Ready for Their Close-Up?

The menu of HD programming now includes sports events such as the Super Bowl, prime-time shows including ABC's "Desperate Housewives," soap operas and late-night shows where viewers can catch glimpses of the freckles on the back of Conan O'Brien's hands.

Though the audience for HD is still small, it's growing rapidly. Last year, 30 percent of all TVs sold in United States were high definition, up from 8 percent in 2002, according to Jupiter Research. In 2002, just 4 percent of U.S. households with a TV had a high-definition model. By last year, that figure had climbed to 20 percent, and Jupiter Research predicts it will grow to 48 percent by 2008.

"I would definitely say 2005 was a turning point," said Joni Blecher, home theater analyst at Jupiter Research.

Shooting the WUSA news requires much less light because of the nature of the cameras. But high definition demands a more skillful mix of lights, angles and shadows to create the illusion of depth. Without those elements, the camera would make the "talent look like they were sitting against a wall," said Victor Murphy, WUSA's production manager.

The new WUSA set is a third larger than the one used for standard-definition broadcasts to fill out the wings on the screen. It is also taller. Viewers may notice a balcony running the length of the set behind the news desk. But they'll never see a human up there. The balcony is fake -- constructed for the extra height that's needed when the camera pulls back for a long wide shot.

"If you went up there, it would collapse," Stanley said.

At WRAL in Raleigh, N.C., the first to broadcast local news in HD, in 2001, the new technology sometimes left viewers a little confused. Since high-definition video must be hugely compressed, it takes longer to transmit than audio, so the pictures would lag behind the sound.

"We had what we call 'lip flap' like in the old kung fu movies -- the anchor would be talking to a reporter in field, and the audio didn't match their mouths moving," said John Harris, WRAL's director of programming.

When "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" went to high definition in 1999, becoming the first network series in HD, producers agonized over how guests -- particularly women -- would look on a screen significantly sharper than standard television. Of course, not many viewers had HDTVs at the time, but NBC still went through all the steps to produce the show, redoing the control room, refurbishing the studio, adjusting the lights and ensuring that guests would be happy in the chair next to Leno.

"It was a critical thing -- and we probably spent too much time on it -- but we wanted to make sure women would be comfortable being on the show," said Rick Ludwin, NBC executive vice president of late-night and prime-time series.

Key to that comfort was getting the makeup right for the prying lens of the HD camera. Some stars have gravitated toward a lighter layer applied by airbrush, worrying that the heavier cosmetic used on traditional broadcasts would look cakey in high definition. But WRAL's Harris rejects those concerns. "I disagree that you have to have special makeup up for anchors -- that's absolute malarkey," he said. "It's consultants trying to drive the business."

Nonetheless, airbrushing is gaining in popularity. An airbrush delivers a thin, skinlike covering that minimizes blemishes and looks invisible in high definition, according to Doug McAward, president of Kett Cosmetics, a company that sells an airbrush makeup system for high-definition production.

"The HD camera sees more than the naked eye," McAward said. "If you can pass an HD lens, you can pass any test."