Additional information – Video acquisition formats
Until recently we have been dealing with almost only Standard Definitionformats. In terms of PAL (European) system this means 625-line/50 hertz (Hz) image or translated usually to resolution of 720 x 576 pixels in computer terms, if we are talking about 4:3 aspect ratio image. The traditional digital acquisition formats for SD (standard definition) would be, going from less quality to more, miniDV (DV), DVCAM, DVCPRO (and DVCPRO 50), DigiBeta. These are all tape based formats and differ in the encoding and colour subsampling the camera uses. All of these formats use intra-frame compression, which means compression is only done within individual frames. Although it is clear that there are qualitative differences in these formats it has to be said that, the most important factor is the quality of the camera, the optics and the conditions for filming and the resourcefulness and talent of the operator. Most video documentation of (video) installations are traditionally done on miniDV and DVCAM formats.
Note: There are examples where miniDV has been used as an acquisition format for documentaries that have been blown up to 35 mm with stunning results.
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