Well, it’s happening.  Even in this crazy economy.  We here at Video Labs are starting to get requests to make Blu-ray DVD copies.

At first it was one or two copies, and now we are fielding requests for up to 100.

Granted, the medium is still taking some time to catch on among many of our clients, but the advantages of the format – HD video quality among the foremost — are alluring.

The majority of the requests seem to be for exhjibition at trade shows, conferences and screenings.

And we can handle your Blu-ray duplication orders and utilize our superb on-disc color thermal transfer face label printing. (see blog on disc face printing: http://tinyurl.com/59psy8)

Now, this is not disc Blu-ray “replication.” And, we are not talking about high-end Blu-ray authoring, and we cannot make copies of AACS copy-protected Blu-ray masters. (see http://tinyurl.com/dqhm9)

BUT, again, let’s say your are outputting an editing project to a Blu-ray disc master or to an HD tape, and want to make a number of Blu-ray copies for a limited audience.  We CAN do that for you, from either your Blu-ray disc master or your HD tape, and with quick turnaround.

Just give me a call at 301-217-0000 x104 or dryan@videolabs.net

This might be a good time to consider just where is the industry at regarding Blu-ray these days?

I recently attended a seminar in DC where two of the people involved with the recently released book, “Blu-ray Demystified,”  http://tinyurl.com/9qaxjw spoke.  They were Samantha Cheng and Chuck Crawford of Television Production Services, Inc. http://www.tpsvideo.com/

It was a VERY informative meeting.   Bottom line: Don’t go into full-scale Blu-ray authoring and replication unpreprared . . . or think that it can be done quickly.  It is a VERY expensive process that requires a lot of pre-planning and strict attention to detail throughout.  Not to discourage you from the great potential this technology offers, but as a producer, make sure you have a road map.  I’m not shamelessly hawking their book, but if you are thinking of producing a Blu-ray project for the first time, GET THEIR BOOK!

Now, despite the down economy, there are signs that the consumer is starting to appreciate the advantages of Blu-ray, getting beyond the initial apathy that faced the format. (i.e. People have been thinking, ”Hey, my standard DVD looks fine enough, thank you.)”

Video Labs’ manager of multimedia, Stacey Flynn, a huge music fan, is becoming a Blu-ray convert.  She recently passed along this link regarding Neil Young’s soon-to-be released Blu-ray archive project.  http://tinyurl.com/6g4aud

Very cool. But yikes, a price tag $350?  Well, other titles are of course much more affordable.  The average Blu-ray movie is between $25 - $30.

Stacey feels though a lot of the price resistance is based on lack of knowledge of the advances and capabilities of the Blu-ray technology. 

Another reaction might be like that of Margaret Wallenfang of Great Lakes Media Technology’s art department when she received a gift of the Blu-ray release of “Sleeping Beauty” http://tinyurl.com/6tarxo

And what about the future potential of corporate use of Blu-ray?  Here’s a link to an interesting blog on that by another industry colleague of mine at GLMT, Tim Schoonenberg:   http://tinyurl.com/7h5rqe

What do you think?  Your comments are most welcome below.

While on the subject of Blu-ray and HD, you might also be interested in reading my blog about Video Labs’ HD captioning services:  http://tinyurl.com/6bpxje

Services of particular interest for this occasion:

And quick turnarounds are our specialty.

Video Labs is located in suburban Maryland right outside DC.

Contact me, David Ryan, at any time with any inquiries: 301-217-0000 x104, c: 301-717-3747, dryan@videolabs.net

Y recuerda que también hablo español.

Other blogs on this website of interest — regarding both Video Labs’ services and other technical info:

Standards Conversion with Alchemist Ph.C  http://tinyurl.com/6egswq

HD Captioning: http://tinyurl.com/6bpxje

IMX duplication:  http://tinyurl.com/5hp4h8

SX duplication: http://tinyurl.com/6rkc38

SpoTTrac encoding: http://tinyurl.com/6yq8zo

Disc authoring: http://tinyurl.com/5zy85n

Disc “duplication” vs. disc “replication” http://tinyurl.com/2ox2rk

Video resolution: http://tinyurl.com/75d977

 Blu-ray DVD duplication: http://tinyurl.com/a6jqd6

24p vs. 23.98: http://tinyurl.com/57eghk

Anamorphic: http://tinyurl.com/59jtfd

OK, so your video editor comes to your desk and says that the video clip you wanted is ”320 x 240,” . . . and you basically rely on the look on his or her face as to whether that is a good thing or bad thing.  Sound familiar?

Let’s see if we can’t help you look a little less like a deer in the headlights in such situations.

Again, my disclaimer, I myself have had my deer-in-the-headlight moments, and I am not a bonafide engineer (I only play one on TV - ok, ok, I couldn’t resist), but over my years as a producer, director and editor, I picked up info along the way — at least enough to help me survive. (though some might say I know just enough to be dangerous, but let’s ignore that, ok?)

