HD - The Big Picture
Matt Cook
The Big Picture
As the broadcast industry slowly migrates from NTSC to HD, designers face a
challenge unlike any since the switch from black & white to colour says Iain
Greenway, creative director at Click 3x
After a slow start in the US HDTV appears to be here to stay. After some
rather limited forays by PBS and major broadcast networks, several cable
stations, including HBO and ESPN, now offer secondary HD channels. Calling
itself 'the most HDTV anywhere,' VOOM offers 35 high definition channels to
consumers across the continental United States. Additionally, iN DEMAND has
launched two new 24-hour high definition channels, INHD and INHD-TV.
The transition to high definition will have a significant, and yet largely
unappreciated impact on those of use who work in broadcast design. HD's 16:9
aspect ratio provides a new canvas for designers to ply their art, one that
facilitates, and even demands, new design concepts. HD's greatly improved
image clarity and extended colour palette, too, will have a profound impact
on the imagery designers use to captivate viewers.
During the current transitional period, as the broadcast industry slowly
migrates from NTSC to HD, designers face a challenge unlike any since the
switch from black & white to colour. At least until HD television sets
become a fixture in most consumer homes, designers will often be obliged to
create media that functions equally well, or nearly so, in both 4:3 and
16:9. The problem is more than one of ensuring that vital information is
visible in both formats. Rather, designers must utilise HD in exciting ways
that are also effective in NTSC.
For designers, the shift from 4:3 to 16:9 is similar to adjusting a page
from portrait to landscape. Suddenly, vast new real estate appears at the
edges of the frame. It's as if the rules of proportion and the 'golden
section' have been rewritten overnight.
A new frame is not the only benefit of HD. The extreme clarity of the high
definition image allows designers to explore detail, both in macro and micro
worlds, that was heretofore beyond their reach. Similarly, HD both extends
and adds subtlety to the designer's colour palette facilitating imagery of
greater richness and depth. The possibilities for the use of typography in
HD go beyond the capabilities of NTSC, approaching that of print design. No
longer are typographic choices limited to medium and bold as light typefaces
become part of the designer's toolkit and open a new range of expression.
With this newfound freedom comes hidden limitations - at least so long as
the system of two formats prevails. In determining how best to exploit the
possibilities of the beautiful new 16:9 rectangle, the designer will have to
decide what degree of compromise he or she is willing to make in order to
assure that the design also works in 4:3. The urge to ease the subject
toward the centre of the frame, to 'shoot and protect,' will be great. No
one wants to see the fruits of his or her labours relegated to the invisible
world of cut off. At some point, designers will have to make the courageous
decision to forsake 4:3 altogether and design exclusively for the new
medium.
I had the opportunity to explore the possibilities of HD design recently as
part of the team at Click 3x that created the branding for INHD. The work
distinguishes INHD from other broadcasters by capturing the essence of the
HD viewing experience and demonstrating what makes it fundamentally
different from standard television. It's not merely a matter of a wider
picture. It's how the wider framing enhances the viewing experience. It's
not simply a sharper picture. It's how greater detail leads to greater
understanding.
Sports fans who watch baseball games on INHD will be able to survey the
entire field as if they had seats behind home plate. When the camera moves
in for a close up, they will see how the pitcher wraps his fingers over the
laces of the ball as he prepares to throw a slider. The graphics package
communicates this difference by juxtaposing wide vistas with incredible
details. An image of enormous stalks of kelp rising up through blue-green
water is set against a close up of a single leaf.
Colour plays a significant, but perhaps less immediately apparent role in
the package as the palette makes liberal use of hues that are difficult if
not impossible to reproduce accurately in NTSC. One of the INHD spots
features a low slung motorcycle whose hot orange paint would have been too
vibrant for NTSC, causing crawl and vibration, but in HD, it is fantastic.
Viewers may not be able to articulate the difference, but they will sense
that they are watching something that is quite apart from the ordinary.
For designers it is exciting to introduce people to something new, but such
opportunities, by definition, are short-lived. As HD becomes firmly
established and viewers become familiar with the wider frame and crisper
detail, it will no longer be enough to promote those qualities as they will
have become the norm. At that point, it will be time for designers to find
new ways to keep viewers enthralled.
Iain Greenway
29 Jul 2004
© C21 Media 2004
flyinyereye
news:ceqmsu$vnu$1...@otis.netspace.net.au...
> http://www.c21media.net/features/detail.asp?area=24&article=21305
> At least until HD television sets
> become a fixture in most consumer homes, designers will often be obliged
> to
> create media that functions equally well, or nearly so, in both 4:3 and
> 16:9. The problem is more than one of ensuring that vital information is
> visible in both formats. Rather, designers must utilise HD in exciting
> ways
> that are also effective in NTSC.
>
> For designers, the shift from 4:3 to 16:9 is similar to adjusting a page
> from portrait to landscape. Suddenly, vast new real estate appears at the
> edges of the frame. It's as if the rules of proportion and the 'golden
> section' have been rewritten overnight.
It's much the same as web design shifting from 640x480, to 800x600, to
1024x768, or being variable to accommodate all three (something TV can't
do). The transition for TV simply won't move as fast because people hold on
to their old TVs longer than computer owners. The interim step has been for
programme makers to tape content in 14:9 safe format -- and I see this
continuing for a few more years. It seems that a lot of US programme-makers
still have yet to make that leap, however.
I really look forward to the day when all the screen real estate gets used
to full advantage, and things like titling, credits and other onscreen
graphics are no longer relegated to the 4:3 safe area.
JandB
content to match both formats result in some level of duplication and
additional costs at the production level for some time to come? These
extra design costs will also be in addition to the cost of new HD
equipment to produce the content.
How will these costs be passed onto us consumers? Though other cost
savings perhaps or increased advertising costs. However those with
HDD's are looking to avoid as much advertising as possible (certainly
my intention) so that may not be the answer. New innovative advertising
techniques will need to be devised.
I'm just glad it's not my problem ... but I can see why some in the
industry including the production houses & networks may be reluctant to
move to HD in the short-term until some of these problems are solved.
--
JandB
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flyinyereye
news:JandB....@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au...
> It also raises an economic question - won't the need to produce
> content to match both formats result in some level of duplication and
> additional costs at the production level for some time to come? These
> extra design costs will also be in addition to the cost of new HD
> equipment to produce the content.
This is already the case. TV broadcasters have to transmit in analogue, plus
SD digital, as well as a set amount of HD. As for using that screen real
estate to maximum advantage, for the most part we'll be stuck with 14:9 safe
footage, until analogue gets shut down.
> How will these costs be passed onto us consumers? Though other cost
> savings perhaps or increased advertising costs. However those with
> HDD's are looking to avoid as much advertising as possible (certainly
> my intention) so that may not be the answer. New innovative advertising
> techniques will need to be devised.
Too late, it's already happening in the form of product placement. If
technology to remove ads is effective then the commercial stations will have
an excuse to move to an even worse alternative: graphical pop-up ads during
programming. And it won't be a little subtle scrolling text string like you
might see during the cricket, it'll be bright and flashing and attention
seeking. If that happens the ad break as we know it will become nothing but
a fond memory.
Matt Cook
> And it won't be a little subtle
> scrolling text string like you might see during the cricket, it'll be
> bright and flashing and attention seeking.
I've saw Seven doing this regularly about a year ago. They might still be,
but I get my Seven via Prime now.
flyinyereye
Sure, they do it for their own promos - I'm talking about paid advertising
during programmes.