Our corporate videos don’t look crisp on flat screen monitors. What’s wrong?  RECENT EVENTS... EcoWater Dealer Meeting in Las Vegas Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce at Xcel Energy Center U.S. Bank All-employee Event at Target Center Nash Finch Meeting at Chanhassen Dinner Theater Have an Event or Video Coming up? Call 952-888-9000 We Can Help! Mainstream Communications 9555 James Avenue South, Suite 235, Bloomington, MN   55431 www.mainstreamcom.net To unsubscribe from our email list, please click here.  Place "unsubscribe" in the subject box. Copyright © 2008  Mainstream Communications. All rights reserved.

Most flat screen monitors are now high-definition, but your playback device is not. HD is easy at home… All of us in the United States are transitioning to high-definition television.  In February of 2009 all U.S. networks are required by law to cease broadcasting in analog standard-definition. You may already have high-definition at home. If you have an HD flat screen, you can get HDTV through cable or satellite.  Local stations can even be received in HDTV directly from an antenna on your home.  If you happen to be an early adopter, you may even have an HD hard drive that came with your satellite or cable system.  That hard drive allows you to record and play back what you receive from your provider in high-definition. The new, High-Definition DVD players can be purchased in any big box store.  There are two competing formats, much like the old VHS versus Betamax format war in the late 70s and early 80s.  Hollywood is now starting to release movies in two different HD formats, either Blu-ray or HD DVD.  Neither format will play a disk recorded in the other (although there are expensive decks available that will play both formats). Hollywood movie releases in the two new formats are happening slowly. While there are hundreds of standard definition Hollywood movies on store shelves, only a few are available in the HD formats.  And many of these movies are released in one format, but not the other.  Why?  Manufacturers, software developers and Hollywood studios have formed alliances.  Together, they have billions invested in their particular format, and they are using content and access as trump cards in a high stakes battle. HD at the corporate level is just now becoming available… In the world of corporate video, we are just beginning to see the HD burner equipment and software that we need to encode your corporate video into a High-Definition DVD. We have been taping much of our original content in HD for about two years.  When we edit a project, we determine whether to keep the original HD quality, or down convert to standard definition.  So, some of our projects are edited in High Def, some in Standard Def, depending on budget and how the video will be used. When we display high-definition video at meetings, events and trade shows, we use expensive hard drive units for playback. That is because until now, the equipment and software necessary to encode your corporate video into a High-Definition DVD has not been available, largely because of the Blu-ray versus HD DVD battle. In order to see your corporate videos in HD (which will dramatically improve quality) your company will need to invest in High-Definition DVD players in one of the two formats.  Then just ask for a High-Definition DVD version of your next corporate video from Mainstream.  The results will amaze you with the superior picture quality, about six times better than standard DVD. One more option we can provide is to create a HD Windows Media File of your video. However, you will need a very powerful computer with a high-end video card for playback. Which format will win?  No one knows for sure, but Blu-Ray has the upper hand, both in quality and storage capacity.  Most of the Hollywood studios have joined the Blu-Ray alliance. If you have questions about how to best use HD in your meetings, trade shows, or flat screen displays, just Ask Mainstream.