Who: Merrill Weiss, Eric Wenocur, and James Snyder
What: Fractional Frame Rates: How Do We End Them?
When: February 15, 2024 at 5:30 PM
Where: Fairfax County Television 16 - Register Here
Address: 12000 Government Center Parkway
Fairfax, VA 22035 United States
Sponsors: Evertz and Hitachi Kokusai Electric America, Ltd.

In the U.S. we have been living with the 29.97fps video frame rate since the advent of color in 1953. This legacy of NTSC analog television is so deeply ingrained in all aspects of broadcast and production operations that it's often forgotten or taken for granted. When we say we're shooting at 30, it's almost always 29.97 or 59.94.

The current state of affairs has many downsides, including the continued need for drop-frame timecode, the need for complex conversion between fractional rates and the 25/50fps used in most of the world, and extra expense required in production & distribution channels. Every stage of media production and delivery is prone to confusion and technical errors that can be both embarrassing and costly.

Fractional frame rates persist due to the vast archive of existing content, the need for broadcasters to maintain 24/7 operation in a known environment, and simply because it's the way things are. Modern equipment and production software may not even provide an option to use integer
(30/60) rates for recording or display.

Fortunately, what were technical hurdles in the analog era are no longer a barrier. It’s time to examine practical solutions to phase out fractional. What are the technical, management and financial considerations to adopt integer frame rates across the industry? This meeting will serve as an introduction to the topic, with a planned full-day conference in upcoming months!

Doors will open for a light dinner at 5:30 pm, followed by an optional facility tour. The Zoom meeting will start at 6 pm, with organization business at 6:40 and program start at 6:50 pm.