Are more stations moving to digital tape formats instead of analog?
You have raised a very good question, but a difficult one, because no one knows when the shift to digital among TV stations is going to be complete and when each station will have new equipment. We track the preferred video tape format for every station in the U.S. and currently the mix of tape formats is shown in the graph below.What we are seeing is a gradual shift away from the analog formats to more digital, including DVDs. As we approach the switch to HDTV in February of next year there will unquestionably be more demand for digital tape. Typically we request our clients to have their agencies or production houses provide a Digi Beta master because it provides much greater quality than analog formats and thus any tapes replicated from the higher quality master have improved quality as well. While all digital formats provide significantly greater quality, they are also typically more expensive than analog and thus we need to strike a balance between what the stations want and our d
You have raised a very good question, but a difficult one, because no one knows when the shift to digital among TV stations is going to be complete and when each station will have new equipment. We track the preferred video tape format for every station in the U.S. and currently the mix of tape formats is shown in the graph below.What we are seeing is a gradual shift away from the analog formats to more digital, including DVDs. As we approach the switch to HDTV in February of next year there will unquestionably be more demand for digital tape. Typically we request our clients to have their agencies or production houses provide a Digi Beta master because it provides much greater quality than analog formats and thus any tapes replicated from the higher quality master have improved quality as well. While all digital formats provide significantly greater quality, they are also typically more expensive than analog and thus we need to strike a balance between what the stations want and our d
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- Are more stations moving to digital tape formats instead of analog?