With that all said, let’s move on to the topic at hand.  Video Resolution: it all comes down to pixels.

Those are the dots, with color components in them, that get energized by an electric charge to create a certain brightness and color.   And seen together, all those pixels make up an image.

And the denser the arrangement of pixels, the higher resolution the resulting picture is.

A standard definition television screen is made up of 525 horizontal lines and 720 columns of pixels.  Do the math and you get a conceivable 378,000 pixels.  

In reality, only 480 of the 525 video horizontal lines in SD are actually used for the picture.  The other 55 lines are not seen on regular screens.  They make up what’s called the “vertical interval” where such info as closed captioning, Sigma and SpoTTrac-ing info (see my blog on those:  http://tinyurl.com/65c2hp ) and vertical interval time code are carried.

So, the resolution for a regular standard def full screen tv picture is usually stated as 720 x 480 (with the 480 actually alternating scanning of even and odd 240 lines — see my blog about 24P that includes info about the differences between progressive and interlaced: http://tinyurl.com/57eghk )

And yes, even those 720 columns sometimes get cut down to 680 through other electronic shenanigans.  Oy vey.  What’s a viewer to do?

Now you know what drives the movement to HD.

High Defitinition resolution ranges from 1,980 columns of pixels and 1080 horizontal lines (scanned interlaced) — to 1,280 columns of pixels with 720 progressively scanned lines.   Do the math for either, and you’re looking between 921,600 to 2,138,400 available pixels. 

Higher Definition does indeed mean higher resolution.

Now, there are “super-duper” HD formats that are used by high-end moviemakers.  You’ll hear the terms 2K and 4K associated with those.   Check out this link to a popular high-end HD camera, The Red Digital Camera. http://www.red.com/ 

What’s going on is that these higher-end HD cameras are increasing both the number of columns and lines of pixels in a frame — part of the on-going quest to get digital filmmaking to match 35mm filmmaking.  

So let’s go back to my original statement, where the editor tells you the image is 320 x 240.  What’s going on with that?  This takes us the opposite way.   Think now . . .  yes, that’s like half the size of a regular standard def picture.  Hmmm, what could be like that?  And then you remember the term  ”compressed video” . . . video that can be played on a CD rather than a DVD, where the image doesn’t fill the whole screen. 

Yes, what the editor is telling you is that the video clip is not intended for full-screen video.  It’s set up to be played off a CD, or in a standard PowerPoint presentation, or perhaps on a website.

This topic can get much more detailed, and I invite you to check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_resolution, but I hope I have given you some initial grasp of the world of video resolution. 

I welcome your comments below.  And feel free to contact me at dryan@videolabs.net or 301-217-0000 x104 with any questions.

If you found this article of interest, you may want to check out Chris Vazquez’ article about “anamorphic” images.  http://tinyurl.com/59jtfd

1080i, 720p, 24P . . . oh my!

30 frames, 60i, 25 frames, 50i, 29.97, 23.98.  Somebody help!

Here are links to two in-depth articles on the web that I found that does an excellent job in explaining what all these terms all mean: http://tinyurl.com/ysxs4h   http://www.answers.com/topic/24p

But if you want a quick-read summary, I’ll give it try.  Please read on:

Let’s start by asking, what makes you sense motion on film or television?

Well, it’s a series of still frames projected fast enough so that you perceive the result as one continuous motion. 

How fast do the frames need to be projected?

Well, for most of the history of film, the projection rate has been 24 frames per second.

But when television came in, being an electronic medium, it made sense to the developing engineers to base the frame rate of that to match the electrical systems around the world.  And the electrical system of the US is based on 60 hertz, or cycles, per second.

If you have traveled internationally, you know that the electrical systems in some other parts of the worl are based on 50 cycles.

So you might think it would have made sense to have 60 frames of video in the US and 50 frames elsewhere.  But that was thought to be overkill and take too much broadcast bandwidth, so the developing engineers came up with an ingenuous way that called for the scanning of every other line of the picture frame. 

The result was that within the 60 cycles of every second, the cycles would alternate such that one would scan only the odd numbered lines of a frame and the next one would scan the even numbered lines.  That process is called “interlacing.”  Do the math, and the result is 30 complete frames a second, still faster than the 24 frames per second of film.   And you can see then that in the countries with 50 cycle electricity, the result was 25 frames a second.

The quest was then on over the years to try to get television to look like film.  Well, the advent of high definition television has made that goal finally achievable.

First, the shape of the high def 16×9 rectangular wide screen matches that of a theatre film screen.

Then the high resolution of HDTV (many more lines per frame than standard definition) now rivals that of film.

