Okay, so when you’re in the film/video business, there’s always been a lot of talk about formats … 35mm, Super16, HDCam, XDCam, Digital Beta, DVCPro and blah, blah, blah …
But nowadays, HD is the buzzword that is pretty much on everyone’s mind. On the shoot or in the edit the question is always, “Is it HD?” And of course, like everything in this business, there are a gluttony of flavors of HD video. There’s 720p, 1080i, 1080p, … then you’ve got your frame rates: 23.98, 24, 29.97, 30, 59.94, 60 … and is it field-based or frame-based?
Not to mention the cameras … how about the EX-1 or the EX-3? The XDCam or the HDCam? How about a Zi8 or a Canon 5D? Or better yet … how about my iPhone? It shoots HD, too. (sorry RED, can’t mention you since you’re 2K or 4K)
But what makes the world of HD so much MORE confusing is the fact that our entire world has adopted the term “HD” or “High Definition” in the marketing and selling of various products … some very interesting and unique products at that.
Before getting into the list, I would first like to perform a writing ‘no-no’, while irritating all of my past English teachers and professors, and quote a definition from Webster. The definition of High Definition according to him:
high–definition adj
: being or relating to an often digital television system that has twice as many scan lines per frame as a conventional system, a proportionally sharper image, and a wide-screen format
There it is … as simple as that … it’s a TV thing. So why then have so many adopted this term to help sell their products? Do they really think slapping HD on their products will make them more appealing? Are their products better because of it? Well, let’s see if any of the following products are more appealing to you than their SD or ‘standard definition’ counterparts. A few minutes on the web and here’s a short list that I found. There is:
HD Digital Radio, High Definition Audio … close to video at least
How about High Definition Wax for your car? Not bad in a crash … High Definition Roofing Shingles? High Definition Rubber Tiles for the floor? Or an HD Door? HD Paint for your walls? There’s even High Definition Sports Turf Paint! Talk about home field advantage …
HD is also big in the make-up world … HD Nail Color, HD Mascara and HD Powder … they do use make-up for TV, so I guess that’s OK …
There’s HD Sunglasses, HD Lasers and HD Fireplaces. There’s HD Signs, HD Body Nutrition, HD Packaging and HD Heat Transfer Labels … there’s even HD FolkArt!
Any buyers out there? And that’s just the short list … I’m sure there’s a lot more and if you find any, let me know …
For now, suffice it to say that HD is here to stay, not just on TV, but everywhere you look …