Arri AMIRA UHD upgrade will soon enable 3840 x 2160 recording

News

by Sebastian WöberAugust 26^th, 2014

Arri just announced that their newest cinema camera the AMIRA will soon get an upgrade that will enable internal Ultra High-Definition (UHD) recording to ProRes.

Arri has been the only major camera developer who has not implemented any form of 4K in their cameras. That’s why this upgrade that will enable the Arri AMIRA to shoot in the UHD flavour of 4K is a very big step.

In our extensive Arri AMIRA camera review I explored and experienced the impressive overall quality of the images the camera produces. We can be certain that the UHD upgrade will even increase the amount of detail filmmakers and documentary style shooters will be able to achieve.

Now that the Arri AMIRA will be able to shoot in this standard, it might also become a valid option for those productions that are looking for fast acquisition, but have already adapted UHD (3840 x 2160 pixels) as a “future-proof” workflow.

In their press-release that Arri pushed an hour ago, they seem to comment the upgrade in reference to acquisition speed:
For major feature films, an up-sample to 4K can be carried out after visual effects and other postproduction tasks have been completed at 2K resolution. For certain fast-paced AMIRA productions, however, there may not be the time or resources for such processes in post, which is why a 4K or UHD output direct from the camera has been requested.

The upgrade is expected to be available for purchase at the online ARRI License Shop by the end of 2014 and will offer the ability to record all ProRes codecs in Ultra High Definition 3840 x 2160 resolution directly onto the in-camera CFast 2.0 cards, at up to 60 fps.

In-Camera Processing
Arri notes that there is a 1.2x up-sample filtering happening in-camera that seems to be how the 3414 x 2198 pixels coming from the original AMIRA / ALEXA sensor get transformed into the UHD (3840 x 2160 pixels) format.

We’re pleased to see Arri moving into the direction of 4K, it definitely gives a sense of what is about to come.
What do you think? Is this upgrade an indication that a new Arri 4K camera is imminent? Let us know in the comments.

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