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This is to certify that the
thesis entitled
HDTV FROM THE PERSPECTIVE
OF VIDEO PRODUCTION

presented by

Hichang Cho

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

Masters Of Arts degree in Telecommunications

 

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HDTV FROM THE PERSPECTIVE
OF VIDEO PRODUCTION

By

HiChang Cho

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulﬁllment of the requirement
for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Department of Telecommunication

1995

ABSTRACT
HDTV FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF VIDEO PRODUCTION
By

HiChang Cho

The focus of this thesis is to explore and explain the effect of high-definition
television (HDTV) technology on video production, providing ignored but critical
information to new media studies by offering viewpoints on HDTV from the production
community.

The research developed under the following hypothesis: the introduction of
HDTV will change video production. Examination of this hypothesis involved
investigation of 1) some distinctive characteristics of HDTV in terms of television
technology and aesthetics, 2) HDTV potential for changing principles, techniques, and
work processes of TV production, and 3) HDTV’s practical viability with regard to TV
production economics.

This study verifies there should be a further examination of the technology from
the standpoint of production if the technology is to be embraced by American
consumers. While the production aspect has been mostly ignored within current HDTV

circles, it will take a critical part in shaping the coming digital television system.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Certainly, this thesis demanded a lot mgLe than my aptitude. Without help, I
would not have been able to finish.

First of all, I want to give my deepest thanks to Mr. Bob Albers, who was
always there whenever I needed help, and who gave me a right direction. I also express
my appreciation to Mr. Gary Reid and Dr. David McCarty who shared their knowledge
and experience with me.

Most of all, I want to give special thanks to Mr. Bill Richards, Mr. Gary
Blievernicht, Mr. Brad Graham, and Mr. James Sumbler, who willingly accepted my
interview request, and shared their valuable time, options, and experiences with me.
Without their help, this thesis might have been useless paper.

Finally, I want to thank Miss Si-Young Chung, my ﬁancee, for her kindness and
the encouragement she gave me when I was troubled.

I really appreciate the help and guidance of these people, and want to give my

best wishes to them.

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1 - Overview .......................................... 1
Introduction to the Study .................................... 1
Research Topic ........................................ 2
Research Values ....................................... 4
Research Question/Hypothesis ................................ 5
Research Question ...................................... 5
Hypothesis ............................................ 6
Deﬁnition of Variables (Conceptualization) ................... 7
Research Plan ............................................. 12
Literature Review ....................................... 12
Interviews ............................................ 14
Limitations ........................................... 15
Alternative ............................................ 17
Chapter 2 - Background Information .............................. 20
Deﬁnition of HDTV and Its Development ........................ 20
General Description of HDTV ............................. 20

HDTV History-Development of the Technology and
Standard ............................................ 22
Standard Conversion (T imetable) ........................... 25

iv

Chapter 3 - Impacts of HDTV on Video Production .............. 29
Introduction ........................................ 29

Technical Elements of HDTV Production and Their Aesthetic

Implications ...................................... 30
Resolution ...................................... 31
Aspect Ratio .................................... 34
Contrast Range .................................. 39
Depth and Depth of Field ........................... 41
Frame Rate and Scanning Methods .................... 45
Luminance and Chrominance ......................... 46
Digital Image-Digital Video and Compression ............ 47
Audio ......................................... 51

Work Processes and Skills ............................. 53
Pre-Production Stage .............................. 55
Production Stage ................................. 55

High-Deﬁnition Shooting ........................ 55
High-Deﬁnition Lighting ......................... 6O
High-Deﬁnition Audio Production .................. 63
Post-Production Stage .............................. 65
Editing ..................................... 65

Special Effects ................................ 68
Production Time and Cost-User Analysis ................... 71

Time and Cost Savings of HD Production-~Lite'rature
Review ....................................... 73

The Foreign Market ..................................... 76

Discussions of Cost and Time Savings ....................... 79
Equipment Costs ....................................... 82
Technology and Standard Factors ....................... 83

Competition and Economies of Scale ..................... 84

Rental and Depreciation Problems ....................... 84

Consumer Views on HDTV . . . . . . . . .......................... 86
Considering the Viewer .................................. 87

Chapter 4 - HDTV Production from Other Perspectives ................ 91

Introduction 91

Economics, Politics, and HDTV ............................... 91
Studio and Production Sector .............................. 92
Distribution and Transmission Sector ........................ 94
Receiver and Display Sector ............................... 97

Recommendation ......................................... 103

Chapter 5 - Summary and Conclusion ............................. 105

Production Values ........................................ 107

Practicability of Production--User Analysis ...................... 114

Conclusion .............................................. 1 16

Appendix A - Interview Questionnaire ............................ 120
Appendix B - 1150/60 Studio Equipment .......................... 123

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 - HDTV and NTSC Optimum Viewing Conditions ......... 21
Figure 2 - Comparison Between HDTV and NTSC Shooting Range . . . 35

Figure 3 - Network Prime-Time Series 35mm Film Production
Costs ............................................ 75

Figure 4 - US Motion Picture Industry Percentage of Product
Revenue by Source .................................. 77

viii

CHAPTER 1

OVERVIEW

W

Since the invention of the medium of television, people have been inspired to a
multitude of hOpes and predictions, believing television would be a tool for education
and enrichment for the next generation. Today, most of the forecasts have proved
wrong (with some exceptions). Yet television remains a medium prone to prophesy.
Nowadays, it is predicted that digital and ﬁber-optic technologies are about to turn
traditional TV into the most powerful medium in the information age. Further, it is
argued that television is entering a time of upheaval in which enormous changes will
happen faster than almost anyone expects. Accordingly, TV sets will become the focal
point of a ”home information/entertainment center” that will incorporate stereo hi-ﬁ’s,
VCRs, interactive CD players, personal computers and telecommunications. The
television itself will be very large in scale, as well as high-deﬁnition, and will utilize
the digital storage and processing functions currently associated with personal
computers.

In addition, major media companies such as Viacom, QVC, Blockbuster, CBS, and
Paramount were/are involved in negotiations for conglomerate mega-deals. Behind
these deals is the merger of media, telcos, and computers into a single industry. And

behind this convergence is a belief shared by the industry’s leaders: mg; me help of

2
technology, television will 3 revglutigru'zed. What if they are right? That is the

question at the heart of this research.

ch ic

The main objective of this research is to examine whether television is in a
transition that is generated by new digital video technologies. Since it is impossible to
analyze countless assumptions about new media technologies, as well as their effects,
within one research paper, it was necessary to select one speciﬁc technology and
research ﬁeld instead. This study picked high-deﬁnition television (HDTV) and its
impacts on video production as an object of study. The rationale for this decision
encompasses three reasons.

First, HDTV has a fairly long history of development, compared with other forms
of new digital video technologies. As a result, it is easier to get valuable background
information from diverse perspectives.

Second, there have already been a few experimental HDTV projects in the US and
Canada. Thus, some valuable research data from actual ﬁeld experiences is available,
while no such data can be found in other digital video technologies’ domains. Only a
few shows have been produced using HDTV technology: for example, the CBC
(Canadian Broadcast Corporation) 13-hour mini-series, ”Chasing Rainbows,” and the
CBS produced "Innocent Victims." In addition, WTTW of Chicago is using high-
deﬁnition technology in sports events. High-deﬁnition has also been used to shoot
some feature ﬁlms like W and mm commercials, music videos, and

some versions of "Unplugged" on MTV. The information generated from these projects

3

provides a basic understanding of HDTV production, as well as giving insights and new
ideas for this study.

Finally, and most importantly, there is a strong research need to understand the
artistic side of HDTV and its effects on the video production area. The video
production area is selected mainly because this ﬁeld is the most ignored aspect of many
new media studies. So far, there have been quite a few interesting discussions with
regard to new media technologies and their implications for the media enviromnent.
However, most of the discussions are limited to the technological/political/economic
trends of HDTV and its impact on the industry. Though materials have been found that
dealt with HDTV from the production standpoint, those are limited and scattered; not
enough has been written to adequately explain the impact of HDTV on video
production. Probably this is because media production in general is a highly subjective
and undeﬁned area. Moreover, HDTV is such a new and untried medium that it is
perhaps presumptuous to attempt to deﬁne its aesthetics and implications at this stage.
As a result, it would be extremely difﬁcult to apply a structured academic research
model or method.

This is a major problem for this research paper, but it provides a signiﬁcant
research focus for the study. Although it has been difﬁcult to establish a formal
research design, and thus the results of the research might be highly subjective and open
to debate, still some critical questions raised from the production ﬁeld should not
remain ignored, as they relate to issues that continually are responsible for confusion

and hype.

4

If the research succeeds in offering a few-«admittedly tentative-«comments on the
basis of HDTV’s historical contexts, it might help enhance the understanding of the
future of video on the part of those engaged with video production, whether they are
teachers, students, or media practitioners. The basic understanding gained from this
research should help them not only to keep up with the rapidly changing pace of
telecommunication technologies, but also to ﬁnd out what these technological

developments mean for video production.

8mg;
Film and video production require special technical and aesthetic skills. A lack of

understanding as to how the technical side of production is accomplished has prevented
people from trying these art forms. The emerging innovation of digital television will
increase the need for special skills, since it will not only supplant or replace the devices
or techniques formerly used to carry out some functions, but will also be adopted for
functions that the previous devices or techniques were never used for. While this
research paper is in no way a production manual or handbook, it does set out to explore
those issues which need to be considered if HDTV is to be used creatively.

In addition, this research could be valuable in other respects. First, a knowledge
of the requirements and potential of future HDTV production will help media
practitioners prepare for future video production. Second, it poses new insights and
perspectives on the technology’s future, especially in terms of its production operation.
Thus, the knowledge gained from this research may contribute to the studies on HDTV

by providing supplemental but critical information. Finally, since research topics are

5

usually reiterative, the oversights suggested in this paper can be reemployed later when

subsequent studies are presented.

esearch e i o esis

Marshall McLuhan, a well known Canadian communications scholar, provided us
with a very important lesson: "The medium is the message."1 He meant by this
statement that the media take up an important place not only in the distribution of the
message but also in shaping mg message. This posits that it is the encoding (TV
production) as well as the decoding (reception) of the message which are, to a
considerable extent, a function of the technical and aesthetic requirements of the
medium. In such a view, the inﬂuence of the medium on message production is crucial.
This assumption provides the theoretical background for this study. If, in fact, the
influence of the medium (HDTV) on message production is crucial, the introduction of
a new medium with new technical requirements and aesthetic potential will provoke
changes in future video production. (However, without careful consideration, this
assumption is highly subject to technological determinism. The resultant limitations,
as well as alternatives, will be discussed in a later section.)

On the basis of this assumption-Abe influence of the medium on the production
of the message-~this study has developed the following research questions and

hypothesis.

Wigs.
It is assumed that the adoption of HDTV will somehow affect the shape of the video

production area. Then, the questions are:

6

0 What aspects of current TV production will be inﬂuenced by the adOption of
HDTV?
0 If there are changes, how substantial will they be?
Of course, a number of more speciﬁc questions should be asked with regard to the
technical and aesthetic potentials of HDTV, and implications for production people.

This will be done in a later chapter.

Hypothesis

0 The introduction of a new medium (HDTV) with new technical
requirements and aesthetic potential will provoke changes in future video
production.

Although this hypothesis may sound obvious, examining the subject matter is
not easy. A production system is akin to what Thomas Kuhn calls a "paradigm"; that
is to say, it is a cluster of aims, attitudes, assumptions, unquestioned views,
technological requirements, projections of capital investment, types of personnel
recruitment, work practices, contractual requirements, union agreements, and so on.2
These all come together to make a system that works. This in turn becomes the learned
practice of the institution, enshrined in the various technical manuals, where the
elements of the system are depicted as natural "rules." Adopting this view, this
researcher assumes that the subject matter is under the inﬂuence of a complex set of
variables.

On the one hand HDTV, as a new sound and image producing system, may

inevitably have its own speciﬁc approach, although it will be cluttered with some

7

practices and assumptions inherited ﬁ'om its predecessors. Its impact can be so crucial
in nature that it will expedite a transition toward the beginning of a new TV production
paradigm. On the other hand, HDTV might be just another tool for broadcasters. This
means it might present a difference in kind rather than substance. In addition, even
though the technical impacts are substantial, they are under the inﬂuence of other
variables. The potential of HDTV might not be realized if these variables are external
to people’s needs and the constraints of the working environment. That is, people can
put the technology to various ends--which may include keeping some activities just as
they were. In these ways HDTV may have few direct and overt consequences.

In order to answer the research questions, we need to deﬁne just what is
characteristic of the supposed "new medium," and just what it brings which is new in
terms of video production. Further, the study needs to examine how media production
people perceive the technical and aesthetic properties of the "new medium" in order to
see if these meet the above-mentioned requirements. By conceptualizing such variables,

we can further clarify the research questions and hypothesis.

'ti V 'ables o 1' ti
WW? There are several methods for deﬁning new media,

using media-audience relations, market division, message intentions, transmitting
methods, user interfaces and so on. From a technological standpoint, new media can
be classiﬁed into two categories.

First, ”new media" refers to the new communication tools with characteristics

that have never existed before. Radio and television are good examples of this kind,

8

since they were introduced with the use of a magnetic spectrum (radio waves) at a time
when print media was the dominant mass communication means.

Second, "new media" means the convergence of different media or technologies
by which the media incorporate new functions and applications. For example, cable
TV, D38, and desktop TV can be included in this category, since they were developed
through convergence among TV, cable, satellite, and computer technologies. Following
this guideline, HDTV would fall into the second category, for it is also the result of
convergence, between television and digital transmission technology. (More in-depth
analysis on HDTV’s technical attributes will be done in a later chapter.)

One of the problems of this categorization is that it does not tell anything about
the degree to which the changes can be measured. That is, we cannot measure how
new HDTV is, and how signiﬁcant its effects are, when compared with its predecessors:
35mm ﬁlm and NTSC television. Both ﬁlm and television had very secure identities
from the start. Although ﬁlm was a development of still photography, the addition of
movement and projection gave it a completely new identity, so that it could
immediately ﬁnd an independent role and a social application quite distinct from that
of its predecessor. Television’s social application echoed that of radio, but its
possession of image to complement sound made it totally distinctive. As we will see
in a subsequent chapter, however, HDTV does not have in origin a secure and
distinctive identity of this kind. Since its conception in the early 19705, it was no more

than an adjunct to television and ﬁlm.

9

For this reason, we should ask the following question:

° If one new medium (i.e., HDTV) is a variation of pre-existing media
such as ﬁlm and television, in what way can we measure how new it is
and how signiﬁcant its impacts are?

Technically, it is true, HDTV is different. It is different from 35mm ﬁlm and

NTSC television in terms of image/sound processing methods, transmission standards,
and so on. But what about its impact on and relation to other ﬁelds? As mentioned
above, there have been continuous efforts to analyze the impacts of HDTV on media
politics and economics, and they show that the impacts on these are somewhat
substantial. However, its impacts on message production remain mostly undeﬁned and

confused, and that is why we need to do this study.

w can we measure the im act of H TV? Video production in general is
composed of a number of elements and variables. In the interest of efficiency, the
study adopts an inductive approach. This means that rather than analyzing HDTV
production as a whole, the study will 1) isolate several fundamental elements of the
video production system, 2) examine the impacts of HDTV based on its technical
characteristics and aesthetic potentials, and then 3) structure and analyze the research
data in light of the ﬁndings from a literature review and interviews. The ﬁrﬂarnartal
elements include technical elements, aesthetics, skills/work processes, production time
and cost, and others. Within each subsection, a number of questions emerge that need
to be answered in order to understand the research problem. Among these questions

are:

10

1. Production Time and Cost. It is assumed that HDTV production will reduce

the elapsed time of production and improve productivity. A CBS study shows that

HDTV production oﬁ'ers savings of 15 percent of total production cost compared with

traditional prime-time program production. Thus, the questions are,

How will HDTV reduce the elapsed time? By how much?

Which area contributes to cost saving?

What about equipment cost? Is capital outlay of new HDTV equipment
a drawback? What about the depreciation cost generated by rapidly

changing technology?

Technical elements.

What about the maneuverability and portability of the HDTV camera?
How sensitive are the HDTV camera lenses to light? What about depth
of ﬁeld?

What are the characteristics of the digital image? Are there artifacts of
digital compression?

What is digital videotape? Will it help improve the quality of the

chrominance and luminance of the HDTV image?

. Work Processes and Skills.

To fulﬁll the technical requirement of the HDTV system, how much light
would a normal setting need?

How will HDTV perform in special effects and animation?

HDTV production will use the digital .tape format. How will this

improve the efﬁciency of editing processes? Why?

ll

' In HDTV production, focusing is very important because of the clear
HDTV image. How will a videographer handle this problem?

° Will there need to be a larger audio crew because of the CD-quality

sound requirement?

4. Aesthetics.

0 On the basis of the fact that HDTV has more resolution, how does it

affect the way of treating colors and detailed patterns of image?

- What are the aesthetic beneﬁts and drawbacks to a wider aspect ratio?

How will this affect shot composition? Will it increase the importance
of mise-en-scene as it does in ﬁlm production?

0 What about the style of picture/event presentation? Will it be changed

because of the different aesthetic energy that the HDTV image has?

0 What is the difference between the ﬁlm look and the video look? Will

this affect the viewer’s satisfaction with HDTV images?

- What is the relationship between high-ﬁdelity sound and high-deﬁnition

image?

5. Others. Based on a thorough literature review, and interviews with experts
in video production, this paper will try to give reliable answers to each of those
questions. This research will provide valuable information to deﬁne whether the
impacts are substantial or peripheral. At the same time, the research will investigate
the feasibility of the proposed technical/aesthetic properties, by examining whether these
meet the needs and constraints of the current video production environment. However,

it has to be admitted that this is a very subjective matter. If we were dealing with

12

quantitative data, we would answer the questions based on "statistical signiﬁcance," but
this is not the case. Rather, the researcher will try to provide valuable information and

possible areas of inquiry to further researchers.

Research Plan

This research adopts qualitative and critical methods to clarify the research
questions and to identify the likely answers to them. Therefore, the study is descriptive
in nature.

The study derives information from two sources: a literature review and

interviews with production people.

Literaggg Review

A thorough review of the recent literature is undertaken to serve as background
to the study, and also as a guide in reﬁning the major issues to be discussed. It
involves articles from magazines, journals, newspapers, books, government documents,
and reports. All of the previous sources are gathered through 1) library research
including Magic and other databases, 2) scanning major journals and magazine such as
Emadpastipg and Cable (1988-1994), Sﬂlﬁ Journal (1987-1990), and Brpgdcast
Engipegpipg (1991-1994), and 3) reviewing government documents, the social science
collection, and ﬁnally, publication guidelines and indexes.

The information gathered by the researcher can be divided into two categories.
The ﬁrst category includes a number of articles that make various assumptions about
HDTV, based on its technical requirements. Most of those articles are thought-

provoking and signiﬁcant, and they provide basic information about HDTV production.

13

But they also raise issues of evidence (i.e., the dominance of opinion over evidence).

These materials typically reason from the properties of the technology to use of it and

then to the consequences, ignoring the role of media practitioners in shaping the nature

of production work and working processes. Instead of reasoning from the properties

of the technology, however, we need to look at what TV people will do with it.

The second category relates to this need. It involves several reports generated

by actual ﬁeld experiments. As mentioned before, there have been several experimental

projects within the US and Canada. Among them are:

"Innocent Victims," a prime-time show produced by CBS;

"Chasing Rainbows," a l4-part mini-series produced by CBC (Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation);

mm a feature movie starring Robby Benson, produced at Barry
Rebo’s HDTV studios in New York;

mm; a short ﬁlm starring Sean Ono Lennon, produced at
Barry Rebo’s HDTV studios in New York;

Jplia Ed lplia, produced by RA] (Italian Production);

Several music videos and some versions of "Unplugged" on MTV;

About 35 European productions (as of October 1989).3

From those ﬁeld experiences, some valuable information was gained and

documented in the form of reports. Since this information is based on actual ﬁeld

experiences, it can avoid the problems mentioned in the ﬁrst category, and provide us

with very valuable information about HDTV production.

I4

However, this information still raises some problems. First of all, it is scattered
and unstructured. Thus, it is difﬁcult to construct into systematic research data.
Second, the information generated ﬁ'om the ﬁeld experiments suffers from subjectivity.
Since the results of experimental projects are dependent upon the intuition and
characteristics of practitioners, the information elicited from their experiences is
subjective. For example, the participants in those experiments were so involved in the
projects, they were easily frustrated by some constraints inherent in HDTV production
equipment at that time, regarding those constraints as limitations of HDTV production,
and overlooking the possibility of future development. This is in part because most of
the participants are ﬁlm-oriented people who simply see HDTV as a substitute for ﬁlm.
As a result, they ignore intrinsic characteristics and possibilities of the new medium,
while emphasizing the inferiority of HDTV production by analogizing ﬁlm and video.
For example, some of them indicate that HDTV technology would not enhance their

creative ideas because it was too much like video.

uremia”;

The information gathered from the literature review is very valuable and gives
overall insights and perspectives al‘wut HDTV production; however, it would be
problematic if it became the primary axis of this study. For this reason, the research
derived its primary information from interviews with experts in the video production
area Because of time and language constraints, the researcher conﬁned the interviews

to ﬁve persons.

