What res-format to encode for HDTV broadcast?

[gonzalimator]

My wife is making a fan film for a favourite TV show of hers. She's making a cartoon with Flash. It's only meant to be a Christmas gift for this show, and if they like it, it could be shown on TV. I was wondering how we should submit the final work to this TV show so that they can get a high quality video that would be ready for HDTV broadcast.

The cartoon is 24fps. Currently, the tests we've made are rendered at 960x540 (image sequence) and then encoded to an mpeg2 stream for DVD (anamorphic 16:9 with 3:2 pulldown). Then we watch the tests on our TV. Just a regular old 4:3 TV.

What resolution should we use for the final output? 1920x1080? 1280x720? _x_?
Would that be mpeg2? Should that be NTSC film? Should we just burn the mpeg to a DVD-rom and send that in (because it's not a valid DVD video resolution and couldn't be authored)? I'm in totally unknown territory here.

Any suggestions?

[srp365]

To be honest, most TV stations are not all HD yet. They're transmitting a HD signal but their studios are usually still NTSC. You're best bet is to Encode to 720x480 DV 2:3 Pull Down and output to a MiniDV tape through a camcorder.

The hot ENG (Electronic News Gathering) formats are DVCPRO/DVCAM, both of which can play back MiniDV. Any studio, TV station, or post house out there can playback a MiniDV tape. Still, check with the studio or TV station. They ususally take viewer submissions only in VHS for easy previewing. America's Funniest Home Videos still only take VHS tapes.

[gonzalimator]

Thanks for the reply.

So what should I do about the aspect ratio? It's 1.778:1. Does that mean that the DV output should be letterboxed? Or is it possible to have a DV tape that's anamorphic? (I know that I have a 16:9 switch on my miniDV camcorder)

If that's impossible I hope to at least be able to submit it as a 16:9 DVD. Never thought about miniDV...

[edDV]

I suggest before you change anything, call the TV station engineering dept and ask. They may even be able to render it for you.

16x9 or 4x3 MiniDV 480i (720x480) is probably the safest bet if they can't be specific. A 16x9 or 4x3 480i DVD would also probably work.