High Definition Vs. Average Joe

Japanese based electronics giant Toshiba announced yesterday that they will soon end manufacture of High Definitiion (or HD) drives and players simply because they don't find a large enough market for the devices. Now many people who aren't so into technology of this sort will wonder what the big deal is but as the picture included in today's blog shows, there is a difference between the picture generated on a DVD and an HD DVD. In an absolutely simplistic sense, you are able to contain much more imagery in an HD disc versus a regular disc because of the compression and decryption of the images. As a result, you can literally count the number of nose hairs someone has in a close up. But what's the point? That's what many people are asking.

I'm all for progress in terms of technology but are we really all that cognizant of differences in picture quality to that level of granularity? I will admit that there's a definite difference in picture quality when comparing my normal television with my parents HD television. The picture seems so much more... alive... when you watch it on the HD television versus being 'not-quite-so-alive' on a normal television. It makes watching television a slightly different experience at their place and since digital transmissions are becoming the standard in another year, I think it's a step in the right direction. However, while digital transmissions will mean better transmitted picture quality, it doesn't mean that we require that level of quality for everything.

HD discs came out a while ago now and as always, there was the debate over whether or not this was a good idea or not. Suddenly our society, which had long since made the switch from VHS video cassettes (what's that?) to DVDs was suddenly seeing a push by the industry to make the switch again to HD DVDs. The catch? Many players wouldn't play older 'standard' DVDs and you were either going to have to wait for backwards compatible HD DVD players or just start your collection again. Now I don't know about you but for me, that would be a major pain. I could buy another DVD player and just leave the old one to enjoy my older discs but why should I? Do I really need to sit there and count nose hairs or see that the extra in the background didn't have a completed makeup foundation applied before he was filmed? Not really. At least I don't believe I should. I remember something my Dad would always tell me about theatre. If people are more concerned about the fact that something trivial in the background is wrong means that the actors on stage aren't effective and you've already lost the audience.

I think from a movie director's standpoint this would be a point of concern as well. If your movie is shakey in terms of plot or storyline, would you really want to have more visual distractions for your audience? Do you really want them to notice that the actress on screen has bloodshot eyes that have been digitally whitened due to her penchant for partying every night after filming concluded? I would think you're more interested in people getting caught up in the story. HD can certainly make things more lifelike but not once am I suddenly going to forget that I'm sitting at home watching a movie. I'm not going to suddenly wake up and think that I'm in the middle of the desert with a group of US soldiers running while the Transformers arrive and start reeking havoc on everyone and everything around them. Sure I'll be able to see exactly how many button holes Shia LeBouf leaves when putting his belt on his pants but the question is... do I really need to?