15

Throughout the interviews, the research mainly focused on two questions. First,
the researcher asked which area and what kinds of changes the interviewees expect to
occur. Second, their perceptions and responses to the proposed technical and aesthetic
properties of HDTV were examined.

From this, the study got clues to unanswered questions, based on the
interviewees’ experiences in production. Since their opinions were not constrained by
speciﬁc experiences, they provided more objective opinions and information about
HDTV production in general. The researcher formulated and designed the
questionnaires for those interviews, constructing the questions to cover every aspect of
the production/post- production procedure which the literature failed to confront. In
addition, the interviewees’ overall comments on tentative research ﬁndings are included

(see Appendix A).

Limitations

As mentioned before, the results of this research are not fully representative,
quantiﬁable, and deﬁnitive, but qualitative and descriptive. Since HDTV is still within
its incipient stage, there are few producers/viewers who have had the opportunity to
create/watch imagery using this new medium. As a consequence, an important
contribution to the general examination of HDTV is absent.

In addition to this, a number of problems are generated, for diverse reasons.
Among these problems are:

l. The number of interviewees is small and only partially representative of

media practitioners in general. The research limits the number of interviewees to ﬁve.

16

Even if their opinions are highly valuable and insightful, it would be presumptuous to
generalize too widely from them.

2. A lot of valuable information comes from existing HD production
experiments. However, the limitation of those experimental projects is that the results
are inappropriate for generalization. That is, the results may be inﬂuenced by the
technical and artistic capabilities of such individuals as producers, directors, and crew
members. In addition, the practices and methods of video production are heavily
dependent on the type of program (i.e., sitcom, drama, music video, etc.). For these
reasons, the results are not necessarily representative of what would be found in the
actual production ﬁeld.

3. Technological determinism. As mentioned before, this research is highly
subject to technological determinism. Even though the McLuhan statement provides
valuable insights, it has a certain limitation. It posits that the adoption of new
technology (HDTV) will provoke changes in video production. Without careful
consideration, however, this assumption could easily fall into technological determinism.
From this viewpoint, peOple’s practices are considered to be determined by the
properties of a technology, thus it postulates homogeneous and universal effects of
media on people’s practices.

People, however, have multiple and often contradictory purposes, so that use of
a technology may have non-obvious consequences. According to this approach people
are not "impacted" individuals anymore, but they are active practitioners who
manipulate and "reinvent" the technology and its usage. That is, people can put

technologies to various ends--which may include keeping some activities just as they

17

were. Hence, some major technologies may have few direct and overt consequences.
This being the case, the research needs to investigate not only the technical impacts of
a new medium, but also media practitioners’ use of the technology and reactions to it
within certain constraints of the working environment.

Although the study will try to avoid technological determinism, we do not have
enough HDTV production experiences at the time of this writing, even though there
have been some experimental projects. Thus, most prospects and Opinions presented
in the study are ultimately based on technical properties of HDTV, making it difﬁcult

to avoid determinism.

Altpppative

The research rejects both technological determinism and the individualistic
(subjective) model of research. Rather, the study assumes that people actively choose
and construct their form of practices, but within obvious constraints of formal and
informal rules, skills, and requirements imposed by the system of the technology and
working environment. A technology can be both a tool for an individual user and,
when aggregated, become a structure that constrains the individual. At either level of
analysis, individual or structural, the center of the video production process is the
purposeful user employing, rejecting, or modifying technologies to his or her ends, but
doing so within circumstances that may in some instances be so constraining as to leave

little choice at all.

18

On the basis of this assumption, the research will examine both technical and
aesthetic properties of HDTV technology, and production people’s uses and reactions
to it.

In doing this, the researcher will try to answer the following three key questions:
First, why and how will individuals use the technology? Second, how will using it
affect principles and techniques of video production? Third, how will the collective use
of a technology and the collective respOnses to it alter the structure of the video
production ﬁeld?

As mentioned before, just examining technical properties is not enough, since
any technical parameters will be changed and manipulated by practitioners’ needs and
constraints of the working environment. If the technology is external to current needs
and wants of production people, the potential of HDTV production will not be realized
and even have to be modiﬁed. This study will try to examine how well the technical
and aesthetic properties of HD production meet these requirements through the means

of interviews with several members of the production community.

The order of presentation of the rest of this paper will be as follows:

Chapter 2. Background Information: The ﬁrst need in attempting to reach an
understanding of HDTV is to prOperly deﬁne its historical development. Therefore, this
chapter will furnish a thorough background of HDTV. In addition to classifying the
technical breakthroughs that have contributed to HI) development, it will brieﬂy
describe how HDTV technology and production standards have been developed within

the US.

19
Chapter 3. Impacts of HDTV on Video Production: This chapter is the heart

of the study, exploring the effect of HDTV on the video production ﬁeld. First of all,
it will examine what is new in HDTV in terms of video production, and will investigate
this subject matter by analyzing technical elements of HD production and their aesthetic
implications. Secondly, it will extrapolate from these properties how HD will affect
work processes and skills in video production stages. Finally, the tentative ﬁndings
from these analyses will be examined through a user analysis. This study proposes that
impacts of the technology are under the inﬂuence of people’s needs and constraints in
the working environment. Thus, the validity of the potential of HD production will be
examined in terms of production cost, time, and practicability of equipment.

Chapter 4. HD Production from Other Perspectives: In this chapter, we will see
how market dynamics and policy issues inﬂuence the shape of HDTV production. In
addition, this chapter will brieﬂy examine the competitive and synergetic correlation
between HDTV and other digital video technologies. Since the research ﬁndings are
mainly from a technological standpoint, this chapter will provide new insights and
perspectives. Also, it will further explain limitations of this research paper.

Chapter 5. Conclusion and Summary: In this chapter, the researcher
summarizes the research ﬁndings with regard to production values and practicability of

production, offering a user analysis and further conclusion extrapolated from these.

CHAPTER 2

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
ﬁni ' n d v

ne ' tion

High-deﬁnition television can be deﬁned by: (a) its detail, (b) the image it
presents to the viewer, (c) its aspect ratio, and (d) the distance from the viewer it is
to be viewed.4

The HDTV detail (a) has approximately twice the luminance deﬁnition
horizontally and vertically as conventional systems. It will contain either 1,050 or
1,125 scan lines. The result is that the picture has ﬁve times as many picture pixels
as existing TV sets. In other words, the image can be four or ﬁve times sharper.
(The luminance or general number of picture elements of HDTV is about four times
that of standard televisions. The color bandwidth of a studio HDTV camera signal
is about ﬁve times that of an NTSC studio camera). HDTV systems development
will increase (b) by 25 percent from the conventional standard: from 4:3 to 16:9.
The change follows the trend of motion pictures in 1953 to a wide-screen format
(1.85:1). The HDTV image (c) can be viewed more closely than conventional
systems to realize the beneﬁts of the higher deﬁnition image, and (d) wider screen

sets will be necessary for manufacturing.’ Since a conventional TV set is 4:3 aspect

20

21

ratio, it requires a 10° ﬁeld-of—vision which is accomplished when the viewer sits a distance
of seven screen heights away from the TV receiver. The closer the viewer is to the screen,
the more scan lines are visible and the poorer the image is. An HDTV set is built to a 16:9
ratio, which requires 30° ﬁeld-of-vision. This means that in order to enjoy true high-
deﬁnition (if the screen size is the same), the viewer should sit roughly three times the screen
height away from the screen. Since HDTV produces 1,125 scan lines, no matter how close
the viewer is to the screen, these lines will still be invisible.6 Otherwise, to take advantage of
high resolution of these systems, viewers are likely to prefer much larger displays, perhaps up
to 40 to 72 inches diagonally.

It should be noted that motion pictures have been the inspiration for HDTV
development, in which a wider screen viewed "close-up" has been a principal design

Objective.7

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 1. HDTV and NTSC Optimum Viewing Conditions
(Source: Kenneth R. Donow, "HDTV: Planning for Action" [Washington DC])

22

TV Histo -- evelo ment of the c 010 d tandard
The Japanese Broadcasting Company (NI-1K) and several Japanese electronics
manufacturers began development on improving the NTSC standard for a higher
resolution television in the early 19705. The objective was to reproduce the
resolution of 35mm ﬁlm on home video receivers. This goal was achieved in 1974
when the ﬁrst public demonstrations were made in Japan. In 1979, the NHK system
was demonstrated worldwide, and efforts to initiate a global standard for HDTV

began. Because of technological and economic barriers, however, the Japanese
system failed to gain adoption by the rest of the world as a uniﬁed standard.

By 1980, interest gained momentum in the US and shortly thereafter in
Europe. Since then the race has been on to ﬁnd a universal standard for HDTV.
The FCC began working on HDTV in 1987 and, by 1990, 23 different systems had
been proposed. Through mergers and attrition, that number was reduced to four
systems by June 1990. Up to that time, all the proposed systems were analog,
similar to the HDTV system in Japan. Just prior to the deadline for submitting
systems to the FCC, General Instrument Corporation in Chicago, shocked the
industry by demonstrating it could transmit TV signals completely digitally and
disclosed a proposal for its all-digital system. The remaining proponents quickly
redesigned their systems to join the digital movement.’

Digital transmission is preferred to analog for several reasons. The digital
signals can be "error-corrected," so that signal distortions from a storm or noisy line

can be gotten rid of at the site of the set, yielding pinsharp pictures. It can be

implemented at lower power levels, interfering less with existing NTSC signals, and

23

its quality is also constant throughout a given service area.‘0 In addition, digital
signal processing will be beneﬁcial in standards conversion among NTSC services,
progressive or interlaced scanning services, and in bandwidth compression. Finally,
digital TV receivers could also be compatible with a wide variety of computer and
telecommunications services.

The pack of competitors (in all, ﬁve systems proposed by four groups)
completed extensive testing. The only analog proposal, NarrowMUSE from NHK,
Tokyo, was rejected because of marked interference problems. The four digital
proposals came from General Instrument and the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (with two system proposals); AT&T and Zenith Electronics; and the
Advanced Television Research Consortium, consisting of North American Philips,
Thomson Consumer Electrons, David Sarnoff Research Center, Compression
Laboratories, and NBC."

The four digital systems were tested in 1992, but the FCC’s HDTV advisory
committee was unable to choose a clear winner, since the systems had few
differences and a number of shortcomings, in particular interference with NTSC
broadcast signals. It therefore called for retesting of the systems in 1993, and called
on the prOponents to join forces before the retesting started.

The proponents apparently reached agreement in principle on May 21, 1993,
and formed a "Grand Alliance." The agreement gave the proponents the rest of the
year to hash out remaining details and build a prototype.‘2

The recommendation on the HDTV standard was delayed, now that the broad

outline of the HDTV standard was drawn by the proponents. In October, the Grand

24

Alliance announced technical decisions on four key subsystem technologies: it had
chosen a packetized system for data transport, Dolby AC-3 audio technology for
sound, the MPEG-2 video compression technology, and a set of scanning formats.l3

They had agreed to develop a system using a process called "progressive
scanning" to build the picture on the screen. The progressive scanning offers
maximum compatibility with computers, which have used progressive scan monitors
for many years to lessen ﬂicker in the screen. To accommodate the concerns of
broadcasters and cable operators, however, the proponents decided to allow new
HDTV sets to use either progressive or interlaced scanning (the conventional TV
scanning method)" The grand alliance has also chosen to use square pixels on the
screen, which are characteristic of computer monitors (current television uses round
pixels).

Initially, the proponents agreed, all HDTV sets 34 inches or larger would use
a progressive scan display of at least 787.5 lines at 60 frames per second. These
ﬁgures are far less than original ﬁgure of 1,125 or 1,050 lines at 60 frames per
second. However, current compression technology cannot ﬁt that much information
down into a 6 MHz bandwidth, which was assigned in order to meet the FCC
standard." Still, their ultimate goal is to move toward the 1,080 line, 60 frame-per-
second, progressive scan signals, and this goal will be achieved as soon as
compression technology improves. It is expected that the alliance will complete a
system prototype this winter, when it will undergo a thorough series of tests; the
Advisory Committee on Advanced Television may be able to make a frnal

recommendation to the FCC by 1995. After ﬁeld testing and opportunities for

25

public comment, the FCC could make its decision soon, and HDTV sets
manufactured under the new standard could reach the market around 1996 at the
earliest.

Since the FCC and the Grand Alliance are trying to achieve interoperable and
scalable technology, the system developers have to deal with many unresolved
technical problems. This convergence plan has slowed the adoption of HDTV in
many media companies. For example, according to ABC’s equipment upgrade
plans, the network will begin investing in HDTV playback equipment in 1999,
provided the FCC’s calendar for selecting a standard holds, and that equipment is
available." Participants in the HDTV Grand Alliance are constructing their HDTV
transmission system and plan to begin testing the system later this year." The
Advisory Committee plans to wrap up testing on the Grand Alliance system early
next year and to offer the FCC a recommendation on the standard one year from

DOW.

Standard Conversion (Timetable)

Because of public concerns for television set compatibility, the FCC adopted
an NTSC compatible broadcast stande in order not to make obsolete the existing
TV sets, while giving broadcasters time to convert to the new HDTV standard. (On
September 1, 1988, the FCC announced fundamental policies, and deﬁned the
boundaries for the development of advanced television in its "Tentative Decision and
Further Notice of Inquiry.") Following this guideline, the industry suggested two

systems: augmentation and simulcasting.

26

The augmentation approach to terrestrial broadcasting of HDTV allows for
existing television channels to continue to broadcast NTSC signals on their 6 MHz
allocations. However, an additional 3 MHz or 6 MHz would be assigned to each
station for the nansmission of additional information that will serve to augment the
picture resolution of the main NTSC transmission. In addition, side panel
information could also be transmitted in the augmentation channel, providing a 16:9
aspect ratio. Existing sets would continue to receive NTSC, while new HDTV sets
would combine the NTSC channel with the augmentation channel to receive the full
HDTV transmission.

The simulcast approach also allows existing television channels to keep their
existing channel allocations. However, each station would also be given an
additional 6 MHz channel to transmit a bandwidth compressed HDTV signal.
Existing NTSC receivers would take the NTSC signal, while new HDTV sets would
pick up the HDTV signal. Simulcast is deemed superior to augmentation by some
experts, due to the fact that simulcast makes more efﬁcient use of the RF spectrum.
Another unique characteristic of simulcast is the high picture quality made possible
within a single 6 MHz channel by eliminating the NTSC artifacts. Simulcast not
only eliminates the errors in the NTSC format, but it is also less susceptible to
ghosts and other types of transmission interference typically associated with NTSC.

From a production standpoint, the simulcast approach is favored for several
reasons. The most signiﬁcant is its capability to offer some production
independence even when broadcasting the same program as the NTSC channel. All

NTSC compatible and augmentation systems must broadcast the exact same scenes

27
over both channels. The only possible ﬂexibility in NTSC compatible approaches is

a limited pan-and-scan capability. This places severe constraints on production
crews. They must choose between scenes which look good on NTSC receivers and
scenes which look good on HDTV receivers.

With a simulcasting system, broadcasters would not be shackled to the
production limitations imposed by NTSC receivers. They are not required to serve
both HDTV and NTSC viewers with the same scenes or even the same programs.
They can serve the HDTV 'market with unique programming which employs HDTV
production techniques distinctly different from those used for the NTSC market.

In March 1990, FCC Chairman Alfred Sikes stated the exact goals for the
FCC in the implementation of an HDTV transmission standard. The FCC’s intent is
to select a simulcast HDTV standard that would be compatible with the current 6
MHz channelization plan, but utilizing design principles not limited to the
constraints of existing NTSC technology, and independent of NTSC. With the
intention of the FCC to standardize a simulcast system, the possibility of approving
an augmentation system was eliminated. Augmentation systems present substantial
Spectrum availability and utilization problems.

When the FCC makes its ﬁnal decision in the middle of the 19905, the agency
will construct HDTV allotment tables. Once the process of allotment is completed
broadcast stations will have a minimmn of six years to implement HDTV into their
broadcast transmissions. At that time, presumably, a schedule will be set up for the
eventual phasing from the 525 line NTSC standard to the new HD standard.

Broadcasters would be required to transmit NTSC simultaneously in one channel of

28
the VHF/UHF spectrum, and the chosen HDTV standard in another 6 MHz

television broadcast channel for that period.

CHAPTER 3

IMPACTS OF HDTV ON VIDEO PRODUCTION

mm

This chapter is to examine the hypothesis of this research paper: The
introduction of a new medium (HDTV) with new technical requirements and
aesthetic potential will provoke changes in future video production.

This chapter will combine two different perspectives. First, it will explore the
potential of HDTV for reshaping video production. It will I) examine what is really
new to HDTV in terms of the technical elements and aesthetic implications, and will
2) extrapolate from these properties how HD might affect work processes and skills
in video production. Second, it will examine the feasibility of the potential by
analyzing how well these properties ﬁt into the current working environment. While
the increase of production values is certainly of paramount importance, in the minds
of the production industry practicality, ﬂexibility, and usefulness are frequently
sought at the expense of those values. Thus, the study proposes that the
technical/aesthetic properties and their proposed impacts on video production ﬁelds
will be realized only if people’s practices with the new technology justify the

changes in a production ﬁeld.

29

3O

Iljgchnipal Elements of HDTV Production and Their Aesthetic Implications

Characteristic of the many elements that make up video production is the
coexistence of both a technical function and a creative function. It is necessary to
meet certain requirements simply to get adequate sound and picture produced (the
technical function); it is then possible to manipulate these elements for certain
aesthetic effects (the creative function). In this section, the study will be initially
concerned with the basic technical requirements of HDTV, and then examine how
these requirements affect the aesthetic processes of video production.

High-deﬁnition production largely depends on certain technical factors which
determine the quality of imagery and sound of HDTV programs. These include
resolution, aspect ratio, ﬁeld rates, depth of ﬁeld, contrast range, chrominance and
luminance, digital image processing, and audio. Altogether, these technical elements
of HDTV production may demand new ways of creating and expressing artistry,
ideas, and realities. By reviewing these technical factors and their aesthetic
implications, we can establish a basic understanding of the fundamental
characteristics of HDTV imagery and sound, examine what is new in them, and
further discuss some expected changes in the TV production area. (Since the
technical and aesthetic properties of television would be too large a subject,
however, this section will narrow its focus to what is distinctive to HDTV. In
addition, only technical analysis will be done for ﬁeld rates, chrominance and
luminance, and digital image processing, since these are largely technical properties

rather than aesthetic ones.)

3 1
Resplutipn

Resolution refers to the sharpness of detail of the video image and is
measured in horizontal and vertical resolution lines. As the term high-deﬁnition
television itself implies, the increased resolution of HDTV is considered the

foremost technical/aesthetic property of HDTV.

jlgm'cal Element. The NHK theory of sufﬁcient resolution for a high-
deﬁnition television image (from Dr. Fujio’s psychophysical research at the NHK
Research Labs) found that, based on screen size and viewing distance, a maximum
resolution could be achieved for the given size of picture such that further increase
in the resolution would give an audience no increased experience of sharpness. The
research indicated that 1,600 lines would be the maximum ﬁgure for HDTV." For
technical and political reasons, however, a 1,600-line HDTV standard was never
attempted. According to the agreements among HDTV proponents, HDTV sets will
use either a progressive scan display of at least 787.5 lines at 60 frames per second
or an interlace scan display of 1,150 lines at 30 frames per second. (Their ultimate
goal is to move toward 1,080-line, 60 frame-per-second progressive scan signals.)
This HDTV image has approximately twice as much luminance deﬁnition
horizontally and vertically as NTSC. Its resolution is ﬁve or six times better than

the NTSC system. This means that the resolution is as good as 35mm ﬁlm stock.

ei ' t' . The implications of increased resolution are very
wide-ranging. The nature of high-deﬁnition images is such that it will demand exact

focus and exposure, careful set design and make-up, and even enhanced sound

32
quality. Since these factors will be analyzed in subsequent sections, the researcher
would rather brieﬂy mention here the impacts on shot composition.

In contrast to ﬁlm and HDTV, the relatively poor resolution of the NTSC
system leads TV directors to use many close-ups. It is often said that TV is a
"close-up medium," since the main subject or strong feelings in a shot can be best
captured in close-up. On the other hand, because of the conﬁned aspect ratio and
relatively poor resolution, it is hard to express strong aesthetic energy within wider
shots. For the same reason, TV directors favor quick shot changes rather than long
takes. It is widely believed that TV viewers often feel bored faster than ﬁlm
viewers when one shot lasts more than six to seven seconds, because of the low
aesthetic energy within a shot.

