28 percent of Americans Own HDTV

So says the Consumer Electronics Associations, the folks that put on the big CES show every year. Well it seems that after 10 years of struggling to get off the ground, high-def has hit critical mass. I personally am dismayed whenever I have to watch standard-def TV on a high-def set because it looks so much worse than on a standard-def set. It's a big pixelated, stretch-out mess that will exagerate any flaws in the image, including compression artifacts from your digital cable or satellite. And let's be clear that there is not that much high-def content out there on TV. But apparently this doesn't bother consumers that much because 86% said that they were highly satisified with their TV according to this survey. When you do get a good signal, like decent HD or even an upconverted DVD, then a decent high-def display can really shine.

TV folks not only have to worry about whether to deliver HD content but also widescreen content too. I'm assuming that standard-def channels will have a place in the future because of the trade-off between quality and bandwith will make it reasonable to have more channels at a lower resolution. So when will standard-def go widescreen? I know in Europe, where there's not much HDTV, their TV is already widescreen. When the analog shutoff of over-the-air TV comes in 2 years how many of those 4x3 tube TV's will become our toxic legacy to the futre and end up in the landfills to be replaced by LCD flat-panels? Well considering that 10 years ago I thought DVD's would never take off because everyone would be glued to their brand-new high-def sets that the public was about to rush out and buy, I'm not going to hazard a guess.

[via Engadget]

Slingbox for Remote Feeds

CNET has a video about our neighbor KPIX 5 . KPIX is using the consumer Slingbox for remote feeds. These sell for around $120 and basically take a video input and will stream it to another computer over the internet. They are putting these in cars and driving around for traffic shots. Looks like the video is being streamed to the internet through a cell phone data connection.

Slingbox was designed to let folks watch their TV's at home from any computer or even mobile devices that can connect to the inernet. It's interesting to think of another low-cost internet technology being used for broadcast video. Apple's iChat does a decent job of streaming video to another computer. But with Slingbox you don't even need a host computer to stream the video. I also recently wrote about a Windows streaming software Orb.

Slingbox recently released a Mac client called SlingPlayer that will let you receive the stream from a SlingBox on a Mac. The interface will recreate the remote for a device like a TiVo and allow you to control that device from the client computer.

Subtitling with DVD Studio Pro

This short article covers the basics of adding subtitles to a DVD using DVD SP. Workflow is based around using a professional closed-captioning service to transcribe and caption the program. Then they provide you a .STL file that DVD SP can work with.

FCP Editing Tip

This is a cool little editing trick. Add transitions to multiple clips at once. I would have never thought of that.

Mac Pro Onboard SATA

Recently I wrote this post about a way to use the extra SATA ports that are otherwise unused inside the Mac Pro. Well, here's an article from a person who actually did it, and on reflecting on it, I would judge it not worth the effort. Appparently the NewerTech eSATA Cable Kit/PCI bracket manual recommends that you route the cables underneath the motherboard. I'm not up for that kind of surgery personally. Neither was the author, so he/she just left the cables floating around inside the computer. I guess that would be OK, but generally I don't like to do stuff inside of a $2,500 computer unless a manufacturer is recommending it. When you can get 2 eSATA ports from a number of PCIe card manufacturers for $100, I wouldn't bother with this personally. File this under, too much trouble but cool (in the geeky way).

Cool in a geeky way would also describe the site where I found this article xlr8yourmac.com.

Consumer HD Cameras

Camcorderinfo.com does a great job of reviewing consumer and prosumer camcorders. Check out their "The Great HD Shoot-Out". It seems like the consumer HDV cameras are performing well. They like the new Canon HV-20. They say it has a great image and nice performances features like true 24fps. They also like the Sony HDR HC-7. Panasonic and JVC are trying out some new formats--AVCHD and MPEG-2 respectively--with not as much success as Sony and Canon. For pros, it looks like these cameras could be useful as a cheap B-cam or when something small and/or inconspicuous is desired.

Adam Wilt on HDV Cameras

"The Rashomon Effect" (registration required)

Adam Wilt does a write-up on a comparison of the HVX-200, the Canon XH-A1, and the new Sony HVR-V1. Interesting look at what is being offered in the HDV world. The V1 is an interesting new product that is a strong addition to the current crop of HDV cameras. Adam says that it is very sharp, sharper than the Z1. It has a true 24 frame per second mode (unlike the Canon and the Z1.) And at 24 fps, the V-1 seems to have the sharpest picture in the low-price HD camcorder world. It's also smaller and lighter than the Z-1 and the A1. The big drawback is that it's slower than the other HDV cameras--so either more gain or more light needed when you are not in daylight.

