What was commercial news shot at before HD came around?

[bogo5]

I'm just curious about what most commercial news cameras shot at for television before everything went HD?

Wasn't film, was it just television resolution?

Thanks.

[jkwest]

I'm pretty sure it was just 480i...

[Phil Taylor]

Yes it was 480i V - NTSC had/has a stated resolution capability of 525 horizontal lines of resolution. Horizontal resolution capability was/is what determines quality of video cameras and recording media. Resolution is/was stated as the number of vertical lines a camera or recorder could distinctly reproduce or discern before the lines became indistinct.

Format..................................... Horizontal Resolution
Standard VHS.............................. 210 Vertical "Lines"
Hi8............................................ 400 Lines
Laserdisc.....................................425 Lines
DV............................................. 500 Lines
DVD............................................540 Lines

Broadcast news usually hit somewhere around 330H lines or so (depending on the quality of your local stations equipment) by the time it hit your old SD TV.