Modern observational research implies many questions about the right tool to use. One of these questions concerns the choice of the appropriate video medium. With the wealth of currently available options, manufacturers of video equipment do not make this choice easy. There are many different types of video media: analog video tape (VHS, S-VHS, Hi-8, etc. ), digital video tape (DV, DVCPRO, DVCAM, etc.) and file formats for digital video on disk (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, AVI, QuickTime, etc). One, or perhaps a combination, of these video media could be the ultimate solution for one’s observational studies. The cost involved with the use of digital video media has gone down drastically and appears to be leveling off. This means that digital video technology has come within reach of the behavioral researcher.

In this presentation, an outline will be given about analog and digital video technology (figs. 1 and 2). In combination with The Observer, the trend towards digital video offers new opportunities in terms of video quality, presentation possibilities, speed of retrieval and ease of distribution among coworkers.