the size, and also to make something new. And then it happened with the NEX-5 and Alpha A7 as well. That point is the philosophy of the Sony spirit, is to create something new which never existed before. We will keep on working to create that kind of product in the future, with that spirit.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2013/12/04/sony-interview-what-does-it-take-to-change-the-camera-game

Reply to this thread (and subscribe) if you'd like to be in the loop. Feel free to chip in ideas for locations or what your preferred times and dates are.

Below are cities with big amount of members and visitors.

As we are searching for organizers, let me know if you want to be organize one.

Also, if you are just visitor and not registered member, register to be part of the meetings.

I made topic in wiki - http://www.personal-view.com/faqs/meetings/2013-summer-meetings

If you are making topic for your city meeting it must look like:
Meetup: City, Personal View summer meeting

US

• New York - http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/7143/meetup-new-york-personal-view-members-meeting#Item_14
• Los Angeles - http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/7157/meetup-los-angeles-area#Item_4
• San Francisco - http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/7426/meetup-san-francisco-personal-view-summer-meeting
• Chicago
• Austin - http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/7175/meetup-austin-personal-view-summer-meeting#Item_1
• Washington/DC, Baltimore

Other countries

• London - http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/7149/meetup-london#Item_7
• Sydney - http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/7162/meetup-sydney-australia-downunder#Item_1
• Melbourn
• Singapore
• Hong Kong
• Toronto
• Paris - http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/7159/meetup-paris-personal-view-meeting#Item_4
• Moscow
• Helsinki
• Seul - ended
• Berlin - http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/comment/129233#Comment_129233
• Athens
• Monreal
• Stockholm
• Barcelona - http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/7161/meetup-barcelona-personal-view-meeting#Item_1
• Rome - http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/7170/meetup-rome-personal-view-meeting#Item_5
• Vancouver - http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/7167/meetup-vancouver-canada-personal-view-members-meeting#Item_6

P.S. You can ask me how many members are present from your city.

@Vitaliy_Kiselev Vitaliy, is there a dedicated category section for regional groups?

Today, Google Compute Engine is Generally Available (GA), offering virtual machines that are performant, scalable, reliable, and offer industry-leading security features like encryption of data at rest. Compute Engine is available with 24/7 support and a 99.95% monthly SLA for your mission-critical workloads. We are also introducing several new features and lower prices for persistent disks and popular compute instances.

http://googlecloudplatform.blogspot.ru/2013/12/google-compute-engine-is-now-generally-available.html

It seems like the numbers might be a little thin, but if anyone is near SF I would like to coordinate a meeting at a bar or restaurant in the city. We could do an upcoming weekend in mid to late July, preferably a Saturday so that people can come and go more freely. We can meet downtown so that it's easy for anyone coming into the city (provided BART is not still striking :/). Anyone's welcome, of course, whether you live here or are just passing by. And I'm a lurker on the site, but I'd still like to meet other personal-viewers. Comment in this thread if you're down to meet and maybe say which day works best for you. Let's work something out!

http://www.mec.ca/AST/ContentPrimary/Community/Events/Bikefest.jsp?utm_source=mec.ca&utm_medium=redirect&utm_campaign=bikefest&bmLocale=en

I know is kind of this week-end and but if u guys are free why not meeting there??? @blackroom i own a gh2 too ! We could team up and have a couple of different angles to make a final edit and post it in here .....

P.S. I am open to any other possible meet ups!

Sony seeks to purchase Renesas Electronics' main chip fabrication facility and use it to make image sensors for smartphone and other devices, a field in which it is the global leader, The Nikkei learned Tuesday.

The two sides are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding as early as the beginning of next week. If negotiations proceed smoothly, Sony will acquire shares in the Renesas unit that operates the Tsuruoka plant in Yamagata Prefecture by March 31. Sony is also expected to take on some of the 900 or so workers at the factory.

Sony hopes to use the plant to fabricate CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) sensors, a key component that determines the quality of images shot on smartphones and digital cameras. It controls roughly 30% of the global market in this field, and its sensors can be found in Apple's iPhone and other smartphones. Sony President Kazuo Hirai has positioned CMOS sensors as one of the pillars of the firm's growth.

