From an Aleratec Inc. press release.

Aleratec Inc., leading developer and manufacturer of “Prosumers’ Choice” solutions for the USB, Flash, HDD, Blu-ray, DVD CD, duplicating, and DVD/CD publishing markets, introduced today a new stand alone (SA) robotic disc duplicator. The DVD/CD RoboRacer SA is the 3rd generation of the highly successful RoboRacer DVD CD duplicator series and is a fully automatic, stand alone DVD CD duplicator with a 100 disc DVD copy or CD copy capacity. Stand alone means no computer is required and customers can load it with a source disc and up to 100 blank DVDs or CDs and it will produce 100 DVD or CD copies completely unattended. Read the rest of this entry »

Taking a look at the camcorders available at CES this year, I came to the conclusion that for the first time, the acquisition quality of consumer video cameras has far outstripped the distribution quality of consumer video. Let that sink in for a bit. The camcorders for the most part shoot in HD (either HDV or AVCHD), while currently distribution of video is still done for the most part on standard definition DVD, and online video. The quality gap in terms of resolution makes these consumer camcorders easily high enough quality for mastering SD content, in other words the famed “broadcast quality” of yesteryear.

I remember back in the standard definition 4:3 tube TV days, where first generation hi8 or S-VHS was just barely acceptable video, and if you wanted to get something that was broadcast quality you had to go up to the pro end of Beta SP. Well now, with most distribution still in SD, or even smaller resolutions, you now have a “broadcast quality” camcorder in the palm of your hand.

I’m being a bit loose with the term “broadcast quality”, so I should probably qualify that a bit by saying that consumer camcorders still aren’t HD broadcast quality, but if you’re not shooting for an HD network or outputting Blu-ray discs, it doesn’t matter. The HD camcorder you have more than likely has enough resolution that when you downscale it to SD DVD (still the most common distribution format) it is of higher quality than if you had shot it with a broadcast level SD camcorder.

Consumer HD camcorders coupled with low cost 35mm lens adapters are capable of some surprisingly beautiful and cinematic images as well. Using the shallow depth of field characteristics of 35mm film, makes these small consumer camcorders really shine. There’s a new era of Micro Cinema abounding, and it’s a very exciting time for those who used to lust after broadcast level camcorders, but had to make do with what we could afford. Now what we can afford is pretty amazing.

According to a recent report from the good folks over at Nielsen, the number of households with an HD television has doubled over the previous year, to 23.3%. They predict with now almost one quarter of TV’s in the USA as HD, the demand for HD content will continue to expand dramatically.

What does this mean for independent video producers? Well, if you’re still shooting in SD, you may want to be looking at upgrading your equipment, not just as a future proofing idea, but in a 25% of my viewers will want to watch this in HD today idea. Even if you’re already shooting in HD, the picture is not so rosy when it comes to distribution. Blu-ray disc penetration is still at a paltry 8-9% and a large majority of those are Playstation 3’s. Standard definition DVD’s still are found in 91% of all US households, so you end up with the awkward situation of having an beautiful HDTV connected to a plain old DVD player in many homes.

Perhaps the future of HD distribution is not to be found on shiny plastic discs, but delivered at home directly via the internet? Openfilm, Vimeo, and now even YouTube have gotten into the HD distribution  game, it will be interesting to see how the direct line into the home plays out.

One thing is for sure: twice as many people as last year are bringing HDTV’s into their homes, and they’re going to want to watch something pretty on it.