Reprinted with permission from Current, the newspaper about public TV and radio, Feb. 12, 2007 | Current.org HDV: The little camcorder that could, and does

By Anne Rawland Gabriel data on individual frames, requiring rela- tively expensive tape media for storage plus here’s a new technology myth in town costly transports for ingesting the footage and pubcasters who believe it could into a postproduction system. In the editing T waste hundreds of thousands of dollars system, when “professional HD” footage is equipping crews for high-defi nition. compressed, each individual frame is pro- While the myth takes various forms, it cessed independently. Th eoretically, data loss boils down to this: Don’t even think about is unnoticeable or at least unobjectionable. using the inexpensive, yet remarkably ad- In comparison, HDV cameras perform an vanced, high-end consumer HDV camcord- aggressive form of MPEG-2 compression ers because their footage supposedly won’t during acquisition. In short, the scheme stand up, short- or long-term, to output from handles frames in a set of 15 called a “group their professional HD cousins. of pictures” (GOP). In lay terms, advocates say, the myth is com- In each GOP, the fi rst frame captures a parable to saying you need a Rolls Royce because complete image and the remaining 14 frames a Honda won’t get you to the grocery store. retain only data that diff ers from the fi rst. As Not surprisingly, the Rolls Royces are the Frontline/World is prepping to shoot its a result, HDV cameras use the more aff ord- professional HD cameras, which weigh 25 to fourth segment in HDV. Pictured: Josiah able tapes and transports already developed 30 pounds and cost about $70,000. Similarly, Hooper during earlier shoot in Uganda. for standard-defi nition prosumer DV cam- the Hondas are the so-called “prosumer” (Photo: Carl Haynes, Kiva.org.) eras. Hence, the term HDV was derived by HDV cameras, which scale-in under 5 combining “HD” and “DV.” pounds and cost about $5,000. neer. “But, with HD digital, the diff erence in When an HDV camera is held steady, What may be surprising is that PBS picture quality has narrowed signifi cantly.” lighting is suffi cient and the subjects move viewers are already watching programming Bruce Jacobs, as chief technology offi cer relatively slowly and minimally, HDV foot- shot with HDV cameras. “Frontline began at TPT, was wrestling with HD camera pur- age can appear as good as “professional HD.” incorporating HDV nearly two years ago,” chasing decisions early last year. At that time But HDV’s capabilities are challenged by says Director of Broadcast Tim Mangini. Jacobs was also serving on the PBS advisory complex, rapidly changing images fi lled with “And Frontline/World isis nnowow sshothot aalmostlmost committee for HD standards, where HDV ultra-fi ne detail—fast-panning handheld exclusively on HDV.” generated considerable debate. footage of a busy soccer game, for instance. Back in America’s heartland, HDV cam- Coincidentally, TPT was asked to post- Th is can create artifacts—mild to severe im- eras are booked solid at Twin Cities Public produce a documentary that required blend- age noise. Television (TPT), opening heretofore off - ing footage from a professional Panasonic However, muffi ng movement isn’t entirely limits opportunities for HD production. VariCam and a prosumer Sony Z1 HDV the format’s fault. “It’s important to sepa- “For example, we’re producing a documen- camera. rate the camera section from the recording tary about the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Curious whether viewers could tell the format section,” says Bruce A. Johnson, a Eastern European tour this coming summer,” diff erence, Jacobs set up an impromptu test. veteran videographer for Wisconsin Public says Robert Hutchings, a 25-year videogra- “I said to our editor, ‘Don’t tell me what’s Television in Madison. “What’s lacking in pher and postproduction specialist at TPT HDV; let’s see if I can guess,’” recalls Jacobs. HDV, today, is suffi cient quality in the cam- in St. Paul, Minn. “We’d have declined the Aft er viewing the fi nished product, he era portion.” project without HDV because a ‘professional thought he’d nailed it. “Instead, I failed— In the near term, fi ne HD quality distinctions HD’ camera’s size and shooting expenses completely.” may not be visible to home viewers, because the would have been too prohibitive.” Jacobs began taking HDV seriously and full image quality doesn’t reach them. But is HDV really ready for prime time? laid out his fi ndings at the 12th annual Iowa First, for stations to jam high-def into the As in other production decisions, that’s DTV Symposium last October. 