Video Editing

Basics of photo scanning

Scanners typically read red-green-blue color (RGB) data from the array. This data is then processed with some proprietary algorithm to correct for different exposure conditions, and sent to the computer via the device’s input/output interface (usually USB, previous to which was SCSI or bidirectional parallel port in older units). Color depth varies depending on the scanning array characteristics, but is usually at least 24 bits. High quality models have 36-48 bits of color depth. Another qualifying parameter for a scanner is its resolution, measured in pixels per inch (ppi), sometimes more accurately referred to as Samples per inch (spi). Instead […]

Video Editing

Audio Cassette Tape

The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. Although designed originally for dictation, improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel tape recording in most non-professional applications.[1] Its uses ranged from portable audio to home recording to data storage for early microcomputers. Between the early 1970s and the late 1990s, the cassette was one of the two most common formats for prerecorded music, first alongside the LP record and later the Compact Disc.[2] Compact Cassettes consist of two miniature […]

Video Conversion, Video Production

Broadcast Tapes & formats (from http://en.wikipedia.org)

Betacam The original Betacam format was launched on August 7, 1982. It is an analog component video format, storing the luminance, “Y”, in one track and the chrominance, on another as alternating segments of the R-Y and B-Y components performing Compressed Time Division Multiplex, or CTDM.[1] This splitting of channels allows true broadcast quality recording with 300 lines of horizontal luminance resolution and 120 lines chrominance resolution (versus ≈30 for Betamax/VHS), on a relatively inexpensive cassette based format. The original Betacam format records on cassettes loaded with oxide-formulated tape, which are theoretically the same as used by its consumer market-oriented […]

Recent News

Is it worth it to do VHS to DVD video transfers yourself?

If you’ve only got a few old VHS tapes laying around that you’d like to transfer to DVDs, is it worth it to just transfer them over yourself? Transferring VHS to DVD video requires special equipment and software. The cost of these items alone can quickly eat up your project budget, and if you’ve never done it before you could be risking the loss of all of your VHS content. For only a few VHS tapes, it’s just not worth it. It’s funny how differently VHS tapes are treated compared to DVDs. DVDs are carefully removed from their packaging and […]