Digital Video

Modern digital video technology is superior to analog video signal, and it is presently incorporated in mobile phones, computers, camcorders, video recorders and many other electronic appliances. A digital video format offers more storage space, a higher access speed and the possibility to save a lot more data. You can later transfer the stored data into a computer, or edit the digital video, without any comprise on the sound and picture quality. The film remains just as you recorded it.

The history of the digital video goes back to the 80s when the video and audio industry was confronted with the crisis of a saturated market. New products and services had to be designed to get the customer’s interest back. The limited potential of the analog videos could no longer satisfy the market’s needs and expectations. New standards had to emerge, and the manufacturers’ efforts starting the 80s have brought the market for digital video technology where it is today.

Digital video compression-decompression is a fundamental process that is performed to reduce the amount of space that the video occupies. The retrieval of the data is simple and quick, but you need to have CODECs installed on the computer for the transfer and operation of the data. CODECs are drivers necessary for compression-decompression. When dealing with a digital video, you should pay attention to the color resolution, the size, the spatial resolution and the image quality, so that you are satisfied with the results.

The most popular CODECs or digital video formats in use today include Apple QuickTime, Intel Indeo and Radius Cinepak. With Apple Quicktime supports scalability and it requires no special hardware. Indeo on the other hand is supported by all the major software vendors in the world, and it has a hardware. Good support exists for Cinepak CODEC too. Pay attention to several aspects when choosing the digital video format.

• Determine the quality of the encoding system.
• Make sure that the format is a match for the source content.
• Check how easy it is to convert the source format with the CODEC.

There are also problems that appear during the process of digitization that affect the quality of the digital video. Sometimes the digital video signal gets distorted, but other potential problems include overload and quantization noise. For amateur videographers it is pretty difficult to identify the mistake, but with experience and a bit of reading, you can significantly improve the quality of the digital video.