As high definition TV becomes increasingly popular, the costs of producing content in HD direct for TV is falling dramatically. This is providing higher quality for existing standard definition channels and driving the transition to HD for more broadcasters.
There are two main issues with HD content: producing programmes for TV, and converting feature films shot on 35mm film for HD broadcast.
“For TV, the cost of HD production is only marginally greater than SD production now,” said Steve Parker, Content Director at Broadcast and Beyond (www.reel-world.net). “You can hire an SD broadcast camera for slightly less per day than an HD rental camera (say, £150 as opposed to £250), but many rental houses don’t even do SD anymore and no new SD cameras are being produced. The main cost differences used to be in post-production, but all the standard software editors now handle HD as easily as SD, so any cost differences are minimal.”
Since April 2011 the BBC has required all new programmes to be shot in HD and this has marked the steady decline of SD production. As a result, production companies that own their own equipment now routinely replace SD cameras with HD versions.
Feature films are also increasingly being shot with HD cameras, although at higher resolution than 720 or 1080 lines. The content is stored on a hard disk drive for post production, and it was this that moved to digital first. As processing power increased and costs came down, post production moved to digital to add special effects in a digital editing suite rather than having to cut up bits of film. At the moment many feature film makers shoot on film, scan the finished movie and edit digitally, then output to film for cinema release, a process known as ‘digital intermediate’. But this is changing, says Parker.
“When it comes to acquisition, the issue is less to do with cost than quality,” said Parker. “Traditionally film has had a much higher dynamic range with lots more detail in the shadows and highlights compared with HD and it is less noisy. Only now that digital cameras are approaching film quality are they making headway into film sets. However, these cameras are significantly more expensive than film cameras. So the reason to switch to digital acquisition has more to do with factors such as being able to see what you’ve shot instantly, rather than having to wait hours for rushes to be processed, and the fact that the files created are easy to import into an editing system.”
This drive is enhanced by the revival of 3D movies which rely on digital processing from the start, and this technology is making its way into the TV market with the first 3D broadcasts.
In most cases, the biggest cost saving in digital production for movies comes from the delivery. ”As soon as all cinemas project digitally, it will save huge amounts on producing thousands of reels of film for projection at a cost of $1500-$2000 per cinema, as opposed to the cost of a 250-300GB hard drive at £50 and falling,” said Parker. “Satellite distribution of movies, for instance, would save even more money. It would also be a lot kinder to the environment than producing and shipping so many reels of film.”
TV is constantly developing and it is important for broadcasters to keep moving with the times and developing their services to suit the demand in the market. HD channels are something viewers are becoming used to and are expecting them much more from their broadcasters. The new trend that is emerging is hybrid TV and more viewers are starting to use the internet when watching TV so the combination through hybrid TV is increasing in popularity. This trend is definitely one to watch in the near future as demand grows.
