VIDEO Versus FILM.... What`s the truth!

By Bill Reid (Area 20)

You may have become confused over the actual situation as regards Video versus film, from many of the comments that have been banded about in the CRCN over the last few years. But just where does `film` stand while video and compact disc technology changes by the day!

My own feelings are, that film will continue for some years yet, as it still has an edge in video, both with high picture quality and camera equipment simplicity and convenience. Both cameras and film still have much technical improvements that the makers will tackle and surprise us with.

Ron Knowles extolled the technical facilities of Eric Weatherill`s new camera, and I have had experience of this too while on a short holiday, when a work mate also bought himself one of these technical marvels. Modern electronics have produced cameras that allow the most novice operator to gain perfectly exposed pictures, under the most difficult lighting conditions, which you and I have had to learn, from years of experience and/or studying numerous books and magazines, not to forget, through membership of the CRC.

However there is a price to pay, and I just don`t mean the £5-600 or so you will pay for these magnificent machines. You virtually require a degree just to start setting up the many `modes`, and learning what each will do. While my collegue messed about with his camera settings, and hoped he got things right! I already had my humble little Cannon AE1 ready to click the shutter.

While the AE1, as the name implies, can be used in `Auto` mode, I seldom use it this way, and prefer to use it in `manual` and simply open or close the aperture for over or under-exposure of the scene, or change shutter speeds as my experience tells me.

Some of these new cameras now use `Bar-codes`, as you see on food packages. You receive a booklet, with your camera, that has photographs, taken in most lighting conditions that you will meet and, you simply run a pencil sized `scanner` over the bar-code below the picture and your camera is set-up for your scene. So our next generation of `novice` photographers won`t even need to know anything about their cameras and/or photography, as such!

Most of you who may have had your cine films or transparencies transferred to video will know at first hand, how the quality of home video recorders just cannot match that of your films. Actual quality depends on the sort of video equipment that was used for the transfer, but even many, so-called, professionally transferred videos leave much to be desired.

This is what I was referring to in my editorial statements in the last newsletter. Until High Definition (HDTV) TV and combined with digital video recorders come on stream, this will remain the normal for some time to come.

However the immediate threat is Kodak`s Compact Disc (CD) photo to TV system. The digital picture quality is excellent, but again you are dependant on our present 625 line TV system. Of course, you have to use a film and camera in the first place. Once HDTV is available there should be little or no difference in the picture quality of your original and the TV image.

NO `SINGLE`, WORLD - WIDE H D TV SYSTEM!

Once HDTV combined with CD technology is here then the real danger to the filmed image will be enforced by the TV and Newspaper media and you will eventually see the demise of film for standard home photography use. However, thankfully, at the moment, Governments can`t agree on a `Universal` HDTV system. Many are attempting to produce their own systems. Japan is going flat out for the true HDTV system, which will mean everyone having to buy completely new equipment, while Europe, and especially Britain, is messing about with a `Wide-screen` system, which some of you with video recorders will already have heard of, or even seen in your local TV shop.

If you had taken it that this was the latest HDTV system, then I am afraid you have been fooled or mislead! This is a system that still works on our present 625 lines. On normal TV sets it allows the full width `original` Cinemascope picture to be viewed. but of course, the TV picture is reduced at the top and bottom of the screen, therefore while you see the full width of the picture, you are actually getting a much smaller picture for your money. TV companies have been using this `dodge` for years, but `fill` your screen up by zooming the picture so that while you have a full screen picture, you are missing `two-thirds` of the original Cinemascope width.

Wide-screen TV`s, such as you will see in your TV shops, have been designed to give the full width Cinemascope picture on screen, while giving the proper hight as well, but they are still only 625 line sets and don`t give you true HDTV (1250 lines) picture quality. Until Britain and Europe settle on a true HDTV system the real challenge to the filmed image will not even start, and it doesn`t look as if they are going to settle this for sometime yet.

Those of you who remember America having colour TV, way back in the 50`s, while we had to wait until the 70`s, will recall this was because the U.K./Europe, waited until a better system was available, and of course the present `PAL`system has proved a superior product to America`s. Therefore, a similar argument is being waged here over HDTV, but if we stay with the 625 line Wide-screen` system, we will be sold short while Japan forges ahead with a vastly superior system.

We must`nt ignore the `political` issues! where, there is a `business` advantage in having separate American and U.K. systems! Copying and pirating isn`t so easy, and having to transfer our systems (TV, Video & films) makes for two individual products of the same material, so making work in both countries. There already exists a Cam-corder, that can record in either the Pal and/or American systems, but like the `digital` tape recorder, the market is against them and they will either be difficult to find, or simply just fade away.

Digital recording, both audio & visual, continues in leaps and bounds. The film "Jurasic Park" is being shown using a Compact Disc (CD) in place of a `fixed` sound track, on the film, and is syncronised by digital signals. Computerised image too, will eventually become good enough to show on cinema sized screens. However, while there are groups such as the C.R.C. someone will continue to produce the raw materials. Keep snapping and processing either with W&M or Kits and I am sure film will see most of us out....