RE: [AV Media Matters] Video Compression - a PLUS for archivists (but not too

[sallen@gwm.sc.edu]

Thanks, Jim, for a great response to Tony Gardner's "extremely well
thought out and written posting".

Part of the question for us at a film archive is:  "Why should we
start a lengthy, drawn-out process, that will cost many thousands or
millions of dollars, to migrate valuable nitrate film images to a
lossy compressed format, that will be obsolete before we even finish
the project.....?"  Especially, if we can wait ten years, or
whatever, and have a (near) lossless format?

Cost, longevity, and quality.  If we had the money, we would
preserve all of our nitrate film as soon as possible to a
safety-based film.  Seeing as how that will cost several million
dollars, it may never happen.  Still, we're better off transferring
as much of it as we can to component Beta SP tapes, than to put it
on a compressed digital format, which may not have the lifespan of
Beta SP, let alone the film itself....

And, personally, I do notice a difference between Beta SP and even
Digi-Beta.  So, why do it?  Do we lose a little quality now, in
order to lose less quality later in tape duplication?  Maybe that is
a fair trade, I don't know.

I do know that compromises are necessary.  But they should be
informed compromises, guided more by research than salesmen's
promises.

Scott Allen
sallen@gwm.sc.edu
film colorist
Univ. of So. Carolina Newsfilm Library