Discovery's HD Odyssey

摘要

Underneath the Sterling, Va., video production facility operated by the non-fiction TV producer Discovery Communications is a marvel of modern technology worthy of a watch-and-learn documentary in its own right.rnFollowing a technology conversion effort orchestrated by the media services company Ascent Media Group, 400 miles of cable now snake through the Sterling center. Their purpose: to shuttle hulking data files constituting a growing number of high-definition video productions. The digital files ricochet from ingest points to editing facilities to quality-control stations, ending up within servers that will ultimately feed the finished programs to any of five Discovery channels now televised in HD.rnDiscovery and its crews upgraded the operation for HD production overrnthe past six months, finishing in late November. The effort happened more swiftly than Discovery first envisioned, reflecting fast-rising demand for HD content spurred by rapid consumer adoption of HD television sets, and by competition among satellite and cablernproviders for supremacy in the HD domain. Now, Discovery makes available five national channels in HD. Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC and The Science Channel were upgraded for HD simulcast in the recent conversion. Discovery HD Theater, the company's original HDTV channel, launched in 2001.