Conversely, HDTV often works well with long-range wide angle shots. With
a bigger screen and high-resolution images, viewers might feel as much strong
energy as with 35mm ﬁlm wide shots. Dr. Richard Green, Senior Vice President of
Broadcast Operations and Engineering at PBS, says:

High-defmition television is more important than just a medium of
program exchange. This new technology offers some signiﬁcant advantages
to PBS programming. The impact of an opera or ballet is limited by the
ability of the present TV system to represent the performance in both picture
and sound. The problem is that the details of the costumes and set are lost in
present television coverage. One way to solve this problem is photograph
ballet, as we do sports, ’up close and personal.’ In other words, ﬁequent
closeups provide the details but fail to represent the interaction among dancers
and it is certainly undesirable, if not impossible, to follow the dancers in
close-ups during rapid movements."

Because of the high aesthetic energy in the HDTV pictm'e, long-range wide

angle "landscape" shots might hold the viewer’s attention as strongly as close-ups do

33

in conventional television. This will make it possible for directors to use these shots
for artistic reasons. That is, the high-deﬁnition visual images might be so well
suited to telling a story pictorially that the shots can take over a storytelling function
with little help from dialogue. In these cases, the dialogue might often be divided,
but not interrupted, by an overwhelming and exciting visual sequence. For example,
any number of large-screen landscape scenes could be spliced into the slow-moving
dialogue of two cowboys riding through a Montana valley, without sacriﬁcing story
ﬂow or event energy.

When the same shot appears on conventional television, the large, high-
deﬁnition images are reduced to small, low-deﬁnition television images. In this
transformation, the overpowering landscape shots are most susceptible to energy
loss. In contrast, with HDTV, the resulting high-energy landscape shots can serve as
plausible bridges for the various dialogue segments, and so can carry the story. As a
consequence, we become very much unaware of the long pauses in the dialogue.
The slow dialogue will sound natural in conjunction with the high-energy landscape
images on the large screen, whereas on television it sounds spotty and uneven. (One
should not be misled into thinking that because the landscape images of HDTV can
take over a storytelling function, the aesthetics of HDTV sound can be neglected.
This will be discussed in a later section.)

Close-ups are another matter. HDTV is very unforgiving during close-ups.
Even the slightest set imperfection, make-up problems, or facial blemishes become
very obvious.” Gary Blievernicht, chief engineer of WKAR-TV, corroborates this.

He says, "It’s going to make it harder to construct a set. Apparently, current

34

viewers are not aware of details in set construction that won’t come through the
current TV sets. It might look like a million dollar set, but with high-deﬁnition, it’s
going to no longer look like that.”

This situation also can be an advantage at the same time. Because of the
high-deﬁnition image and wide ﬁeld of view, background will become a more
visible and valuable space. Therefore, if every aspect of the setting, including size,
color, texture, and shape of furnishings, as well as props and lighting, are related to
the focus of the scene and sensibility of the program overall, this will not only
increase visual reality, it will also provide opportunities for various interactions.

based on the context.

ect tio

A central objective of television is to offer the viewer a sense of presence in
the scene and of participation in the events portrayed. To meet this objective, the
televised image should convey as much of the spatial and temporal content of the
scene as is economically and technically feasible. One important limitation of
conventional television is that images occupy too small a portion of the visual ﬁeld.
Experience in the motion picture industry has shown that a larger, wider picture,
viewed closely, contributes greatly to the viewer’s sense of presence and
participation. The current development of HDTV service is directed toward the

same ends.

W. As mentioned before, HDTV sets adopt a 16:9 aspect

ratio instead of the current 4:3 ratio, since it is believed that the wider ratio

35

reserrrbles the human eye's viewing angle. (Aspect ratio refers to the ratio of the height of the
screen to its width.) A5 Brad Graham. founder and owner of Media Magic Company.
indicates, "Human eyes are oriented to the horizontal dimension. As you can see, we are
living in a horizontally oriented world."22

This dramatically larger screen space allows the camera lens to capture wider images
so that it can add very large amounts of additional picture information with no loss of
technical quality. As shown in Figure 2, wider, higher-deﬁnition pictures allow for more
visual information to be conveyed on the screen. Instead of merely packing more resolution
onto a screen, the screen and picture content both grow in direct proportion to the increase

of information contained in the HDTV system.

 

 

Wider, higher-definition pictures allow for more visual infor-
mation to be conveyed on the screen.

 

 

 

Figure 2. Comparison Between HDTV and NTSC Shooting Range
(Source: W)

36

The. wider a5pect ratio is thus suitable for sports shows and music concert
programs, because the camera will cover the entire ﬁeld at close range of the action
without moving backwards. You don’t need to pan left or right to follow the ball or
actions. Nor do you have to move backward in order to shoot a full shot of an
orchestra, in which almost half of the upper screen is ﬁlled with meaningless
background. It has also been suggested that the new form of television coverage
unleashed by this new understanding of picture capture might lower the number of
HDTV cameras required to cover many events, with a consequent cost beneﬁt,

especially in multiple camera shows.

Agghetic Implications. As shown in Figure l, the disadvantage of the 4:3
aspect ratio is its conﬁned picture ﬁeld. Along with the limitation of low-deﬁnition
of the NTSC system, its 4:3 aspect ratio favors close-up and extreme close-up
framing. Since the main subject occupies most of the screen area within this
framing, it is less effective than ﬁlm in creating a secondary use of background feel.
In addition, with its highly limited picture ﬁeld, conventional television cannot
tolerate much lateral action without having the camera pan or truck along with it.
Aside ﬁ'om the technical problems of keeping a fast moving object properly framed,
too much lateral action can become quite distracting and disorienting.

The conventional television system has handled this limitation by using z-axis,
(depth of the screen). It has been proven to be aesthetically the most ﬂexible of the
dimensions. While the screen width (x-axis) and height (y-axis) have deﬁnite spatial

limits, depth (z-axis) is virtually limitless. Therefore, the television image is much

37

less restricted in its view and movement along the z-axis than it is either horizontally
or vertically. Because of the limited height and width of the conventional television
screen, action is most appropriately staged and blocked along the z-axis (depth),
called z-axis blocking, which means that the action takes place primarily toward and
away from the camera.

On the other hand, the wide ﬁeld of View offered by HDTV displays provides
additional picture spaces for lateral actiOns. Thus, when blocking action on the
HDTV picture screen, directors might rely more on the lateral or diagonal, in
addition to upstage-downstage (z-axis) motion. This will again contribute to the
viewer’s sense of presence and participation in the screen event.

Although the 4:3 aspect ratio has some obvious disadvantages, there are
signiﬁcant advantages. One advantage is that the difference between screen height
and width is not pronounced enough to emphasize one dimension over the other.
So, one can frame a horizontally oriented scene without too much wasted vertical
screen space, and a vertical screen without having to worry too much about how to
ﬁll the sides of the screen. The 4:3 aspect ratio allows us to frame a close-up with
very little unused screen space; most of the screen area is occupied by the principal
subject.

When attempting the same shot within the wider aspect ratio of the HDTV
screen, there will be a considerable amount of "leftover" space on either side of the
close-up. With 16:9 ratio, therefore, a director has to pay much more attention to
the backgrounds or peripheral pictorial elements than when shooting for the 4:3

aspect ratio. For example, the wide screen aspect ratio is ideal for establishing shots

38

and vistas that stretch horizontally. But even after moving with the camera on the
central action from the previous establishing shot, the peripheral action still ﬁgures
prominently in that composition. This means that a director must be concerned with
all the action visible on the wide screen so that the peripheral action does not draw
the attention away from the major event.23 Furthermore, the background should
provide an appropriate visual ﬁeld against which characters or other subjects will be
seen. Whatever happens in that space, it should enhance the subject, or at least not
interfere with it by attracting attention to itself. At the same time, if a director
succeeds in arranging the shot elements creatively, the central subject and peripheral
elements will be combined to create secondary/symbolic meanings. (The creative
use of foreground and background space will be discussed more in a later section;
i.e., depth and depth of ﬁeld.)

Because of the foregoing technical considerations, the wide-screen format may
not be appropriate for certain television programs, such as talk shows, game shows,
or news. The 4-by-3 format of standard television is well suited for "talking heads,"
while the 16-by-9 format is more suitable for a two-way conversation.

These differences between NTSC and HDTV inﬂuence the style of
picture/event presentation as well. That is, the relatively small NTSC television
screen lends itself to an inductive approach (from close-up shots of details to wider
shots) because, as mentioned before, close-ups usually carry much more aesthetic
energy and can best express the internal view of the event. In contrast, with
HDTV’s high resolution, wide screen ratio, and bigger screen, long vista shots can

be high energy as easily as close-ups. Thus, HDTV could take a deductive approach

39

to sequencing pictures. That is, one can start with a wide establishing shot and then
get progressively tighter through a zoom or shot series to the ﬁnal close-up detail.”
If the wide establishing shot can convey as much aesthetic energy as close-ups, it

could be designed to grab the viewer’s attention as the ﬁrst program element.

trast e
The ability to reproduce extremes of contrast is a critical requirement for any
ﬁlm or video camera. In practical terms, a camera’s ability to reproduce images of
wide scene brightness range is of primary importance to its photographic usefulness.
Since contrast ranges or lighting situations occurring in nature exceed the ability of
both ﬁlm and video to reproduce them adequately, in ﬁlm and video production, it is

usually necessary to use artiﬁcial lighting sources.

Iechm'cal Elemgnts. The range of brightness (contrast) that can be
accommodated by television displays is severely limited in comparison with natural
vision and ﬁlm, and this limitation has not been fully avoided in current HDTV
equipment development. The normal contrast range for television is 20:1. With
high-end equipment it can be 30:1. This means the lightest area of a picture should
be no more than thirty times brighter than the darkest area. HDTV cameras have a
similar contrast range. It is said that virtually all available HDTV cameras are three
or more stops less sensitive than current high-speed motion picture stock. Moreover,
the display brightness of HDTV images is basically limited by the need to spread the

available light over a large area.”

40

As a result, the acceptable contrast range of an HDTV picture is limited, and
the HDTV camera needs more light than a ﬁlm camera does. TV productions
already struggle with lighting problems. Still, HDTV production needs more
accurate lighting techniques, since exact exposure is critical in creating the high-

deﬁnition image.

Aesmgtic Implipations. The HDTV camera’s relatively low sensitivity to light
sources and its limited contrast range have been considered as major drawbacks of
HDTV production, both aesthetically and practically. For example, in some high
quality productions, the story often requires dramatic, low-key lighting techniques in
which the subject is illuminated with highly directional light and fast fall-off,
emphasizing light and dark, as well as contrasting light and shadow areas in order to
increase the aesthetic value (inner and outer orientation) of a scene. The basic aim
of this lighting type is to articulate space, to clarify and intensify the three-
dimensional property of things and the space that surrounds them, and to give the
scene an expressive quality, emotional involvement, and a sense of drama.

Since HDTV has such a narrow contrast range, high-contrast lighting is very
difﬁcult to handle. If the camera is adjusted for the brightly illuminated areas, then
the dense shadow areas all turn uniformly black and become subject to video noise.
If adjusted to the dark areas, the light areas overload the camera circuits and start to
look unnaturally bright. Also, extreme light-dark contrast tends to distort color

somewhat, especially in the shadow areas. Thus, this type of aesthetic manipulation

41
of light might be very difficult, if not impossible, in HDTV production. (The

implications of this situation will be speciﬁed in the later sections.)

However, it is felt that this situation is not likely to prevail indeﬁnitely, as
charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras come into more common use, and as camera
integration and tube lag are otherwise improved. It is conceivable that CCD
technology may make HDTV more practicable in this regard, but it would, of

course, be necessary to ﬁrst overcome some of CCD’s other technical limitations.

and De th Field
Perception of the third spatial dimension, depth, depends in natural vision
primarily on the angular separation of the images received by the two eyes of the

viewer.

ec 'cal l ents. TV cameras usually manipulate this depth by
continuously adjusting the focal length of the zoom lens. The optical characteristics
of lenses can greatly enhance or hinder the illusion of a third dimension (depth) on
the television or movie screen, and this provides the viewer with an experience in
depth perception wholly beyond the scope of natural vision. Generally, narrow
angle (long focal-length) lenses squeeze space; they shorten the z-axis and make
objects look crowded together. This communicates a feeling of closeness, slow
movements, collectiveness, and solidity. Wide angle (short focal-length) lenses
lengthen the perceived z-axis, increase the feeling of depth, and exaggerate relative

size, making shots look dramatic and movement look faster.”

42

The sense of depth is also dependent on how three-dimensional planes are
structured. We can build screen volume by providing distinct depth planes located
at different distances from the camera along the z-axis. The most basic structure of
the three-dimensional ﬁeld consists of foreground (the depth plane closest to the
camera, marking the beginning of the z-axis), a middle ground (the depth plane
marking the approximate middle of the z-axis), and a background (the depth plane
farthest from the camera, marking the end of the z-axis). By articulating this space
with careful blocking and focusing (selective focus or deep focus), the director can
manipulate viewers’ attention and direct it, moving their thoughts and feelings

accordingly.

Agsmetic Implications. The third dimension, depth, proves to be the most
ﬂexible screen dimension in ﬁlm and especially in television. While the screen
width (x-axis) and height (y-axis) have deﬁnite spatial limits, depth (z-axis) is
virtually inﬁnite. As mentioned before, it is a valuable source for manipulating
viewers’ attention, moving their thoughts and feelings, and providing a sense of
presence in the scene.

The HDTV camera has capabilities similar to the current TV camera in terms
”of the focal length of lens and focus. Thus, there will be no obvious changes in
terms of these features. (If you use a wide angle lens with deep focus, you will get
a greater sense of depth. On the other hand, with a narrow angle lens or with
selective focus, you will get a shallow depth and can direct the viewer’s attention to

the focused area.)

43
On the other hand, HDTV has more potential for structuring foreground and

background interactions, and this will provide improvements in depth perception as
well as emphasizing the aesthetic value of the screen. In television production, the
sense of depth is dependent on how background information is used. The feeling of
depth is enhanced if some familiar background is used; this helps to give a feeling
of scale or perspective. If a plain or abstract background is used, the viewer has no
yardstick against which to gauge the distance from this subject to the background.
As mentioned before, the wider aspect ratio has more additional spaces for
background picture/subject (see page 36). In addition, because of the high-deﬁnition
image, background picture information becomes more visible and prominent
compared to the current television displays (unless it is deliberately out of focus).
Thus, a director of an HDTV program may have to be more careful in dealing with
background information.

For the same reason, HDTV has more potential for blocking. When blocking
action on the HDTV picture screen, therefore, directors may have to be more
concerned about the space for actions in the background that runs parallel to the
foreground and to the foreground action. Thus, an HDTV director will have to be
well aware of how to layer background action. There may be three or more planes
of activity, in addition to the one in which the primary characters interact.

David L. Srrrith comments on this necessity in his book, Eider;
W indicating that such programs as "Hill Street Blues" and currently
"L.A. Law" have made television history because the activity of the background

substantially contributed to the believability of the environment. Our attention, by

44

design, is shifted between foreground and background as we see, for example, the
police take someone off to prison or colleagues in the law ofﬁce interacting, their
comments temporarily interfering with the story line. This kind of action
backgrounding adds realism to the scene, creates tremendous depth, and enriches
characterization.”

With the wide ﬁeld of view and high-deﬁnition image, this kind of blocking
will become more critical in HD production (see Figure 2 on page 35), and this will

increase the sense of depth, and increase the drama and aesthetic energy of the shot.

Depth pf Eield. While HDTV has more potential than conventional TV for
increasing the feeling of depth, it has similar capability in terms of depth of ﬁeld.
In video/ﬁlm production, this refers to the distance between the nearest point at
which objects are in focus and the farthest point at which objects are in focus. In a
typical shot, objects close to the camera will be out of focus and objects too far
away may be out of focus; the middle ground where objects are in focus is referred
to as the depth of ﬁeld. Three different factors interrelate to determine the depth of
ﬁeld: the f-stop (the smaller the lens opening, the greater the depth of ﬁeld); the
distance ﬁom the subjects to the camera (the greater the camera-to-subject distance,
the greater the depth of ﬁeld); and the focal length of the lens (the shorter the lens,
the greater the depth of ﬁeld). As mentioned above, the HD camera has a capability
similar to the NTSC camera in terms of f-stop and lens characteristics. Thus, there

will not be many changes in terms of depth of ﬁeld.

45

am te and c 'n Meth ds

Frame rate refers to the number of frames used in one second. There are four
principal considerations in setting the frame rate for an HDTV system: ﬂicker,
reproduction of motion, noise reduction, and bandwidth requirements. The higher
the frame rate, the more precise are the movements, and the greater is the bandwidth
requirement of the systems. The object is to choose as low a fame rate as possible
without compromising the image quality. The threshold of visual perception of
ﬂicker is about 40 frames per second." Current broadcast television standards
eliminate ﬂicker by means of the interlace scanning of the image (lines are scanned
alternately, on an odd, even, odd, even basis). Thus, it is the ﬁeld rate rather than
the frame rate that determines whether there is perceptible image ﬂicker or
movement artifacts. NTSC has a ﬁeld rate of 60 ﬁelds per second, which is above
the threshold. But, interlace scanning does solve two problems. It conserves
bandwidth by allowing lower frame rates, without resulting in large area picture
ﬂicker, and it allows a smaller number of scan lines to present the sharpness
equivalent to twice the number of scan lines, again without the bandwidth penalty
associated with doubling the scan lines.

In the HDTV system, however, interlace scan display at 30 frames per second
is problematic, in that it can result in motion aliasing, the effect of jagged edges
produced when an object has moved during the time between the scanning of the
ﬁrst ﬁeld of a ﬂame and the second. The net effect is a loss of deﬁnition since the

jagged edge is perceived as a blurred edge by the viewer.

46

This being the case, as mentioned before HDTV sets will use either a
progressive scan display of ﬁg_ 7875 _1rne5__at 60 frames per second or an
interlace scan display of 1,150 lines at 30 frames per second. Higher frame rates of
interlace scanning will help reduce the motion aliasing effect by reducing the time
between the scanning passes, and therefore reducing the difference between the
position of the edge in one ﬁeld and its position in the next ﬁeld. It also appears
that progressive scan images of lower resOlution can appear superior to an interlace
scan picture of higher resolution. The David Sarnoff Labs have demonstrated a
black-and-white camera test system capable of producing a 750-line progressive scan
picture. In this demonstration, their system appeared to have superior resolution to a
1,125-line black-and-white interlace picture.29 In addition, the progressive scanning

will offer maximum compatibility with computers, which have used progressive scan

monitors for many years to lessen ﬂicker in the screen.

i c d

The NTSC encoder system is designed to combine the three color signals,
Red, Green, and Blue (ROB), together with brightness (luminance) into one signal.

This approach has two defects in terms of color. The ﬁrst defect is referred
to as cross-color patterns, which create bizarre color patterns on, for example, a TV
anchor’s jacket. This is the result of mixing high-frequency luminance and
chrominance information in the same composite signal, to that they interfere with
each other. The second problem is cross-luminance, which is color information

leaking into the luminance channel.

47

HDTV production is supposed to eliminate these problems with the use of a
digital component video. One beneﬁt of digital tape will come from a component
approach in which original color elements are retained separately rather than
combined (encoded) into a signal. This approach avoids interference between
combined chrominance and luminance, providing a superior image to that of current
systems.

Still, some artifacts of the color reproduction system are expected to remain in
HDTV. Blievernicht indicates: "I don’t think it’s gonna be much different in terms
of color imagery. You’re still processing, and you’re going to have artifacts. You’ll
have some areas of color that the camera doesn’t reproduce regardless of the

transmission system."3°

Digital Image-Digital Video and Compression
One of the major beneﬁts of the HDTV production system will come from the

fact that it is to be done within a total digital production system. In fact, digital
image processing is not unique to HDTV. Digital equipment has been a common
element in television facilities for more than 20 years, and with each new generation
of equipment entire categories of devices become available exclusively as digital
designs. Among the last analog holdouts are videotape recorders, video monitors,
and--of courseutransmitters. But even those devices are inching their way toward
the digital domain, and the adoption of HDTV is expected to accelerate the
movement. For example, the digital component approach in which color information

is separated ﬁom the rest of the video signal offers little advantage in the current

48

NTSC environment, where color information must be combined with the rest of the
video signal for broadcast." The real beneﬁts and promises of digital video imagery
would be realized in HDTV production, since it adopts a total digital system
including transmission.

