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High-Definition Cameras
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Focus on HD Cameras
A funny thing happened on the rocky road to HDTV. While the plan for
broadcast HD in the home is stalled in a mire of conflicting standards,
politics, and money, artists have quietly discovered and embraced the tools
of HD acquisition. Most famously, George Lucas has abandoned film in favor
of Sony's 24 frame/1080p flagship. But shooters across many disciplines have
also discovered HD. In the past year, some 17 network television shows,
including the Reba, 100 Centre St, and Witchblade have chosen to shoot
film-style with HD cameras. Documentary shooters have traded the frustration
and expense of short film magazines for the luxury of long digital loads.
Even in the corporate video world, leading companies such as Oakley have
made the switch to HD, discovering new video production opportunities in the
process.
Manufacturers have responded to the growing interest in HD formats with
innovations such as Panasonic's variable frame rate AJ-HDC27V. Veteran lens
companies--first Panavision, and now Fujinon, Canon, Angeniuex, and
Zeiss--have applied decades of expertise in film and SD video to building
better lenses and accessories for HD cameras.
HD is just now beginning the kind of technical and aesthetic evolution that
film technology has enjoyed for over 100 years. Where will HD be in it's
100th year? That will be determined by you--the artists and engineers who
use and develop the technology in the years to come. If you're in the video
or movie business, you've used a HD camera or soon will. What do you need to
know to join the process that will shape HD? Some of the answers are here.
Look around. Click through. And may the Force be with you.
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Archived Articles
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Pasadena: A 24p Experience
Feb 1, 2002, 12:00 p.m. ET, Millimeter
DP Roy H. Wagner, ASC, shoots Pasadena using 24p technology and an approach similar to his normal film style, using "the same dynamic contrast ratios that I normally use with 35mm."
Clearing the fog
May 1, 2000, 12:50 p.m. ET, Cameras Special Report
SMPTE 240M defines "High Definition" (HD) as video that has a width of 1,920 active pixels, 1,080 lines, a 60 Hz or 59.94 Hz frame rate, and 30 MHz of bandwidth. This is the original analog HD specification that is used as the baseline of HD quality. Additionally, SMPTE 260M describes the digital implementation of the 240M standard. HD is subsequently defined as "an image having approximately double the number of horizontal and vertical lines as current broadcast television with approximately th
Update on 24P: Salvation for Post, or Just Another Transient Format?
Feb 1, 2000, 12:00 p.m. ET, Millimeter
As 24p for you? (That's 24 frames per second, progressive or single-frame image.) It's got a historical pedigree: 24 frames per second has ruled the...
HD:TV or Not TV? The Revolution Will Be Televised, but Not Necessarily in HDTV
Feb 1, 1998, 12:00 p.m. ET, Millimeter
As the U.S. production and broadcasting infrastructure begins the change from NTSC to DTV, the immensity of implications, from shot lists to cable TV...
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