eviltester
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My 4K UHD Journey Part 1
Let me start off this series of informative tidbits, that we have discovered over the last few decades, with a brief intro.
Without this small intro, it will be hard to explain how we got to point X when you knew that we started at point A (what transpired from points b through w ?).
Trust me, it will make more sense as you read on.
We were initially reluctant to post some info on any forums due to the issues we had in the past which I mention later on in this post but here it is finally.
Both my business partner and I hail from computer, scientific and electrical engineering backgrounds. We have been running a successful business for 45+ years.
We dove into the computer industry because we were sick and tired of certain companies providing a much needed service to clients at ludicrous pricing schemes.
We knew that one could provide this much needed service at fair pricing while still maintaining a healthy profit margin.
Today, 45+ years later, we are still working our magic and have 68+ employees with clients in Canada, USA and their respective corporate offices located throughout the UK and EU.
We provide outsourced backups and other services to our valued clients. Later on you will see how our backup business will link & associate with & pertain to 4K UHD
We don't believe in the default competitors phrase of "...You can't do that"...or "..it's not possible..".
We believe it is more prudent to try to work with our clients and find a workable solution to the crisis at hand than to say no.
It costs nothing to try but it costs reputation and respect to NOT try. That's a killer in our line of work.
As I am sure many of the Redfox members can attest to, we've all had our share of bad luck with computers/electronics at some point in time and their components failing or not working as expected. Sometimes it is as easy as a phone call away, RMA # obtained, then send it back for repair. Other times it is not that simple. Warranties run out, replacement parts unavailable, etc. These are the times that your skill set of thinking outside of the box comes into play. This is when you will attempt the almost unimaginable repair to something that you normally should have no business touching. Over the last few decades, we have been forced into areas that we never expected ourselves to delve into. We were forced to become 'Jack of all Trades"...'Master of none'. We were forced into this dark area due to manufacturers not living up to their claims or reniging on their warranties.
We've all been there. Sometimes it goes well and other times you curse yourself for making things worse. I sometimes think that I have replaced and soldered more capacitors, resistors, coils, broken traces, etc. than the motherboard manufacturers. PACE soldering stations and I have an intimate relationship to this day. Now, we have all motherboards custom built except for a few locations.
Our many years of tinkering, to make things work, forced us to be wary of claims by several manufacturers claiming their product does this or that when it had no chance in hell of performing the stated claims. As the years went by, we noticed more and more forums opening up due to this very issue. People were upset and wanted answers and not stupid scripted replies. We joined many of those forums (hence how my forum name came to be), as many others did, and asked and answered many of those same questions. Over the years we have acquired quite the list of knowledgeable and informative contacts. It was thanks to some of those contacts that led us to delve deeper into the CD/DVD/Bluray world and ultimately become a Redfox Project family member.
For example, through many of our contacts and some well hidden snippets on various forums, we discovered that a few CDROM manufacturers had goofed up on their assembly line (Mitsumi and Matsushita to name a few) and certain CD readers were actually capable of writing as well. IIRC, the notes were leaked by someone working inside and listed certain model numbers that were affected. I am sure someone eventually got fired over that since readers back then were ~$600-$1200 and writers were ~$1800+.
I am also sure nowadays more stringent controls are in place for both DVD and Bluray readers and that it will never happen again.
It is through the various forums out there that I learn lots of new information and am always on the lookout for the next big tidbit to land in my lap.
I don't even own a TV but I do have several high end monitors at my disposal. I have upgraded them throughout the years (thanks to various forums) and all my monitors are 4K UHD capable now. I am also an avid movie lover (Sci-fi, action, horror, thrillers, etc) and between my business partner and I, we have a tad over 7000 commercial DVD/Blurays.
It was my love for movies that ultimately led me to this world.
In my hometown, we had a lot of big name movie
productions filmed in our location (K-19 : The Widowmaker, Titanic, Snow Angels, etc) and it is always nice to see them in action, as it happens. Many times we would go out to the location shoot and watch segments being filmed live.
On one such occasion, I met a nice gentleman that was filming for some production company.
His name was Peter. His friends called him Pete.
Pete was having a bad day from all appearances and all the cursing coming from his crew.
From what I could surmise, some of his gear was acting up and causing no end of grief.
They were having no luck finding a source in town that had replacements for 35mm movie cameras.
I introduced myself and offered my assistance.
Pete told me, politely but brashly, that unless I had "XYZ" part for this camera...I was not able to help.
I told him that I didn't have that part but I knew of 2 possible locations in town that may have parts or be able to fix it.
The crew went silent, looked at each other and told Pete that it was worth a shot. I suggested that we take my car as I knew the area better.
Unfortuneately, both locations were unable to help Pete but I now had a better understanding of the actual issue with the camera and suggested that I could possibly fix it with parts from my cameras.
Pete laughed but his laughter soon changed to surprise when I told him that I had professional Hasselblad, Mamiya and Nikon camera systems.
We drove back to his crew, picked up one of his engineers, Stephen, and then proceeded to my place.
Stephen told Pete that any one of my motor drives *might* have the correct size gear that they needed.
Several hours later and much disassembly, they had a working camera again. I told Pete that anything I had was at his disposal (camera equipment wise).
He chose to borrow my Nikon with 250 databack and the Mamiya M645.
Pete returned all my gear, later that week and thanked me profusely for all my help.
We exchanged contact info and Pete said that he would send me some copies of their work that they filmed in my area.
I expected never to hear from Pete again.
Little did I know at that time....I had met someone that would become a big part of my life, from then on, and unknowingly he would steer me into the 4K UHD world, decades later.
