How has digital video changed over time? The use of digital video has shifted from early prototypes and experiments with digital editing through to the high end, HD cameras currently used by production companies, as well as to the commercially available digital video formats that dominate the Internet and portable devices. Today, digital video has many different uses, from film and television production to commercials, music videos, and many other formats - how, then, has digital video developed?
Early forms of digital video provided an alternative to analogue tape, and initially worked in the late 1970s and early 1980s to offer a faster way to edit videos, from time corrections, to inserting specific effects for composite video. Using digital signals to record and then create files capable of being played back on computers was the next major step, with early digital prototypes including Bosch and RCA designs, as well as the Sony D-1 and the Sony Digital Betacam.
Developments in digital video consequently overlapped with the rise of home computers and other formats during the 1980s and early 1990s; digital editing suites also became more common as options for filmmakers and television producers. Home computers offered ways for digital video to be replayed and edited, with the Apple Mac’s QuickTime format becoming significant. Formats such as MPEG, and later DV tape formats for direct recording of digital data were enhanced by easy access through desktops and laptops.
Making digital video work for home entertainment systems was also a challenge, with digital recording providing more compact formats, and ways of transmitting large amounts of data. While early digital videos were encoded at 2 Mbps bit rates, later formats like laserdisc and DVD were able to push for higher speeds; standards for digital video were also produced via the 1988 International Telecommunication Union’s establishment of digital format specifications.
In terms of the growing quality of digital video production and viewing, MPEG-4 and high definition offered much sharper images, as well as opportunities for 3D rendering and better looking computer video playback formats like DivX and XVid. By the 2000s, Blu-Ray and HDTV had enabled film and television productions to be released across different platforms using high quality digital video; consumers similarly had the opportunity to experiment with digital camcorders and cameras, as well as with mobile phones capable of providing digital photography and video.
The options for digital video available to professionals and amateurs is now extensive - RED cameras offer significant results in terms of 4K and super high definition formats, while the rapid compression of digital video files and streaming technology means that a large number of people now watch virtually all of their content in a digital form, with analogue tape and film projection becoming increasingly obsolete. In the space of little more than 30 years, then, digital video has progressed in leaps and bounds to being a common way for producing and distributing content.
Sophy Aires has worked with digital video formats for over ten years, and likes to blog about the future of video editing. She recommends aspiring producers take a look at Karma Crew & Creative to see some of the best work in the industry.








