Source : Toronto Star

High definition technology now cheaper to buy: Sharper images force studios to improve work

Are you ready for your close-up, Mr. Mansbridge?

Because audiences are beginning to take a closer look.

With the price of high-definition TVs plummeting, Canadians are tuning into a technology that promises to revolutionize the small screen — by revealing every nook and nuance of our favourite faces.

About 480 lines of video make up an ordinary television image, but HDTV brings the line count to 1,080 and boosts the image resolution by as much as six times. For home theatre buffs, couch potatoes and armchair quarterbacks, it spells a window to the world that may actually seem, well, like a real window.

For those on the other side of the magic mirror, like actors, talk-show hosts and producers, it spells a lot of sweating over the details.

In the United States, where more than 1,100 broadcasters are aggressively promoting the format, studios are scrambling to upgrade their production sets. The studio where NBC's hit comedy Friends is taped, for example, reportedly required extensive renovations to sustain the illusion under HDTV's powerful glare.

Where sets were once cobbled together with paint and masking tape, some companies now have to sand down surfaces and fill cracks with putty to fool more discerning eyes.

The talent becomes another issue. Getting faces ready for the scrutiny of television viewers already calls for the ingenious use of lighting and an army of makeup artists. Hiding blackheads and beetle brows from HDTV's all-seeing eye will no doubt require another platoon.

"It doesn't leave much room for error that way," says Paul Bronfman, president of Toronto-based production company Comweb Group Inc. HD is probably better for soaps and not action-type shows, he says.

Despite the limitations, Bronfman is celebrating the details, saying the format approaches the "depth and the richness that film has" — at a fraction of the cost.

For a television series that runs in the dozens of episodes, taking up spools of 35-millimetre film, HD may be a business boon.

A two-hour HD tape costs about $45, whereas film costs more than a dollar per foot.

"You can get great quality. It's very versatile. It's fast," says Bill White, CEO of William F. White International, a subsidiary of Comweb that provides camera, lighting, grip and production equipment.

White and Bronfman are seeing HD cameras more frequently on production sets.

CBC delivered its first HD broadcast on Nov. 22, 2003, while satellite broadcaster Bell ExpressVu offers TSN and Discovery in the new format among a growing stable of channels.

Despite the increasing numbers of producers and broadcasters signing up for HDTV, the technology has yet to soar in Canada with fewer than 5 per cent of cable and satellite viewers subscribe to HDTV.

But thanks to strong Christmas sales and, more importantly, the appearance of 40-inch wide screen sets for around $1,500, the picture may finally be changing.

"We are absolutely seeing on ongoing increase in the sale of high definition televisions," says Lori Denou, a spokesperson for Best Buy, which along with its subsidiary Future Shop, comprise the bulk of television sales in the country.

At this week's Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, companies are showcasing super-sized high definition screens at prices unheard of at this time last year.

With perhaps one glaring exception. Samsung introduced an 80-inch plasma HD set at the show with a reported price tag of $80,000 U.S. Traditional computer manufacturers such as Gateway and Hewlett Packard, on the other hand, are exchanging geek-ware for chic-ware by introducing sleek digital displays at lower-end prices.

The exact number of HDTVs trickling into Canadian households, however, is difficult to gauge because digital TV sets, including liquid crystal and plasma displays, are often lumped in with HD sales — although not all digital sets are HD compatible. The closest estimate, offered by Hugh Thompson of industry group Digital Home Canada, is about 50,000 households with televisions capable of receiving HD broadcasts, or about half of 1 per cent of Canadian households.

Some say the details still aren't worth the dollars for the average consumer.

"Why all the hype?" asks Ian Morrison of television watchdog Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.

"The difference between the technical quality ... and what is currently available on digital through satellite is just a question of degree."

He compares HDTV to a fast, new computer. Buy a high-end computer, and the performance difference is immediately noticeable, but it doesn't take long before we're used to it.

"How important are whiskers, so to speak?" he says. "If you've seen one, you've seen them all."

The push for HDTV, Morrison adds, is the hallmark of a mature industry struggling for ways to find new revenue.

"Not just every household has a television, but every household has a colour television. Now every household probably has two colour televisions.

"So what do the manufacturers and the broadcasters do to try to attract the high end, high income audience which you can deliver to advertisers and make more money from?"

Enter HDTV.

"The television industry wants to find ways of delivering high income viewers to selected advertisers," Morrison says.

"If you were selling Mercedes Benz you'd be more likely to advertise on something that was reaching people by high definition than you would on ordinary televisions. That's not bad," he said. "It's what keeps the economy rolling."

© The Toronto Star