Damien Weissenburger, Sony Europe: “4K is transforming the business environment into a more interactive space”

The head of the presentation and communications area at Sony Europe, Damien Weissenburger, In this interview, he analyzes the company's positioning in the present and future development of 4K products and their adoption by the market..

Product innovation around 4K technology developed by Sony In the last year it places this multinational in a reference position in the industry, as Damien Weissenburger explains, Head of presentation and communications at Sony Europe, who assures that the experience and advantages it offers are transforming the business environment into a more interactive space.

As head of Sony's presentation and communications division, What products and solutions offer better 4K performance that installers and the market should know about?

There is a wide variety of 4K products that Sony has launched in the last six months. In my division alone we have introduced six 4K large format projectors and displays, in 55, 65 y 84 inches, that cover both business applications between companies and home cinema.

Our range of simulation projectors has just added the SRX-T615 model, which was presented at IBC 2013… on an 8K screen! and the home cinema line has just been expanded with VPL-VW500ES, next to the current market benchmark, the VPL-VW1000ES projector. All these products have received a good reception from the market.

At a time when users are just getting used to HD, What is the company's message to help explain the future of 4K to the market??

Customer demand has driven the 4K format to enjoy greater immersion and image quality, with an increasingly larger average screen size, in both the corporate and consumer markets. As a market leader, Our role is to respond to that demand. We could say that each HD client, currently, very likely to be a 4K client in the future, for the same reason they changed from SD to HD.

People are looking for larger screens that offer good resolutions and 4K is the perfect answer to this, as it offers a more captivating experience. We are already beginning to see how technology is transforming the business environment into a more interactive and empowered space to communicate and turn ideas into reality.; besides, custom installation opportunity is huge.

And how they are carrying out this technological transformation and showing its advantages.

Sony is leading this transformation by becoming deeply involved in all sectors to create the 'camera to living room' value chain.. In 2011, Sony began launching its first 4K products through its professional and consumer divisions. Evidently, Sony Pictures was one of our first 'clients', what made 4K a reality in movie theaters, supported with the launch of the company's 4K digital cinema projection system. Through our audiovisual media division, We have also been involved in this transformation with the main television networks.

It is very likely that global sporting events (like the next FIFA World Cup in Brazil) be an important milestone in getting a larger audience to appreciate and feel the benefits of 4K. Therefore, We are not surprised that Sony has signed an agreement with FIFA TV to cover the production of the World Cup finals 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, with the company's production services and 4K technology.

To accelerate the adoption of 4K in Europe, we have recently opened Digital Motion Picture Center Europe (DMPCE) at Pinewood Studios, that combines technology and talent in an open and easily accessible center, offering training and shared resources for film and production professionals who want to learn more about 4K workflow and technologies.

Sony recently announced the first 4K download service, Is there any roadmap available on when the platform could hit the European market??

Currently, 4K download service is a US-based initiative, where the company will closely monitor its acceptance and consider the possibility of expanding it to other countries.

Sony's involvement in content creation, when it comes to developing products that offer 4K, also provides advantages?

Definitely. For decades we have worked in collaboration with television networks and this has allowed Sony to gain in-depth knowledge of content creation and distribution.. We've been at the center of many industry standard and 4K transformations, although it sounds like a challenge, For our engineers, it is a natural technological evolution. The perfect example is the recent recognition and awards for many of the company's 4K products..

In the absence of native 4K content, Are the improved resolution and future-proofing of equipment that supports 4K the main selling points that installers currently have??

In summary, Yeah. During the transition to 4K, and as the market begins to adopt technology more openly, The commitment to the future and the potential for improved resolution with the current range of 4K products available on the market are important sales motivators.. That being said, You could also argue that there is a lot to be said for the power of 4K images, whether native or with content with improved resolution, since with 4K seeing is really believing.

In that sense, What project with 4K content has been most impressive to you so far??

Of the ones I have seen so far it has been the Muse concert, which was recorded at the Olympic stadium in Rome this summer. It was something incredible. The quality of the images showed the colors so vividly that you really felt like you were there and the excitement on people's faces.

Following the recent agreement that Invision UK will supply Sony 4K TVs in the custom installation phase, Do you think that large companies are now more aware of the IC market?

Definitely. Large companies are an increasingly important channel for the IC market, especially with the acceleration of 4K adoption. Sony is already making inroads into the corporate and retail markets with professional 4K displays, such as the W800 series of HTML5-capable displays and projectors. We can only hope that the adoption rate increases, since companies increasingly want future guarantees for their technology and a transformation in the quality of visual communication. The recent agreement with Invision is an opportunity for 4K technology in the area of ​​​​custom installations and an indicator of the direction the market is taking.

What is the current progress achieved in content creation?? When will more movies be available?, sporting events, commercial advertisements,… a 4K?

In most cases we are already there.. More movies than ever are being shot in 4K and the Sony F65 has already been used in more than thirty blockbusters, since its release in Oblivion and After Earth. With the introduction of Sony's CineAlta F5 and F55 cameras and the new XAVC recording format, 4K adoption has advanced rapidly from film productions to television series, entertainment, documentaries and advertisements, as well as on television channels and live productions.

This year we saw part of the FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil broadcast live in 4K, an exciting turning point in content creation with this technology and part of a trial period, since the FIFA World Cup 2014 It will also be offered in 4K.