While some HD formats utilize an “interlacing” line scan approach (e.g. 1080i), others are able to use a sequential line scan approach that is called “progressive.”  The thought is that a “progressive” approach provides a even clearer picture quality.  An example of that is the HD format 720p.

A final step in striving to achieve a film look for video, was when modern camera technology allowed for the shooting of HD video at 24 frames per second.  These video cameras and recorders still work off of regular 60 cycle electricity, but they manipulate the picture digitally (via a 3-2 pulldown process — again, refer to above link for more details on that) with the result being that 24 video frames are recorded in one second. 

OK, that takes care of the 24.  But what is the “P” in 24P all about? (notice it is usually written as a capital “P” when used with 24)

The “P” here does indeed refer to a progressive scan rather than interlaced, but this is not to be confused with the the “p” and “i” in the scanning of the lines in the original frame.  24P means that the the resulting frames created in the “pull-down” process mentioned above are scanned progressively. 

To demonstate the point further, consider this — it is possible to have a 1080i HD tape that has been recorded  in 24P.

Is your head starting to hurt yet? 

Well, just one further thing to make it swell a bit more.  When color television came in, there were technical interference issues in introducing that element to the NTSC television signal such that the nice and logical 30 frames of video had to be slightly adjusted to 29.97 frames per second.  And brother, have we “non-rocket scientists” had to work hard in wrapping our heads around that one! 

So sure enough, as a result. in our NTSC world, for all intents and purposes, what we call 24P is really 23.98 frames per second.  (Now there are exceptions to this where true native 24P can be carried through in the production workflow to display - see above mentioned in-depth articles for more on that)

Whew.  I hope that helps make things at least a bit clearer.  (I am sure some of you are saying, “Yeah, sure, David.”  Oh well, I tried.)

Regardless, just know that we can handle your 24P tapes here at Video Labs, both in dubbing and editing.

Please contact me with any questions.  dryan@videolabs.net

I also welcome your comments below.

You may also want to check out that Video Labs also offers HD captioning: http://tinyurl.com/6bpxje

. . . and SpoTTrac encoding: http://tinyurl.com/6yq8zo

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.

And you may have heard that there are some hurdles still to work out some HDTV users to access the 708 captions.  Unlike SD connections between cable boxes, DVD players and television sets, it appears that the HDMI connectors used in homes between a cable or satellite HD decoder box and a HDTV do not pass through the 708 data set.  So that means that the captions have to be decoded before the HDMI connector — in otherwords, by the cable or satellite decoder box.  Unfortunately, as of yet, trying to make that adjustment within a decoder box has not been very user-friendly.  The FCC is aware of this. http://tinyurl.com/5kjj2a  . . . and like everything else, all will surely get worked out eventually.

But in the mean time, you are likely saying, “That’s all very fine and good David, but all I know is that I have an HD program that has to get closed-captioned!”

Don’t worry, just give me a call:  301-217-0000 x104 or e-mail me at dryan@videolabs.net  We’ll get it done for you.  (One disclaimer: while we can playback and record 720 HD tapes, presently Video Labs cannot caption HD programs that originate as 720 and need to end up as 720 closed-captioned.  Call me nonetheless and let’s see if we can offer you some options to that.)

I welcome you comments below.  Thanks - David

Need SpoTTrac encoding?  Check out this: http://tinyurl.com/6yq8zo

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 Sigma 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

In addition to encoding tracking data into the video signal,  SpoTTrac provides the added capability to encode that data into the audio signal.

That allows for more accurate (i.e. redundant) and robust tracking capabilities, including tracking of the product being played as a streaming file on the web.

Video Labs now has added SpoTTrac encoding to our Sigma encoding capabilities: http://tinyurl.com/5jhjx7

Contact me dryan@videolabs.net  (301-217-0000 x104) if you are interested in having SpoTTrac added to your spots, PSAs or VNRs.

As always, I welcome your comments below.

Interested in learning more about the challenges of putting captions and subtitling on DVDs?  I invite your to read my blog on that: http://tinyurl.com/5vgp9m

As you know, I like to feature popular packaging options here on this site.  One of my clients recently asked to go up a step from the Trimpak (what I call the “square” clam shell case http://tinyurl.com/5wa7s8)

While the Trimpak is square and can be filed well on a shelf, this client wanted something a bit more robust for their library of DVDs.

The result was the clear plastic polybox cases.

If you think about it, it’s really the equivalent of a slimline jewel case . . . but it’s of pliable plastic, very suitable for mailing as well as filing.

It’s a step-up in look, and consequently costs a bit more, but it may be worth your consideration.