19.4 Mbps broadcast pipe, DTV encoders put a matter of respecting the technology’s Despite their smaller price and size, HDV HD through further MPEG-2 compression. strengths and weaknesses. gear yields video in the same 1080-line inter- At the viewers’ end, even the priciest laced format that public TV has chosen as its HDTV monitors are based on hardware HDV is real HD—and looks it standard: 1920 x 1080 pixels. Th at’s roughly standards hammered out in 1996, rather 2 million pixels per frame, compared with than soft ware-based standards that could be For many pubcasters, HDV suff ers by about 300,000 pixels per frame of standard- upgraded. Th is essentially dooms today’s sets association with analog’s amateur video for- defi nition (SD) broadcast video. to be stuck with MPEG-2 quality even as bet- mats of the past, whose quality was compro- Not surprisingly, shooting HD produces ter formats, such as MPEG-4, are coming on mised by the inherent frailties of analog tape. literally billions of bits of data per second. the scene. “Go back 15 to 20 years, and the bias against Given the limits of today’s broadcast technol- “Over the foreseeable future, viewers consumer video cameras was justifi ed,” says ogies, these bulky fi les must be compressed won’t be able to diff erentiate between HDV Adam Wilt, of Mountain View, Calif., a re- regardless of the type of camera. and HD, assuming shooters know their craft spected writer and tester of HD technologies “Professional HD” cameras capture image and their cameras,” says Johnson of WPT’s who is also a veteran videographer and engi- Digital Innovations Unit. “Remember, poorly In a YouTube world where viewer-generated on ingest to the more robust HD editing shot ‘professional HD’ looks terrible on an content is prized, the cheaper equipment also format.” HDTV, no matter how much a camera costs.” makes it practical for stations to lend out “But, HDV’s a sort of oddball format,” he TPT’s Hutchings, concurs. “I’ve shot a bunch cameras like never before. continues. “Although up-converting doesn’t of footage with a lot of quickly moving little “When cameras cost nearly $100,000, change the quality, it provides more editing details,” he says. “So far, I haven’t seen the there are few in the community,” says Mega- options, such as higher resolution graphics.” codec break down enough for most people los. “But, the HDV price point, along with From his experience, Gold recommends open to notice.” some training, allows for putting cameras communications between acquisition and edit- into the hands of more people—including ing departments. “It’s important for shooters Right camera for the job talented viewers. Th at’s what the excitement and production to understand the best ways over HDV is really all about.” to use the format,” he says. “Th en, enlightened Early adopters of HDV emphasize that For David Felland, engineering chief at decisions can get made in the fi eld.” the real question isn’t a simple choice be- Milwaukee Public Television, HDV cameras Frontline reports inconsistent time-code tween pro HD and HDV. Rather, it’s “what’s are good for many types of local program- handling has caused considerable post-pro- the right camera for the job?” ming and he regularly entrusts student duction confl icts. “In particular, the Sony “Unlike with analog, absolutism doesn’t interns with HDV cameras. When producing HVR Z1U in ‘fast start’ mode can create always give you the correct answer in the a railroad program he doesn’t mind attaching time-code errors that ripple throughout the digital world,” says Wilt, whose production HDV cameras to a locomotive. digitized material from a camera tape,” says house uses both “professional” and “prosum- But Felland doesn’t believe HDV is appropri- Mangini. “Turning off ‘fast start’ seems to er” cameras. “You must mix practicality with ate for national broadcasts. He also prefers pro help, but doesn’t solve everything.” purism.” HD for longevity and greater fl exibility, while “Due to the long GOP, time-code in Frontline and TPT both fi nd it practical to maintaining quality during postproduction. any HDV camera can be problematic,” he use HDV as B-roll cameras, for example. “As “We always try to err on the side of a continues. “Be sure to test your camera and a second camera, HDV’s far less expensive higher-quality acquisition format, if we can productions systems, off -line and online, for getting cutaways and shorter shots, which aff ord it,” says Felland, whose station was together. Th en make adjustments. While this is we judiciously intercut with footage from our among the fi rst HD producers