The Changing Definition of Signal

The digitization of signals has evolved over time. Digital signals, which inherently require more bandwidth than their analog counterparts that they are intended to replace, generally require digital compression to fit the signal into available bandwidth. Digital signals allow low bandwidth metadata to accompany it, metadata fulfilling the role of “data about the data,” which can be a benefit in terms of identifying the data, its origin, and its purpose. But as the signal becomes more complex, a “data that is not metadata” has emerged, where the presence of this “signal data” is required to properly render it. At its simplest, such data could instruct a projector to frame a particular aspect ratio. A more complex application would be to instruct a projector to use a particular color space profile with a certain scene. A more familiar and real application is to instruct a sound rendering engine that a particular sound object is to be heard from a particular position in the room while having a certain size. With the exception of immersive sound, digital cinema has steered away from such signal data. But that may change if the potential for such innovation can reduce the inventory of distribution versions. The challenge is whether this direction would alter the ability of cinema to be the ultimate format for experiencing creative intent.

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