Format Wars and Industry Decisions: Digital Cinema Expands

Within the past several posts, I have accumulated information pertaining to high definition topics, specifically about digital cinematography and the format war between HD DVD and Blu-Ray discs. I talked about the advantages and disadvantages of high definition, and how the medium is gradually replacing film in the movie industry. My first set of comments in my blog dealt with an HD conference and the status of newly implemented digital cameras. For this week, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about large decisions in the industry. Last month, Paramount Pictures and Arts Alliance media have entered into a non-exclusive long term agreement for digital cinema deployment. I commented on how the deployment of digital films in Europe is a great move to expand the high definition medium and encourage filmmakers and the like by opening new doors. The second blog focuses on the format war and Dale Cripps’ decision on which medium to select. I agree that Blu-Ray disc, because of their larger storage capacity, is a better investment than HD DVDs. It is ultimately up to the consumer to make the choice between the two formats since they are so similar.

On October 13, 2007, Paramount Pictures and Arts Alliance Media created a long term agreement that would distribute digital films in Europe. The two companies are Europe’s digital film distribution service providers, and the deployment is being initiated on screens in the UK and Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Nordic region and Benelux. It is about time that Arts Alliance Media integrate this technology in those theaters. I also think that Paramount, being at the forefront of this step forward, will continue to distribute films in other regions of Europe. This is a first step in the right direction, and the more commonplace high definition video becomes, the more digitally projected screens will be available for public viewing. My only concern is the costs involved to view the films. Other blogs have addressed that Sony is to install SXRD 4K Digital Cinema systems in AMC theaters, which will include a total of 54 screens. European exhibition and distribution has not yet had such a boost in high definition. I agree with Arts Alliance CEO Howard Kiedaisch about this decision being a giant step in deployment. My only concern is whether or not there will be a continuous and sustained flow on content and reliable maintenance and support because of Europe’s location.

Earlier this month there was a post about which high definition disc is preferred based on their specifications. HDTV Magazine Publisher and HD pioneer Dale Cripps was asked to select a medium and expand on why he believes that Blu-Ray discs are better investments in the long run. I think that a lot of people are confused when it comes to high definition discs. There are specific requirements such as having an HDTV and having a high definition disc player that must be obtained before viewing the mediums. There is also a resolution issue, which varies among different discs. I agree with Cripps that it doesn’t make a real difference which format is selected. As HD DVDs and Blu-Ray discs (machine to the right) continue to gradually drop in price, they will both be more easily attainable in the average household. Based on experience, you can have great surround sound systems with both mediums, so sound is not a determining factor either. Cripps talks about the massive distribution of Blu-Ray discs - a whopping 18,000 a day! Overall, the decision to select a medium will depend on what types of films consumers want to watch once the film industry starts to implement exclusive deals and contracts with these mediums.

