ABSTRACT
While the basic fi lm system has remained virtually unchanged in well over one hundred years, the video system seems to be in a perpetual state of rapid evolution. New video formats are introduced yearly and rapid technological obsolescence is the rule rather than an exception. Lucky for us, with each generation, video’s evolutionary trend is toward an electronic image that is sharper and increasingly responsive to the subtleties of light and shadow. Unfortunately, however, the world of video engineers, corporate interests, and government committees has not managed to coordinate their efforts to establish a single national video standard, let alone a worldwide standard. With enormous profi ts on the line, corporate rivals and nations are all racing to develop their own superior system, in the hope that theirs will become the new standard. Current count reveals 18 different digital video formats, six of them High Defi nition. Obviously it would be folly to try to cover them all in detail. In addition, one could take the discussion of digital video technology all the way to a highly specialized and arcane scientifi c discourse on semiconductor theory and the Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem. The question is, how much information is useful for the creative fi lmmaker and what can we leave to the engineers and physicists? This chapter tries to demystify the basic technology of video and explain some of the terms, specifi cations, and processes that are common to digital video formats in general. In the world of digital video, knowing some technical information is imperative for a fi lmmaker to make informed choices, to understand how their tools can contribute to the aesthetic approach of their movie, and to allow for a smooth and successful creative and technical process from preproduction to distribution. Beyond the information in this chapter, you will fi nd a list of related websites in the Web Resources section at the back of the book, which you can visit to fi nd more details and to stay up-to-date with the most recent changes, facts, and statistics.