Quite a difference from Panasonic who is selling factories like mad.

http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Deals/Sony-aims-to-buy-Renesas-chip-fab-convert-it-to-camera-sensors

Panasonic will roll out about five new compact digital cameras next year, half this year's number, in a bid to return a segment besieged by smartphone cameras to profitability by fiscal 2014.

The 2014 crop of new arrivals will center on pricey offerings that cost 30,000 yen ($296) or more, set apart by such features as high-magnification zoom.

The company will focus on mirrorless single-lens models.

Panasonic anticipates a second consecutive year of losses for its digital camera business in fiscal 2013.

http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Panasonic-to-halve-digital-camera-releases-in-2014

Panasonic Taiwan has filed a statement indicating it will discontinue production of ALIVH (any layer interstitial via hole) boards in 2014 indicating Panasonic's move to phase out from the PCB market.

Panasonic has two ALIVH production plants in Taiwan with a staff of about 600. The two plants will continue to operate until all orders received have been fulfilled, said Panasonic Taiwan. Later, employees at the two plants will be switched to other associated companies of the Panasonic Group in Taiwan or laid-off with severance pay.

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20131129PD214.html

OLD DATA for Now

LOCATION:
We are meeting at the famous / popular Union Square steps across the street from whole foods, getting acquainted, playing with our cameras etc. Then we are moving into whole foods which has seats and tables upstairs and a very nice variety of eats.

Post Meeting:
The meeting went very well, it was great! Nice to meet you guys and hope our group can grow for the next one which at the moment I am open to suggestions about. I would say sometime in late August? Sept?

Video : Due to popular demand here is an edit of the meeting. Sorry it took so long to put something together i have been over worked these last couple weeks. I still plan to do a post on OSGFilms (http://osgfilms.com/personal-view-meeting-new-york-0613/) and add pictures, actually write a proper article / post but i am behind on some projects. Just know we had a great time, more details soon.Thank you for your patience!

We may still be years away from watching the sweet, sweet 33MP resolution video promised by Super Hi-Vision in our own homes, but over in Japan, NHK engineers are slowly working out the various kinks keeping it from us. Their latest development is this camera seen above on the left, capable of recording 8K in a camera head that is smaller and lighter than the previous unit (the new one weighs 4kg, about 1/5th the weight) shown on the right, and is more comparable to the size of a standard HDTV camera. According to the NHK the savings were achieved by developing a new single plate color imaging mechanism and eliminating the need for a prism to separate the colors beforehand, so it's small enough to be used with standard SLR camera lenses. Sure, it's not quite ready to go on your next vacation, but if you're in Japan you can get a peek at it (and that 145-inch 8K Panasonic plasma) at the broadcaster's open house later this month.

From www.engadget.com/2012/05/11/nhk-smaller-8k-super-hi-vision-camcorder/

Our investigation currently indicates that the attackers accessed Adobe customer IDs and encrypted passwords on our systems. We also believe the attackers removed from our systems certain information relating to 2.9 million Adobe customers, including customer names, encrypted credit or debit card numbers, expiration dates, and other information relating to customer orders.

This is big. All their customers affected.

We are also investigating the illegal access to source code of numerous Adobe products

They also leaked sources. LOL.

As I understand they can just could make it short - hackers got all and everything that Adobe had. Data on every customer, all sources, etc.

http://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2013/10/important-customer-security-announcement.html

40GB of compressed source codes. Hmm.

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/10/adobe-to-announce-source-code-customer-data-breach/

Expanding the color gamut of UHD was hot topic. Much as already been said about the gamut known as Rec.2020, which encompasses a significantly wider range of colors than HDTV's Rec.709 and even the digital-cinema P3 gamut. (Actually, color gamut is only one part of Rec.2020, which is more formally known as ITU-R Recommendation BT.2020 and also includes parameters such as display resolution, frame rate, color bit depth, and color subsampling.)

