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CATEGORY: Video Duplication
Closed captions for HDV?
Hmmm, I received a call about this the other day. You may have read my blog about how we here at Video Labs are now offering HD closed-captioning services and we are doing so for HDCAM 1080 masters. But this was the first inquiry I received regarding cc-encoding for HDV. (further info about HDV format).
Well, our Video Labs engineer, Rodney Hammond, and I both set off to research that. Rodney talked to Sony, and I searched the web. Our conclusion: we are convinced that the answer is that the HDV format does not support closed-captioning.
But you may ask, “Well, wait minute, miniDV can carry that info, why not HDV?”
HD closed-captioning
We here at Video Labs www.VideoLabs.net have now added HD closed-captioning to our menu of services.
Standard EIA-608 (EIA = Electronics Industries Association) is the techical name given to the format that we have all come to associate with closed-captioning over the years. You know, those white block letters within a black box.
If you work in television, you may also know that the 608 captioning information is carried in the vetical interval part of the video signal, on line 21 to be exact. (You can see the white line data if you have the ability to underscan the monitor screen.)
But there is no Line 21 in digital television (of which HDTV is part of). Instead, captions are put into a data stream with the digtal signal. And that data set is called EIA-708 captions.
708 captions offer various fonts, letter colors and a range of option for backgrounds among other features. But in reality, today’s 708 captions are basically upconverted 608 captions limited to the 32 characters per line standard of 608.
Now a digital TV user may be able to utilize some of the 708 advantages with that upconverted 608 signal, but as you can imagine, there is a lot more to 708 digital captioning heading our way down the road than exists now.
Video Labs offers SpoTTrac encoding
You may be aware of of the term Sigma encoding. It has been around for a number of years.
It is a tracking signal developed by Nielsen that can be embedded into spots, public service annoucements and video news releases.
Each product is given its own uniquely indentifiable tracking information.
Like closed captioning, this tracking signal is embedded in the vertical interval portion of the video signal. http://tinyurl.com/599o3h
Nielsen has electronic monitoring stations around the country that can detect the encoded data and can thereby accurately report back to producers, advertising agencies and their clients as to how much airplay their product is receiving.
Now Nielsen has upped its tracking capability by offering an enhanced version of Sigma called SpoTTrac. http://tinyurl.com/65c2hp
What is “Unity Gain,” and why is it important?
Unity gain means keeping the levels – both video (contrast, brightness & color) and audio consistent throughout the path of production and post-production, from the recording of footage in the field all the way to the playback of the final program, whether it be broadcast or viewed on a recorded media like DVD.
Read the rest of this article »
Copyright 2007-2012 David Ryan.
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