Stuart Hurst, product manager for Sony Canada, acknowledges the kind of dense issues which must be negotiated before dtv and hdtv broadcasting rolls out successfully, here and in the u.s. ‘Even if we were to get the terrestrial broadcasting issues sorted out here, because of 85% cable penetration there are much bigger issues. It will take a long time to get things mandated here,’ he says.

In the meantime, Hurst says broadcasters are focusing on standard-definition solutions which are ‘future protected,’ like switchable cameras.

‘In the broadcast world, everyone is preparing,’ says Hurst. ‘In production things are entirely different. People are already shooting in hd. That’s where we’ve done all our high-def business this year. By the end of April, we’ll have sold about nine high-def camcorders, mostly to rental houses.

Hurst points to the first project shot on hd here (see AAC, Optix take HD to school, p. VI-1) and the corollary purchase of hd vtrs by post shops.

While 1080i has become the de facto hd production standard, and Hirst points to the potential cost-saving advantages of shooting on this format versus Super 16, 1080P/60 frames is the ‘ultimate’ standard. In the film world, Hurst says producers in California and elsewhere have asked for, and are getting, equipment that deals in a more easily malleable format – 1080P/24 frames.

‘It’s something you’ll be hearing a lot about at nab,’ says Hurst, and many of the major manufacturers are building this into equipment solutions. ‘The idea is that with technology now, we can manage a 24-frame 1080P signal, but at 1080P and 60 frames it takes way more bandwidth. What this allows people to do is to shoot film, transfer on telecine to 1080P at 24 frames. They can master the show at 1080P 24 frames then from there can do a conversion to any one of the dtv formats.’

Hurst says a 1080P/24-frame camera from Sony is about a year away, while the matching post gear, like switchers and vtrs, will be available this summer.

Panasonic’s Terry Horbatiuk says broadcasters involved in dtv ramp-up want a single standard and want to deal in a single format.

‘Broadcasters want one format; they want one tape format, they want one screen format.’

But on the creative production side, Horbatiuk says the range of formats offers opportunities to producers, and emphasizing only 1080 hd production is ignoring the multiple formats which allow producers to create content in a cost-effective way.

‘Each of these formats addresses a particular need within a very wide-ranging industry – from 1080P/24 frames for film production to 720P to 480P.’

Horbatiuk points to the merits of 720P as a cost-effective way of transmitting an hd signal while allowing some bandwidth to be used for other services. ‘Then there is a mezzanine level between standard def and high def, which is 480P,’ says Horbatiuk, pointing to the adoption of the 480P Panasonic camera by the National Film Board in Montreal. ‘480P gives you the wide-screen picture and it gives you the single greatest improvement in picture quality for the dollar.’

Horbatiuk points to the wide range of formats and production requirements and Panasonic’s ‘straight roadway’ approach through its product spectrum, with a single-compression scheme, scaled data-rate solution as a central theme for its nab presence.

Horbatiuk also points to the Canadian cabled landscape as a huge factor in dtv rollout and to consumer adoption of new TV-set technology (Panasonic will launch three HD-ready set modells in fall 1999) ‘Most people refer to a chicken-and-egg scenario,’ he says, referring to the digital tv sets versus dtv signals dialectic. ‘But I think it’s chicken, egg and rooster, and cable is the rooster.’