Adam Wilt also wrote a full review of the V1 for DV.com (registartion required.)

CalDigit S2VR Duo Review...and Firewire VR

This reviews is a big smackdown to the new G-Raid while boosting products from CalDigit. Article says that the G-Raid 2 is not up to snuff when daisy-chained--I need to check this out myself with some drives that I've got.

In the past I've said that it's much easier for me to deal with G-Raid's than SATA storage because it's easier to add storage with firewire. But if the G-Raid 2's don't daisy-chain well--then that totally changes that equation.

CalDigit S2VR Duo Review...and Firewire VR"

AMUG Reviews Versatile Server

"Dual Drive File, Media & Web Network Server"

I'm using a Mac at the office as a file server and music server and backup server. This could replace all of that except for running Retrospect to backup other computers. It's cool that it will work with iTunes and multimedia devices. I could use this at home to serve files to my iBook with its paltry 40GB hard drive. $500 without drives. Not the cheapest, but I trust AMUG and their excellent reviews. Here's their summary of this product.

"The Synology Disk Station DS-207 provides a high quality solution for adding streaming multimedia support, file service, photo sharing and web site capabilities to any computer network with minimal power consumption. The small size, quiet operation and the outstanding web configuration tool provided with the Disk Station DS-207 make it a pleasure to use. Music lovers will appreciate the built-in Disk Station DS-207 iTunes sharing feature. With a DS-207 installed on the network, there is no need to keep large music libraries on each computer. Just copy the music to the Disk Station DS-207 and it will stream the audio selections to all of the iTunes users on the network. The Photo Station 2 software also provides an excellent interface for sharing photos over the network using a web browser. The wide range of services provided by the Disk Station DS-207 will enhance any office or home computer network."

Mike Curtis Reviews DeckLink HD Studio

DV Magazine Review of DeckLink HD Studio (requires registration)

Mike Curtis from HD for Indies reviews the DeckLink HD Studio. This card has analong in and outs for standard and hi-def video, but it also has HDMI in and out. Sort of like the a regular DeckLink plus the Intensity card that I have discussed before. Mike mentions on his blog that the new Intensity Pro from Blackmagic will more or less match the featurs of the DeckLink HD Studio at a lower price.

Here's Mike's summary of why you would use this card:
"...if you want to transcode HDV or AVCHD to uncompressed (for finishing and online work) or to DVCPRO HD (for faster renders and greater real-time performance than HDV), or if you want to monitor on an inexpensive HDTV, then the Blackmagic DeckLink HD Studio is the right card for you."

As I mentioned before, I think the new features in FCP 6 make transcoding HDV or AVCHD (or DV, IMX, DV50, any format that can be captured in its native codec) an unnecessary step. With FCP 6, you should be able to mix the native codec with uncompressed renders or the new ProRes 422 codec in the same timeline without rendering. So that leaves monitoring video through the consumer-standard HDMI output as the only really strong reason to work with HDMI, unless you can't wait for FCP 6.

eSata Extender Cable

The Mac Pro's motherboard will support up to 6 hard drives. 4 of the drives have dedicated slots, but Apple doesn't give you a place to mount anymore drives inside the Mac. There are two SATA ports on the motherboard that you can use with external drives if you buy the eSata Extender Cable. It basically routes those ports out the back of a PCI slot. Then you can hook 2 more external SATA drives to your MacPro. At $25, this is cheaper than buying a PCIe SATA card for your MacPro, which start at $100.

ProRes 422: Apple New's High-Quality Codec for Post

I think that I downplayed the significance of ProRes 422 in my write-up of Final Cut Studio 2. After doing some more research, it seems like a real great codec. I just read an Apple white paper on ProRes 422 (PDF file) for lots of good detail on what I think is a big addition to FCS.

Here's Apple's summary of what's so great about ProRes 422:
Enter Apple ProRes 422, a new format designed for pristine HD quality, economical hardware confi gurations, yet high-performance, multistream Final Cut Pro real-time editing—for both high-defi nition (HD) and standard-defi nition (SD) formats. Apple ProRes 422 features:
• The quality of uncompressed HD at data and storage rates lower than uncompressed SD.
• Performance comparable to or better than the existing HD codecs in Final Cut Pro.
• The ability to work with HD on slower drives, and with more users on shared storage.

