HD-D5

A HIGHER FORM OF HD

 Future Solutions Now

HD-D5 Now Available for Rent in the Dallas Market

Why HD?

Recognizing the needs of a maturing HD market demands for higher quality HD for the visual effects community and a smooth transition for post facilities, In-Sync has recently added to its inventory Panasonic HD-D5. In-Sync has always been committed to providing the highest quality equipment and services in the Southwest.  We were the first to provide HD Ultimatte, the first Local 600 member Digital Imaging Technician in the region and now we are providing a crucial link for the emerging HD post facilities in the market.

Even though the majority of households do not currently receive High Definition broadcasts, that is no reason to stay away from these high powered production tools.  HD formats typically offer five times the information in each frame.  Whether an HD original or a high quality transfer from 35mm film the added resolution of HD WILL give you cleaner mattes, less noise, greater control over color purity and a huge reduction or artifacts through out the post production process.

WHY HD-D5?

Panasonic D-5 HD recorders have been selected the HDTV delivery format of choice by the major television networks, the mastering standard for HDTV telecine transfers by the major movie studios, and adopted from coast to coast by the nation's most prestigious post-production facilities.

Panasonic Broadcast's D-5 HD format sets the industry standard for high-quality HDTV recording, mastering and program distribution. It is the de facto standard of high resolution recording and playback for high definition.  When you watch ABC Monday Night Football in high definition, you see instant replays done on D5-HD.  This was the format chosen by the Lucas organization, Lucas Arts, to master the Star Wars Trilogy on.  HD-D5 was used extensively in the production of the digital master of Episode I and II.

Users of the HD-D5, include: Video Post and Transfer in Dallas, Crawford Communications, Video Tape Associates, Avenue Edit, Filmworker’s Club, Complete Post, Encore Video, Hollywood Digital, IVC, Laser Pacific, Level 3 Post, Modern Video Film, Post Logic,  The Post Group, and Tape House Editorial.

One thing setting the D5-HD apart from other formats is that it records a true 1920 pixels by 1080i image (Panasonic's DVCPROHD records only 1280 pixels and Sony's HDCAM records only 1440 pixels).

One reason why the D5-HD machines can record such a detailed picture is that they use 235 megabits per second onto the tape, (as opposed to DVCPRO-HD's 100 Mb/s, D9-HD's 100 Mb/s, and HDCAM's 140 Mb/s).

The ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) tables indicate that a 4:2:2 sampled 1080i image should have 1920 luminance pixels in the image. Chroma should be 960 pixels. Put another way, the 4:2:2 sampling should translate to 1920:960:960. Sony's HDCAM is said to record only 1440:480:480 pixels. If you do the math, this translates to 3:1:1, a number worse than 4:2:2. The numbers don't tell you everything, however; the HDCAM image is gorgeous and Sony challenges anyone to see the difference between the HDCAM output and that of its rivals.

Comparing D5-HD and HDCAM

Resolution: HDCAM has 75% horizontal resolution on the luminance channel, and 50% of the chrominance channels, vs. HD D-5, and what the SMPTE spec itself provides. This is most easily seen with a test pattern generator passed through the machine. The effects of the "pre filtering" are immediately visible.

This lower resolution is very detrimental to keys signals being derived from HDCAM, especially Ultimatte and chroma keys, since there is HALF the chroma resolution. This results in poor separation and soft edges on super fine detail video objects.

How Do I Do It?

Originate your project on HD-D5 with In-Sync.

Or Transfer your film to D5-HD at Video Post and Transfer

Take your project to any of the HD capable facilities in the area including: Circle R, Post Asylum, Showcase, VP&T, and FPS.

Arrange for In-Sync to deliver and install the HD-D5 and be confident that you are achieving the highest picture quality possible.

If your favorite facility is not on this list please contact me so we can make arrangements.

Panasonic Professional Equipment:  AJ-D580H

1/2" Component Digital Studio VTR

Features

·        Fully transparent (CCIR) 4:2:2 10-bit (13.5MHz) component recordings without compression

·        Play time on 1/2" MP cassette/full 2 hours

·        Selectable 13.5 or 18MHz video sampling rates

·        4 ch. of 20-bit, 48kHz PCM audio

·        Analog cue track

·        Full LTC/VITC

·        Full editing capabilities, insert, assemble and pre-read

·        High-speed search 50X play speed

·        Auto tracking range -1 to 2X

·        Program play mode, 85-115% play speed in 0.1% increments

·        9-pin serial RS-422A control