Re: Question about Panasonic P2

(STEVE) "Since this discussion is taking place in a HD thread -- of course when you say commercials -- I think of those who would be wanting HD commercials. Joe's Used Cars doesn't strike me as one who will want HDV or DVCPRO HD. They are going to be brodcast on local non-HD TV and will have a short lifetime. So it's not a P2 issue, it's simply that these aren't HD jobs.

The jobs I'm talking about are exactly those where there is value added by using HD.

I'm not switching topics. You are the one who introduced "commercials" into an HD thread. That doesn't suggest local broadcast job"



I think about 95% of home televisions are SD, not HD. So, it's interesting how you complain about broadcasters that aren't HD ready, when almost NOTHING is HD ready, since very, very few people have HD televisions in their home. You mention DVD as a final delivery format over and over again. Pehaps you never considered that most home telvisions are not HD either? And (although I could be wrong about this) the mpeg2 specs on DVD authoring apps as they stand now, use 640x480 video, not 1080i, which your DVD player than stretches back to 720x480. So everything currently is downconverted to an SD space. The only format that could likely stay HD from start to finish these days, would be film prints of movies.

What were talking about isn't so much HD, per say- what were talking about it getting an increasingly better looking image for less and less money as cool, new technologies come out. Shooting HD for DV prices changes, and getting an image four times as nice, changes how a lot of low budget affairs will be shot. As you said most commercials are shot on film- formats not 720x486. Digibeta or beta Sp dubs are made of the work for boradcasters who are not HD ready. I know you know this. I have buddies who shoot local commercials for car dealerships with the Varicam can then dub the work to beta SP for broadcast. I guess the commercial didn't end up in an "HD space", but the spot still ended up looking 5 times better than a DV spot would have. P2 will work exactly the same way, and so, for that matter, would HDV. Are you suggesting that all those people you spoke of who shoot 35mm commercials are wasting their time because the film product isn't printed to flim and broadcasters can't accept 35mm film? Ridiculous. Broadcasters can't accept mpeg2 streams either.


jeremiah black
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