Subject: FW: Linux hits big big screen
From: Leif Sawyer (lsawyer@gci.com)
Date: Thu Sep 12 2002 - 07:54:41 AKDT
NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: PHIL HOCHMUTH on LINUX - 09/12/02
Today's focus: Linux hits big big screen
By Phil Hochmuth
When a remastered version the Oscar-winning film "Apollo 13"
hits the enormous eight-story screens of IMAX theaters later
this month, you might be interested to know that Linux played a
small role in the conversion of the film from the big screen to
the really big screen.
"Apollo 13" in IMAX format is the result of a new technology
called DMR (Digital Re-mastering) developed by IMAX, where 35mm
film is digitally converted to IMAX's 70mm format.
A proprietary software application running on a cluster of 160
Red Hat Linux servers from Dell was used as part of the DMR
process, where the 35mm film is touched up and made to look
sharp on the larger format. (IMAX says that simply blowing up
regular film to IMAX size makes the pictures fuzzy.) This is a
boon to IMAX enthusiasts, as feature films can now be
retrofitted for the IMAX format. IMAX says it will start
releasing some films in the future simultaneously on its
format, along with regular runs at traditional movie theaters.
IMAX says it chose Linux as the operating system over Unix for
scalability reasons. In tests, the company says, Linux best
handled the digital image workload - up to "several hundred"
Gigabytes per day of image data - that was required for the
job. Dell 2550 servers were used, running Red Hat Linux 7.2 for
the project.
_______________________________________________________________
To contact Phil Hochmuth:
Phil Hochmuth is a Senior Writer for Network World, and
a former systems integrator. You can reach him at
mailto:phochmut@nww.com.
_______________________________________________________________
RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS
Linux: Lord of the network
Network World Linux in the Enterprise Newsletter, 12/17/01
http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/linux/2001/01156783.html
LinuxWorld Expo heralds enterprise goodies
Network World, 02/04/02
http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2002/129788_02-04-2002.html
Breaking Linux news from Network World and around the 'Net,
updated daily: http://www.nwfusion.com/topics/linux.html
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