The television industry is interested in a digital system for a number of
reasons. First and foremost, post-production has become an increasingly important
stage of television production. By digitizing the color components, video could be
manipulated and recorded over and over again, with no discernible loss of quality
from generation to generation. This "multi-generation" transparency is extremely
helpful in editing; it means that scenes can be edited and re-edited without
noticeable loss of quality. As a result, it is good for layering, multi-effect editing,
mastering/replication, and ﬁlm-to-tape and element streaming. (Layering is a
technique where new images can be added to an existing scene in each successive
pass. It has given commercials a distinctive new look.) Second, as mentioned
above, multi-generation transparency eliminates cross-color patterns and cross-
luminance problems. Thus, it provides better color images compared with NTSC
composite images.

Some major electronics companies, such as Sony, Panasonic, and Ampex have
developed several digital tape formats, ranging from component (D-l, D-5, Digital
Betacam, DCT) to composite (D-2, D-3). Generally, component digital formats, in
which color information is separated from the rest of the video signal (luminance),
are considered to be true digital formats. However, the major drawback is the cost

for component storage (two to three times as expensive as composite) and the cost

49

of processing (it takes more devices to process "three component data streams" than
it did to process "one" composite data stream).

While "composite digital" video recording offers a relatively efﬁcient solution
to the cost of storing large quantities of digital video information, most digital video
manipulation or processing devices are intended to work on digital video in its
component form. For example, all the digital distribution systems will require
compression, and the preferred compression techniques require a component digital
input.

For this reason, digital component tape developers adopted "digital
compression technology" in order to reduce the cost of digital storage while
retaining the advantages of the component system. There are two videotape
recording formats (Ampex’s DCT and Sony’s Digital Betacam) on the market that
use very mild digital compression ratios (slightly more than 2:1 or 3:1) in an attempt
to offer users a component video recording system in an economical package.
Advocates of compressed digital video recording assert that even small amounts of
compression will yield big cost efﬁciency with quality penalties so insigniﬁcant as to
be imperceptible to the home viewer.

Still, there has been continuous debate with regard to the characteristics of
compressed image quality. Proponents of the composite digital system assert that
the compressed component digital image is inferior to the composite one, while
others argue that it is equal to that of D-2 and D-3. In the absence of any objective

"quality" standard, or even any convention for judging subjective quality

50

assessments, however, this debate is likely to rage on, and it is believed that digital
composite and component equipment will continue to co-exist for many years.

To be sure, digital videotape formats are closely related to HDTV production.
There is a clear preference for basing a high-deﬁnition system on separate
component coding, as in CCIR Recommendation 601 (a standard set for digital
video by SMPTE), rather than composite coding--in order to ease production
processes and to avoid unnecessary quality losses due to cross-effects, for example.”2

The concerns about digital compression technology also result from another
consideration. As mentioned before, HDTV proponents are developing the MPEG-2
compression technique in order to ﬁt almost three or four times more information
into the same 6 MHz bandwidth. Since the technique is based on a "lossy"
compression method, it has provoked various concerns about the artifacts of the
"compressed digital look." (It is said that the "lossy" techniques lose some
information but leave enough clues so that the message can adequately and
accurately be deciphered. This is based on the assumption that particular differences
between the original and the decompressed video may be imperceptible to the human
eye due to its visual limitations. However, many people believe that the digitizing
and compressing artifacts are visible.)

There have been some attempts to generalize the digital look with regard to
compression technology. However, characterizing the "look" cannot help but be a
questionable job. Digital video compression has not had a long enough history to
adequately qualify as having developed "a look." Furthermore, the little history that

video compression has is not useful in attempts to deﬁne that look. The

51

technologies that affect the quality of digital video images are advancing rapidly
enough to thwart attempts at deﬁning what the images look like. It is important,
thus, to note that the "compressed digital look" is an erratically moving target,

making it difﬁcult to assess.

Austin

Television is an audio-visual medium. In television, sound is one of our
primary communication factors. However, the current television system has certain
technical limitations that reduce the quality of television sound. The sound
reproduction systems in most television receivers are severely limited in their
frequency and amplitude (loudness) response. Though high-ﬁdelity stereo sound
was adopted as an NTSC system, there still remains a problemnan imbalance
between the low-defmition video portion and the high-deﬁnition soundtrack.
Furthermore, it is said that the current TV image with stereo sound causes problems
of deﬁning video space.33 Thus, it has been suggested that simply improving the
quality of the sound without a similar improvement in the picture portion does not
lead to an improved viewer-listener experience. 3‘

As soon as the screen size increases, and the video images become more high-
deﬁnition, then high-ﬁdelity sound is not only appropriate, but becomes necessary
for the proper balance between video and audio aesthetic energies. Because HDTV
images carry so much aesthetic energy, regardless of content, the sound must be
equally high-deﬁnition. Particularly in the close viewing of HDTV images, if the

audio system is monophonic, the sounds appear to be conﬁned to the center of the

52

screen. The visual and aural senses then convey conﬂicting information. So, it has

been clear ﬁ'om the beginning of HDTV system design that stereophonic sound must
be used.”

W- The quality standard for high-ﬁdelity sound has been set
by the digital compact disk. This means the HDTV audio system should convert the
audio ﬁequencies from below 30 to above 20,000 Hz, beyond the range of most
cars, with the dynamic range of silence to fortissirno exceeding 90 dB.

On the basis of the experience of the ﬁlm industry, it is also suggested that
for the greatest impact, HDTV sound should incorporate a four-channel system. (As
mentioned in the previous section, the Grand Alliance selected Dolby’s AC-3 digital
coding system to deliver multichannel digital surround sound for HDTV. This
comprises ﬁve full bandwidth channels representing left, center, right, left surround,

right surround, and a low-frequency sub-woofer channel)“

W In HDTV with its large screen area, a director needs
to pay special attention in order to assure that the sound seems to come from
approximately the screen position of the sound-producing source. For example, if
he/she shows a train that slowly moves across from the screen-left to right, the
sound should also slowly move from screen-left to right and not ﬁ‘om screen-right or
even ﬁom the middle of the screen. Stereo sound in HDTV will make it possible to
move the sound anywhere along an on- and off-screen x-axis (horizontal) position.
In NTSC television, such stereo separation is less successful. Due to the limited

width of the television screen and the narrow range of amplitude and frequency, the

53

built-in Speakers are not separated enough to achieve the desired illusion of sonic
depth and width. Unless one has speakers that can be properly separated, or can
wear earphones or sit exactly in the right place, he/she will not be able to tell the
direction from which the various sounds are coming.

Surround audio, a special stereo recording technique simulating as best as
possible how we actually hear, is another asset of the HDTV sound system. It is
more accurate in pinpointing x-axis and even z-axis on- and off-screen positions.
Early television sound experiments have shown that this is especially effective not
only in deﬁning locations along the on- and off-screen x-axis but also along the on-
and off-screen z-axis.” For example, this system allows you to hear someone
walking right through the screen toward you and even past you along the z-axis.
However, this aural three-dimensionality is not supported by a similar extended
three-dimensionality in the current video space. Unless the visual vector ﬁelds are
carefully coordinated with the surround sound, the sound portion remains oddly
removed ﬁom the pictures and does not lead to the expected heightened spatial
awareness of the audio-Visual screen event.” Thus, producers of HDTV programs
not only will have to deal with the burden of complex and sophisticated audio post-
production processes, but also should be well aware of techniques and principles of

audio and video interactions.

Whit:
The previous section of this chapter dealt brieﬂy with several technical

elements of HDTV production, and examined their aesthetic implications. The

54

intent of this procedure is to familiarize the reader with fundamental elements of
HDTV production technology and the emergence of a new system in which
techniques and principles of video production will be affected. From this point, the
research will focus on how these elements will inﬂuence the work processes and
skills of video production.

Compared with the technical analysis, however, this section could not be as
straightforward, because not enough actual high-deﬁnition production has taken
place. Since there is little agreement as yet upon HDTV standards, there is little
reason to produce an HDTV program, knowing that it will be down-converted for an
NTSC release.

To reiterate, the use of HDTV and its practices will not be determined by its
technical elements. Rather, they depend on a cluster of aims, attitudes, assumptions,
unquestioned views, technological requirements, projections of capital investment,
work practices, union agreements, and so on. These come together to make a
system that works. This in turn becomes the learned practice of the institution,
enshrined in the various technical manuals, where the elements of the system are
depicted as natural "rules."

This being the case, it is impossible to give a deﬁnite picture of HDTV
production skills and work processes. Rather, this section will brieﬂy examine it
based on 1) how HDTV production technology has been utilized in several
experimental projects and 2) how current video production people perceive the

technical and aesthetic properties of HDTV production.

55

-Pr cti ta e

Producing an HDTV program will have much in conunon with producing a
traditional video or a ﬁlm. An idea will be analyzed in terms of its uniqueness,
intrinsic merit, market potential, cost of production, and the like. The idea will be
ﬂeshed out and developed into script form; a schedule established and a budget set.
A production team will be assembled which will, with careful management, produce
the video or ﬁlm within both budget and deadline. Even though some people
predict totally different production stages (see page 65), in general most people
agree that there will be no big changes in the stages required for setting up

production.

Erpductipp Stage
WM. Technically, high-deﬁnition shooting is mainly

affected by two properties: resolution and wider-aspect ratio; Speciﬁcally, most
production people pointed out the wider aspect ratio as the most signiﬁcant factor in
high-defmition shooting. There is 25 percent more picture information within the
16:9 aspect ratio, and this will allow for more visual information to be conveyed on
the screen.

In the previous section, the study examined the effects of wider aspect ratio
on HD shooting (see pages 34-36). As a reminder, it was assumed that the
additional space offered by the wider aspect ratio could be both a valuable artistic
source and an empty leftover space. On the one hand, directors could create

secondary feelings and meanings by using this additional space. On the other hand,

56

this space might be a "leftover" space unless HD program producers develop some
artistic techniques to effectively arrange picture elements and events within a shot.
Blievernicht suggests a hypothetical situation:

There is a proposal for shooting the US Atlantic Olympic games with
HDTV. Let’s say that you will shoot a pole vault with the wider aspect ratio.
You can imagine how that will be funny. The pole itself will look so small
within that horizontal shot. The wider aspect ratio does not always mean
”better."”

There is another problem with regard to the aspect ratio. During the
simulcasting period, camera operators will have to be careful in framing a shot,
because the safe area of both systems is different (about simulcasting, see page 25).
Therefore, they have to ensure that no shooting off the set occurs and no grips or
stands appear in the larger screen. Since they have to deal with two different safe
areas within one shot, some special techniques will be needed. According to
Blievernicht:

A lot of companies know and take care of this now. When they go out
and shoot the ﬁlm for TV shows, the shooter makes sure that he preserves
that 16:9 ratio. It’s called shoot and protect. They shoot with 4:3 ratio, but
they project it out for 16:9 ratio. So the primary image is within 4:3 ratio, but
they take care that when they frame a shot, when they put lighting sets and
microphones, to make sure that they preserve that 16:9 ratio."0
A second technical factor affecting the high-deﬁnition shooting process is

resolution. Concerns with the high-deﬁnition image bring about some problems with

regard to focusing and exposure. Because of its high-deﬁnition image, focus errors

are more noticeable, and therefore precise focusing is more critical than with NTSC.

 

 

For this reason, many interviewees suggest that the precision of ﬁlm methods should

“H!—

be applied to HD production. In ﬁlm, there is always a focus puller beside the

-- ___i

57

camera operator. His/her job is to measure the distance between the actor and the
camera, then automatically adjust the lens on the set while the camera operator is
moving. In contrast, video shooting usually has only one videographer who deals
with everything, and focusing is really difﬁcult because of the small CRT
viewﬁnder.

A solution for this with high-deﬁnition comes from the fact that the focus can
be immediately checked on the monitor during HDTV production. Both the focus
and depth of ﬁeld can be manipulated by remote control using a big monitor, often
from the production equipment van. Many existing HDTV productions, such as
"Chasing Rainbows" and "1125: Any Better Offer?" used this method, and it was
proved effective. Michel Oudin, a director of the French HDTV movie, "1125: Any
Better Offer?," mentions that "by using the monitor and having on-site control of the
images, depth of ﬁeld becomes an artistic tool in HDTV as much as, if not more
than, in 35mm ﬁlm production.“l

The third concern is about the technical practicability of HDTV production
equipment. It has been suggested that high-defurition production should be adopted
for prime-time production, instead of the traditional 35mm ﬁlm style production,
because of its proposed cost savings. However, both the portability and
maneuverability of the high-deﬁnition camera are inferior to the cordless 35mm ﬁlm
camera. The equipment is still heavy and bulky, does not perform well in low light,
and requires a great deal of electricity. The recorder has to record much more
information in comparison to an NTSC recorder; no technology has been invented

yet for small recorders that can go with the camera. (For example, the HDTV

58

.-

digital recorder that Sony sells is about 5 V2 to 6 feet high, 2 feet wide and 2 feet
deep and weights about 300 pounds, and it consumes a great deal of electricity.)
This results in severe limitation in shooting ﬂexibility.42

Additionally, many producers who have experience with HDTV production
point out the low sensitivity of the camera to light as a major problem. Charles
Pantuso, a director and engineer of "Chasing Rainbows," points out that the problem
hinders the cameraman from creating the real high-deﬁnition image. He says:
The increase in resolution is not what makes ﬁlm look better than
video; the secret is the way lights are handled. The fact is that when you
overexpose the ﬁlm, you will get rid of artifacts; however, when you
overexpose in video you will get a lot of problems. Therefore, where ﬁlm
works and video fails has nothing to do with resolution whatsoever. ’3
There are also concerns about the camera lens. Shortly after its introduction
in the early 19605, the zoom lens became standard equipment on virtually all studio
television cameras. The zoom lens, however, because of its numerous lens elements,
can never be as optically perfect as a ﬁxed focal-length lens designed for speciﬁed
magniﬁcation. (The ﬁlm camera usually uses a ﬁxed focal-length lens, and the
image is displayed on a wider screen. Therefore, ﬁlm can have better depth than
current TV does.) As a result, Thomas D. Burrows, a professor at California State
University, Northridge, suggests that HD shooters should be well aware of the
complexity of the ﬁxed focal-length lens.

The introduction of HDTV may well set the stage for a return to limited
applications of the ﬁxed focal-length lens. Those who have seen an HDTV

demonstration, with its incredibly sharp picture resolution, cannot help but be

impressed with its potential for both theatrical and industrial applications. In order

59
to take advantage of the HDTV high picture quality, it may be practical to utilize the

better Optical characteristics of the ﬁxed focal-length. (The Sony HDTV camera
comes equipped to accept a variety of ﬁxed lenses, ranging in focal length from
11.5mm to 56mm)“

Finally, this study assumes that HDTV will increase the importance of single
camera shooting/directing within video production. Most premier prime-time
programs, especially dramatic shows, are now shot with ﬁlm, because the networks
want to keep a competitive edge over such competitors as cable and the VCR
market. They want to provide viewers with superior images, at least within prime-
time. Since HDTV possesses the quality of 35mm ﬁlm, and since it promises cost
and time savings compared to 35mm ﬁlm, a few shows were produced as prime-
time episodes, such as ABC’s "The Fall Guy" and CBC’s "Chasing Rainbows," with
HDTV equipment. From those experiences-4n addition to the cost and time savings
promised by HDTV--its immediate control of image-making has proven to be a
major beneﬁt of HDTV over ﬁlm-style TV production. That means the HDTV
production crew can ﬁx or create the look of a work immediately after they take a
shot. They say that this is an excellent beneﬁt in HDTV, where one can replay a
scene instantly and retape if there is problem. (For example, one can instantly
evaluate the ﬁne tone of color, or see if there is a boom microphone or light within
the shot.) According to Stuart Samuels, Vice President of Zbig Vision Ltd.:

1 This approach to image-making will bring changes to the way we make
our movies and TV products. There will be a more scientiﬁc approach to
image-making, one that will rely more on exact measurement than on the

director’s or cinematographer’s intuitive eye. Engineers will play a larger role
in the production. It will also become more spontaneous and hopefully more

6O

creative at the time of the production, rather than having the creativity related
to the more solitary process of post-production."

In some cases, however, this control turns out be a waste of time, as it
generates excessive discussions on adjustments and settings, and leads to retakes.
For this reason, in the production stage of "Chasing Rainbows" and "1250: Any
Better Offer?" producers prohibited the crew and actors from watching takes, to

avoid wasting time.“

High-Qeﬂm‘tipn Lighting. Lighting is a fundamental part of any video
production. Without proper illumination the video system cannot operate, and the
camera will not reproduce an image clearly and accurately since no television system
yet devised is as sensitive as the human eye or can handle brightness variations as
the eye can. Lighting is also a creative element in a video production because the
picture itself is made up entirely of light and shadow. How a subject is illuminated
contributes in large part to how the image looks in the video space.

As an artistic as well as a scientiﬁc factor in video production, lighting can be
said to have four main purposes: ‘ 1) to deﬁne the shape and texture of physical form
and, by extension, to create a sense of depth and perspective within the elements of
the set or location; 2) to imitate the quality of light characteristic of a situation or
setting in reality; 3) to establish and enhance the psychological mood of a
performance or setting; and 4) to focus attention upon a speciﬁc picture area, single
performer or aspect of the production and thereby separate that subject from any

feeling of relationship with setting or location.‘7

61

It is clear that HDTV production will need more precise, artistic, and
controlled lighting skills because of its emphasis on image quality. Speciﬁcally, in
terms of deﬁning the shape and texture of physical form, HDTV lighting will need
more careful design and skills in order to the create high-resolution image. This
means that HDTV lighting requires at least as much attention as ﬁlm lighting.

Most of the interviewees agree that HDTV lighting should combine both ﬁlm
and video lighting techniques and principles. For example, Bill Richards, a
producer at WKAR-TV, said that if imagery is a big concern, one will have to pay
much more attention to lighting processes. “

Film lighting is speciﬁcally set up for discontinuous, short-duration action. In
ﬁlm, each screen, if not each shot, is lit separately. Lighting control is an extremely
important consideration. Since all the moves of actors, cameras, microphones, and
so forth are carefully planned in advance, the lighting instruments can be placed on
the studio ﬂoor or hung in the best possible position. In contrast, television lighting
in the studio is often designed for multiple cameras that cover the scene
simultaneously from a variety of angles. The lighting must satisfy these various
points of view as continuous, long-duration action, such as game shows, situation
comedies, interviews, talk shows, or studio dramas. However, if HDTV production
is to have a crisp and high-deﬁnition look and color, then lighting skills should be
enhanced more than they are with the current television system.

. Moreover, if HDTV scenes are shot ﬁlm-style, that is, with a single camera in
short and discontinuous actions, then the lighting technique would certainly be very

similar to ﬁlm.

62

But, technically, HDTV lighting still has some limitations, such as low
sensitivity of the camera to light (see page 38). On the one hand, it is clear that
HDTV requires more skill in terms of aesthetics; on the other hand, it has limited
capabilities in terms of technology. This situation restrains HDTV directors from
experimenting with some forms of artistic lighting techniques because these may
exceed the limit of the contrast range. In addition, creating a sense of depth is
difﬁcult (see page 41). Although it is possible to stop-down to a smaller lens
opening and increase the depth of ﬁeld by adding more light to the scene, this is
problematic in some cases. For example, the story may call for low-key lighting,
which means a videographer then would have to operate with the lens aperture
opened up.

These drawbacks would directly translate into additional labor hours required
to light a set. Other hidden costs of low sensitivity would be: electrical power
consumption, caused by increased lighting and air conditioning needs on the stage; a
fatigue factor on the part of actors; expensive production delays caused by the need
to reapply make-up that has faded from heat and perspiration; as well as the length
of time required to set up and strike a location of heavyweight--compared with
lightweightuﬁlm lighting instruments.

As mentioned in previous sections, however, there have been some special
steps taken in the design of the HDTV service to increase the camera’s sensitivity to
light (see pages 38 and 39). Therefore, this situation is not likely to prevail
indeﬁnitely. As a matter of fact, some existing HD productions have used those

advanced techniques. For example, Barry Rebo’s HDTV studio use of ﬁber optic

63

cable instead of coaxial cable for their HDTV camera led to an unexpected beneﬁt.
With coaxial cable, the camera has to equalize for the amount of cable length, which
causes noise. The more noise there is, the less the f-stop can be increased. When
ﬁber-optic cable is used to replace coaxial cable, however, the camera is "fooled"
into thinking that it is not attached to anything, because of the cable’s light weight
and purity of signal. Once this happens, there is no noise, so the camera can be
pushed one f-stop faster than previously possible.‘9

It is frequently mentioned that technologies are advancing rapidly enough to
overcome any drawbacks. For example, as Blievernicht recalls: "We had 250
footcandles for a television set like a news set, but now you can do with 100
footcandles because we are now using a new image pickup device, called CCD.
Current TV technologies are continuously developing, and these will somehow

overcome current problems."’°

High-Deﬁnition Audio Prpduction. Television is deﬁnitely not a

predominantly visual medium; it is an audio-visual medium. In television, sound is
one of our primary, if not essential, communication factors. As mentioned in the
previous section, however, the current television system has certain technical
limitations in terms of audio, and these make audio production one of the weakest
aspects of TV production. In HDTV production, however, high-quality sound is
necessary to keep the balance between the video and sound portion ahd their relative
aesthetic energies. (As a reminder, the Grand Alliance selected Dolby’s AC-3 for a

standard of HDTV sound, which has CD-quality sound‘with ﬁve channels.)

