4. Resolution Vs. Color Depth

For those of us that spend tons of time in front of our PCs, we have come to know that the higher the resolution, the better the picture on the screen. However, when it comes to showing digital movies, the key issue isn't just resolution. "The more important thing is color depth," Plumer said. "If I am dealing with 8 bits, it doesn't buy me anything no matter what resolution. This is why we put the emphasis on the EXR format, which gives us more color to work with."

The EXR format, or the Open Source Extended Dynamic Range Image File Format, represents Lucasfilm's attempt over the past several years to bring about improvements in digital film production and projection. It has a higher dynamic range, and improved color depth, to enable more realistic images to be shown. "The biggest challenge in our industry is that there are no standards," Plumer says. "ILM has been doing digital projection of its movies since Star Wars Episode 1, so we have been at this a while.

"It isn't just resolution that drives the size of the data, color depth is where we focus more of our attention. I can show you some HD material, and it looks worse than some other formats that were done at lower resolutions," Plumer said. "It is more about the process it goes through. There are so many other factors that go into what looks best on screen."

Plumer is excited about his tenure with Lucasfilm, and still sees plenty of challenges in the years ahead. "We are just at the beginning of an explosion, not just with video games on consoles, but running games and other content on other handheld devices such as cell phones and new portable players," Plumer said. "All of these devices are just going to push our systems that much harder."

He also has plenty of work cut out for him to bring his digital gospel to the rest of the entertainment community that hasn't yet got the memo. "We are constantly trying to educate those old-school directors on the benefits of digital technology," Plumer said. "This place is a lab, and we have more and different uses for the digital tools than anyone else does."

And if you want to find Plumer, look for him on the set working with the director, where he is trying to making his latest digital toys deliver.