Crawford Communications Helping HD Transition With HD Lite

Although Crawford Communications has been involved in shows as complex as the 3D production of the 2009 BCS National Championship Game, the company is just as well-versed in helping clients move cost-effectively from SD to HD. At this year’s NAB Show, the company is touting a process they call HD Lite.

“Everyone is transitioning to high definition, trying to do more with less,” explains Paul Edwards, director of transportable and production services for Crawford Communications. “We’re seeing some more interest in HD Lite based on the lack of high-definition production trucks.”

Edwards defines HD Lite as 16:9 standard definition upconverted to HD. Edwards says the HD Lite format is especially popular with cable operators looking for additional content to fill time on their stations.

“One of our clients for the upcoming football season,” Edwards says, “is planning to do some 16:9 standard-def to hi-def upconverted, to put content on their cable channel.

“We’re continuing the upgrade of all of our transportables to high definition,” he adds. “That’s the big thing that we’re working on this year. With the increase in hi-def programming, we’re seeing an increase in the utilization of the Ku-band satellite trucks versus the C-band satellite trucks to cut some of the costs associated with that.”

Crawford continues to upgrade its own fleet to give customers the opportunity to deliver more high-definition content.