64

This means that TV stations have to put more effort into audio production.
So far, the limitations of the current TV system have forced broadcasters to return
their inferior sound pick-up methods for TV production. That is, in a majority of
television shows, the sound was generally picked up and recorded on Videotape
simultaneously with the pictures, regardless of whether the show was done live, live-
on-tape, or videotaped for post-production editing. The simultaneous audio-video
pickup of sound has drawbacks. It means that all major moving and stationary
sound sources must be covered with micrOphones. In addition, the outdoor
conditions for ENG (electronic news gathering) and EFP (electronic ﬁeld
production) are generally less than ideal for good. sound pickup. Thus, it is difﬁcult
to separate ambient sounds and wind noise from the planned sound.

Recently, of course, there have been lots of changes in audio production.
Some more ambitious television producers use sound pickup and post-production
techniques that are very similar to that of ﬁlm. In addition, almost all television
stations, and especially the post-production houses, have extensive facilities for
sound "sweetening" (improving the intended sound quality), in which the sound is
manipulated separately and later married to the edited video portion. Although this
is a technical possibility, relatively few shows enjoy such sophisticated post-
production due to both time and cost constraints as well as relatively low aesthetic
needs. (In the previous section, the study suggested that simply improving the
quality of the sound without a similar improvement in the picture portion does not

lead to an improved viewer-listener experience.)

65

Because the high-deﬁnition images carry so much aesthetic energy, the sound
must be equally high-deﬁnition. The quality of the sound accompanying HDTV
images should be as realistic as the state of the art allows. Technically, this means
that the sound requires at least as much attention in production and post-production
as the visual portion. To achieve such high quality, it may have to be manipulated
and edited separately from the picture, or reproduced and added to the video portion
in highly complex sound post-production activities.

Many interviewees also suggested that the size of the audio crew in video
production should be increased in order to conduct this kind of high-quality audio
production. They believe that HDTV audio production should follow the audio
model of the ﬁlm industry. Gary Reid, an audio specialist at Michigan State
University, says:

Even on a low-budgeted ﬁlm production, six to eight audio persons are
involved. These are two location audio persons, a sound editor and re-
recording mixers. In contrast, in most TV productions, audio production
generally is relegated to one person. If a presentation of the HDTV picture is

to provide a heightened viewing experience, TV stations have to put more
staff into audio production.’1

Beg-Preduction Smge
5.411198 For editing, it does not matter if the video image quality is high or

low. (Of course, the image quality of a master tape is a big concern. In terms of
skills and work processes, however, there is not much difference between HDTV
and NTSC system.) Michel Oudin speciﬁes:

The only artistic difference between standard video editing and HD
editing is that fully perceiving all the detail in an HD shot on a wide screen

66

takes more time than a shot in low resolution, Therefore, we have found that
HD production has a slower rhythm than standard video.32

Other than direct impacts, this study assumes that the advent of HDTV will expedite
current trends in which video editing technologies and techniques are more
sophisticated and become increasingly important in video production.

For example, we can expect that HDTV editing will have the beneﬁts of
digital image processing through the use of digital videotapes. As mentioned, digital
videotape will increase the efﬁciency of post-production, because it can avoid
generation loss and make other special effects easier. That is, with its digitized
format, an editor does not have to worry about degradation when dealing with
multiple generations, such as required for blow-ups, zooming, and special effects.

Furthermore, in conjunction with desktop TV, there will be a full-ﬂedged
advantage in digital editing. Bill Richards indicates that the future of HDTV
production depends on how well it will successfully ﬁt into the digital production
age, saying:

The real beneﬁts of HDTV production should be found on digital
processing. Nowadays we are seeing on-going developments of nonlinear
editing systems and the information superhighway. . . . If HDTV is to succeed
in the future video production environment, it should be developed in ways
that allows people to fully maximize the beneﬁts of digital video production.”
To be sure, digital nonlinear editing systems have some advantages over the

traditional analog systems. First, they use a random access medium (hard disk
drive) to access ﬁle footage or audio information. This can save signiﬁcant time

over shuttling tape. Second, the digital editing environment of desktop systems

allows nondestructive (multiple generation), cut-and-paste, video and audio editing.

67
This increased ﬂexibility aids creativity by letting the editor make multiple or
custom versions quickly.

However, even though digital HDTV editing has some obvious advantages, it
requires new developments in compression technology. The amount of data required
to store one uncompressed HDTV frame is quite large, requiring over 3.4 MB. The
amount of data in one second is so vast (approximately 1.1 GB) that current
compression technologies, such as JPEG and MPEG, would signiﬁcantly deteriorate
the image.“

In addition, there are also some major cons in the area of post-production
using HDTV technology. Although the technology can reduce the amount of post-
production time, this does not always mean that the time saving would help
producers try various art forms to enhance creativity. Rather, it could accelerate
already unrealistic post-production schedules. Fern Field, who produced the CBS
HDTV movie, Innocent Victims, pointed out that:

Many of our television ﬁlms are now being posted on tape on a greatly
accelerated post-production schedule. Movies often are completed in less than
four weeks. Until the creative community as a whole stands up and says,
’No, no more, we won’t butcher our product that way,’ unrealistic (at least
creatively unrealistic) delivery schedules and air dates will continue to plague
those of us who make a living producing shows for television. This new
practice portends well for HDTV because dailies can be edited overnight and
viewed the next day.”

As we will see in the next section, time saving is regarded as one of the

greatest beneﬁts of HD production. However, many interviewees were skeptical of

this promise. Again, we should really be careful in analyzing the technical

68

properties of new technology. Even though it gives apparent technical beneﬁts, it

could result in drawbacks for the people who use it.

Special Effects. Just as the editing stage becomes an important part of video
production, current television programs are increasingly dependent on special effects.
Many production people believe that HDTV will help them produce special effects
in more efﬁcient and easier ways.

Because HDTV has high-resolution, it has more potential for special effects
than any other media. For example, normal TV cameras cannot easily produce
multiple-image trickery, because their fuzzier images will not fool the human eye
into blending two overlaid pictures into one. Those created with HDTV showed no
outlines of separated scenes.“

The digital image characteristics of HDTV also will be helpful for special
effects. With analog imagery, care has to be taken to record all of the live effects in
the ﬁrst generation, to avoid the degradation of the image that would occur in
multiple generations. With its digitized format, an editor does not have to worry
about degradation when dealing such multiple generation effects as blow-ups,
zooming, layering, and other kinds of special effects.

So far, several HI) production teams have used a special blue-screen matting
technique, called "Ultimatting" in order to create some special effects, and this
technique has proven to be very effective and creative. (Matting is the
superimposition of one image on another. It creates composite images by seamlessly

matting one image inside a previously shot background or scene.) While 35mm ﬁlm

69

and NTSC are limited by expensive optical special effects or image characteristics
(the composition of more than four separate visual Optical elements with 35mm, or
even 70mm, ﬁlm produces unacceptable results), HDTV, because of its seamless
matting process, offers possibilities for radical new kinds of imaging.

Many existing HDTV producers are satisﬁed with its superior capability for
special effects. They mentioned that the ability of ”Ultimatting" to render projected
shadows, and the quality of the HD image, combined to make special effects that
were quite spectacular. In purely video aspects, such as real-looking special effects
and color and contrast rendering, the HD image seemed to acquire an artistic
dimension lacking in standard video. As Stuart Samuels says:

HDTV production, when linked to a blue-screen process called
Ultimatting, can composite layer upon layer of separate images inside each
individual take. By creating images in this way, a director can have greater
control over the exact image he or she is trying to create. This kind of image
compositing is closer to the style of 24-track audio recording methods than to
traditional ﬁlm or video making. If a director has the ability to combine up to
15 or 20--or with digital HDTV, unlimited--visual elements to create a scene,
the kinds of scenes shot will change, as will the nature of the stories ﬁlmed or
taped.’7

From this assessment, Samuels derives a totally different production process,

proposing:

l. A director and writer join forces before a script is done to prepare a
combined writing and special effects script.

2. The background scenes or model building required to create the
visual look of the program are shot or created inside an HD effects studio,
without actors.

3. With the backgrounds pre-edited, with the special matting effects
completed, with the soundtrack added, it is now time for the actors and for the
production itself.”

ﬁll

70
The HD special effects system also contributes to cost savings. HDTV could

save money because of its ability to use the blue-screen mattes to create the effects
people want. This technique reduces set construction costs and increases production
value. For example, ”Chasing Rainbows" used this technique in order to create
Montreal in 1919, and the producer said that it saved a signiﬁcant amount of set
construction cost. ’9

Another area where HD special effects techniques can be used is the motion
picture production ﬁeld. Film special effects are time consuming and costly,
whereas special effects in video production are almost instantaneous and
considerably cheaper. For this reason, many ' TV special effects (whether the
program is shot on video or 35mm ﬁlm) are done exclusively within the video
domain. In motion picture production, however, the relatively poor images of
current 525-line images make ﬁlm producers bypass this method. Thus, ﬁlm special
effects usually go through very expensive processes. Because of the linkage with
the computer and all other computer based imaging technology (graphic systems,
motion control, digital video effects generators, and all future devices) current
special effects ﬁlmmaking could go through an extremely expensive process--
conversion from computer image to ﬁlm stock. Because of its mechanical and
chemical foundation, the computer-ﬁlm transfer process is extremely expensive and
time consuming compared with computer to video transfer, even with more versatile
and efﬁcient computer generated special effects.

This being the case, the current special effects economics of 35mm

ﬁlrnmaking relegates effects ﬁlmmaking to the highest budget category, and

71

therefore requires sure-ﬁre hits and popular themes to lower the ﬁnancial risk.
Special effects ﬁlmmaking for medium or lower budget ﬁlms has resulted in a
reliance on horror special effects, which require more make-up effects than Optical
or computer rendering tricks.

HDTV may solve this problem since there will be no image degradation--
unlike ﬁlm to NTSC conversion. The ability to combine multiple generations of
images electronically, and the easy transfer of computer generated special effects to
HD tapes (and then to ﬁlm) without loss of image quality, will make future
producers adopt HDTV special effects instead of expensive computer to ﬁlm transfer

methods.

uction ime and o -- e al is

So far, this study has discussed the possible impacts of HDTV technology on
various video production areas, such as technical elements, aesthetic value,
production skills, and work processes. In many cases, the effects of the new
medium on video production appear to be crucial. This is consistent with the
hypothesis that HDTV has the potential for changing the shape of video production.
In general, most ﬁndings are based on one underlying assumption: that HDTV is to
increase production value. That is, this study examined the likely impacts through
purely technical and aesthetic reasoning. Throughout the research, however, the
researcher found that the potential of HDTV for production value is under the
influence of other variables as well. Just examining technical and aesthetic

properties cannot be enough, since those properties would be changed and

72
manipulated by program makers who will apply the technology to their daily

practices. If those values are external to the needs and wants of production people,
or if they fail to meet the constraints of their working environment, the potential of
HDTV production will not be realized, or will have to be modiﬁed.

This being the case, it is necessary to examine the validity of those parameters
from the perspective of program makers. Through interviews with production
peOple, the researcher found three key variables that will determine the feasibility of
the potential of HDTV technology: the technical practicability of equipment, time,
and cost. Among them, the time and cost of HD production are central to the larger
discourse on the future progress of this new television system. (The research has
already examined some aspects of the technical practicability of HD equipment--an
erratically moving target, due to ongoing development.)

This section is to examine those variables under this hypothesis: Video
production is a creative work performed under moderate to intense time and money
pressures. The need to function creatively in an environment of pressures forces
most members of the production community to rely on safe, proven methods. The
introduction of any new equipment or new working methods into this equation
threatens to upset the community’s balance. It would be the same case with HDTV
production. Unless it justiﬁes the changes and imbalances caused by the new
medium, I-ID production will not be successful in the real world, even if it promises

ultimate advances in creativity.

73

There are many contradictions revolving around this subject, a central issue
for broadcasters. Therefore, this section will ﬁrst present the pros of cost reduction

found in the literature review, and devote the rest of the time to discussing them.

:1 ime and Qost Savings of HD Production-Literature Review

Time and cost constraints are among the most important factors in video
production. Those variables appear to inﬂuence both the problems production
people experience and the technology they use. This suggests that time and cost are
the bottlenecks, which means people’s own practices appear to be limited by a lack
of time and money. The press of the production cycle is apparent to all who work
in television. Therefore, directors search for ways to use their time to maximize
beneﬁt. Time is, then, the major physical and psychological restriction upon
television productions. Time means one thing: moneyumoney for crews who might
have to work overtime, for extra stage rentals, for extra equipment.

Apparently, HD production will give no time and cost savings compared with
many NTSC TV program productions with regard to multiple-camera and single-
camera video production (e.g., soap operas and magazine format shows). In fact, it
will demand much more time-consuming and costly production designs and
techniques. As mentioned before, HD production needs more precise and skillful
set designs, make-ups, and audio and lighting set-ups. Therefore, it is clear that HD
production teams should will much more time and money on designing this kind of
high-quality production, and that even larger crews would be required for a serious

dramatic feature produced in HDTV.

74

For this reason, most of the literature suggests that high-deﬁnition production
should initially be adopted for made-for-TV ﬁlms (e.g., premier prime-time shows
and commercials) in which most programs have been traditionally shot on 35mm
ﬁlm, and production values and costs are signiﬁcantly high?“ The time and cost
competitiveness is in the production of television long-fonn drama, syndicated
programs, commercials, and music videos. Joseph A. Flaherty, Vice President of
CBS Engineering and Development, suggests that these programs will make
increased use of high-deﬁnition television to reduce production time and cost
without compromising quality. He argues that because of its high-resolution, HDTV
will be used, ostensibly, in those programs that are traditionally shot on high-
deﬁnition 35mm ﬁlm, and proposed that this will ensure considerable time and cost
savings for networks.‘52

As to prime-time production, a CBS study in 1987 showed that 80 to 85
percent of prime-time shows had been shot on 35mm ﬁlm and post-produced
electronically in order to maintain a competitive edge over cable and the VCR
market. Hollywood produced over 1,700 hours of original prime-time programming
in 1987 for the three commercial networks alone.“3 (Currently, the ﬁgure is lower
because of the popularity of magazine format shows and video production situation
comedies. Still, the majority of prime-time TV programs are shot on 35mm ﬁlm.)

However, the core of the problem today is the high and escalating cost of ﬁlm
program production. Increasing at the rate of 16 percent per year, this cost trend
stems from the increased talent, labor, and material costs necessary to assure a more

competitive and appealing program product. For example, each episode of a serial

75

serial drama costs $1 million to $1.5 million, and a season's production of prime-time

programs can cost each network 5400 to $600 million.“

 

PER HOUR OF PROGRAM

u-lsmuous

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 3. Network Prime-Time Series 35mm Film Production Costs
(Courtesy CBS)

The advocates of HD production argue that networks will save money without
compromising image quality and will stay competitive in the market if they can replace ﬁlm-
oriented programs with HDTV programs. They believe that HDTV programs can be done
faster and use fewer people on the set. In fact, cost savings in crew expenses and reduced
shooting time have been suggested as major beneﬁts of HDTV for many years. (However,
as mentioned in the previous section, these promises are contradictable. This will be
discussed in a later section.) In addition, the advantages become clearer when one considers
the versatility of HD special eﬁects and relatively cheaper tape price compared with expensive

ﬁlm stock.

76
Consequently, many HDTV backers argue that using HDTV for electronic

production greatly improves productivity and cost economy by reducing the time
spent on certain types of production. For example, a CBS study conducted by
Rupert Stow compared a single episode of a one-hour drama produced in both
35mm ﬁlm and HDTV, and concluded that HDTV provided an overall cost savings
of 15 percent in production of prime-time dramatic programming and a more than
30 percent cost advantage over 35mm ﬁlm for music videos and commercials.
Principal cost savings come from labor, material, ﬁlm processing, reduced
production time, and reduced post-production (editing) time (see Appendix C). Stow
also concluded that a one-hour drama shot in' HDTV could reduce production
schedules from seven to six days per episode and reduce post-production from nine
to four person-weeks per episode. According to Stow, the HDTV post-production
advantage accounts for a 46 percent savings in editing."5 If HDTV production can
save 15 percent of the total production cost, it will assure a $60 million to $90
million ﬁnancial savings to each network for a season’s prime-time production. This
is a big savings, and thus it is argued that there is no reason to stick to ﬁlm-style

production.

W

Other than those promises, advocates of HDTV believe that HD production
has another competitive advantage in terms of program distribution. The main
problem of prime-time production has been seen to be high and escalating

production costs. In order to offset these cost increases, programs must be

77

distributed more widely to increase revenue and a return on the production investment.
Thus, even a market the size of North America requires additional international program sales
to create competitive programs. As shown in Figures 4, TV program exports have been an

important source of revenue for producers over the years.

 

OO-l

70:
mm
mu
ammo
”cl - M
may

Ottawa

Daren-LIN

”1

IO-

.-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 4. US Motion Picture Industry Percentage of Product
Revenue by Source
(Courtesy CBS)
Steady growth in exports derives entirely from the electronic distribution media. Over
a ﬁve-year period, these electronic program exports have grown at a rate of 55 percent
annually.
One of the problems of the current television system is that foreign markets have

different standards from the domestic market. There is no apparent standards converter for

converting 625—line signals to 525-line signals, and vice versa. After

78

thirty years of work, all converters, including the latest designs, still produce serious
artifacts in the conversion process. As a result, the only worldwide standard for
high-deﬁnition program production and program exchange has been the 35mm ﬁlm
that dominates the world’s program exchange marketplace.

This would be another reason why producers of prime-time programs favor
ﬁlm production over electronic production. While electronic production using
current television standards can achieve signiﬁcant ﬁnancial savings, producers have
been, and still are, unwilling to record their programs on the present 525 television
standard, not only because the technical quality is limited, but also because it is
indeed suitable only for the NTSC broadcasting environment.

However, there are drawbacks in the current system. Since electronic post-
production is much cheaper and faster, most prime-time programs are shot on 35mm
ﬁlm, and then post-produced in electronic media. However, in order to export these
master tapes, they must go through another step, tape to ﬁlm transfer. (Again, these
must be transferred to tapes in order to be broadcast in foreign countries.) Tapes
undergoing this process obviously suffer from artifacts generated by the double-
transfer process and its high cost.

With the advent of HDTV, this situation is expected to change. For example,
Fern Field, producer of "Innocent Victims," says:

. Since our 525 line system is the least desirable in the world, a producer
is faced with the need to convert tape to ﬁlm for foreign distribution, or
contend with a product that is inferior and oftentimes unacceptable in other
countries. The costs and time for conversion back to ﬁlm need to be factored

into the total product cost-~something that would not happen if the project had
been shot originally on HDTV."6

79

Field maintains that if a worldwide HDTV standard is set, then TV producers
will favor the HD production style because of its cost and time reduction

capabilities.

' c ' f ime av' 5

There are ongoing disputes about the assertions of time and cost
competitiveness from the perspective of media practitioners. As mentioned before, a
CBS study states that HD production can save crew expense and reduce shooting
time. In other words it takes fewer persons to shoot in HDTV. For instance, ﬁlm
camera crews consist of a camera operator, an assistant cameraman (to pull focus),
and a dolly grip (to move the camera dolly), while in HD production, according to
the literature, one person can do all of that.

The interviewees agree that, on three-camera TV comedy shows, it is true that
one person is used per camera, and that this person operates, focuses, and moves the
camera. They said that this may reduce the crew by two people per camera
compared with ﬁlm; however, this method would not be feasible for a quality
dramatic production. Brad Graham points out the fact that some high-quality video
productions have already used focus pullers. In addition, previous HD production
experience shows that additional people were needed to act as camera-control
engineers and videotape operators. At that time, the focus was remotely controlled
by video engineers, using a big monitor, often from the production equipment van

(see page 53)."

80

As for the proposed time savings, the interviewees also said that HD
production will not reduce time, if the program is to be high-quality one. As this
study examined, HD production needs very skillful lighting, shooting, audio
production. Brad Graham agrees with this:

While quick completion of a program is important to a producer, it
should also be noted that today, using standard ﬁlm methods, ﬁlms are being
ﬁnished in as little as three and a half months, start to ﬁnish. Long delays for
ﬁlm completion are usually artistic in nature and not technical.“

If you want to produce a good video, you will have to spend much more time
for the same reason.

