CineGrid Amsterdam

CineGrid enabled the production, distribution and screening of image and sound of unprecedented quality. The image of 4K is at least four times sharper than HDTV; the sound is uncompressed and pure. This makes watching movies, gaming and video conferencing a special and intense experience. You can see nuances that are normally invisible to the naked eye, the image is crystal clear and the sound is audible through a maximum of sixteen channels.

CineGrid Amsterdam was a research, development and education test bed for digital cinema in which distributed supercomputing architecture was used. CineGrid enabled the production and distribution of 4K (digital film with a super resolution and extremely high quality of sound), developed by Waag, SURFnet, SARA and the UvA, in cooperation with a large number of public and private organisations. CineGrid Amsterdam joined a worldwide network for the production and distribution of high quality digital content.

In several places in the world, mainly the United States and Japan, fast technical developments in the field of 4K were taking place in the period of 2010-2013, which have radically changed audiovisual communication. In Europe however, at the beginning of the project, there was no developed 4K industry yet; aside from the odd film production company, 4K video was practically non-existent. Especially outside of the cinema, 4K video was an undiscovered territory with huge potential. In the mean time, 4K has become mainstream, and affordable equipment has enetrred the market.

With its large concentration of creative, scientific and commercial businesses, Amsterdam had a unique positioning to become the leading force on the 4K front within Europe. CineGrid Amsterdam established a temporary 4K production and screening facility in the heart of Amsterdam, as a hub of 4K research and development. New products and services and a variety of productions were created. Performances part of the Holland Festival program have been recorded, several special interest documentaries, international interactive film productions and a completely open animation film.

Cinegrid was in part financed by the European Regional Development Fund of the European Commission.