CineGrid is an international research initiative that was established to promote research, development and deployment of new distributed applications of ultra-high performance digital media (sound and picture) over advanced networks, using Grid computing technologies for networked collaboration.

The CineGrid project will combine the state-of-the-art visual and audio recording technologies along with high-speed photonic networks and ultra sharp projection facilities to record and deliver very high quality moving images and sound across continents.

The resulting impression is overwhelming and resembles that of being present at a live performance. The technology is called “4K” after the number of horizontal pixels in the image, 4096x2160 per frame; four times that of High Definition Television and equivalent to 35 MM film. A one-and-a-half-hour recording before compression contains roughly 3.5 Terabytes of data – the amount of data that fits on about 1.200 DVD’s. Sound will also be in very high quality, with 24 channels uncompressed audio for much richer sound than normal audio CD recordings.

Hollywood studios are starting to distribute their latest global hit movies digitally, and cinema’s worldwide are making the transition to digital projection: mostly in 2K but there are also some pioneering 4K cinemas operating in Japan and the United States already. However there is currently only a limited amount of 4K material available for CineGrid experiments, mostly from scanned 35 mm and 65 mm film, scientific visualization and recordings of a few live events and student performances. One of the goals of CineGrid is to encourage the creation of more 4K content and audio recordings that can be used by CineGrid members around the world for experiments in production, post-production, network transmission and archiving. This will demonstrate the potential, both artistic and scientific, of very high quality digital media running over high speed networks.

With the help of the CineGrid founding members in America and Japan, the Dutch member organizations of CineGrid including SURFnet, SARA, the University of Amsterdam and Waag Society are setting up the first CineGrid node in Europe. The CineGrid node in Amsterdam will be able to produce, store and project 4K material, collaborating with many partner institutions, like the Dutch Film Museum, the Dutch Institute for Sound and Vision, the Internet Society, International Documentary Festival Amsterdam and many more.