[opendtv] Re: Nielsen stats on TV in US households
- From: Mark Schubin <tvmark@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 25 Mar 2007 11:18:01 -0400
Tom Barry wrote:
Mark -
How much of the problems these days are just caused by this, directors
and quality control with CRT or low rez monitors that do not match the
eventual target?
It's never low-rez (at worst, Sony BVM HD monitors), and I question what
"the eventual target" is. An NTSC show gets millions of viewers per
rating point. How many points would be required to get even one million
HD viewers?
As for the low-rez issue, I offer the following from two shows I worked
on. One was a very early HD show (circa 1990). Production facilities
were limited, so we shot in a small NHK vehicle that was purely HD. To
make even a VHS viewing copy, we needed to stick a downconverter into a
different truck.
The director framed a spectacular HD shot, with the two principal
singers in right frame, the conductor in left frame, and the orchestra
between, with the HD providing sufficient detail to see the appreciation
of the moment on the musicians' faces. Because it was such a great
shot, the director saw no need to cut away from it. We all agreed. We
thought it was brilliant.
Then it aired in letterboxed NTSC, offering a third of the scanning
lines, not to mention other detail reductions. What had been a
spectacular view to savor for a long period became a mere establishing
shot, in which case, why stay on it for so long? We received many
viewer complaints.
So the next show I did with that director, I offered a letterboxed NTSC
picture right next to the HD for the director to use to see what "the
eventual target" would be getting. The result was a good HD show --
maybe not as spectacular as the other -- and a good NTSC show (not one
that caused viewer complaints).
I adopted the two-monitor approach for many HD-shot shows. Then I did
one with a different director. He framed what he thought was a nice HD
shot and then glanced at the NTSC monitor. "What's that crap?" he
asked. I said it was a best-case approximation of what the bulk of his
audience would get. "Turn it off," he ordered.
TTFN,
Mark
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