Check out some of my other blogs about packaging:

Double Clam Shells: http://tinyurl.com/66g7wq (I like these a lot)

Also, check out other posts in “David’s Blog” for some eco-friendly “Going Green” media replication tips that actually are less expensive than their standard counterpart:

* Using “evaluated” tape stock:  http://tinyurl.com/5mzfvn

* Wafer seals rather than shrinkwrap: http://tinyurl.com/5qszbq

* Recycled-material vinyl disc cases: http://tinyurl.com/5vkecx

* Recycled paper material sleeves: http://tinyurl.com/686vcr

Want to see other basic packaging options offered by Video Labs? http://tinyurl.com/575fnr

I welcome your comments below.  And, as always, feel free to contact me at dryan@videolabs.net or 301-217-0000 x104 for your media replication and multimedia needs.

Remember, I work with people just like you . . . whose job is to “get the message out.”

Look at the many steps that footage typically goes through before getting to air or distribution.

And these steps are often further sub-divided or expanded. 

For example, portions of the video during the editing might be sent off to the graphics department for added effects work — with the resultant composited footage then brought back into the editing.

And after a program is finally edited, the sound is often stripped off and sent to an audio mixing facility for “sweetening.”  Then that new mix is brought back into the edit system and conformed to the picture before the program is laid off to the edited master tape.

You might ask, does maintaining unity gain really matter in this digital age?  You might be thinking, what with all the computers being used throughout, can’t one just adjust levels digitally as needed at any point along the way?

The problem with that thinking is that making radical adjustments at any stage in the pathway can introduce “noise” in either the video or audio.  Plus, you can correct only so far. 

Here is an everyday example of what I am talking about.  You may have tested the limits yourself when working on an underexposed digital photo in Photoshop or similar graphic program.  Sure, the computer software allows you a lot of correction ability that was unimaginable just a few years ago.  But chances are, if the photo is seriously underexposed or “out of whack” color-wise, you will be limited as to how much correction you can apply.  Despite your best efforts, chances are you will not be able to get the image to look very good.

Now, let’s look again at the production/post-production path chart – and think of every step as a point where the picture “gets taken” by your camera - an opportunity to affect the signal . . .
 
See the importance of maintaining consistency - or unity gain?

And the same goes for audio.

So how does one maintain consistency throughout the production and post-production chain?  How do we know what the intended or proper Picture and Audio levels are at any point in the production/post production process?   How do we know what is real?

The two basic metrics used to confirm proper levels are SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) bars for video, and 1K hertz tone for audio.  Check out this link for more details on those: http://tinyurl.com/59xckj

That is why it is standard procedure to lay down at least 30-secs of bars and tone at the beginning of every tape shot in the field and on every edit master and subsequent dub master.  Bars & Tone provide an industry reference.  When you release your videotape for broadcast or duplication, the 30 seconds of Bars & Tone at the beginning of your tape insures all of your hard work will be reproduced accurately.

For those dealing directly with the technical aspects of production and post-production, there are other intricacies to keep in mind when calibrating equipment in the signal path to bars and tone.  For video, there is component video http://tinyurl.com/pgvyh, SDI (serial digital interface) http://tinyurl.com/2u4wvp and of course the burgeoning High Definition field http://tinyurl.com/6c7d8j  &  http://tinyurl.com/5s6y8h

Also, remember to check the calibration of your “reference set-up equipment.”  About once a month check the calibration of your color monitor, waveform/Vector scope and the Audio Meter.

For audio there is the variable of whether the meter you are using is a VU (volume units) or PPM (Peak Program Meter).  Read more about that here: http://tinyurl.com/6xzp3d

And there is also the realm of digital audio to consider.  Formats such as AES http://tinyurl.com/676et3  and Dolby 5.1 “surround sound” http://tinyurl.com/onwte

One last note about audio meters and tone.  If the audio meter is “summed Mono” (Left & Right channels combined), the meter will read 3 dB hot when playing tone on both audio channels at the same time.  Always play the audio channels one at a time to confirm proper Tone level on a “Mono Meter”.

Suffice it to say that unity gain is important to always keep in mind whether you work in a large production facility or an indie production boutique.  Almost every broadcast and cable network insists on a strict quality control review of programs being considered for air.

If unity gain has not been carefully maintained throughout the production control, I can almost guarantee you that issues will arise that will result in the program being rejected.  And as a producer or technician, that is something you do not want to hear.

So, avoid that frustration (and added expense).  Watch your levels closely throughout the production and post-production process.  Insist on unity gain throughout.

Your comments are encouraged below.

Feel free to contact Chris Vazquez at chris.designsmith@verizon.net or 301-953-1427.

Other articles you might be interested in:

Is there generation loss in digibeta?  Check out Chris’ article: http://tinyurl.com/6yd6gn

Curious about setting up your editing timeline correctly?  Check out David’s blog: http://tinyurl.com/5mbl8u

Need CD, DVD or tape duplication?  Contact David Ryan at dryan@videolabs.net or 301-217-0000 x104