In my FCS2 write-up, I thought that ProRes 422 was all about the the $3500 AJA IO HD. But Apple says in the white paper, "Capture ProRes 422 in real time from any HD-SDI source." OK. I'm used to having Blackmagic or AJA point out support for specific codecs with their hardware, and I haven't heard any mention from them about supporting ProRes 422 (except for the IO HD.) But for the time being, I'm going to take Apple at its word.

But ProRes 422 isn't just for folks with those super-expensive decks with HD-SDI outputs. Apple mentions that you can mix ProRes 422 in a timeline with native HDV footage:
"Through a new user preference in Final Cut Pro 6.0, the editor can choose to render projects in HDV and XDCAM HD using ProRes 422. This will result in faster rendering time and a higher-quality 4:2:2 composite. For projects that are mastering to HD-SDI, ProRes 422 is the perfect rendering choice. "

So capture your HDV in its native codec, low-bit rate codec (lower bit-rate than ProRes 422). But then don't render effects in highly-compressed MPEG-2 codec. FCP 6 doesn't mind having HDV and ProRes 422 in the same timeline. Well, this changes a lot of my thinking about editing HDV in other codecs as the best way to post it The new ability to mix codecs in the same timeline, really means capture in the native codec if you can (no conversion/transcoding and you don't have to use more bit-rate or storage on a higher bit-rate codec until you render something.) And you don't need some 5-drive RAID to play back those high-quality renders--my guess is that a G-RAID will play back the highest bit-rate ProRes 422 fine.

ProRes 422 also support 720x486 standard-definition resolution. This is a 4:2:2, 10-bit codec at rates comparable to DVCPro50 and IMX 50, which are only 8-bit codecs. So Apple doesn't mention how you can capture SD into ProRes 422. It seems like again it is a good option for rendering at the least.

So again:
-For all intensive purposes, visually lossless
-HD quality at SD files sizes
-Do more with your video--your drives can feed you more streams and the processors can handle the footage faster than uncompressed

Apple also alludes to support from Sony, Panasonic, and RED. It would be interesting to have some of these tapeless cameras capture directly to ProRes 422 if it really is such a great codec, but it's not clear what other manufacturers might do with the new codec.

More on ProRes 422:
Studio Daily: "EXCLUSIVE VIDEO DEMO: ProRes 4:2:2"
Apple Insider: "A closer look at Apple's new ProRes 422 video format"

Sony Announces sub-10K Tapeless Camcorder

Was it 3 years ago that Sony and Panasonic offered their divergent views on tapeless workflow? Sony touted the Blu-ray optical disc as cheap storage with high-capacity, but offered more expensive cameras. Panasonic's P2 cards were solid-state memory, which allowed a smaller-form factor and cheaper cameras, like the HVX200. But those P2 cards are still pricey, despite plummeting costs for flash memory.

Well, Panasonic isn't wavering from its commitment to P2 with a bunch of new high-end gear, like the AJ-HPX3000 and AJ-HPX500, and the low-end HVX200 is still popular. But Sony is trying out flash memory with a new camera, the XDCAM EX

This is a sub-$8,0000 camera that records onto a new type of flash memory called SxS. Sony will sell SxS, and SanDisk will also sell cards for the camera. It records in a lot of formats 1080 at 60i, 50i, and 24p, and 720 at 60p and 50p, as well as standard-def. The XCAM EX records with the MPEG-2 codec, but I'm not sure what kind of bit-rates. They mention 18mb/s, which is equivalent to HDV. So no indication yet that the quality will be an improvement on the HDV format (one nice thing about the HVX-200 is that it offers DVCProHD, which is a better codec than HDV.) Like the P2, you can get an overcrank effect for good slo-mos.

The XDCAM EX should come out in the fall. The SxS standard was just announced too. So no word on storage pricing. I'm guessing it will start high, like the P2 cards, but I'm hoping it will fall fast with flash giant SanDisk also manufacturing SxS cards.

TubeTV--Save and Convert Online Flash Movies

This looks like a handy app. It is is for downloading and converting videos from YouTube and Google Video. Has a built-in little browser where you search and navigate to the movies that you want. It will handle conversion to H.264 for your Apple TV or iPod. It says that Macs need the Perian Quicktime Component to watch FLV movies in QuickTime.

I've written about keepvid.com before here. It's a website that helps with downloading flash fiiles from a bunch of websites.

Al Jazeera English goes YouTube

After getting shutout of US broadcasting, Al Jazeera English has launched a channel of sorts on YouTube.

I haven't watched Al Jazeera English, and the big question is if it will become as notorious as the original Arabic channel. I'm guessing not, but I think it is still worth keeping an eye on what they are doing. Especially considering the sorry state of news channels in the US.

[via TV Squad]