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High Def FAQs
Q: What are the
different types of High Def DVD?
A: WMV / HD, HD DVD and Blu-ray.
WMV / HD (Windows Media Video /
High Definition) was the first to hit the market as early as
2003. This allowed for full HD resolution video playback
on the PC - and by 2005 there were High Def DVD players that
supported this format with direct output to an HDTV.
High Def XXX released the first two such adult titles in
December of 2003 - which also included a standard def version on
the same disc (playable on any regular DVD player in NTSC).
WMV / HD is also a popular format for downloads or IPTV.
HD DVD and Blu-ray are newer competing
formats. Both offer full HD playback and advanced menu
functionality on higher capacity discs, but are incompatible
with each other. For this reason there has been much talk
of a format war.
HD DVD players are available from Toshiba
or as an add-on to the XBox / 360. This is hands-down the
format of choice for the adult industry for at least the coming
year. We should see as many as 100 titles by the end of
2007 as more adult companies come into the 21st century.
Blu-ray may be possible yet this year for
adult content, but it's likely only a few such titles at most
will be available - due to the considerably higher costs and the
near impossibility of finding Blu-ray replication for adult.
Q: Isn't there more to
High Def?
A: Absolutely. High Definition refers to a very high quality
format of video, relative to today's standards.
From a consumer perspective, there's HDTV (High Definition
Television) coming into more and more homes - especially as the
prices drop and more content becomes available. HD DVD's will of
course help to accelerate this!
From a production standpoint, High Def
content - such as ours or many of the television shows you see on
TV - plus even more and more of the movies that you watch -
are shot in High Def. There are High Def 'cinema' cameras,
which more closely match the look and feel of film - specifically
they are "24p" which means that it's shot in 24 frames per second
(as is movie-film) and it's progressive frame (there aren't the
little lines going across the screen as with interlaced); also the
color response of these cameras more closely matches film. There
are also High Def cameras that have more of a 'video' look - very
crisp and sharp and lifelike with 60 frames per second of video.
These are great for sporting events, travel, reality shows, etc.
Typically 'fiction' is considered to look best in 24 fps - that's
probably because people are so used to seeing that look 'on the
big screen.'
Q: What types of HDTV are
there?
A: HDTV comes in several
technologies and in a variety of sizes. (The technology and
the models available change continuously, so this is just an
overview!)
There's Plasma, which are flat (just 6"
thick or so), and range typically from 42" (diagonal) to 65"
- or larger ones are starting to emerge. They're also
typically the most expensive.
Then there's LCD - the smaller of which are used
often also as widescreen computer monitors, as small as 17"
diagonal (although there are smaller such monitors that aren't
really "high def" - and up to 60" or higher. They're also
flat and typically a tad less expensive than plasma.
An offshoot of LCD is LCD rear-projection.
This means that there's actually an internal projection module
that sends the picture from the inside of the view screen to
create the image. They're slightly deeper than plasma
monitors, maybe 12-18" - and can run 42" up to maybe 60".
They are also as much as 1/3 the cost of a plasma monitor for the
same size screen. LCD can also be front-projection - in
other words a typical projector shot against a screen, such as for
home theater.
Then there's DLP (Digital Light Processing) -
which is composed of millions of tiny mirrors which reflect the
light against the viewing screen. This typically has the
best contrast ratio (range of levels of darkness / brightness) for
a very nice picture! DLP is used in rear-projection HDTV's
as well as in High Def capable projectors.
There are also High Def CRT's available - the
same display type as your normal television set. They're
very expensive, but are typically what is used in professional
situations.
Q: What is NTSC?
A: NTSC, which stands for National Television Standards
Committee, is the standard broadcast signal received by
televisions in the United States. All television broadcasts in the
United States must meet this standard. If a device is designed for
NTSC, it will most likely not work with other television standards
such as PAL, which is the standard broadcast signal used in
Europe. However, there are certain types of equipment that support
both standards.
Q: What’s the difference between HDTV and NTSC?
A: There are several differences between HDTV (high def) and
NTSC (standard def). First there's resolution, which is
defined by the number of pixels and the size of these pixels in
the picture that you see.
HDTV comes typically in 2 resolutions -
1080i and 720p. 1080i is 1920x1080 pixels, and is an
interlaced picture, carrying 60 fields/second. (two fields
make up one frame). 720p is 1280x720 resolution, with 60
frames per second. Both formats actually have a similar
amount of data and look very similar in quality! Most
HDTV's out there (certainly all the newer ones) support both
formats. (They're typically one resolution or the other, and
cross-convert signals from what they don't display into what they
do display!)
In terms of the pixel size, the smaller the
pixel, the higher the resolution. This is because of the greater
number of pixels necessary to create a picture. The smaller the
pixels, then the more pixels it will take to make up the picture.
More pixels, more detail.
(In this case,
smaller is better!)
The other difference between HDTV and NTSC is Aspect
Ratio. In High Def the aspect ratio is 16:9, and in standard
def it is 4:3, as illustrated below.
Note, although HDTV looks more like
at the movie theaters, motion pictures are actually even wider -
which is why some movies seen on an HDTV have letterboxing (black
areas above and below the picture) - even when on a widescreen
16:9 screen.
Q: Where can I get more info about High Def?
A: Go to our links page and click on
any one of a number of sites that can provide you with more info.
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