The Waiting Game: Why high definition home media is not popular-yet

High definition video has not yet had a major toll in the average household due to the Hollywood industries' reluctance to choose a specific high definition medium. The integration of Blu-Ray discs and HD DVD discs can best be described as gradual. The demand for switching to high definition has proven more effective for the professional consumer more than the average consumer. However, these mediums are becoming more abundant and generally more available. Although it is simple to buy a gaming system and be able to play high definition DVDs and Blu-Ray discs, systems like the Sony Playstation3 and Microsoft's XBOX360 are being marketed more as game systems rather than multimedia and home entertainment systems. The industry's general lack of acceptance of either format contributes greatly to why high definition mediums have been inching their way into consumers' homes. However, things are slowly beginning to change because the film industry is starting to make contractual agreements with both high definition formats.
It was estimated that by 2005, nearly half of the major television companies would broadcast in high definition. The actual number fell significantly shorter. The debate over high definition disks is a "waiting" game because DVD sales are still much higher than high definition sales, partially due to the fact that the advantages to HD do not outweigh the costs. Both the up converting of DVDs and the confusion over the formats contributes to the lack of interest. A recent pole suggests that only 24 percent of consumers would be motivated to upgrade their home equipment with additional HD programming (TV Predictions Web). Sony, Lionsgate, 20th Century Fox, and Walt Disney have signed a deal with Blu-Ray, while Paramount and DreamWorks have signed 18-month contracts with HD DVD. HD DVD sales outperformed Blu-Ray players by 4 to 1 the first year, but in the first three quarters of 2007, Blu-Ray outsold HD DVD 2 to 1, due mostly to marketing strategies. According to PsyOrg (web), Sony Pictures Entertainment partnered in the Movielink deal, which includes Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, Warner Brothers, MGM Studios and 20th Century Fox.
As more films are released with extra features and web-enabled content (such as Transformers on HD-DVD), there will be a larger market for the two mediums in the near future. Tom Adams, president of Adams Media Research, states, "This definitely smoothes out the edge that Blu-ray had in exclusive titles, and it very much strengthens HD DVD's hand in the fourth quarter." Since the release of the formats (Spring 2006), nearly 5 million HD disks have been sold. As with all electronic mediums, the prices for high definition players and discs are already decreasing. Consumers are generally more interested in quantity, portability, and ease of use over high quality source material. However, the integration of high definition video is slowly beginning to take shape.
According to Informationweek, consumers and early adopters of high definition films are the real losers in the battle between Hollywood and film thieves. Earlier this month, an effort was made to stop hackers from copying high definition DVD movies, which have also made some titles unplayable on some machines. 20th Century Fox recently added a layer of copyright protection technology called DB+ for Blu-Ray Discs. The DRM technology that had been implemented in the discs has been hacked. Due to incidents such as these, early adopters will have to download firmware updates over the Web to update the technology. Analyst John Prescatore said the copyright protection technology is "Sort of like patching PCs. You're going to have to get used to patching your Blu-Ray or HD DVD player." According to Samir Bhavnani, analyst for Current Analysis West, the DRM technology is "still new in the world of high definition content, and the software will eventually become less a problem for consumers." With the introduction of new technology, copyright protection should always be strictly enforced due to the costs of creating such films. The copyright issues resulting from hackers make it less opportune to upgrade to high definition players.
The implementation of high definition definitely extends into the professional workplace, as more films by well-known directors are being shot with high definition cameras. The medium has made its way into certain educational institutions such as Brooks Institute of Photography and Los Angeles University, where digital cinematography classes are being taught to prospective filmmakers. Students at Brooks Institute, lead by award winning cinematographer Daniel Pfisterer (to the right), are given hands-on experience with cameras such as the DVX100A and the SDX900, which are used to shoot 30-second commercial spots for actual clients. Although academic institutions and independent filmmakers are utilizing digital cinematography, Hollywood in general is not yet "ready" to decide which distributor to exclusively select. Pair this with the high disc prices and the uncertainties over whether discs will play properly, and you get consumers confused and waiting for bigger changes before investing in high definition home media (Reghardware Web).

HD DVD vs. Blu-Ray

The integration of high definition through digital mediums has not yet had a major influence on the average consumer. Since the release of the PS3 and Xbox 360, the choice to go high definition has become more available to the public. The race between HD DVD and Blu-Ray DVD has existed ever since the PS3 came into the market, but they now seem to be dead even in terms of practicality and capability. Due to higher prices of high definition DVDs, there are still more households that have standard DVDs in their home theaters.

Sony, Pioneer, Panasonic, Hewlett-Packard, and other electronic companies support blu-Ray formats. The competing HD DVD format is the product of Toshiba and NEC. The main difference between Blu-Ray Disc and HD DVD is that Blu-Ray has a lot more storage capacity. However, there are slight differences between the two formats. Both formats have very similar image quality and come in the same resolutions. Where Blu-ray (comparison to the right) is designed with emphasis on capacity, HD DVD targets compatibility. That's why Blu-Ray discs can hold up to 50GB on a two-layered disc compared with HD DVDs 30 GB of storage on a two-layered disc. One advantage to HD DVDs is that they are region free, meaning that they can be bought internationally. You normally won't be able to play a Blu-Ray Disc in the US if you order one from Europe. However with these disks, publishers can use the MPEG-2 format at faster bitrate speeds.

