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Legal Supers
I apologize if this question has been asked before, but it seems like everyone just has theories and no real answers so here goes:
Does anyone know of any definitive resources on legal supers?
There are so many different opinions out there on what is needed, and I was wondering what the source for all of this information is. People usually say 22 scanlines (though I’ve heard anything from 18 to 24), but is this for SD only, or HD as well? If so, wouldn’t an HD super look a lot smaller than an SD because there are 1080 scanlines in full HD as opposed to 525 in SD? There are a few plugins to easily check without going to the scopes, like dhLegaText, but these work in terms of pixels, what is the easiest way to convert to scanlines other than going back and forth with your scopes?
Also, how does this play into a commercial where you are doing an HD master with an SD downconvert, either centercut or letterboxed?
Any help or official documents on the subject would be appreciated.
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1 Reply
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The legal disclaimer laws are set by the individual states – that’s why there’s a range of answers (18 – 22 scan lines). You bring up an interesting point regarding HD. That’s a whole new can of worms that has been opened up – I don’t think the law on political ads has kept up with changing TV technology.
“…how does this play into a commercial where you are doing an HD master with an SD downconvert, either centercut or letterboxed?” – JW
It means if you’re handling the downconvert the scan line count on the SD version needs to meet state the spec.
Scopes are the best way to check the disclaimer text. You only need to measure the disclaimer size once and then you simply use the same font and point size for all the spots.
“Any help or official documents on the subject would be appreciated.” – JW
Official documents will need to come from the state.
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