Discovery Channel Delivery Specs

[ChipG]

Because the UK came into HD transmission later than the US, Japan, Aus etc H264 has been adopted for transmission, and I believe this is what BBC HD is. Hence the same arguments as for AVC-HD - better quality compared to MPEG2 for the same bitrate, but needs more power to handle it. That's less of an issue for transmission than a production codec. (HDV is 25 Mbs, the EX1 is 35Mbs, but they are both MPEG2 based.)

At first sight it may seem that if the BBC only transmit 16Mbs, then 25, 35, must be more than good enough for acquisition. In practice, the truth is as Steven says - the problems come with cascading codecs, and hence the need to try to start with as good an original as possible, hence the restrictions on low bitrate codecs and 1/3" chips.

As regards Discovery and the Z7, then the HD channel has tighter specs than the SD one. Most broadcasters don't simply ban HDV or 1/3" chip cameras for HD programmes anyway, but RESTRICT their use without prior approval. Make a good case for why an entire programme has to be shot on such a camera, and exceptions may be made.

Z7's were the B-Cam's (4 or 5). F900 was the main cam and you and I both know how much Disco Channel loves the F900.

The funny thing is all the little run n' gun Z7's got the majority of the "good" footage...

 

[ChipG]

Z7's were the B-Cam's (4 or 5). F900 was the main cam and you and I both know how much Disco Channel loves the F900.

The funny thing is all the little run n' gun Z7's got the majority of the "good" footage...

The National Geographic Channel guys were shooting on a Varicam and several hvx200's...

I must say the Nat Geo guy's were the most polite / non bragging crew I have ever met in my life. They were all class acts! We all walked out of Applebee's together and the SUV they got into only had one window left, the Windshield It was great!

FYI We were all shooting DOC's on storm / tornadoes.