The main focus on whether to buy a Blu-Ray Disc or an HD DVD should not be storage or compatibility, but rather the studios' support for one format over the other. Some studios have released their films on Blu-Ray Disc, and others on HD DVD. However, they have been reluctant to support one format over the other. Sony owned Columbia pictures would be the only exception because they have already embraced Blu-Ray. If the studios embraced both formats simultaneously, that would increase manufacturing costs and inventory problems. Hollywood will be the major determinant in the format war. Bob Chapek, President of Disney subsidiary Buena Vista Home Entertainment and President of the Digital Entertainment Group compared the DVD format situation to an oncoming train wreck. ISC's Shlichting thinks that either the formats will merge-forced together by Hollywood-or one side will give up in the race. He also thinks "the market is not really ready. DVD is a good enough media technology." Media moguls, including Chapek, believe that in the worse case scenario, the competition between the two formats will continue, and consumers won't be able to have a complete format conversion.

Although it's too early to tell whether one format is going to be more supported over the other, I would choose Blu-Ray over HD DVD because of its ability to hold more information. Today's standard DVDs can hold only up to 4.7 GB of storage. Blu-Ray discs are designed to be viable technology for at least another 10 to 15 years. A combined market share of about 80% of consumer electronic companies support the Blu-ray disc format. In the near future, when burning Blu-Ray discs will be more common, having more storage is a better long-term investment, and the price difference is too small to be a disadvantage. Due to its greater disc capacity, Blu-ray producers might choose to utilize higher maximum video bit rates and higher average bit rates, allowing for smoother streaming video. Sony announced that a $400 version of the PS3 will come out late October, and in retrospect some insiders speculate that they will sell an XBOX 360 with a built-in HD DVD player, when they previously sold it separately (picture to the left). The competition between the two formats continues to proliferate with the ability for players to be backwards compatible.

Hollywood and Digital Cinematography: Why Digital is taking over the Industry

As more and more independent filmmakers alter their standards to accommodate for the digital medium, well-known Hollywood film directors and cinematographers will gradually also make the move from film to digital. The primary reason why Hollywood hasn't made a major effort to going digital is because it is too used to shooting in film. Film users were regarded as craftsmen, and video users were considered artless. The boundary between film and digital cinematography is becoming seemingly less visible. Recently, more directors and cinematographers have decided to switch to high definition due to aesthetic reasons and the fact that digital is more user adjustable.

Most independent filmmakers have already embraced the digital medium. According to independent filmmaker A.D. Calvo of Goodnight Film, "the accessibility provided by digital video is a major step into democratization of the film industry." He also states, "People want a broader range of films and choice than millions of dollars spent on color touch-ups...It makes sense to keep work entirely digital, that's what most indie films are doing." Digital cinematography offers a new template for films in the industry, and it can be easily obtained thanks to the studios' ridiculously high budgets. With high definition video, there is less room available for material manipulation. Most of the work is done in post houses, where a large portion of the budget is invested. In high budget productions such as Sin City and Superman Returns (top left), the budgets were about $40 million and $200 million dollars. However, a lot of money was saved using digital intermediate over film. Cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel used a Panavision Genesis to shoot much of Superman Returns. He chose to go digital because he and director Bryan Singer were "trying to find some format that would celebrate the iconic, hyper-real feeling of Superman." Budget restraints kept them from shooting in 65 mm.

