I get asked the question all the time,do I have to have my wedding shot in HD (high definition)?

I’m going to be honest. There are two schools of thought here. But first let me explain that if you are receiving your final wedding on DVDs,they are not in HD. DVD is an SD (standard definition) format. Don’t get me wrong,they are fantastic,beautiful quality,but technically they are not HD. Only receiving your wedding on Blu-Ray disc is a true high definition wedding video.

Every wedding videographer offers your wedding on DVD,but not all of them offer Blu-Ray. Those that do offer your wedding video on Blu-Ray probably also have an additional charge for doing so because there is considerable additional labor in creating a Blu-Ray disc versus your traditional DVD.

So this begs the question,if I’m not going to receive my wedding in HD anyway do I need to shoot in HD or is SD OK? Not all wedding videographers shoot in HD. In fact,you’d be surprised how many still shoot in standard definition.

If a wedding videographer offers you HD cameras at no additional cost,it’s a no-brainer,go with the HD (By the way,we ONLY offer HD shooting so there is no additional cost from us). But if you have the choice,you have a decision to make. A good,quality wedding videographer will make up for the limitations of shooting in SD,and the average viewer will not notice the difference UNLESS compared side by side with a wedding video shot in HD. Also,there are very high-quality SD cameras that look just as good as HD cameras in my opinion. However,in my experience,most wedding videographers use SD cameras with 1/3″image processors,which while affordable to them,don’t give the greatest images (examples include the Canon XL1,Canon GL2 (actually a smaller 1/4″processor),and the Sony VX2000). So I would be careful and ask for a list of cameras from someone still shooting in SD. Look up the camera online –if it is a 1/3″processor –be weary. The shooter must be excellent to make the video good. If the processor is 1/2″or 2/3″this is a high-quality SD camera and I’d feel comfortable going with this.

So the bottom line is this,if your wedding videographer shoots in SD he needs to be an excellent shooter to make up the difference between SD and HD quality. This does not mean that an HD camera will make up for a poor shooter,but the ideal situation is great shooter with an HD camera. The extra lines of high definition resolution will really give you an awesome image,and will show up superior even if delivered in SD on a DVD.