Clearly a better picture in HD…
Does this sound familiar? You're at home watching your favorite TV show
and a commercial pops up that looks absolutely terrible. You can’t help but
wonder why someone would spend their hard earned money on a TV spot that looks
grainy, blurry, and is not even full screen.
So, what gives? It must be the
production company's fault, right?
Wrong!
Society has been programmed to believe that HD is not a bonus, but the norm. It causes confusion. It makes us think that everything we view is in HD (the same is to be said of the following thought process: just because you buy an HDTV doesn't mean you'll have HD programming, as we all know, you have to subscribe and pay more for HD service). Same goes for TV commercials or TV shows. When a TV spot is produced, there is an option for SD or HD. So, what happens when an SD commercial is aired in between a block of HD ones? There will be a huge difference in quality. When you watch an SD commercial (or TV show) on an HDTV, you WILL notice the lower resolution, and in many circumstances, the content does not fill the 16:9 HDTV screen (versus 4:3 for SD). This will result in the video looking stretched, or the appearance of side pillars (black) on the edges because the SD video cannot formatted to HD sizing (you all know what I'm talking about)...
Examples of how SD
video (4:3) may look on an HDTV (16:9). Note the side pillars. SD video is not
formatted to fit the size of an HD screen, and either needs to be stretched or
cropped to fit..
SO,
WHY ISN'T EVERYONE GOING HD?
Some
things are too good to be true. As
always, the biggest hurdle in a seemingly perfect HD world is cost. While it does take more time, and in many
instances, more money to edit commercials in HD, the biggest setback is
distribution. Improvements in technology
have made editing the HD format easier.
In fact, a report by Extreme Reach
Research Group showed that 41% of people surveyed agreed with the following
statement "We produce everything in HD.
I think the biggest challenges are that it costs more to deliver HD and
not all stations will air it in HD."
Intrigued
by these results, I contacted the electronic distribution company I use (who
will remain unnamed) and requested a quote.
I was amazed (and extremely disappointed) at how much higher the cost is
to deliver spots in HD. It was at that
moment I realized I was just like everybody else. I assumed that in our day and age, the rates
would be comparable. The rates were
almost 10 times higher to deliver a spot in HD, as opposed to sending it in SD.
A
NEW HOPE...
While
outside vendors for content distribution are still highly recommended, (they do monitor quality control, send you
delivery confirmations, etc etc), there are other options for getting your TV
spots to the stations. I believe that
they are great workarounds for HD spot delivery, and will eventually force
third party distribution companies to lower their prices. These options include posting TV commercials
directly to the station's ftp sites, or utilizing any third party spot delivery
services the stations supply. For
instance, Comcast offers a web
delivery portal that is free to clients needing to get their ads to the
station.
Consider
the facts:
1. Over 74.5 million US
2. Viewer tune away from commercials is
50% less on HD channels
compared
to the SD feed for the same network ~Kantar
Media Set- top
Box Analysis
3. Post campaign brand recall increases
were 3X higher in HD ads
than
SD ~Starcom and Discovery Networks Study
Why the increase in recall?
In order to understand this idea you need to think about the way you
feel when watching a higher quality picture.
When viewing content in a clearer, crisper, more realistic format, there
is a higher likelihood of evoking feeling.
As we all know - feeling allows you to remember things you normally
wouldn't (like when a song comes on your iPod and it instantly transports you
back to a pivotal moment that you felt
was special). You are a part of the
content, not just an outsider looking in.
It's why people still enjoy going to movie theaters. For the two hours
or so you are in front of the big screen, you are lost in another world. Avatar 3D was so powerful that some people
became depressed after watching it. They
so desperately wanted to live in that magical world of blue people (okay, this
may be taking it a bit far, but you get the...well...picture).
TOMA
ADVERTISING AND HD...
HD is something that TOMA Advertising truly believes
in. Although not everyone is on board
(yet), HD should be looked at as the rule, not the exception. While many companies will charge you more for
HD, we will find the most cost effective solution for you. Since all of our TV spots are created in HD,
we would simply need to find the best way to distribute. If your stations can accept HD files
directly, the cost of running your TV commercial in a beautiful, clear, HD
format would be the same as the cost for SD!
It definitely doesn't hurt to ask.
You deserve to be watching your commercials the way that your HDTV
intended you to!
THE
FUTURE IS CLEAR...
In the world of HD technology, we are
just seeing the beginning of what the format can truly do. 3D aside (the jury
is still out on how far it will go) HD is only improving. For a sneak peek into the future of HDTV's,
click the link below and discover some of the amazing technology featured at
the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las
Vegas
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