Let me start off this series of informative tidbits, that we have discovered over the last few decades, with a brief intro.
Without this small intro, it will be hard to explain how we got to point X when you knew that we started at point A (what transpired from points b through w ?).
Trust me, it will make more sense as you read on.
We were initially reluctant to post some info on any forums due to the issues we had in the past which I mention later on in this post but here it is finally.
Both my business partner and I hail from computer, scientific and electrical engineering backgrounds. We have been running a successful business for 45+ years.
We dove into the computer industry because we were sick and tired of certain companies providing a much needed service to clients at ludicrous pricing schemes.
We knew that one could provide this much needed service at fair pricing while still maintaining a healthy profit margin.
Today, 45+ years later, we are still working our magic and have 68+ employees with clients in Canada, USA and their respective corporate offices located throughout the UK and EU.
We provide outsourced backups and other services to our valued clients. Later on you will see how our backup business will link & associate with & pertain to 4K UHD
We don't believe in the default competitors phrase of "...You can't do that"...or "..it's not possible..".
We believe it is more prudent to try to work with our clients and find a workable solution to the crisis at hand than to say no.
It costs nothing to try but it costs reputation and respect to NOT try. That's a killer in our line of work.
As I am sure many of the Redfox members can attest to, we've all had our share of bad luck with computers/electronics at some point in time and their components failing or not working as expected. Sometimes it is as easy as a phone call away, RMA # obtained, then send it back for repair. Other times it is not that simple. Warranties run out, replacement parts unavailable, etc. These are the times that your skill set of thinking outside of the box comes into play. This is when you will attempt the almost unimaginable repair to something that you normally should have no business touching. Over the last few decades, we have been forced into areas that we never expected ourselves to delve into. We were forced to become 'Jack of all Trades"...'Master of none'. We were forced into this dark area due to manufacturers not living up to their claims or reniging on their warranties.
We've all been there. Sometimes it goes well and other times you curse yourself for making things worse. I sometimes think that I have replaced and soldered more capacitors, resistors, coils, broken traces, etc. than the motherboard manufacturers. PACE soldering stations and I have an intimate relationship to this day. Now, we have all motherboards custom built except for a few locations.
Our many years of tinkering, to make things work, forced us to be wary of claims by several manufacturers claiming their product does this or that when it had no chance in hell of performing the stated claims. As the years went by, we noticed more and more forums opening up due to this very issue. People were upset and wanted answers and not stupid scripted replies. We joined many of those forums (hence how my forum name
came to be), as many others did, and asked and answered many of those same questions. Over the years we have acquired quite the list of knowledgeable and informative contacts. It was thanks to some of those contacts that led us to delve deeper into the CD/DVD/Bluray world and ultimately become a Redfox Project family member.For example, through many of our contacts and some well hidden snippets on various forums, we discovered that a few CDROM manufacturers had goofed up on their assembly line (Mitsumi and Matsushita to name a few) and certain CD readers were actually capable of writing as well. IIRC, the notes were leaked by someone working inside and listed certain model numbers that were affected. I am sure someone eventually got fired over that since readers back then were ~$600-$1200 and writers were ~$1800+.
I am also sure nowadays more stringent controls are in place for both DVD and Bluray readers and that it will never happen again.
It is through the various forums out there that I learn lots of new information and am always on the lookout for the next big tidbit to land in my lap.
I don't even own a TV but I do have several high end monitors at my disposal. I have upgraded them throughout the years (thanks to various forums) and all my monitors are 4K UHD capable now. I am also an avid movie lover (Sci-fi, action, horror, thrillers, etc) and between my business partner and I, we have a tad over 7000 commercial DVD/Blurays.
It was my love for movies that ultimately led me to this world.
In my hometown, we had a lot of big name movie
productions filmed in our location (K-19 : The Widowmaker, Titanic, Snow Angels, etc) and it is always nice to see them in action, as it happens. Many times we would go out to the location shoot and watch segments being filmed live.
On one such occasion, I met a nice gentleman that was filming for some production company.
His name was Peter. His friends called him Pete.
Pete was having a bad day from all appearances and all the cursing coming from his crew.
From what I could surmise, some of his gear was acting up and causing no end of grief.
They were having no luck finding a source in town that had replacements for 35mm movie cameras.
I introduced myself and offered my assistance.
Pete told me, politely but brashly, that unless I had "XYZ" part for this camera...I was not able to help.
I told him that I didn't have that part but I knew of 2 possible locations in town that may have parts or be able to fix it.
The crew went silent, looked at each other and told Pete that it was worth a shot. I suggested that we take my car as I knew the area better.
Unfortuneately, both locations were unable to help Pete but I now had a better understanding of the actual issue with the camera and suggested that I could possibly fix it with parts from my cameras.
Pete laughed but his laughter soon changed to surprise when I told him that I had professional Hasselblad, Mamiya and Nikon camera systems.
We drove back to his crew, picked up one of his engineers, Stephen, and then proceeded to my place.
Stephen told Pete that any one of my motor drives *might* have the correct size gear that they needed.
Several hours later and much disassembly, they had a working camera again. I told Pete that anything I had was at his disposal (camera equipment wise).
He chose to borrow my Nikon with 250 databack and the Mamiya M645.
Pete returned all my gear, later that week and thanked me profusely for all my help.
We exchanged contact info and Pete said that he would send me some copies of their work that they filmed in my area.
I expected never to hear from Pete again.
Little did I know at that time....I had met someone that would become a big part of my life, from then on, and unknowingly he would steer me into the 4K UHD world, decades later.