Crew cost is another area that is said to beneﬁt from the cost savings of
HDTV. As shown in a CBS study, higher costs are set for ﬁlm crews than an
HDTV crew (see Appendix C). However, it has been pointed out that some
specialty jobs involving electronics are very well paid. Practical experience
indicates that in video shows with good production values, crews demand rates equal
to those in ﬁlm. According to Harry Mathias, cinematographer:

Crew cost comparisons between ﬁlm and video production are quite
difﬁcult to make. This is because the price a crew will demand depends on
the quality level of production and not on the technology used to record it. A
crew hired to do an important dramatic ﬁlm will be selected based on their
experience and reputation; if they are in demand, their price will be high.
Producing such a project on video will not alter this fact. In the case of
current videotape editing, we are even seeing that due to the complexity of the
editing systems and their frequent obsolescence, trained editors are at a
premium and may charge any price they wish."9
Finally, most advocates of HD production rely upon the fact that tape is

cheaper than ﬁlm. There is no argument on this. Even though current HDTV tapes

are extremely expensive ($1,000 per tape), it will be a temporary problem, and the

81
prices will surely be signiﬁcantly lower than ﬁlm stock. Graham points out,
however, that it is illogical to believe that HD production can signiﬁcantly reduce
the cost of production without loss of quality just because videotape is cheaper than
ﬁlm stock:
When the client and the producer decide to shoot a program on
videotape because it is supposed to be cheaper, they then pay the crew less,
use smaller crews with less lighting and grip equipment, and have a tighter
shooting schedule and a lower shooting rational] because video is supposed to
be cheaper. The result, of course, is simply an inferior product. The truth is
that ’good’ video is expensive--just as good ﬁlm is expensive. Even if it
saves a certain amount of money due to the cheaper tape cost, in my opinion,
it would be peripheral rather than substantial. Anyway, producers of quality
video programs will have to spend more money in addition to the savings in
order to enhance the quality of the program."0
In spite of these ongoing disputes, advocates of HDTV still believe that HD
production has certain advantages over ﬁlm-style TV production. For example, they
maintain that a comparison of union rate cards will show lower rates for video than
for ﬁlm, in some job descriptions. They argue that there is a real savings if made-
for-TV dramas are shot in HDTV and one does not have to negotiate with unions
and teamsters." In 35mm ﬁlm shooting, there are certain rules as to who can drive
a truck and pull cable, and the required lunch break that the crews on the shoot must
have. These rules are much more restrictive in ﬁlm than they are in video, and
because of that HD production could save money.

Furthermore, there are distinct advantages of HDTV for real-time special
effects. Film special effects are time consuming and costly, whereas special effects

in video production are almost instantaneous and considerably cheaper. As

mentioned in the previous section, HDTV could save money because of its ability to

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create the effects people want by using blue-screen mattes. This technique reduces

set construction costs in addition to increasing in production value (see page 65).

W

Even though HD production may provide some ﬁnancial savings, producers of
HDTV programs still have to struggle with another major restriction of HD
production. Almost every interviewee points out that the huge capital outlay for
HDTV production equipment would offset the ostensible cost savings. As of today,
a lot of HD production equipment is available in the marketplace. According to the
literature, more than 30 companies are now manufacturing HDTV production
equipment (see Appendix B). However, the current costs of these products are
inordinately high compared to those of NTSC equipment. For example, the HDTV
VTR cost was roughly $200,000, camera cost was $250,000 each, and a color
monitor was $47,000, according to the 1988 ﬁgure. These ﬁgures are two or three
times greater than standard NTSC equipment. And, a high-quality Betacarn Sp+
video camera costs about $60,000. Unquestionably, these costs, coupled with the
present standards confusion, are impeding a more rapid advance in HDTV
production.

There are a variety of forces that ultimately bear on the costs of HDTV
production equipment. These include standards, technology, competition, breadth of
application, and manufacturing economies of scale."2 These forces are all
inextricably tied together, inﬂuencing the attendant costs of HDTV production

equipment.

83
:1 echnology and Standard factors. Since HDTV production requires lots of

enhancements in terms of technical qualities and performances, the costs of HDTV
production equipment are directly inﬂuenced by the technical and standards
parameters of HDTV. One simple example graphically illustrates this direct
relationship.

The ﬁrst salable HDTV production equipment became available in 1984 and a
few entrepreneurs soon invested and set up operational production/post-production
facilities. An average calculation was made of the prices of the basic HDTV
products supplied by seven international manufacturers to some ﬁve facilities. These
prices were then compared to the current prices of their standard 525/625 studio
products. The HDTV equipment averaged 2.7 times greater than the standard
products. Five years later, following the completion of the SMPTE 240M 1150/60
standard in 1988, a new, second generation HDTV product line became available
from all of these same manufacturers and others. The average selling prices were
now 3.3 times greater than the standard equivalent broadcast equipment at the
current prices."3

These price increases directly reﬂect the substantial increase in the technical
speciﬁcations inherent within the SMPTE 240M standard, which include a 30
percent increase in bandwidth required for distribution; a wider color gamut; a wider
aspect ratio, and a narrower horizontal blanking width. These enhancements came at

a price."

84

Nowadays, we have other technical enhancements, such as progressive
scanning, square pixels, and digital image and sound processing. Thus, cost is

expected to climb very rapidly as these technologies are pushed to their boundaries.

tition d c no ies Scale. Of course, these costs will ultimately
yield to competition and to manufacturing economies of scale. However,
broadcasters are skeptical about these factors. They argue that HDTV production
equipment manufacturing will not easily reach a "take-off point/critical mass" at
which the costs go down rapidly. Blievernicht explains:
Today’s production lines manufacture HDTV equipment in lots of
perhaps ten. HDTV production equipment, however, like its 525/625
broadcast studio predecessor, will never escalate beyond production lots of
hundreds. Thus, the economies of scale would not be so great, and I think
that costs will yield only grudgingly.”
He assumes that development of a solid, sensible, pragmatic, implementable
(with present technology) standard is crucial. Only if the technology remains within
bounds that can be addressed by many, and conﬁdence is generated that one

standard is acceptable to most, will true competitive manufacturing dynamics come

into play that will drive down the costs.

WWW. Finally, the interviewees point out some
other practical problems of HDTV production. They say that television stations or

production companies usually buy most HDTV production equipment, rather than
renting. 0n the other hand, in ﬁlm style production, it is usual to rent production
equipment. For example, in ﬁlm one can rent a Panavison Gold camera, with

everything that comes with it, for only $700 a day. According to the 1988 ﬁgure,

di:

85
however, an HDTV camera and VTR cost about $250,000 to $200,000 respectively.
Although it is possible to rent HDTV equipment in several places (e.g., the 1125/60
HDTV studios of David Niles, Barry Rebo’s HDTV studio and from Zbig
Rybczynski of Zbig Vision), the rental costs are inordinately high. The producer of
"Chasing Rainbows," for example, had to pay $7,500 per a day for renting an
HDTV camera, one VTR, and a truck with an engineer."

Furthermore, because of the rapidly changing technology, the useful life of
electronic cameras and other equipment is relatively short compared to say, the
Panavision ﬁlm camera, which has a much longer useful life. Video production
technology is always moving ahead and introducing new equipment into the market.
In the HDTV system especially, which is now in the incipient stage, new equipment
with state of the art characteristics will be introduced rapidly. This rapid change
makes the old HDTV equipment obsolete.

Most of the interviewees agree that these problems will make producers
hesitate to accept HD production. As Brad Graham points at:

Actually, we have already experienced this kind of problem. When we
ﬁrst started this production house, we used Umatic. Then we bought Sony
Betacam, and recently we purchased some Betacam SP+. Nowadays there is
Digital Betacarn in the market. If HDTV becomes a norm it would be a big
problem. All the equipment we have will be obsolete, and even if we
purchase some HDTV equipment, it will have a similar problem. I don’t
think people will invest money in HDTV equipment, knowing this problem."
As of this writing, it seems that there is a growing feeling that HDTV or

enhanced systems, far from beneﬁting the broadcast industry, are threatening to

disrupt it. Most production people, including the interviewees and other authorities,

are skeptical about the alleged cost/time competitiveness of HD production. They

86

do not believe hotvever, that anyone, including themselves, can speak with full
authority on the cost of HDTV because the critical mass of experience has not yet
been reached. They point out that, in every production, the learning curve is a
factor. It is reasonable to suppose that any new technology in its infancy may not
be cost effective at ﬁrst. As the curve goes up, however, HDTV might become
competitive with 35mm ﬁlm. Only if one has a broad base of experience can one

then speak with authority on the subject.

MW

Throughout this chapter, the study has investigated the impacts of HDTV on
video production ﬁelds. It has analyzed the expected beneﬁts as well as drawbacks
of HD production, and examined how they are perceived and placed in the minds of
current production people. According to our ﬁndings HDTV, which to many people
appears to hold great potential, also suffers from intrinsic frailties when viewed in
the cold light of production people’s needs and perceptions, integration with existing
systems, technical practicability, and the ever present matter of economics.
Although most production people agreed to the advantages of HD production in
terms of creativity, many do not believe these beneﬁts can offset the expected
disturbances and imbalances in production ﬁelds.

According to James Sumbler, producer and cinematographer of Instructional
Media Center (IMC) at Michigan State University, the current trend in the television
industry seems to be antagonistic to HD production:

In order to achieve the real beneﬁts of HDTV, we will have to invest
more in terms of production values. That is going to slow down production

87

and increase the cost of the production by a large amount. One of the big
things that prime-time production is working on these days is holding the
production cost down. A lot of programs that were shot on 35mm ﬁlm are
now shot on video or 16mm ﬁlm. Production is moving in that direction--
reducing the cost and shaving down the production values accordingly to
achieve lower production cost. So that’s certainly an antagonistic force on
that effort. And what that means is that other factors are gonna have to be cut
in order to accommodate that increase in cost. I don’t know what those are
gonna be. It’s a little scary to think about it. There are some obvious
possibilities that I don’t even like to think about."

Coupled with capital outlays for new equipment and time consumption for
trial and error, it seems that there are some major obstacles of time and money to
the acceptance of HD production. Almost every interviewee indicated that, unless
these problems are solved, they will not try this new art formuat least in its incipient
stage. Thus, the true potential of HDTV technology for a new TV production era

may not be fully realized at any time soon.

Considering the Viewer

A third approach, seldom discussed, also exists. It is to ﬁnd out exactly what
impact these so-called improvements have upon the viewer population. The
consumer’s view of HDTV imagery must be analyzed before an intelligent decision
can be made as to whether or not demonstrated picture/sound improvements are
sufﬁciently justiﬁed to warrant the acceptance of the new production era.
Productions are meant to be viewed. Television’s essential nature as a mass medium
presumes concern with the viewer on the part of the program makers. If consumers
really want improved picture and sound, the production industry will have to meet

the demand regardless of the drawbacks.

88

The dilemma exists, however, because as of this writing, we know very little
about the quality of HDTV home imagery. We have been immersed in complex
technical discussions on what constitutes an HDTV production standard, with 35mm
ﬁlm hovering as the ever immutable standard of reference. In engineering circles,
the technical parameters that constitute the multifaceted HDTV image continue to be
separately dissected with debates about the viewer’s sensitivities to spatial resolution,
calorimetry, gray scale, noise, temporal resolution, artifacts, and aspect ratio.

But what will eventually decide or inﬂuence the viewer’s perception of home
HDTV imagery? Unfortunately, little has been done to seek a sensible assessment
of consumer views on HDTV imagery. A study. by the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) showed somewhat confused ﬁndings on this subject matter.”
The study gauged consumer reaction to HDTV in side-by-side comparisons with
conventional color television sets. The study found that almost two-thirds of
viewers preferred the HDTV sets over conventional sets, but that viewer preference
was highly conditional and sensitive to such factors as program content and how
close viewers were to the screen. In one instance, 89 percent of viewers watching
football footage preferred the conventional color set over the HDTV set when seated
about 10 feet (the average viewing distance) from 18-inch sets (the average size of
home television tubes). In another instance, when seated 3 feet (the ideal distance
for viewing HDTV) in front of a larger (28-inch) monitor, 95 percent of viewers
preferred watching the opening pageantry of the 1984 Olympics on the HDTV
receiver rather than on the conventional color receiver. These strong swings in

viewer preference in response to screen size, viewing distance, program content, and

89

even color tone serve to suggest that "the preference for HDTV . . . is highly conditional and
context dependent."80
A great deal of speculation abounds regarding the relative merits of HDTV image and
sound, but most research has discussed the technical parameters of HDTV without
considering the aesthetic potential for its viewers and producers. In order to comprehend
HDTV imagery and sound in general, however, we need to understand not only the technical
properties of HDTV but also its aesthetic potential. The problem is that there are not many
viewers who have had the opportunity to watch imagery using this new medium. As a
consequence, an important contribution to the general examination of HDTV is absent.
Taking all these factors into consideration, it seems that there is growing confusion
about this subject. It appears that some production people do not believe today's viewers
really care about picture quality. Almost every interviewee argued that viewers do not care
about it, though production people do for their own sakes. Graham asserts: "I don't think
it matters to the audiences. I ﬁnd, in business, the quality matters to the professionals and
their colleagues. We're almost doing this for our own sakes."" On the other hand, some
people present a somewhat different argument. According to Joseph A.Flaherty:

As we evaluate the on-rush of new technologies, we must bear in mind that
the 'standard of service' enjoyed by the viewer today will not be his 'level of
expectation' tomorrow. I think that most of us would agree that our intuitive measure
of picture quality is the cinema-mot television. What will our audience do when they
can have wide-screen, stereophonic, cinema quality at home? The viewer's
'expectation level,’ not the present 'standard of service,’ will drive our future market.

"Good enough" is no longer "perfect" and may, in fact, become wholly
unsatisfactory. Quality is a moving target, and our future judgments must not be

based on today's performance, nor on minor improvements thereto.82

When we consider the complexity of today's media environment, this situation

90

becomes more confusing. The quality target we are aiming for is set by the subjective
expectations of the consumer for each class of video product, and today's consumer has
experience with numerous quality levels. That is, today's viewer has one level of expectation
for image quality when viewing broadcast entertainment, another level for "home videos,"
another for CD-ROMs, and another for laser discs. With the approach of still newer
distribution systems and more television program products, such as advanced television,
interactive television, HDTV, and video conferencing, even more levels of expectation will
arise, each with its own technical requirements.

This being the case, it would be presumptuous to provide a deﬁnite answer on the
subject matter. Some key explorations have to take place before one can give reliable
answers, and the researcher believes that this study might offer one framework for this subject

matter.

CHAPTER 4

HDTV PRODUCTION FROM OTHER PERSPECTIVES

him

So far, this study has examined the technical and aesthetic impacts of HDTV
technology on various TV production areas. It has been suggested, however, that
the subject matter of this study consists of a complex set of discourses. That is, the
quality of HD production, as well as the degree to which the new technology is
applied to daily production practices, will depend on the type of broadcast operation,
its market situation, and the political environment as well. The infrastructure of the
production industry has to be viewed as a business enterprise responsive to the
beneﬁts of rigorous ﬁnancial administration, in which cost control is a prime
element, and to various political issues as well.

Many research areas that might relate to our research topic. However,
analyzing these subject matters in depth is beyond the scope of this study. Thus, the
study would rather brieﬂy describe those factors, and see how they are related with

each other.

0 ' lii
In analyzing the economic, and political considerations of HDTV systems, a

differentiation must be made among three HDTV sectors. That is, the

91

92

studio/production sector, which includes the production and post-production of
programs; the distribution/transmission sector, which deals with delivery of programs
to the home; and the receiver/display sector, which involves home viewing of
programs. It is important to understand the principle economic and policy
considerations relating to the diffusion of HDTV technology upon each of these

various sectors.

Studio and Production Sector

Since the study has already discussed many issues relating to economic and
political implications for the studio/production sector, this chapter will mainly focus
on other two sectors instead, making sure to discuss "the drive for a worldwide
production standard."

A single worldwide standard for HDTV production would have a number of
economic consequences. For example, past failures in achieving a worldwide
standard-~AM stereo, color and monochrome television, half-inch VCR formats--
have resulted in a costly decrease in potential ROI (Return of Investment) on media
productions and distribution. With a single worldwide standard for HDTV, quality
programs could be created on a wide scale at manageable cost, and international
exchange markets for programs would lead to greater distribution, so companies
using HDTV would show a higher ROI.

As. mentioned previously, the proliferation of new video distribution
technologies to the home has produced a climate of hypercompetition for audience

market share, necessitating new strategies to capture those audiences. These

93

strategies could include more attractive programs, more expensive programs, and
more international marketing of programs, to meet additional costs.

To address these issues, program producers will need to enlarge audiences by
exporting programs, using co-production joint ventures to create international appeal,
and enhancing technical quality of programming to satisfy a full range of global
opportunity. As we have discussed in previous chapters, TV program exports have
been an important source of revenue for producers over the years (see pages 72 and
73). To fulﬁll this opportunity, a global standard for HDTV production is ﬁe
foremost necessity. >9" law, 0'“ )2 («mind/Ill"! ll I,“ N”

It has been noted that many countries have tried to initiate a global standard for
HDTV production in order to take the lead in a worldwide HDTV market. In 1979,
the NHK system was demonstrated world-wide, and efforts to initiate a global
standard for HDTV began. By 1980, interest in HDTC gained momentum in the
US, and shortly thereafter in Europe. Since then the race has been on to ﬁnd a
universal standard for HDTV. The FCC began working on HDTV in 1987, and
since then, there have been continuous efforts to set ﬁxed speciﬁcations in North
America (see pages 20-25). Because of a number of technological and economic
barriers, it seems that nobody has a clear answer on when a standard would be
approved in North America, or which standard that might be, let alone if it would be
a global standard.

If a worldwide standard for the HDTV production is not achieved, 35mm ﬁlm
would remain as the international medium for program exchange, de facto standards

would be implemented instead, HDTV equipment manufacturers would face a

94

fragmented marketplace and lesser economies of scale, and program producers
would need to have many different conversion systems to accommodate transcoding

requirements.

Qisg'bgtion and Transmission Sector

Signiﬁcant policy and economic considerations surround the HDTV
distribution/Uansmission sector as well. This sector is composed of some of the
following elements: broadcast networks and network afﬁliates, independent TV
stations, syndicated program producers, cable television systems and program
services, home video software, multichannel multipoint distribution services
(MMDS), direct broadcasting satellite (DBS), etc. The demand for HDTV services
will divert time and capital away from existing and future video entertainment
business; therefore, the impact of HDTV on these businesses will depend on the
technical standards that are adopted and the relative time frame for adoption.

Distribution media operate in distinct economic conditions, which affect
technical considerations. Regulatory environment, structure of ownership,
competitive environment, and cost structures affect each distribution industry.
Technical consideration can in turn affect economic conditions; for example, a
greater bandwidth for the HDTV system generally produces greater picture quality,
but also creates a greater opportunity cost because of the spectrum that becomes lost
for alternate uses. Opportunity costs will vary between different media In
broadcasting, opportunity cost will be high for markets where channels are fully

occupied; similarly, in cable, opportunity cost will be high because of retooling costs

95

in repeaters, ampliﬁers, and converters. On the other hand, opportunity costs will be
incremental rather than direct in satellites and ﬁber optics.

These factors are forcing the United States and the world to decide on which method
of program distribution to choose for HDTV: terrestrial broadcasting, cable distribution by
coaxial and ﬁber optic cable, and DBS. The major purpose is to determine how the wide
video basebands of HDTV can be accommodated in each system.

On February 13, 1987, the FCC was petitioned by 58 broadcast organizations and
companies to do something quickly.”3 The petition asked the FCC to explore the issues of
advanced technologies and their possible impact on either broadcast or non-broadcast uses,
on existing television services, and on the FCC‘s policies for spectrum allocation and
television station allotment. Broadcasters were telling the FCC that without the opportunity
to improve the existing terrestrial broadcasting system through improvements in sound and
picture quality, television broadcast service would be relegated to second-class status. The
FCC sided with broadcasters and recommended that the FCC adopt an NTSC-compatible
broadcast standard.“ At this point the issue of compatibility, the extent to which the existing
service is protected from the advancement of the new, made its presence in the
implementation of HDTV. Those designing the new systems had to contend with the impact
of their work on existing services. The new superior service to new receivers must continue
to serve the existing television universe.

