17 May 2005. True High Definition acquisition becomes even more accessible as Sony introduces its most compact professional HDV camcorder to date.

Weighing just 670 g, the new Sony HVR-A1E is an ideal choice for a wide range of professional users seeking the quality and convenience of the HDV format in the smallest, lightest package yet with full 1080 line resolution. Building on the s...   (read article)

16 May 2005. In North America, any TV set with native support for at least 720p progressive scan lines, is considered an HDTV. No HDTV shows are currently broadcast in 1080p; some are recorded in 720p, others in 1080i. But although most broadcasts are in 720 lines of progressive-scan video or 1080 lines of interlaced scan video, HDTV sets are beginning to offer 1080p line displays.

As ...   (read article)

15 May 2005. There was a time (1998 and 1999) when the best video scalars -Snell & Wilcox’ Supervisor and Interpolator products - cost $30,000 and $35,000. Both scalars looked at each video frame and convert video signals by looking at nine adjacent pixels for each pixel to be converted, plus the next ten and preceding ten.

Of course, there were video scalars at lower price points, ...   (read article)

15 May 2005. Initially developed for the home theatre market, video scalers can improve the video quality as well as offer scaling.   (Picture is a Sony KLV-26HG2 26-inch LCD HDTV; in UK visit www.sonybiz.  in U.S. visit www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP).

Proper conversion of interl...   (read article)

15 May 2005. A unit that takes a standard interlaced TV broadcast and creates a progressive scan video signal has been called a line doubler since the number of scan lines delivered to the TV every second is doubled. The simplest line doublers merely deliver each scan line to the TV twice; those that also produce a better picture quality as well are referred to as de-interlacers or progressive ...   (read article)

9 May 2005.  The 4:3 aspect ratio was established in the late 19 th century by Thomas Edison, the and officially adopted by the Society of Motion Picture Engineers as the first film industry aspect ratio standard. The television industry also used the 4:3 standard when it started broadcasting in the 1930’s. The National Television Standards Committee (NTSC), the group responsible for monit...   (read article)

9 May 2005. The HDTV standard itself is complete for both production and broadcast transmission but there is not yet a standardised way to transfer a digital signal to a digital display.  HDTV receivers are anticipating and providing for new the new connection standard HDMI to be implemented

In the past, if you wanted to connect a digital video source (like a digital satellite tune...   (read article)

9 May 2005. The debate on HDTV standards goes back almost 20 years. At the CCIR Plenary Assembly in Dubrovnik in 1986 there was a conflict was between the 1125 lines / 60Hz system, supported by Japan and the USA, and the 1250 lines / 50Hz system from Europe. The Europeans rejected a 60 Hz field rate for HDTV because standards conversion between different field rates was a formidable problem; th...   (read article)

Posted 2 May 2005.  High Definition means high resolution or a large number of pixels for manufacturers of computer monitors. There has been a steady upward trend over the last 25 years. (The picture is the Sony KLV-26HG2 LCD WEGA™ Flat Panel Television with DVI input.)

The earliest displays for personal computers were monochrome monitors. In 1981, IBM introduced the Color Graphics...   (read article)

Posted 2 May 2005. When television was invented, there was no videotape and all programmes were broadcast “live” from television camera feeds or from film. Analogue electronics was slow and interlaced scanning was devised as a way to produce an acceptable image that would make it possible to produce TV sets at a price that the average person could afford. If we were starting from scratch today,...   (read article)

2 May 2005. A Videoconferencing System needs a display. Initially in the early 1990s it could be a computer monitor or a TV set both based on a cathode ray tube. Today, there is a much wider choice and many videoconferencing systems support two displays: one for video and one for data. (Picture is of TANDBERG with dual 50" plasma monitors with 16:9 widescreen format.)

When television st...   (read article)

In May 2005, we published eleven articles relating to High Definition (HD) Video. They are posted here for reference. They were entitled:

1. How we got to the resolution of colour Television Set displays. We started with a black and white CRT, then colour CRT, then plasma screens and now LCD screens.

2. How interlaced scanning and progressive scanning refresh the imag...   (read article)