For TV Stars, High Def Is Dicey

All right, Mr. DeMille," says aging actress Norma Desmond, played by aging actress Gloria Swanson, as she leans seductively into the camera in the final scene of the 1950 film classic Sunset Boulevard. "I'm ready for my close-up." If Norma were working in today's high-definition television (HDTV), she would be inching away from that camera.

As the number of shows filmed in HDTV grows, actors and actresses are facing the ugly truth: HDTV gives new meaning to the word close-up. In high definition, no wart, wrinkle or blemish is safe from the camera's eye, forcing makeup artists to scramble for...

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