DEFINITION December 2018

RED RH1 | USER REVI EW

RED HYDROGEN ONE Is it just a phone or is it part of the mobile cinematography future? PRICE £997/$1295

WORDS & PICTURES GARY ADCOCK

SCREEN TECH There are two features that truly stand out with this device. One is the glassless 3D tech via the Leia screen technology, even though some images look more along the lines of the Nishika or lenticular, rather than as immersive 3D – it is a huge step forward in the display tech. The second is the associated A3D audio. If you think about the RH1 as just a camera/phone, you should hear the undeniable quality of the A3D audio output, which, in this reviewer’s mind, is nothing short of unbelievable on this type of device. The RH1’s front and rear facing dual lens cameras offer the user 2D with ‘bokeh’ mode and the ability to capture true 3D content, in the .h4v format. Due to the nature of shooting 3D, the cameras are only capable of recording 3D when the dual lens configuration is oriented in side-by-side mode, so the 3D from the rear camera is in landscape and the 3D from the front facing camera is always in portrait mode.

aiting for delivery of my RED HYDROGEN One (RH1), the latest endeavour for a company

that changed the cinematography landscape, has been rather tedious. In the current technology market, delivering a product sufficiently advanced enough to wow the community is difficult, to say the least. However, when production issues and certification delays push the launch out nearly a year beyond the earliest projected release date, it can hurt, especially when products are finally being delivered 68 weeks (15 months) after spending $1295.00 USD to place an order for the device. As an iPhone user, jumping into Android was mildly painful, but I did not meld the data between my RH1 and my iPhone X, keeping the discomfort to a minimum. As with any new tech, the first task was to update the software and apps before any testing could begin. As I found out later online, it was a habit that insured I had a better first experience than others.

The h4v format’s readability

ABOVE The low light images look astounding with a texture in the out of focus areas resembling the grain of film.

is based on the device used, delivering 2D when not viewing on a Leia-enabled device. I unsuccessfully

tried to see if the content was externally viewable on a 3D

compatible TV, but I was not able to display the content correctly in either SBS or OverUnder modes compatible with my LG set while using an Apple USB-C to HDMI adaptor. Hopefully this is a software-only issue with a new released device. Editing is also problematic at this time. There is no software included to edit the images or videos. While Premiere Pro can open the files, this requires changing the suffix from .h4v to .mp4.

BELOW You’ll be able to add a power pack for increased battery life, expand the phone’s memory or attach a cinema grade camera module.

DECEMBER 20 1 8 | DEF I N I T ION 59

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