A recent advertisement for HD contact lenses set a new standard for marketing hubris and brought into focus the growing confusion over the meaning of “High Definition.” Regrettably, HD is becoming a catch-all term for “better video,” whether or not it actually meets accepted technical standards for HD image quality. In the video space, where specifications should truly mean something, HD apparently refers to the number of pixels that are sent to a video monitor, regardless of the quality of the information in those pixels.
Nowhere is a precise, technical meaning of HD more important than in the growing field of life-like videoconferencing, where large amounts of information must be transmitted in real time and utilized interactively. Because life-like videoconferencing – also known as telepresence solutions – is designed to replicate an in-person meeting experience with great clarity and precision, it requires large bandwidth to achieve high quality results.
For example, DreamWorks Animation interconnects multiple HD-caliber videoconferencing, story board and editing suites so that creative teams can collaborate in the production of films. As recently described in Wired and BusinessWeek, the stream of video and audio information between each DreamWorks location consumes over 20 megs of high quality bandwidth. This enormous requirement can be visualized by imagining a home furnace that must be fed by a giant oil pipeline in order to provide sufficient fuel to heat a house.
Most companies, of course, are not in the film animation business and are therefore unwilling to pay for this extraordinary quantity of broadband. Providing these enterprises with a high quality videoconferencing capability requires a different approach – the use of sophisticated compression technology that reduces video information by 80% or more before it is transmitted, and then restores the data stream at the other end. The job becomes particularly tricky when HD-caliber videoconferencing is desired. The technology behind telepresence enables this process.
With the exception of “pure HD,” as implemented by DreamWorks, videoconferencing – as a practical, cost effective service for businesses – is technically incapable of replicating the HD technical standards associated with broadcast television. Too much information needs to be removed/restored via the compression process to replicate broadcast quality HD, which employs cameras, recording devices and transmission equipment that far exceed what a typical corporation could afford.
Thus, a new specification for HD videoconferencing should be established – one based on the amount and quality of the source information – rather than simply the pixels – delivered to an end-point. Such a specification would level the playing field for vendors, eliminate hubristic marketing claims and, most importantly, help buyers make informed decisions about the systems they purchase.
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