The FCC's tentative plan to conﬁne channel allocations for terrestrial HDTV via re-
use of VHF and UHF channels has raised doubts that dual channel HDTV service can be

accommodated, especially in large markets where there are more VHF allotments. Therefore,

96

attention has been focused on the UHF spectrum to carry the HDTV signals. This is due to
more channel availability on the UHF band, and this additional space will enable the FCC to
reallocate and reuse these channels more efﬁciently. In fact, the primary motive leading to
the formation of the FCC Advisory Committee on ATV systems was the impending spectrum
issue involving terrestrial mobile communications, when eight major cities claimed that
spectrum was too scarce to support terrestrial mobile communications. The Land Mobile
Communication Council initiated its lobby for more spectrum on the grounds that services
would saturate existing allocations in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles by the 19905."5

Another preliminary decision made by the FCC deals with non-broadcast media. For
satellite TV, cable TV, and ﬁber-optic distribution of video, the FCC decided not to adopt
a standard. The standard format that the FCC adopts will only apply to terrestrial TV
broadcasting. This freedom allows cable and satellite formats to be driven by marketplace
considerations. They will, however, have to be compatible to some degree with the broadcast
standard in order for a consumer to be able to use the same TV receiver to display
programming from all sources. But cable and satellite systems are not as spectrum-limited
as terrestrial broadcasting, so they may be able to use different formats to take advantage of
their available spectrum. The satellite and cable industries are potentially the big winners in
HDTV. They have more technical freedom and ﬂexibility than broadcast television. They
will have HDTV programming available sooner than terrestrial television will, since pay TV
programmers like HBO are likely to be among the ﬁrst HDTV programmers. And, unlike
broadcast TV, these nonobroadcast media won't have to wait until 1995 or 1996 for an FCC

standard if they can reach agreement on an industry standard earlier.

97

From an economic perspective, other related systems depend on policy decisions
regarding HDTV as well--VCRs and pre-recorded videocassettes are two examples. Certain
risks to these products would occur due to decentralized policy--in other words, no setting
of technical standards. The risk to consumers is that technical obsolescence could force
additional investments beyond the perceived value of the enhanced service. One beneﬁt of
standardization is that component compatibility translates into reduced costs; however,
standardization would be costly for the enormous variety of already existing products and
infrastructure; their incompatibility with the new standards could become a hindrance to
adoption of new products.

For this reason, policy issues of standardization need to address the impact of
regulation upon production economies of scale; the costs of compatibility; and the costs of

transcode-ability (transform) relative to incompatible standards.

B . I II' I S

The economic and policy considerations surrounding the third HDTV sector
(receiver/display) involve consumer as well as microeconomics issues. By the end of the
decade some estimates place consumer spending on HDTV products as high as $35 billion
annually around the world. Estimates place HDTV receiver prices at anywhere from two or
four times the costs of a comparatively priced current NTSC receiver, and HDTV VCRs at
about one and one-half times the price of current high-end NTSC VCRs."‘5

As stated earlier, consumer acceptance of HDTV will depend on the consumer's

expected perception of differences in these products and services compared to the additional

98

investment in them. Features such as wide screens, higher resolution in luminance and
chrominance, and digital stereo sound are variables that may affect demand, and the demand
for HDTV could be accelerated by relatively lower incremental costs, higher perceived
quality, availability of larger screen sets, and downward compatibility with NT SC. Demand
could be irnpeded, however, if there is a severe lack of programming available, a lack of
relative accessrhility to HDTV services, and/or a lack of downward compatibility with NTSC.

If HDTV production is to be successful, it should justify capital investment by
increasing revenue through attracting more viewers or sponsors. However, some research
shows a negative perspective on this. A comprehensive demonstration of HDTV and NT SC
systems was held between Toronto, Ottawa, Seattle, and Canbury, Connecticut, in 1987.78
Living conditions were simulated for viewing. The typical viewer was a 41-year-old male
with a college degree, and a yearly income of $40,000. Among the observers in the living
room situations, the strong preference was for the HDTV displays. The participants indicated
that they would be willing to pay higher rates for pay channel movies when available on
HDTV.

Answers on the acceptable cost of HDTV equipment were less encouraging. When
asked to estimate how much more the HDTV receiver would cost than a high quality standard
set, the observers said, on average, 5300 to $400. When informed that the price difference
would be in the range of $1,500 to $2,000 only 24 percent were interested in purchasing at
those prices." (More recently, W conducted a phone survey
in the middle of 1994, and this showed similar results.” It is estimated that the HDTV set

penetration ratio will be between 8 and 10 percent in the ﬁrst ﬁve years. That ﬁgure will

99

discourage HDTV production, a very unhopeful situation.

Additionally, the acceptance of HDTV by producers will depend heavily on ﬁnancial
viability. Even though HDTV has a high quality of image and sound, it will not be successful
unless this will make a proﬁt. That means there should be enough HDTV viewers to support
their investment. Until sets hit the shop, therefore, no broadcaster is going to spend much
money on high-deﬁnition production, and if there is no good HDTV programming, then
consumers will not buy many expensive TV sets.

As shown in the above experiments, there is a causal effect between price and rate of
adoption. Prices must drop from the introductory cost of $3,000 if more positive projections
are to be realized. Current trends in component technologies suggest price declines should
happen over time. Price elasticity--a small percentage in price reduction yielding a larger
percentage in number of units sold--could further magnify the value of sales associated with
greater demand.

The costs versus the beneﬁts, both direct and incremental, of HDTV to the consumer
will affect policy in this area. And these policy considerations will in turn affect how fast
consumers adopt HDTV systems. The FCC's insistence on compatibility could send signals
of stability to those broadcasters and manufacturers who are considering conversion to
HDTV. If broadcast stations reach a level of approximately 13.5 percent adoption,
"bandwagon" effects should further increase HDTV adoption.9O

In addition to the microeconomics issues affecting the various HDTV sectors,
macroeconomics of trade issues also arise in regard to these new technologies. HDTV

standards and technologies will have implications for both the domestic and global economies,

100

affecting economic activity, employment, contribution to GNP, and the balance of trade.
Individual industries will feel the eﬁects at the national economic level, of course, but will also
feel "multiplier effects." For example, studies show that every $1 value added in color TV
manufacturing results in a further $1.80 value added in other US industries." This translates
into about 35,000 jobs created for every $1 billion of value added."2 At these rates HDTV
is forecasted by economist Larry Dabby in a recent study to create 35,000 jobs in 1998 and
240,000 jobs by 2003; for HD VCRs the ﬁgure is 100,000 new jobs by 1998.93

Rapid development of HDTV production and distribution equipment on a global scale
would be in the interest of the US production and program distribution industries. HDTV
would lead to expanded software exports, also cutting into the US trade imbalance. In
addition, some US ﬁrms have begun to develop market niches for HDTV production
equipment manufacturing, which relies heavily on digital component software, thereby leading
to advances in that industry as well. If HDTV is not domestically cultivated in the US, the
trade deﬁcit could rise due to an ample supply of product coming to America from abroad.

European countries are strategically allied in HDTV through their collaboration on
the EUREKA project. Some experts speculate that HDTV may diffuse more rapidly in
Western Europe than in the US, based upon its market potential. Such an international
strategic alliance reﬂects the dynamic chains in global competitiveness; collaborative efforts
provide synergy not only to participating international ﬁrms but to the allied cooperative
growth of whole industries, such as that of semiconductors. Potential economies of scale in
these industries are linked to high-volume demand, and such demand can be stimulated by an

HDTV industry.

101

For those reasons, there have been many opposing groups involved in the Washington
debate over the role of the govemment in HDTV development. On one hand there are those
who feel that if HDTV is worth getting into, American industry will see the opportunity to
make money and jump in without any government action or assistance. Opponents of a
govemment role in HDTV assert that the government cannot pick winners and losers: HDTV
may be this decade's eight-track tape player or quadraphonic sound system. (In other words,
government might be propping up a money-losing technology.) They frequently cite US
computer manufacturing as an example of a healthy industry that competes worldwide
without government help and that will develop digital HDTV on its own.

On the other hand, there are those who feel that this technology is so important that
American industry must be involved, and that government must encourage their involvement
at the very least by removing the disincentives that have built up after years of bad policies.
It could range from changing the tax and antitrust laws, to direct federal funding for R&D,
to subsidies or price (or trade) supports for American HDTV manufacturers. It is believed
that the US cannot count on a few simple moves, such as adopting an HDTV broadcast
standard. Thus far, government money for high-deﬁnition technology has come only from
the Department of Defense (DOD) and NASA, two agencies that traditionally fund new
technologies. But some argue that the government should do more. Television broadcasters
and some cable operators emphasize the transmission issue and want to insure that HDTV
will not leave them in the same position asd AM broadcast stations. The US has a vast
broadcasting infrastructure valued at some $40 billion. Indiscriminate and thoughtless

development of HDTV has the potential to cripple and eventually kill America's unique local

102
broadcast system.

The information services and computer industries have a third viewpoint, which seems
to prevail in recent economic and political debates on telecommunication. This places HDTV
in the context of information transmission and display, and argues for a government role that
would emphasize all high-resolution imaging systems, a position that would treat HDTV as
one of many services that a national digital network would deliver.

For HDTV, there is strong competition from other digital video technologies, such
as interactive television, DBS (Direct Broadcast Satellite), desktop TV, and other digital
information services. Perhaps the future of HDTV in the digital video age may not be so

bright. It seems that HDTV has no safe place in the onslaught of other new TV technologies.

According to the above-mentioned survey conducted by W, the

respondents were more interested in other forms of interactive services than in HDTV.“
Hence, some critics already posit the failure of HDTV.

The main beneﬁts of digital television are the new services and programming
it makes possible, and the control it gives viewers. Digital HDTV offers these, plus
a higher-resolution picture. The trouble is that by the time HDTV hits the market (in
1996 at the earliest), millions of homes will already be getting digital programming on
their normal televisions, thanks to smart set-top boxes. Will viewers pay steep prices
just for sharper images? Nicholas Negroponte, director of MIT's Media Laboratory,
thinks not. "People don't give a damn about resolution," he argues. Anyway, digital
signals (with error-correction) produce superbly sharp pictures on standard sets.
When European telecom ministers recently passed a resolution on digital TV, the
words "high-deﬁnition" were absent. "HDTV is irrelevant," says Mr. Negroponte,
"and the Grand Alliance is a grand joke."

’ The punch line is this. Whether or not HDTV ﬁnds a market, its raison d 'etre
is to bring viewers better-looking television. But the thrust of digital, ﬁber-optic and
network technology is to turn television into more than television.”

It should be noted however, that broadcasters are looking to HDTV technology to

103

provide additional services outside of broadcast production and retransmission. They are
saying that HDTV is just the ﬁrst step. Dr. John Abel, Executive Vice President of the
National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has said that "Digitization gives broadcasters
the opportunity to become directly competitive with telephone companies. The real
opportunities for revenue are in data and voice, more than additional video services." As
mentioned above the Grand Alliance adopts square pixels and progressive scanning for the
HDTV system, both of which are crucial for compatibility with the computer, and some
companies are developing information processing systems by which they can provide

information services, using HDTV architecture.”

Recommendation

In the above section, this study brieﬂy examined how market dynamics and policy
issues relate to HDTV. Obviously, this analysis is not enough. This topic consists of a
complex set of subjects, and it demands thorough research on them. Since the research
ﬁndings mainly are from the technological standpoint, it would be a good idea to conduct
further research. Considering time constraints, however, this is beyond the scope of this
study.

In addition, the researcher assumes that there are competitive and synergetic
correlations in the developments of various forms of digital video technologies. By looking
beyond the current stage of HDTV development, we might have a valuable futuristic view of
HDTV, and further discuss the role of HDTV in the "digital video age." These topics will

remain undeﬁned in this study for the same reason. The researcher expects that some further

104

studies on these subjects will serve to clarify the ﬁndings of this research.

CHAPTER 5

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

In the formative years of television broadcasting, new developments in
technology were immediately and enthusiastically embraced by broadcasters in their
drive to improve picture/sound quality, extend services, and add new production
values to television programs. Nowadays, however, not all new developments have
shared the success of the early innovations, even. though they might possess reﬁned
principles of engineering, or furnish unique broadcast services. They wither because
they fail to fulﬁll the essential criteria of public acceptance and viability in a highly
competitive environment. (A prime example of inappropriate technology would be
Teletext.)

This being the case, emphasis in the new media studies is now increasingly
being directed toward the immct of technology upon spectrum conservation, viewer
perceptions, and the vital matter of proﬁtability for broadcast companies themselves.
So far, many studies have been conducted that were relevant to the new media from
technological and economic aspects, but one key extrapolation has not been fully
taken in those studies. They uniformly emphasized the viewer’s role in the public
acceptance of a new medium. But the viewer’s perception of the new medium is
dependent on the quality of programs. Most of the studies have been immersed in

technical and economic issues, but failed to capture the signiﬁcant parallel issue of

105

106

the subject matter: shaping of the message. What can program makers do to
enhance their program quality so as to make their audiences more medium friendly?
In order to fully realize the nature of a new medium, we should examine not only
the decoding (reception) factor but also the encoding (production) side of it.

Program making is a vital issue involving many aspects of new media
development. For example, when color TV was introduced, six years elapsed with
little market penetration, even though set costs fell signiﬁcantly. When the networks
implemented full-color prime-time programming in 1966, sales increased
explosively. Similarly, VCR sales were relatively insigniﬁcant until the introduction
of videocassette rental stores. Based on this, the researcher ﬁnds that there is a
strong research need to look at the new media from the standpoint of production.

The purpose of this thesis is to provide supplemental but critical information
to the new media studies by offering viewpoints on HDTV from the production
community. This study developed the research under one hypothesis: the
introduction of HDTV with its new technical and aesthetic properties will change
video production. By examining this hypothesis, the study has tried to investigate:
1) some distinctive characteristics of HDTV in terms of television technology and
aesthetics, and 2) its potential for changing the principles and techniques of TV
production. Each section spotlighted a relevant topic or emerging concerns, and
tried to provide sufﬁcient information to make a rational framework for the study of
HDTV. Featured topics included: 1) technical elements of HD production and their
aesthetic implications, 2) the effects of HDTV on production work processes and

skills, 3) production time and cost analysis, and 4) consumer views on HDTV products.

107

The study derived information from two sources: review of the literature and
interviews with production people. Since the materials on HDTV in production
were very limited, this study elicited primary information from program makers who
will eventually apply the technology. In addition, a thorough review of the recent
literature was undertaken to serve as background to the study and as a guide in
reﬁning the major issues to be discussed.

Throughout the interviews, the research focused on mainly two questions.
First, the researcher asked what kinds of changes the interviewees expected to occur
in a certain area. Second, their perceptions and responses to the proposed technical
and aesthetic properties were examined to see if those values meet the needs and
wants of production people as well as the constraints of their working environment.

The research found two types of results that will affect the shape of HD

production: production values and practicability of HD production.

r ducti V es
So far, the ﬁndings of this study are consistent with the assumption that
HDTV will increase production values. Most interviewees and authors of the
literature agreed on the increased production value of HD production, as well as the
notion that this may demand new ways of creating and expressing their artistry,
ideas, and realities. The researcher has grouped their comments under the following

categories.

108
jljeehnjeel Elements of H2 Eeoductjeg

HD production is dependent on several technical elements of production in
general. These are:

l. The resolution of HDTV is ﬁve or six times better than the NTSC. This
means that the resolution of the HDTV picture is as good as 35mm ﬁlm stock.

2. The wider aspect ratio of HDTV offers 25 percent more picture
information than conventional TV sets.

3. HDTV has similar depth of ﬁeld to the conventional TV. However,
because of the wide ﬁeld of view offered by the wide aspect ratio, it will be easier
to articulate x-axis motion, and this will make it easier to give the feeling of depth
to the viewer.

4. Since HDTV adopts a progressive scan display at 30 ﬁ'ames per second or
an interlace scan display at 60 frames per second, it can reproduce more precise
movements, and avoid motion aliasing.

5. HDTV production will use digital component video. It can avoid
interference between combined chrominance and luminance, providing a superior
color image to current systems.

6. HDTV is expected to accelerate the move toward a total digital video
production system.

7._ HDTV audio will incorporate CD-quality sound with a ﬁve-channel

system.

109
8. The range of brightness (contrast) that can be accommodated by HDTV

displays is severely limited compared to those of natural vision and ﬁlm, but is

similar to conventional NTSC video.

Aeghetic Implications

The above-mentioned characteristics of HDTV have certain implications in
terms of applied media aesthetics. The study found some advantages as well as

disadvantages.

égvgtages.
1. HDTV offers high aesthetic energy especially in long-range wide angle

shots. With a bigger screen and high-resolution images, viewers might feel as much
strong energy as with 35mm ﬁlm wide shots.

2. Because of the high aesthetic energy of the HDTV picture, one shot can
hold the viewer’s attention for more than several seconds. This will make it
possible for directors to use long takes (slow shot changes) and to adopt more
pictorial storytelling. Because of this, HDTV’s approach to sequencing pictures can
be a deductive approach. (One can start with a wide establishing shot and then get
progressively tighter through a zoom or shot series to the ﬁnal close up detail.)

3. Human eyes are more oriented to the horizontal dimension. Thus, the
wider aspect ratio of HDTV can offer the viewer a sense of presence in the scene
and of participation in the events portrayed. It also provides improvement in depth
perception, compared with that of conventional systems. When blocking action on

the HDTV screen, therefore, directors might rely more on lateral or diagonal action,

110

while too much lateral action in conventional TV displays can become quite
distracting and disorienting.

4. The additional 25 percent of picture space HDTV offers could be a
valuable artistic source. If a director succeeds in arranging the shot elements
creatively, the main subject and peripheral elements will be combined to create
secondary/symbolic meanings.

5. Because HDTV images carry so much aesthetic energy, the sound must be
equally high-deﬁnition. HDTV developers have adopted CD-quality sound with a
ﬁve-channel system (including stereo and surround channels). This dynamic and
wide range of the sound will be helpful to produce sound perspective as well as
ﬁgure/ground distinction, and to provide viewers with the information pertaining to

space, time, and the inner feelings of scenes.

dv es.

1. The disadvantage of the 16:9 aspect ratio is that the difference between
screen height and width is pronounced enough to emphasize one dimension over the
other. Thus, one might frame a vertically oriented scene with too much wasted
horizontal screen space. In some cases, there will be unused screen space; thus, a
director should be concerned about how to ﬁll the sides of the screen. For the same
reason, backgrounds or peripheral pictorial elements can interfere with the main
subject of the screen.

2. The story may require dramatic, high contrast lighting in order to increase

the aesthetic value of a scene (e.g., an expressive quality, emotional involvement,

Ill

and sense of drama). Because of the limited contrast range of HDTV, however, this type of
aesthetic manipulation of light might be very difﬁcult, if not impossible. In addition, HDTV

has a certain limitation in creating sense of depth in a low light condition.

W

The above-mentioned technical elements and their aesthetic implications will affect
the elements of form within production value: sound/music, photography, lighting, writing,
directing, casting, performance/acting, wardrobe/makeup, editing, technical quality, special
effects/graphics, and setting.97 This study has examined this subject matter based on 1) how
HDTV production technology has been utilized in several experimental projects, and 2) how
current video production people perceive the technical and aesthetic properties of HDTV
production. The study found the inﬂuences mostly in the production and post-production

stages.

W~
Shooting--

1. The larger screen space of HDTV allows the camera lens to capture a wider image
so that it can add a very large amount of additional picture information. For this reason, the
wider aspect ratio is suitable for sports shows and music concert programs. On the other
hand, some programs, such as news formats and talk shows (where most shots have been
developed for the NTSC screen), will need special techniques.

2. During the simulcasting period, camera operators will have to be careful in framing

a shot because the safe area of both systems is different. Therefore, some special techniques,

112

such as "shoot and protect" will be needed.

3. Precise focusing is more critical than with conventional TV productions because
focus errors are more noticeable. For this reason, existing HD production adopted a special
technique. In these cases, camera engineers adjusted focus and depth of ﬁeld using video
monitors from the remote van.

4. It was suggested that high-deﬁnition camera operators should be well aware of the
complexity of the ﬁxed focal-length lens.

5. It was assumed that HDTV would increase the importance of single camera
shooting/directing within video production ﬁelds. In many cases, its immediate control of

image making was proven to be a major beneﬁt of HDTV.

Lighting--

1. HDTV lighting is the weakest aspect in production stages. On the one hand, it is
clear that it requires more in terms of aesthetics, but on the other hand, it has limited
capabilities, in that the HDTV camera suffers from low sensitivity to light. This situation
might result in a number of drawbacks for HD production.

2. Some special techniques have been developed in the existing HD production. It
is said that ﬁber optic and CCD technologies might overcome the current limitations to some

CXICIII.

Audio Production--
1. The conventional simultaneous audio-video pickup methods will not be appropriate

for HD production. Audio may have to be manipulated and edited separately from the

113

picture, or reproduced and added to the video portion in the highly complex sound post-
production activities.
2. It was suggested that the size of the audio crew in video production should be

increased. This might follow the audio model of the ﬁlm industry.

Winn.
Editing--

1. HDTV editing will have the beneﬁts of digital image processing through use of
digital videotape formats. It will increase the efﬁciencies and creativity of post-production
stages, because it can avoid generation loss.

2. In conjunction with desktop TV, the advantage of digital image processing will be

signiﬁcant.

Special Effects--

1. Because HDTV has high-resolution, it has more potential for special effects
than any other media. It is good for multiple-image trickery since there is no outline of
separated scenes.

2. With its digitized format, an editor does not have to worry about degradation when
dealing with multiple generations in blow-ups, zooming, layering, and other kinds of special
effects. -

(3) Since HDTV special effects are relatively easy and cheap and have more

capabilities, it could reduce set construction costs.

