Why High Definition Filming?
by Bobbe Hayes
How does capturing your wedding in High Definition benefit you? HD is the latest in both picture and sound technology, a new set of standards that is transforming television as we know it. The quality gains from HD are as dramatic as going from black and white to color TV.
Basically, TV sets in the past have used what is called Standard Definition, which means those TVs have 480 visible lines of detail. HD video and TVs have as many as 1080 visible lines of details. Shooting in the HD mode is beneficial because HD video is 6 times sharper than Standard Definition. This means everything on your video will look more true-to-life. You experience the emotions as if they were happening again in real-time.
Questions you might have about your High Definition video: Can I play my video on a regular DVD player and TV? DVDs can be made for you that will play back on a standard TV and DVD player by downconverting the HD video before editing. Since HD video provides more colorspace data to the MPEG-2 compressor, working with HD video from the beginning will result in a higher quality SD (standard definition) project simply as a result of the higher number of originating pixels in the image. Your HD film can also be edited in what is called 24p which gives a "film" or "cinematic" look to your production and can be delivered on regular DVDs.
What are your play-back choices at this time if your wedding is filmed and edited in High Definition? Currently, to play back your video in High Definition you can use a D-VHS player along with your HDTV. The other method is to play back your high definition video on your computer using Quick Time or Windows Media Player. Your HD presentation can also be shown on our studio projector and screen.
By late 2006, High Definition players will start to become available and then you will play back your video in the same fashion as you do now, just with a new media. In the meantime, your High Definition filming can be edited in HD, then printed to High Definition Master Tape and stored for future burning to Blue-Ray or HD-DVD's when the technology becomes available. You can't turn the clock back on new technology. The future is High Definition.
- Bobbe Hayes is with Media Created 4U Videography in Chandler, AZ, and has been a WedPlan Member since Dec 2004.