in public TV. a cautionary tale, it’s not a warning to abandon bigger camera,” says TPT’s Hutchings. “And, “Th e acquisition format is the limiter—you HDV.” for a Discovery Channel shoot, the producer can’t reconstruct what you never had.” Indeed, Wilt also recommends thorough- operated the B camera because he had to be Th erefore, Felland goes with the best ly testing HDV cameras in real-life shooting there anyway.” aff ordable professional equipment, which situations. “Come at HDV without the FUD HDV may also be the best choice wherev- typically has larger and better pickup devices. (fear, uncertainty and doubt) injected by er you’d be risking a camera that costs more “Th e cost of the professional hardware has certain players,” he says. “Shoot some of the than a Mercedes-Benz. “Let’s say you’re on a fallen dramatically, making it more aff ord- things your station is likely to encounter. river, behind a waterfall or anywhere that’s able for public television programs,” he says. Th en decide where the small cameras are ap- wet,” suggests Wilt. “If you soak an HDV While others strongly agree with focusing propriate and where they fall short.” camera, you go buy another one for $5,000.” on quality, they reiterate the issue isn’t black Th e next infatuation But ruining the lens alone on a professional and white. “Nobody’s suggesting that stations Prosumer cameras can help producers camera might set you back $20,000. bypass professional HD cameras altogether,” minimize the pain of inevitable obsolescence, Safety and access are other concerns stresses TPT’s Jacobs. as new pro gear arrives. But even HDV’s solved by diminutive rigs. “I shot some docu- Also, any problems encountered in repur- longevity is in question. mentary footage in an acrobatic plane,” says posing of HDV footage some day may be In 2006 the video industry was abuzz over Wilt. “It was diffi cult enough with a 3-pound mitigated by the advance of technology. “By the introduction of “AVCHD” cameras, so- camera, much less with a shoulder-mount the time it’s a viewer issue, soft ware advances named because they use the more advanced that could fl y off at the wrong time and hit will do a better job of up-scaling to new MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 compression format. the pilot in the cockpit.” formats,” argues WPT’s Johnson. Developed and pushed by Sony and Pana- For Frontline, HDV reduces danger from sonic—but not embraced by all manufactur- men with guns. “Some producers who spend What doesn’t work so well ers—the relatively high-quality AVCHD signifi cant time in war zones, such as Iraq or equipment also promises to turbo-charge Afghanistan, prefer to work with gear that Despite their praise, HDV users are quick to production effi ciency by recording data on draws less attention to itself,” Mangini says. point out the format’s imperfections. nonlinear, tapeless media such as hard drives, An HDV camera looks like something a “HDV uses what’s called a 4:2:0 ‘color space’, memory cards and 8cm DVDs. tourist would carry, echoes Bill Megalos, an which means a lot of compression in the color While computer jockeys are accustomed international documentary fi lmmaker and information,” says Megalos. “So, HDV is unsat- to navigating such swift ly changing tech USC professor whose credits include the PBS isfactory for mattes and keys. In other words, currents, broadcasters are still learning to series Quest for the Killers aandnd Legendary Trails. HDV doesn’t do green screen very well.” accept shorter equipment lifecycles. Luckily, “Th ey’re less intimidating to subjects,” Megalos, To avoid putting the images through an ad- the barriers to change are falling with prices, who has traveled widely in Asia. “Plus, I love ditional round of severe compression during says Megalos. “Even if you only use HDV breezing through customs with my HDV editing, users advise that producers down- cameras for two or three years, you’ll more where I’d otherwise be questioned, or even convert it to SD or up-convert it to HD. than recoup your investment.” ■ prohibited, if I were carrying a ‘news’ camera.” For the production that doubled as TPT’s At TPT, Hutchings agrees. “We’re a News- impromptu comparison test, postproduction Anne Rawland Gabriel is a business, tech- Hour bureau,”bureau,” hhee ppointsoints oout.ut. ““OurOur jjournalistsournalists specialist Ezra Gold used common sense nology and medicine writer based in the go to countries where you couldn’t get the as his guide. “Since the broadcast product Twin Cities. Gabriel can be reached at story with a high-profi le camera.” would be HD, it made sense to cross-convert [email protected].