Due to the lower costs involved with shooting additional footage on digital mediums, more cinematographers can take advantage of the medium using far higher shooting rations. Lower shooting rations typical with film might save editing time, lowering post-production costs, which is one reason why some filmmakers are reluctant to switch to digital. However, digital intermediate continues to decrease in price and is becoming standard procedure for high-budget Hollywood films such as Mel Gibson's Apocalypto, David Fincher's Zodiac, and Michael Mann's (bottom right) Collateral. Directors such as Peter Jackson and James Cameron alternate between film and digital. Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the more recent King Kong were large budget films shot entirely with digital film cameras, and the most recent film, Crossing the Line, is shot entirely with a tremendously high resolution 4K digital camera. Cinematographer Dean Semler worked on Apocalypto as well as Click, using the Genesis camera for both features. Based on Semler's experience, shooting film in digital meant saving thousands of dollars. Although the digital medium may seem more cost effective, Hollywood has been slow to adopt it.
Not as many Hollywood directors and cinematographers have utilized the digital medium as independent filmmakers have; Directors such as Steven Spielberg, M. Night Shyamalan, Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, and Oliver Stone choose to stick to the film medium because of the organic look that film provides. They prefer having sharper depth of field and harsher contrast in lighting. The French director Jean-Jacques Annaud condones both formats, using 35mm and HDCAM together for Two Brothers. At the forefront of the integration of digital filmmaking in Hollywood is Mel Gibson, whose interest in the digital medium sparked interest for a "digital Hollywood."

Director of Photography Dion Beebe shot most of Collateral and even more of Miami Vice in High Definition. He said that shooting digitally "is not a no-turn-back situation for me. For me, it's really about which format best suits the project and the story -- and [high-definition] brings another tool to the filmmaker..." He added that digital cameras "change some of the dynamics on the set...Cameras tend to roll a little more freely in HD, and... You're also so much more reliant on the monitor (Cinematech Blog)." According to John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners, almost all theaters are going to turn to digital cinema within the next decade. He believes that it will be the biggest transition in the movie theater industry since the advent of sound. (Psyorg web). Gradually, more directors and cinematographers are making the decision to go digital because of budgetary, aesthetic, and technical advantages the medium offers.

Lighting and Dynamic Range

Film has been improving considerably over the past 20 years in terms of clarity and experimentation. Future advancements include high-speed films that offer finer grain, wider exposure latitude, and better color saturation without sacrificing overall image quality. With digital cameras, it’s important to note that image quality deteriorates when you push the speed of the ISO past two stops. With film, this risk doesn’t exist.

Film mediums are finer grained and sharper than it used to be, and they are cheaper and longer lasting than digital mediums. The medium usually has a higher tolerance with lighting. Digital cameras are less tolerant when there are sharp contrasts, making the darker areas less detailed. When the lighting is homogenized, details in light and shadow look good in digital as well.

The Dynamic Range of film and digital mediums differ from each other. Dynamic range describes how well the media can capture extreme tonal range in a scene. When recording dynamic range, the image density is an important factor. Image density is measured from image brightness with optical densiometers, ranging from 0 to 4. More density means less brightness. Density is measured on a logarithmic scale, and values of density are captured by scanners called DMin and DMax. By calculating the differences between DMin and DMax scanners, the dynamic range can be derived. The greater the dynamic range, the greater the image detail in dark shadow areas of the photographic image. Film has a larger dynamic range, and for that reason, is more versatile in dark lighting conditions. The reason why more detail is shown is because the range is extended at the “black end” of the scale. The “black end” consists of positives, either prints or slides. With digital photography and cinematography, the highlights are washed out, so the level of detail is lower than with film. As you move up the scale, the dynamic range improves dramatically.
When comparing black and white film, color film, and digital or transparency, dynamic ranges vary across the board. While digital medium has 3.5 stops. Color film has 7 stops and black and white film has 11 stops. Film is able to handle high contrasts and resolutions without the risk of losing quality. Being that the range of brightness for human vision is about 15 stops, we can notice the difference in dynamic range between the 3 settings. Developed film has billions of grains of metallic silver, 1000 times the power of digital. The reason why digital broadcasts can look so sharp is because digital has a palette of millions of colors, making it appealing to the eye. Detecting and discriminating contrast is virtually a simple process. We can see about 7 to 10 stops of light at a single glance. Film lenses on digital SLR cameras are a new way of capturing crisp images. Digital specific lenses are built lighter, are smaller and cheaper, and maintain the same quality that a film lens would have on a 35 mm camera. The downside to them is that they are more expensive and less sharp. With small digital sensors, less sharpness is lost at the edges of the image area. The main disadvantage of adding a film lens to a digital SLR camera is that it can be bulky compared to their digital counterparts. I believe that the future will hold a place for both film and digital mediums, as long as new advancements for both mediums continue to take place.

