Apple Final Cut Pro 6 - Manual (Page 1861)

378 Part V Appendixes
High Definition Video
In the late 1990s, HD video formats were standardized in the United States by the
Advanced Television Standards Committee (ATSC). These HD video formats are the next
generation of broadcast and recording video formats. Unlike SD formats, which are
restricted to fixed frame rates and numbers of lines per frame, HD video provides
several options per format. While the increased flexibility is convenient, it also makes
format interchange more complicated. Simply saying “HD video” is not enough; you
need to define the frame size, frame rate, and scanning method of your HD format.
There are an increasing number of HD tape and file-based formats available. Most HD
formats support only a subset of the options shown in the table above, and most
camcorders and video decks do not support every combination.
Types of Video Signals
Video signals are separated into several channels for recording and transmission. There
are different methods of color channel separation, depending on the video format and
its historical origins. For example, broadcast video devices were originally designed for
black-and-white video, and color was added later. This is still evident in today’s video
formats that break image information into separate black-and-white and color
information. On the other hand, video and image processing on computers is more
flexible and developed later, so a three-color RGB model was adopted instead of a
luma-chroma model.
Standard Frame size Frame rates Scanning method
720p 1280 x 720 23.98, 29.97, 59.94
24, 30, 60
1
25, 50
Progressive
1080p 1920 x 1080 23.98, 29.97
24, 30
25 Progressive
1080i 1920 x 1080 25 (50i), 29.97 (59.94i),
30 (60i) Interlaced
1 720p footage recorded at 24, 30, and 60 fps is rare. The 29.97 fps rates are more common because they are
compatible with NTSC equipment.