At Moray Black Productions, Inc., we produce a wide range of videos, including, but not exclusive to; TV promos-commercials, corporate-event meeting openers, training videos, capture of live corporate events, award's videos, candid's, marketing videos, update videos, informational videos and documentaries.

Nearly all video production is headed in the direction of High Definition format. Currently the common wisdom is that Hi-Def is best suited for broadcast and very large staging events where oversize projection screen/screens are utilized. Hi-Def video is quite a bit more costly to produce than Standard Definition,  the hardware necessary for its production is expensive, the editing process is more time intensive, b-roll is more costly to purchase and storage demands are MUCH greater. The delivery methods available for Hi-Def are limited as well.

16:9 Standard Definition offers a better value in most cases for corporate events at this point in time...5-23-07. Also a point worth considering is the reason for high definition video in the first place... a sharper, crisper, more life-like image. Extra care during the video taping process including proper lighting, fine tuning focus as well as other parameters make a world of difference in the finished Standard Definition video's appearance. Standard Definition video shot properly at 16:9 generally offers a much better value for corporate live staging events using standard screen sizes.

Overview of Standard Definition and High Definition

Countries that use the PAL transmission standard, for example the UK, Australia and parts of Europe, Standard Definition corresponds to digital frame dimensions of 720 x 576 pixels (or 720 x 608 including the VBI (Vertical Blanking Interval).

Countries which use the NTSC transmission standard (USA for instance), Standard Definition corresponds to a digital frame dimension of 720 x 480 pixels

Many countries are transitioning to High Definition, transmitting alongside the Standard Definition signal. High Definition comes in two frame dimension types: 1280 x 720 and 1920 x 1080, with 1920 x 1080 offering the sharpest image.

Furthermore, while Standard Definition is always interlaced, High Definition is most often progressive, although the 1920 x 1080 format can also be interlaced.

The following image represents a scaled-down, relative comparison between the three sizes of NTSC video formats:

Compare the two images below. The bottom image was "stretched" from 720 x 480 to 1920 x 1080. This illustrates the similar result you get when you play Standard Definition (720 x 480 video on one of the larger big screen TV's (60-73"). Notice how the lower image is significantly "softer" and lacking in finer detail:

Image quality in Standard Definition video can be dramatically improved by first using a high quality camera, carefully lighting the set/talent, setting the aperture for an optimal color saturation and brightness balance and fine tuning the focus. The advantages are, a crisper, cleaner key with greenscreen video and less detail loss when the video is enlarged above 100% of its original size.

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