[opendtv] Re: Panasonic's AG-HVX200 (was: 20050419 Twang's Tuesday Tribune)
- From: "John Shutt" <shuttj@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 17:11:12 -0400
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Golitsis" <john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Does this supersede your prediction that HDTV will forever remain a
> niche market?
From the April 2005 Digital Television Magazine
Remember the A.L.A.M.O
By Mark Schubin
The first U.S. broadcaster to offer digital HDTV went on the air in July
1996. The official date for shutting down analog TV broadcasting here
remains the end of 2006.
That's a little over ten years.
In about the same amount of time, the cost of an HDTV camera, lens, and
recorder has dropped by a factor of close to 300:1. Consumers now have a
broad choice of HDTV displays priced under $1,000. Multiple channels of HDTV
programming are being delivered by broadcast, cable, and satellite.
It follows, appropriately, that everyone should be shooting HDTV as soon as
possible. But then there's the A.L.A.M.O., the audience left after
mythology's over.
The mythology is that, in this Age of High Definition Television, everyone
views HDTV. To say that is not the case is an example of understatement.
According to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), about 12% of U.S.
households had "DTV" as of the beginning of this year. Products in CEA's
"DTV" category must have circuitry for receiving digital TV broadcasts or
accepting at least 480p signals or both. About 85% of them meet CEA's
criteria for HDTV, which do not include a widescreen aspect ratio (about 66%
have that).
That's less than 7% with a widescreen HDTV. But only about 18% of the "DTV"
products shipped were equipped with digital-TV reception circuitry. Add HDTV
delivered by cable, satellite, and all other means, and perhaps as many as
4% had the possibility of displaying HDTV pictures on a home screen at the
beginning of this year.
Of course, some of those HDTV screens were as small as 13 inches in
diagonal. It is essentially impossible to see more than standard-definition
detail on even a 31-inch 16:9 TV screen positioned at the nominal home
viewing distance of nine feet. A person with perfect vision wouldn't be able
to see all of the detail in a 1920 x 1080 HDTV image unless it were almost
six feet in diagonal.
This might seem an argument against shooting HDTV. It's not.
Although viewers of even the few HDTV screens actually being fed HDTV today
might not be able to perceive all of HDTV's detail, all viewers--even those
watching small, non-HDTV screens--will likely appreciate HDTV's additional
sharpness.
The psychological sensation of sharpness is proportional to the square of
the area under a curve plotting contrast ratio against fineness of detail.
At almost any level of fineness of detail, from ordinary VHS on up, an HDTV
camera and lens will offer a higher contrast ratio and, therefore, greater
sharpness, than a non-HDTV camera and lens.
That's why shooting HDTV is important. But remember the A.L.A.M.O.
It's all too easy, when shooting HDTV, to forget that, for the foreseeable
future, most of the audience will not be able to take full advantage of
what's in your frame. To guarantee that viewers can make something out, it's
necessary to be sure it's both big enough and positioned where those without
widescreen sets will be able to see it.
When looking at an overscanned HDTV monitor in production, it's important to
remember that viewers watching a letterboxed (or reduced-vertical-scan-size)
version will be viewing the top and bottom of the image in underscan mode.
Lights and microphones outside of safe area in HDTV may be visible to most
of the audience.
Monitor 5.1-channel surround-sound, but remember that most of the audience
will hear something else. Check mono and stereo versions, and mix
accordingly, lest (as one company learned to its regret) dinosaurs tiptoe
instead of thud.
Shoot HDTV! But don't forget the A.L.A.M.O.!
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