Some presenters advocated going much farther by using the XYZ color gamut, which extends well beyond the entire range of colors visible to the human eye. By using XYZ, the system would be entirely future-proof, accommodating any display technology that might be developed without having to create a new system all over again.

Frame rate was also debated. Of course, higher frame rates result in sharper motion detail, especially if the camera's shutter aperture—the fraction of the entire frame duration that the shutter is open—is low. (The longer the shutter is open during each frame, the blurrier moving objects appear.) However, a low shutter aperture also increases visible judder, a stuttering in what should be smooth motion. Also, higher frame rates look less like film and more like video, which many cinephiles object to. Still, many presenters said, in effect, "Get over it, this is the future we're talking about!"

Richard Salmon of the BBC brought some demo material comparing standard and high video frame rates—50 vs. 100 frames per second for Europe and 60 vs. 120 fps for the US. In the European clips, the 50 fps material was shot with a 50% shutter aperture, while the 100 fps footage was shot with a 33% aperture; in the American clips, both 60 and 120 fps were shot with a 50% aperture. In all but one case, the objects in motion were much sharper at the higher frame rate, and I did not see any judder. The only exception was a side shot of a woman juggling three bowling pins, and in that case, there was no improvement in the motion sharpness because, we were told, the human visual system cannot resolve rotating motion very well.

HDMI 2.0 was mentioned by Peter Putman, a well-known industry analyst and journalist whose presentation focused on the consumer-display side of the equation. According to his calculations based on using the RGB color space, HDMI 2.0 with 18 Gbps of available bandwidth can convey UHD at 60 fps with 8-bit color but not 10-bit, while DisplayPort 1.2 with 21.6 Gbps of bandwidth can handle 2160p/60 with 10-bit color using RGB coding.

Most of the presenters advocated for UHD to adopt the entire Rec.2020 suite of parameters, including a resolution of 3840x2160, the specified color gamut (if not XYZ), frame rates up to 120 fps, at least 10-bit color (preferably 12-bit), and 4:2:2 subsampling (if not 4:4:4). However, HDMI 2.0 at 18 Gbps can't accommodate all these upgrades, so we face a dilemma—increase HDMI 2.0's data rate, abandon HDMI for DisplayPort, or accept lower standards for UHD.

Check rest at http://www.avsforum.com/t/1496765/smpte-2013-uhd-symposium

Osaka, Japan – Panasonic Corporation today announced that in order to create a business structure that can respond to changes in the business environment and to accelerate the growth strategy of the company, the company will end the production of plasma display panels (PDP) in December 2013, and stop business operations at the Amagasaki P3 Factory (production currently stopped), the Amagasaki P5 Factory (production currently suspended), and the Amagasaki P4 Factory, which is currently operating, by the end of March 2014.

Via: http://panasonic.co.jp/corp/news/official.data/data.dir/2013/10/en131031-8/en131031-8.pdf

As usual, cuts and outsource will follow.

http://panasonic.net/ir/vision/pdf/20130918_vision_note_e.pdf

It's a 'GH4K, won't be out 'till next year. But I know some people who know some people that rob some people!(Cit.)

I know they are out there lurking on us speak loud!

This is the official Panasonic Lumix GH4 whist list.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7436/nvidias-gsync-attempting-to-revolutionize-gaming-via-smoothness

Basically, at any time, the monitor can have it's scan rate modified. This is aimed to eleviate tearing, stutters and lag for videogames, but for cinema this could be great too. Imagine native 24, 25, 48, 50, 60 framerate options for various video sources, or for movies that want to try to do a variable framerate based on content/intent, that could be supported too.

Currently, this is going to be limited to Nvidia kepler hardware, and specific monitors that have the Nvidia scaler in it (but apparently some already existing monitors can have the hardware integrated DIY). I could see this being a big deal, and hopefully supported, or being a new standard for displays.

Apparently it seems like a wise thing to do for anyone else whose card information has been given to adobe.

Sorry @Vitaliy_Kiselev I know there was a alredy a topic about Adobe CC hack incident but I thougth it would serve forum memebers well to give this it own to attract attention. Please feel free to move this it if thats a better option.