Datasheet
10 chapter 1 ■ Setting Up a Composite
of 1.07. In contrast, D-3, D-5, and D-5 HD are newer digital formats developed by
Panasonic. D-5 HD supports common HDTV resolutions and frame rates.
NTSC and PAL DV DV has been the standard for SDTV consumer digital video cap-
ture since the mid-1990s. The NSTC version is 720
×480 with a PAR of 0.9. PAL DV is
identical to PAL D1.
NTSC and PAL 16:9 Widescreen variations of D1 and DV are commonly called 16:9.
The resolutions remain the same, but the NTSC PAR becomes 1.21 and the PAL PAR
becomes 1.42.
HDTV 1080 and HDTV 720 There are two HDTV resolutions: 1080 and 720. The
1080 format runs 1920
×1080, while the 720 format runs 1280×720. The 720 format
utilizes progressive frames, as is indicated by the p in 720p. The 1080 format supports
interlaced and progressive variations, as is indicated by the names 1080i and 1080p.
Although the resolutions for ATSC HDTV and DVB HDTV are identical, the frame
rates remain different. (See the next two sections for information on frame rates and
interlacing.) HDTV formats are often written as height-fields-frame rate. For example,
720p24 is 1280
×720 with 24 progressive frames-per-second.
1K, 2K, 3K, and 4K If a resolution ends with K, it refers to the number of pixels
available horizontally. You can multiply the number by 1024 to get the result. For
example 2K is 2048 while 4K is 4096. These resolutions are often employed by motion
picture film scanners and recorders. As such, the number of vertical lines of resolution
is dependent on the aperture used. An aperture is an opening in a plate that allows
light to strike the film or the digital sensor. In order for a film scanner to capture the
full motion picture frame, it must match its aperture to the one used by the film cam-
era. Two common film formats, Academy and Full Aperture (also known as Super
35 or full-ap), use two different apertures, which leads to two different resolutions.
Full Aperture uses the full width of the film to expose the frame (no room is left for
the optical soundtrack). Full Aperture scans create a 2048
×1556 2K image. Academy
shrinks the exposure to make room for the optical soundtrack. Thus, the 2K Academy
resolution is reduced to 1828
×1332. Note that projectors employ apertures that have a
slightly smaller opening than camera, scanner, and recorder apertures; thus, the edges
of the image are cropped. Also note that HD digital video cameras operate at common
K resolutions. For example, a 4096
×2048 resolution is referred to as 4K 2:1.
Cinemascope and VistaVision Cinemascope is an anamorphic system that uses
a special lens to squeeze an image horizontally so that it fits either the Academy or
Full Aperture format. The projector uses a matching lens to restretch the image into
its correct shape. A common Cinemascope scan size is 1828
×1556. In this case, the
compositing program must set the PAR to 2.0 to view the image in a nonstretched
fashion. VistaVision (also known as 8-perf) rotates the film frame by 90° so that the
frame has twice the film stock with which to work. A common VistaVision scan size is
3096
×2048.
Common Frame Rates
There are three common frame rates: 24, 25, and 30.
The frame rate of motion picture film is 24. The 1080p and 720p ATSC HDTV for-
mats, in addition to 480p EDTV, support 24 fps variations. Some digital video cameras
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