114

As mentioned in the above lists, the technical and aesthetic properties of HDTV
technology may change various aspects of current television production. Throughout the
research, however, the author found that those values are under the inﬂuence of other
variables. Just examining technical and aesthetic properties was not enough, since those
parameters would be changed and manipulated by program makers as they apply the
technology to their daily practices. If those values are external to the needs and wants of
production people, or if they fail to meet the constraints of the current working environment,
the potential of HDTV production will not be realized or may have to be modiﬁed.

This being the case, it was necessary to examine the validity of those parameters from
the perspectives of program makers. The researcher found three key variables that appear
to inﬂuence both the problems production people experience and the technology they use.

These were technical practicability of equipment, production time, and cost.

11.12.“.

From the experiences of existing HD production, several ﬂaws were discovered.
These were:

1. HDTV cameras cannot work well in low light conditions.

2. Focus is critical in HD shooting. HDTV focus cannot best be done on the camera,
but from the remote truck.

3. The equipment is still heavy, and the maneuverability and portability of the camera

are very limited in comparison to the 35mm ﬁlm camera.

115

4. HDTV uses a great deal of electric power.

E l . I' l C
In this study, two types of cost were found. These were HD production cost and

equipment cost.

Pmductionﬁnst.

l. Apparently, HD production will give no time and cost savings in some television
production types, such as soap operas and news format shows. In fact, it seems that HDTV
demands much more time-consuming and costly production designs and techniques. For
example, the penalty for experimenting with such a new technology on a production can be
shooting delays and the most expensive kind of research and development--the type that goes
on while the cast and crew stand around waiting.

2. However, HDTV will obstensibly have time and cost competitiveness in made-for-
TV ﬁlms that have been traditionally shot on 35mm ﬁlm (e.g., prime-time programs,
commercials, and music videos). It was proposed that HD technology in these forms of
production can save a crew expense and reduce shooting and editing time.

3. However, there were complex discussions over this ostensible time and cost
competitiveness. The debates included various factors, such as the number of crew members,
crew cost, ﬁlm versus videotape cost, comparison of union rate cards, special effects,
shooting and editing time, and ﬁlm-to-video transfer costs for foreign market distribution.
In general, almost every interviewee believes that HD production will increase production

cost and time regardless of program types, while the literature review indicated otherwise, at

116

least for elaborate ﬁlm-style production.

W.

1. Capital outlay for new HD production equipment is another drawback to HD
production. It is expected that a TV station will have to spend $10 million for new HD
production equipment. Although competition and economies of scale may lower the prices,
these forces might not be so strong compared with other mass production, considering the
relatively small amount of production of TV production equipment. On the other hand, new
technology and standards factors will increase the costs.

2. Since HDTV is such a new technology, depreciation cost is huge, but a TV station
or production company may have to purchase the equipment rather than renting. In current
made-for-TV production, on the other hand, one can rent ﬁlm equipment with signiﬁcantly
lower prices.

According to the ﬁndings, it seems that there are some major obstacles to the
acceptance of HD production by producers. Although most production people agreed on the
advantages of HD production in terms of creativity and its likely potential, they do not believe
these beneﬁts can offset the expected disturbances and imbalances in the production ﬁelds.
Coupled with capital outlays for new equipment and time consumption for trial and error, HD
production becomes problematic. Unless these problems are solved, almost every interviewee

indicates they will not try this new art form, at least not in its incipient stage.

Conclusion

The effects of HDTV on TV production can be very wide and crucial, and the

117

potential of HDTV should not be ignored. Throughout the research, the hypothesis is
partially supported. It was indicated that technically and aesthetically, HDTV has the
potential for changing various aspects of television production and for increasing production
values. When examined in the light of practicability of production, however, the potential and
beneﬁts of HDTV become highly problematic. Throughout the research, it was found that
the current development of HDTV failed to assure production people that the use of this new
technology could reduce production time and cost, and enhance efﬁciency. Unless those
problems are overcome in the future development of HDTV, HD's full potential will not be
realized and it will have to be modiﬁed.

One obvious thing has been found, even consisdering based on the short experience:
users (producers and viewers) may be more important than technology. It seems that nobody
has clear answers on how much improvement is needed in order to satisfy viewers, and what
will make them more HDTV-friendly. Although the impact of HDTV on TV production will
be huge, one thing will remain the same: the medium's true potential--and the problems to
be overcome-~will only begin to fully take shape in the hands of working production
professionals and viewers.

Although it is impossible to give deﬁnite answers on what will inﬂuence practices with
the new medium, this research may offer the following suggestions based on the ﬁndings of
this study.

For HDTV to be embraced by the American production community, and therefore for
the true potential of HDTV to be realized, some steps need to be taken. First of all, it is

necessary to create a climate for change that will facilitate the perception and acceptance of

118

HDTV. For example, a longstanding debate exists about the "ﬁlm look" versus the "video
look." It is counterproductive to feed into this discussion by claiming that HDTV will replace
ﬁlm. HDTV is not a replacement for ﬁlm; if anything, it will replace our current 525-line
videotape. HDTV is a new medium, another tool that the creative community can use to
express itself. Until it is perceived as such, instead of as a threat to the way most of the
production crews make their living, it will have a hard time in ﬁnding supporters and proving
its true potential.

On the other hand, HDTV must also be practically and economically viable if it is to
compete and become acceptable to the production community. According to the ﬁndings in
this study, time, cost, and the practicability of production equipment are the determining
factors in the acceptance of HDTV by producers. The equipment must be available to
production companies at competitive rates. Eliminating the lab and negative costs of ﬁlm will
not generate enough savings to compensate for the much higher cost of HDTV equipment.
In addition, the equipment should be more reliable in terms of performance and
maneuverability, and give producers some beneﬁts in terms of production cost and time.
Current deve10pment of HDTV seems to fail to assure production people that it could
somehow overcome the constraints of their working environment. The research shows that
many production people would be reluctant to adopt the new technology unless it meets those
requirentnts in order to offset the disturbances and imbalances that can be generated by the
new technology.

Finally, a key exploration has to take place, one that‘puts aside discourses on separate

technical parameters and, rather, manipulates their aggregate aesthetic attributes to create

119

pictures and sounds simply not possible within the severe restrictions of our present television
systems. The issue of the program producer, director, and camera person doing something
different at the front end of the television system-~the point of creation of the program--needs
to be registered within current HDTV circles. As mentioned above, once the ﬁrst HD gear
is delivered in its infant stage into the hands of the working production professional, the new
medium's true potential-~and problems to be lovercomeuwill begin fully to take shape. All
further evolution of high-deﬁnition production--and the public's responses to it-—will then be
sparked by the feedback and insight generated by those who are actually in the production

community.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE

APPENDIX A

INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE

1. What are the problems with the current production system? Why do you

think there are so many proposals for this new TV? If it works well, why change

it?

2. Aesthetics

On the basis of the fact that HDTV has more resolution, wider aspect
ratio (16:9), and high-ﬁdelity sound (with ﬁve channel system), what
are the aesthetic beneﬁts and drawbacks--if anyuof them?

HDTV production cannot avoid some drawbacks of the current TV
system, such as limited contrast range and depth of ﬁeld. What are the

aesthetic implications of these drawbacks?

3. Work Processes and Skills

HDTV production will require much more skillful and controlled
lighting techniques because of its great concern with image quality.
However, almost every HDTV camera is three or four stops less
sensitive than a ﬁlm camera. Technically, it has limited capability, but
aesthetically it requires enhanced skills. What if you are involved in
this situation? What kind of special steps can be taken? (or, How has
current TV production taken care of this problem?)

HDTV has a wider aspect ratio and high-resolution image. Do you

think there will be some changes in production skills and processes

120

b-a

121
with the advent of HDTV? What do you expect in shooting or audio

production?

Many people predict that HD production will follow the ﬁlm model of
production in many ways. Will HDTV production be the same as ﬁlm
production? If not, what are the differences? What will be the

implications of those differences?

4. Practicability of Production

According to the literature, peOple ﬁnd the cost and time competitive in some

elaborate TV programs, such as prime-time productions, commercials, and music

videos, which have been traditionally shot on 35mm ﬁlm. They believe that HD

production will save production cost and time by reducing crew expenses, and

shooting and editing time.

Do you think it is plausible? If it is so, which area will contribute to
time and cost savings?

What about equipment cost? Is capital outlay for new HDTV
equipment a drawback? What about a depreciation cost generated by

rapid changing technology?

5. Training

Will current production people, especially video people, be able to
handle HDTV production? If not, then keeping in mind that most

practitioners have to possess the knowledge of the new technology, how

122
high is the training quality needed? What kind of training will be

needed?

6. Do you think production community is ready for HDTV? Even more, do you

want it?

7. What would be your advice to HDTV developers? What is needed to be
considered more in developing HDTV production systems in order to make people

more HDTV-friendly?

APPENDIX B

l 150/60 STUDIO EQUIPMENT

APPENDIX B

1150/60 STUDIO EQUIPMENT

Commercial hardware operating with the 1,125-line system is now widely

available. Professional studio equipment that is currently commercially available for

purchase includes:

Cameras: Sony, Ikegami, Thoshiba, Matshshita (Panasonic), Hitachi, BTS.
Videotape recorder (analog, 1 inch open reel): Sony.

Videotape recorder (digital, 1 inch open reel): Sony, Hitachi.

Videotape recorder (analog "Uni Hi", 19mm cassette): Sony, Hitachi,
Matsushita (Panasonic), Toshiba. '

Telecine (ﬁlm-to-video): Rnak-Cintel (ﬂying-spot), NAC (laser), Kodak
(CCD), Ikegami (televine).

Film recorder: Sony (EBR), NAC (laser).

Video monitors: Sony, Hitachi, Ikegami, NEC, Toshiba, Barco, Asaca/Shiba-
Soku.

Production Switchers: Sony, Toshiba, Hitachi, Matsushita (Panasonic).
Graphics and Paint Systems: Quantel, Syrnbolics, SGI, Rebo, Shima-Seiki.

Blue-screen matte: Ultimatte.

(Source: Charles A. Poynton, "The Current State of High Deﬁnition Television"
jljhe New 11y, [London, Meckler Publishing, 1992]: 31-32.)

123

APPENDIX C

PRODUCTION COST: 35MM FILM VERSUS HDTV

PRODUCTION COST: 35MM FILM VERSUS HDTV

APPENDIX C

BELOW THE LINE
Film
Second Unit 3,700
Set Design 6,000
Set Dressing 29,500
Amortization 116,000
Set Construction 51,000
Set Operations 25,000
Property 15,000
Wardrobe 23,000
Makeup & Hairdressing 12,000
Electrical 30,000
Camera
Director of Photography 5,200
Camera Operators 4,000
Extra Operators 1,400
Assistant Carnaramen (2) 6,400
Extra Assistant 900
Camera Rental vs. HD Equipment
Purchase 6,500
Crane Rental 600
Dolly Rental 260
Negative Selection 600
Camera subtotal: 25,860
Sound
Mixer 4,800
Boom Man 3,200
Cable Man 2,700
Transfers - Dailies 1,300
Transfers - Effects 80
Transfers - Reprints 750
Transfers - 1/2" Magnetic Tape 65
Transfers - Music 200
Transfers - Optical 210
Sound Effects Recording 850
Cost of Above Using HD 0
Transfers - 1/4" Magnetic Tape 75
Sound subtotal: 14,230

124

(1,500)
100

35

600
3,635

800
500
400
1,300
80
750
65
200
210
850
(300)
0
4,855

Studio Transportation
Special Equipment
Location Transportation
Location Express
Special Effects
Post-Production Sound
Stock Shots
Film/1' ape
Negative Raw Stock
Leader
Magnetic 1/2"
Magnetic Stripe - Spliced
Magnetic Stripe - Unspliced
Magnetic Full Coat
Cost of Above Using HD
Magnetic 1/ "
Mag: Reclaimed Single Stripe
1/4" Transfer to Mag. Single Stripe
Film/Tape subtotal:
Laboratory
Develop Negative
Temperature Reversal Dupe Print
Daily Prints (Color)
Develop Negative Sound (35m)
Answer Print (35m)
Answer Print (16m)
CRI
Cost of Above Using HD
Release Prints
Sales Tax
Laboratory subtotal:
Opticals
Editorial
Supervisors (Production Company)
Film Editors
Assistant Editors
Apprentice Editors
Negative Cutting
Online VTR Assembly
Video Tape Stock
Sound Effects Editing
Music Editing
Projectionist
Projection Room Rental

125

Film

20,000
3,800
27,000
28,000
8,000
22,000
700

12,500
25

50
650
210
160

150
800
1,650
16,195

4,300
1,500
6,800

325
4,200

700
3,000

1,300
1,050
23,175
13,000

1 ,750
12,000
6,000
1 ,000
3,000

12,000
3,500
900
650

HD

1 7,000
3,800
23,000
25,000
8,000
22,000
700

U
C
O
O

9

N
O
OOOOOOOOOO

3,20

Saving
3,000

4,000
3,000
O
0
0

9,500
25
50

650
210
160
(200)
150
800
1,650
12,995

4,300
1,500
5,900
325
4,200
700
3,000
(3.200)
300
1,020
18,045
10,500

0
6,000
6,000

0
3,000

(3,650)

(200)
0

0
900
650

126

Film HD
Coding 900 3,400
Editorial subtotal: 41 ,700 3 1 ,500
Production Staff 25,000 21,000
Publicity 600 600
Administrative Expense 2,800 2,800
Fees & Stage Rental 25,000 20,000
Extra Talent 17,000 15,000
Total Below-the-Line 625,260 506,030
ABOVE THE LINE
Screenplay 48,000 48,000
Producers Unit 170,000 145,000
Cost 430,000 370,000
Music 19,000 19,000
Royalties, Commissions 17,000 17,000
Taxes & Insurance 11,500 11,500
Total Above-The-Line 695,500 610,500
TOTALS: 1,320,760 1,116,530
SUMMARY OF BUDGETS
Below-the-line Above-the-line
35m Film Production $625,260 $695,500
HD Production $506,030 $610,500
Savings $1 19,230 $85,000

Saving
(2,500)
10,200
4,000
0
0
5,000
2,000
1 19,230

25,000
60,000
0
0
0
85,000

204,230

Total
$1,320,760
$1 ,1 16,530

$204,230

NOTES

NOTES

' Marshall McLuhan. W (New
York: McGraw-Hill, 1984).

2 Thomas Kuhn, jIhe Snncture gt §eienﬂtre Revelnn'gne (Chicago, U of
Chicago P, 1970). .

3 Michel Oudin, "Producing in High Defmiton, Using the European 1250/50
System," 1121!: The Polnice, Bolieiee, nngI Eeonenrice gt jIjnrnengnw’e jIjeleviejen,
ed. John F. Rice (New York: Union Square Press, 1990) 271.

‘ Federal Communications Commission, In the Wate; gt Anvnnceg IeIevieiQn

em : d her 1 act -on the xisti - p v' '. = ozd 2., '-1 ' ' (Docket
No. 87-268, 18 August 1987) 29-34.
5 FCC. WW 29'34-

‘ K. Blair Benson and Donald G. Fink. WM
1.9.29: (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1991) 1.1.3.

7 DD. Kline, "Can Hollywood and HDTV Be Friends?" W
anmenﬂeen’nnieg February 1988: 48-49.

' A. Lippman, "HDTV Sparks a Digital Revolution," Bite December 1990:
300.

9 Sean Scully, "The Grand Alliance Becomes Reality," W

31 May 1993: 59.

127

128
'° Tekla S. Perry, "Consumer Electronics," W January 1994: 30.

” Perry 30.

‘2 Scully 60.

'3 Perry 30.

" Scully 60.

'5 Scully 60.

“’ "ABC Television on a Digital Spending Spree," W 18
July 1994: 61.

"7 "ABC Television" 61.

" "ABC Television" 61.

'9 Richard R. Green, "Cultivating the Wasteland with Technology," IIieIevision

e o : k T w d e st e ed. Jeffrey Friedman (New York:

SMPTE, 1987): 182.

2° Herbert 26111, W (San
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2’ Gary Blievernicht, personal interview, [INSERT DATE].

2’ Brad Graham, personal interview, [INSERT DATE].

23 26111 86.

2’ thtl 95-98.

2’ Benson and Fink 3.2.

2‘ Zettl 170-177.

2" David L. Smith, Wm (California: Wadsworth, 1991) 290.

129
2‘ Charles A. Poynton, "The Current State of HDTV," Ihe New TV, ed. Lou

CasaBianca (London: Meckler, 1992) 38.

’9 Poynton 38.

3° Blievernicht.

3‘ "ABC Television" 61.

’2 "ABC Television" 61.

3’ Benson and Fink 3.20.

3‘ Zettl 347-348.

3’ Zettl 347-348.

3‘ Curtis Chan, "Audio for HDTV," WW June 1994: 4.

’7 Benjamin P. Wilson, "The Design, Application and Evaluation of
Stereophonic Television: A Production Model." (Diss. San Francisco State
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3' Zettl 344.

’9 Blievernicht.

’° Blievernicht.

“ Michel Oudin 275.

‘2 John Galt and Charles Pantuso, "W: A Technical
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‘3 Oak and Pantuso 179.

“ Thomas D. Burrows, Donald N. Wood, Lynne Schafer Gross, mm

Etodocmmscinlinsmilsshnims (Iowa: WCB. 1.989) 107-

130
‘5 Stuart Samuels, "Toward a New Visual Vocabulary,” HQjij: jibe Pglitice,

Eelieiee, and Economics 9i jIemegow’e jIelevieion 285.

‘6 Oudin 277.
‘7 Burrows, et al., 67.
“ Bill Richards, personal interview, [INSERT DATE].

‘9 Barry Rebo, ”Out of the Lab and into the Street," Winn,

Winn 242.

210.

5° Blievernicht.

5' Gary Reid, personal interview, [INSERT DATE].
’2 Oudin 274.

’3 Richards.

” Thomas A. Ohanian, Digital Nonlineg Eniiing (Boston: Focal Press, 1994)

” Fern Field. "HDTV and Hollywood." WM

Eceneinics 91 onmorrow’e :Ijeievisinn 247.

"5 Patrick Cole and Richard Brandit, "How Does Hollywood Zap a Planet?

With High-Deﬁnition Help," Enem egg Week 30 January 1989: 62.

’7 Samuels 282.
5' Samuels 282.
”Oak and Pantuso 181.
‘° Galt and Pantuso 181.

6‘ "New Cost Estimates Providing High-Deﬁnition Look at Future,"

W 5 November 1990: 62.

131
‘2 Joseph A. Flaherty, "A World of Change," Ine New 12 108.

‘3 Flaherty 108.

6‘ Flaherty 108.

‘5 Rupert Stow, "The Economics of High-Deﬁnition Television," CBS study,
1987.

6° Field 249.

‘7 Graham.

6' Graham.

‘9 Harry Mathias, "A Sensible Look at HDTV for Motion-Picture Production

and Special Effects." WW
[en-gm 247.

7° Graham.

7' Mathias 247.

’2 Laurence J. Thrope, "Moving Forward: Challenges and Opportunities,"

 

7‘ Thrope 38.

7’ Blievernicht.

7‘ Galt and Pantuso 179.

77 Graham.

7' James Sumbler, personal interview, [INSERT DATE].

132
79 W. Russell Newman, "The Mass Audience Looks at HDTV: An Early

Experiment," National Association of Broadcasters' Annual Convention, Las Vegas,
11 April 1988: o.

'0 [STARRED QUOTE ON P. 85]

” Graham.

'2 Flaherty113.

'3 R.K. Jurgen, "High-Deﬁnition Television Update," W April
1988:59.

“ Jurgen 59.

'5 R.P. Eckert, "HDTV Channel Allotments for Maximum Coverage,"
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‘6 Kenneth Donow, "ATV/HDTV: Evolution, Revolution, or Both?" Many
W (Washington, DC: NAB. 1933)-

" Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Engineering Department W
W (Montreal: CBC, 1988).

'8 CBC.

’9 "New Yardstick for Interactive TV," WM: 23 May
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9° Everett M. Rogers, W, 3rd ed. (New York: The Free
Press of Glencoe, 1983).

9’ Arthur D. Little, "Consumer Electronics: A $40 Billion American
Industry," Electronics Industries Association/ConSumer Electronic Group,

Washington, DC, April 1985.

I33

92 Larry F. Darby, "Economic Potential for Advanced Television Products,"
NTIA, Washington, DC, 7 April 1988: 14-16.

’3 Darby 14-16.

9‘ "New Yardstick" 76.

9’ "From Idiot Box to Information Appliance," W 12 February
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9‘ J. Lechner Bernard, "HDTV Is Coming to Desktop," Byte July 1992: 189.

’7 Robert Albers, "Quality in Television from the Perspective of the

Professional Program Maker," W March 1992: 33.

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134

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