In an announcement from Gerald Wolfe:
…Plans are well underway for our upcoming 20th Anniversary recording in Temple, Texas on Thursday and Friday August 6 & 7. We just learned last week that not only will we be doing a “live” recording for a CD, we will also be doing a “live” VIDEO recording as well! This won’t be just any video recording… this one will be filmed in high-definition! We will be recording both concerts for the CD / DVD release, so pick one night… or both nights, and order your tickets while they are still available!…
Kudos to Greater Vision for being a leader in technology for our genre, but if the recording isn’t released in Blu-Ray HD, what’s the point. The video would still have to be compressed to fit a 4.7 GB DVD or a 8.5 GB dual-layer DVD.
Hopefully, Blu-ray would be offered from Greater Vision since they are recording in HD, but honestly, how many SG fans have Blu-Ray players? I would venture to say that a very small percentage have the technology to play a Blu-Ray DVD, but maybe their live-in kids or grandkids have a PS3 that could handle the format.
So should Greater Vision risk being stuck with a product that might not move, or should they bite the bullet and be a front-runner in Southern Gospel HD. Correct me if I’m wrong, but even Bill Gaither has yet to release a video project in true HD format. I’ve looked over his site and can’t find any.
My conclusion: why invest in a product that’s most likely not going to move? Southern Gospel is notoriously behind the times when it comes to technology, which I attribute to the older generation that makes up the majority of SG fans. My family still has people asking for cassettes, so I can only imagine what the ‘big’ groups are faced with. Sometimes it’s difficult to be in a genre that constantly lags behind other genres, but thankfully we still have the very best music in the world!
Maybe in a few years when DVDs are the new VHS, and blu-ray is common like DVDs are today, we’ll see more offerings of HD, but until that day comes, I’ll not be holding my breath in anticipation.
I totally agree with you Adam. It makes NO SENSE to record in HD if it is going to be released to DVD. I am sure Gerald knows that, but it may just be a selling point, or they may honestly being releasing a Blu-Ray disc. However, like you said, it will be hard to justify the extra expense and possibility of slow moving product due to the audience inability to play media in that format. I predict, if they do sell the Blu-Ray discs, they will have TONS of people calling them telling them they won’t play….IN THEIR DVD PLAYER.
On an unrelated note, love the site and the spirit in which it is done. Keep up the great work for His kingdom. May God continue to bless you and your family in the ministry.
-Stephen
I hadn’t even thought about trying to play Blu-Ray in a standard DVD player…..that was hilarious!!!
Thanks, Stephen, for the kind words! I pray that this site will always bring honor to His kingdom!!!
[...] find myself asking the same question that Adam Edwards does, namely “Are they going to release the video on Blu-Ray? In a perfect world, GV would be [...]
Greater Vision is not the first artist to record a video in HD. The Hoppers two 50th Anniversary videos from two years ago were both filmed in HD.
I’m not sure why bother if you’re not going to release a project in HD though. The video quality on a standard disc isn’t greatly improved when filmed in HD, so is it just a ploy to convince people that the videos would somehow be better? I don’t know!
You’re right. If it is not sold for blu-ray, filming it in HD really makes no difference.
Actually, there is an advantage to shoot in HD even if the final product is to be released only in standard definition.
The simple explanation is that more pixels means there will be less degradation of video quality during editing.
Of course, this is assuming all other things are equal. The quality of the camera itself is the most important factor. There are HD cameras that sell for less than $200, after all.