December 2005 Article – by Doug Braddock

High Definition – invest or wait

High Definition is the new frontier. Every month new cameras, decks, and disk systems are being announced (many not fully compatible with each other). Production companies have the choice of buying early with the potential of gaining a competitive advantage, but there is the risk that their purchased format may become an orphan if another manufacturer’s model subsequently gains the dominant industry position.

In order for the higher-resolution image to be appreciated, the chain must support HD end-to-end from acquisition to distribution and viewing. In New Zealand it’s likely to be years before free-to-air broadcasters transmit HD. It’s my prediction* that:

· Corporate Video production (for in-house events, trade shows, product demonstrations), will be the first sector to have end-to-end HD. Although the technology is currently available if replay is off HDV or other tape formats, it’s likely to be mid to late 2006 with the widespread release of HD DVD (or Blue Ray equivalent) that this will really take off. I expect that production companies with DV-style HD capability will have a competitive advantage when this happens, and those not there yet will clamber to follow suit.
Purchase of HD equipment for this sector is likely to be happening now. In my opinion having an editing system capable of working in HD is the prudent first step. However I’d personally hold off adding cameras and VT decks as long as possible. I think within a year many manufacturers will be offering 1080p resolution on DV-style systems and it would be my advice to buy that generation of gear when available (I’m excluding the high-end HDCAM, HDSR and D5 systems from this sector because of price). Currently Sony offers 1080i, and Panasonic and JVC offer 720p, but neither offer 1080p. On the other hand gear is generally justified by the productions you have underway, and so when that big show gets green lit now, you might as well buy the best kit you can now. Upgrade later as justified by the next big show.

· Another area where HD production will be the norm, is television drama where there is the possibility of international sales. At least half a dozen recent NZ dramas were post produced in HD (even though they aren’t screened here this way) as it made them more saleable internationally. I expect this will become basically mandatory.

Drama production companies are less likely to buy full post kit than the corporate sector, and are more likely to finish via the high-end HD capabilities of established post facilities (Digital Post, Images, Oktober etc). None-the-less it will be an advantage for the drama producer to be able to view HD rushes, and to be able to ‘offline’ in HD resolution. Again I’d recommend buying HD-capable editing equipment, but investing in camera and tape decks cautiously. It’s likely that HD DVD or Blue Ray will become the widely used standard for general rushes viewing, and for work-in-progress dubbs out of the edit suite.

· Of course every feature film producer will be choosing HD telecine (most likely with digital intermediate processing, or even high-end HD acquisition instead of film), from now on. As with drama this will increase the broadcast markets available. It will also pave the way for digital theatre projection (currently rolling out in Europe, it’s my guess well see digital theatres in NZ in a year, widespread within 4 years); and of course every film will want video sale revenues, and these will be via HD DVD or Blue Ray within 6 months.

· Sky TV is likely to have HD channels on their satellite system within 12 to 24 months. One of the first HD productions will be live sports coverage with OB vehicles being re-fitted with the new technology over the next year.

· The remaining sector is good old free-to-air broadcast television, which I don’t see changing to digital, let alone HD any sooner than 2-4 years at best. So in my opinion if you’re producing for this area, you have the nice position of being able to watch developments, and not have to invest lots of money immediately. As you continue your normal equipment review and capital expenditure programme I’d recommend looking at HD capable editing systems first, and taking your time over cameras and decks.

Truth be known, video tape recorders are going to be used less in the future, and disks more – though HD DVD and Blue-Ray are being developed for the domestic market, there will be high-end capabilities on cheap disk formats soon enough, and I expect the time will come when you can burn a programme master on a $2K drive in your machine (at least as a datafile), which delivers the same picture quality as a fully spec’d HDSR recorder currently costing $200K.

*This article is based on my opinion of general trends as I see them, and hasn’t been offered for endorsed by equipment manufacturers and broadcasters. Producers would do well to research widely before finalising a purchase decision.
CPR is available to consult in specific cases where I could prepare an individualised recommendation that balances needs, workflow, and available technology. Contact us for more information.

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