High Def (HDV) vs. Standard Def (DV)

At some events, we capture all footage in High Definition Video (HDV). At others we use Standard Definition (also called Digital Video or DV). If you are not a technophile, this probably means nothing to you. The bottom line is that no matter how we capture the footage, our DVDs are authored to play in a standard player with standard DVD quality. This quality is much higher than a VHS tape and DVDs last much longer and take up less storage space.

If you are interested in learning more, read on...

DV

Many digital video cameras record in DV format. This is also known as Standard Definition. It is a higher definition than some standard TVs can play and corresponds roughly to the resolution of a standard DVD player.

Even if your TV has less than scan lines than your DVD player, it still has more than a VHS tape so your DVD will still give you better quality than a VHS Tape. If you have a High Definition TV, you will be able to see all the image quality that the DVD has.

HDV

HDV is a new digital video standard. It is the wave of the future, but right now it's more of a novelty. There are several reasons for this. One is that there are a lot of standards wars being fought over High Def. For example, some TV stations are using 1080i to broadcast in High Def. Some use 720p. Some cameras capture footage in 1080i and some in 720p. (Ours use 1080i -- more on that later.) Some TVs can show all 1080i and some can only show 720p.

It's not clear which standard 1080i or 720p will win out in the end. 1080i is the standard in Japan, which is one reason Sony uses it even in its cameras sold in the US. In the US, it's less clear. Some HD channels use 720p and others use 1080i. For the end user, it probably doesn't matter much since both standards look fantastic on your HDTV and a lot of HDTVs can't show the full resolution of a 1080i signal anyway.

High Def Playback

There are also standards wars being fought over High Def DVD players. Today's DVD players show more resolution than a standard TV can take advantage of, but less than most HDTVs can show. Enter HD DVD players. There are currently two types of HD DVD players. One uses HD-DVD technology and one uses Blue Ray. It's not clear which standard will win though as of this writing, it's looking better for HD-DVD than Blue Ray. Some computers with the right OS and the right hardware also can play a HD DVD. Apple Macintosh G5s can do it and so can some Windows computers running Windows XP.

Looking into the future

Our cameras use 1080i which can be "down-converted" to 720p if that standard wins. They can record in HDV or in DV. We shoot in HDV when we can because some day HD DVD players will be mainstream and you might want to see your footage on them using the full resolution available. Often shooting in HDV isn't practical (it takes forever to create a DVD when the footage is in HDV), so for those situations we shoot in DV.

Since most of you haven't got a HD DVD, you aren't missing out when we shoot in DV and when HD DVD players become more wide-spread, we'll be ready.