By John Lenihan

A white paper about high definition videography

Different types of HD

If you have recently been shopping for a High Definition Television, you know that there are a lot of specifications and numbers that are in use today. When high definition was agreed upon by the technical committees, they defined more than one standard for high definition. This was useful because the technology initially could not reach the highest level.

The TV display is made up of color dots called picture elements, shortened to pixels, arranged in a grid. Standard definition TV has 740 pixels across and 480 pixels down. These are refreshed 30 times per second (a slight simplification for now).

HD definition can be any one of the following:
1. 1280 x 720 HD (also called HDV)
2. 1440 x 1080 HD ( also called HDV)
3. 1920 x 1080 HD (also called True HD)

If we multiply the horizontal times the vertical, then divide by 1000, we can get the number of megapixels for each type.

1. 720 x 480 = 0.35 megapixels SD
2. 1280 x 720 = 0.9 megapixels HDV<br. 3. 1440 x 1080 = 1.5 megapixels HDV
4. 1920 x 1080 = 2.1 megapixels True HD

Compared to Standard Def of 740 x 480, HDV is either 3 or 4 times more detailed.

The 1920 is the best HD with 2.1 megapixels. This is 6 times the detail of standard definition.

Videographers who have purchased HD cameras in the last five years are using one of the two HDV standards above. That is 1280 x 720 or 1440 x 1080. Your TV automatically stretches the pixels to fit your screen, so you may not notice the lower detail right away. But if you saw them next to each other, you would notice it in a minute.

Increased camera requirements for HD

Filming in HD presents three new challenges to any serious videographer who is already very good at standard definition videography. These are depth of field, focus sensitivity, and low light performance.

1. Depth of Field- Because there are more pixels in HD, more things in the scene are visible to the viewer. This is wonderful for the things that you want to see. However, sometimes there is a person in the background walking that you wish was not there. With most cameras, there is not much that can be done. With the best cameras, one can adjust the depth of field to make the background go out of focus, and leaves the subject in focus. This way the viewer’s attention is held.

2. Focus Sensitivity – Because more details are present, if the automatic focus settles on the wrong subject in the scene, it is far more distracting than back in the standard definition days. With most cameras, it is hard to catch that type of thing looking at a relatively small view finder. With the best cameras, one can press a button to accentuate the focus so it becomes easier to spot and then manually adjust the focus.

3. Low Light Performance – Because the light coming into the camera has to be shared with more pixels, it is hard for most HD cameras to work in low light. For sports and interviews, this is not a problem because the lights can be turned up. For weddings and receptions the videographer doesn’t have the option of turning up the lights, so the low light video looks grainy and muddy. The best cameras, ones produced since about January 2009, have new technology sensors which are able to deal with the low light and produce low light video in real life situations.

Blu-ray equipment is required to deliver HD

Standard DVD discs and standard DVD players only know how to play 740 x 480 standard definition video. Blu-ray players know how to play all the variations of high definition plus standard definition.

Some videographers advertise that filming in HD is either free or only an extra $100 per camera. However, the fine print describes how much more you have to pay if you want the end product to be delivered on a Blu-ray disc. If the final video is delivered on a standard DVD, then the video had to be down converted to standard definition. To record in HD only to down convert it to SD is a waste. Because of the three problems listed in the Increased camera requirements for HD above, chances are you will end up with worse than just recording in straight SD from the beginning.

About the Author

John is the owner of LeniCam Video Productions, a Dallas, TX area professional video company, specializing in HD quality video production. Contact us for all of your Dallas wedding videography needs.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Bookmark It