Lights, camera, definition.Centennial College's East York Campus is embracing high definition television with the recent purchase of four HD studio cameras.
The change was a bit unexpected for second-year student Amber Sziklasi.
"It was casually mentioned last year and they sort of just appeared in the studio when we got back," from Christmas break, she said. "It was a surprise."
Not that students are complaining.
"It's great news because it's keeping up with the cutting edge," said second-year student Toshi Kobayashi.
The move should help Centennial graduates once they begin job hunting.
"It's a good thing because a lot more of the industry is using HD anyway. If we don't use up-to-date equipment we'll be obsolete before we get into the field," Sziklasi said. "It will help (us get a job) because we can say we have experience on the cameras."
Prof. Sheldon Reisler, co-ordinator of Centennial's broadcasting and film program, said the switch is not only beneficial for their current students, but it will also help the school to attract future students.
"It's an immediate attraction for them to know we're current and up to date," he said.
The switch is also going to change the way students tell stories.
"This is a pretty exciting breakthrough. Everything we do in terms of telling stories will have to be re-examined," Reisler said.
Instead of editing together close-ups, shots with different lighting and wide shots, HD allows stories to be told with one shot because it is so clear.
"What's neat about the digital revolution, the HD revolution, is that the signal quality is at least twice as good, twice as sharp, twice as vivid a depiction of the real world," Reisler said. "The result is incredible sharpness and accuracy."
While Sziklasi doesn't spend her days watching TV, she does enjoy the quality of HD.
"Once you've gone there and you look back you notice the difference," she said. "It's quite significant."
Kobayashi said he enjoys watching basketball games in HD.
"Sometimes it's almost better than being there in person," he said.
Those immediately affected by the change are the broadcasting and film students, but Reisler said animation and journalism students will also benefit from the switch.
The HD cameras are the first step in a three-year plan to bring Centennial's broadcasting program up to the same standards the industry is slowly incorporating. The studio's control room will get high-definition monitors and digital switchers and videotape eventually will be replaced by high-capacity servers that will store the audio and visual information digitally.