Abstract
We have developed a prototype super-high-definition (SHD) digital cinema distribution system that can store, transmit, and display eight-million-pixel motion pictures that have the image quality of a 35-mm film movie. The system contains a movie server, a real-time decoder, and an SHB projector. Using a Gigabit Ethernet link and TCP/IP, the server transmits JPEG2000 compressed motion picture data streams to the decoder at transmission speeds as high as 300 Mbps. The received data streams are decompressed by the decoder, and then projected onto a screen via the projector. By using an enlarged TCP window, multiple TCP streams, and a shaping function to control the data transmission quantity, we achieved real-time streaming of SHD movie data at about 300 Mbps between Chicago and Los Angeles, a distance of more than 3000 km. We also improved the decoder performance to show movies with Image qualities of 450 Mbps or higher. Since UDP is more suitable than TCP for fast long-distance streaming, we have developed an SHD digital cinema UDP relay system, in which UDP is used for transmission over a fast long-distance network. By using four pairs of server-side-proxy and decoder-side-proxy, 450-Mbps movie data streams could be transmitted.