Advantages and Disadvantages of High Def

Although cinematographers have been using film since the early 1900s, digital cameras are becoming more commonplace in the entertainment industry, especially with the advancements of high definition camera and playback technologies. With Arri, Cannon, Dalsa, JVC, Panasonic, and Sony competing to achieve the best high definition delivery through television, film, sports, and news, HD video is beginning to pick up speed. According to strategic market manager Mark Chiolis, the apparent shift to film to high definition is due to price drops. Nowadays, post-production houses are working with HD format on more projects. The Romeo post house works with roughly 25 television shows, including ABC's "Alias" and NBC's "ER."
Some television shows, such as 'Titus', illustrate the highs and lows of 24p technology. Digital images, whether in photographs or motion picture, are limited in terms of depth and isolating images. With film, it is easy to isolate images by manipulating a long telephoto lens, whereas it's virtually and visually unattainable through digital imagery. Film also has wider latitude, or the acceptance of the lightest areas to the darkest areas of the frame. A third difference is detail in a given frame. When comparing pixel count by converted measures, film has about 3 to 12 million pixels, whereas an HD frame has 2 million pixels using a 1920 x 1080 resolution. Due to HD compression, less detail in images are perceived. Director of Photography Bobby Byrne argues that although high definition cameras process sharp images, they aren't sharp enough to satisfy a veteran cinematographer's needs. He essentially had to use the HD monitor getting the direct feed as a viewfinder in order to set shots. Another disadvantage to HD is when shooting on sets, it is more difficult to control individual light units. However, once filmmakers can precisely control the scattering of light particles, the images will become more dramatic and give the viewer the desired 'filmic' look.
The number of HDTV viewers is expected to be 45 million by 2008. New cameras such as Oakley's RED ONE Camera are able to handle 4k compression resolutions. Although many people thought that George Lucas' Star Wars Episode II (which was shot entirely in HD) would ruin film, the artistic medium continues to be used today. HD might have it's disadvantages, but it outweighs film when it comes to image clarity, stock cost, instant computerized playback and editing, high quality audio recording and long camera runs.
The Genesis Digital Camera system is a new addition to the high definition revolution. It is designed with an "electronic intermediate" in mind, utilizing a unique gamma and colorimetry that enables seamless intercutting with most 35mm film emulsions. It can run up to 50 frames per second, which gives the user more flexibility in recording speed. It's a 12.4 megapixel camera that emulates the same depth as 35 millimeter, a remarkable step in merging digital with film technologies!
Like the Genesis, the Red One camera system takes advantage of Super 35 mm sized digital processing. It's also equipped with 12 megapixels, and can shoot up to 60 frames per second. A new advancement is selective focus, which before could only be found on film cameras. While closely working with Apple, Red technology is able to dish out 4k/2540p/1080p/720p/480p resolutions, with the options available. One of the largest advantages to shooting film and television in HD is that shots can be edited immediately after being recorded, giving the cinematographer and director exactly what they want before moving on to the next shot.
Part of the advantages to both film and high definition mediums are that they will continue to coexist despite their competition. According to Toronto based cinematographer John Holosko, they aren't mutually exclusive.
It's an evolution of technology", said John Gault, Panavision's senior vice president of advanced digital imaging. "It's not going to go backwards that I can imagine."