Broadcast quality

[Aaron Leung]

Hi all,

I want to find out what are some of the traits of a camera in order to produce video that is good enough for broadcast for TV station. I know color sampling of at least 4:2:2, data rate of 50+mbps, etc. But what other features should I look in a camera if bcast quality is a major factor?

I know the c300 is definitely one that should be good for bcast quality. Any other camera that you would recommend?

Any help appreciated.

-Aa

[Chris Medico]

I suggest you state more about what you will be shooting or you will get all kinds of recommendations that may not be appropriate to your jobs.

Tell us more about what your needs are and what you shoot.

[Pavel Sedlak]

the EBU Technical Review, 2008 Q3 concludes that 8-bit Long GOP at no less than 50 Mb/s “will not significantly degrade the HD picture quality at the consumer’s premises.” EBU recommendation is that Long GOP MPEG2 should encode at a bit rate of at least 50 Mb/s while iFrame (of any codec) should be encoded no less than 100 Mb/s.

But it is only recommendation. You need to know the technical specifications of the broadcaster, for which you work.

[Aaron Leung]

Hi Chris,

Thx for the headsup!

In the past, we use combination of dslr and panasonic hmc cameras for webmmercials and that had worked out nicely for us. Now, we are preparing for a 30 seconds commercial for local TV station and I just want to find out about camera requirements (in general for TV broadcast). I know the dslr quality "might" work but I don't want to risk using it at all!)

I am not concern about sound, just picture quality!

Ultimately, we want to own this camera but if it is too expensive, we might rent!

Any suggestion appreciated.

[Chris Medico]

If you are going to shoot short turn-around projects that need minimal color work then the Canon C300 gets you the image esthetics of the dSLRs you are used to using with many other improvements. You get great images and a broadcast accepted CODEC in a single package. You do pay for that convenience in cost though. If you can afford it I personally think it would be the best choice.

The Sony FS100 (or FS700) can also work well for broadcast with an external recorder. Either will be less capital investment than the C300. There will be more stuff to carry and assemble. If roughly half the cost of a C300 makes a difference (FS100 + recorder) then it is a workable option.

[Jon Fairhurst]

For US commercials, you don't have to worry about EBU and BBC ratings. If the client likes it, it's good.

A couple years ago, a friend of mine shot a high-budget, national ad for Intel on a couple of 5D2s.

Ford shot a national half hour TV show/infomercial on the 5D2:
Ford - Cars, SUVs, Trucks & Crossovers | Ford Vehicles | The Official Site of Ford Vehicles | Ford.com

That said, there are many more options today. I would avoid anything that has aliasing problems, and you want a good codec. After that, it really depends on your shooting style. Do you do heavy grading? (Consider a Scarlet.) Do you go for fast motion or handheld work? (Look for low rolling shutter skew - the C300 looks good.) Do you shoot slow mo? (The Sony FS700 is quick.) Or maybe you need a camera that fits in underwater housings...

It's a great time to be a filmmaker!