Why the old Sean “Diddy” Combins video will be hard to fake

Creating videos is easier than ever today. Advanced editing and software tools are widely available and can be run on computer systems at a price range that many can afford.

The democratization of generative AI technology further complicates modern forensic video authentication, as a convincing fake can be created by someone with little technical experience in video editing and production, or by an artist with an understanding of light, shadow and perspective.

However, in the case of older video footage, such as the one that may be relevant to the Sean “Diddy” Combs trial, the barriers to successfully faking the footage are much higher.

Hard to Fake: Analog and Early Digital Films

In the 1990s and early 2000s, the dominant forms of video recording were analog formats such as VHS and early digital formats such as MPEG-1 or DV. Each of these formats had unique characteristics that make them extremely difficult to fake convincingly.

Analog formats

Analog video was recorded on physical tapes such as VHS or Beta, and editing these formats was extremely difficult without specialized equipment. Any attempt to alter the film required physical manipulation of the film itself. This meant that spoofing or altering analog video required cutting, splicing, or re-recording the material directly to tape.

Because analog movies lack the digital flexibility of modern files, tampering with them shows obvious signs of degradation or distortion. When the tape is physically edited, the changes result in signal distortions or degradation in image quality that are easily detected by forensic analysts. The process was very labor-intensive, and producing a uniform fake would require a level of expertise and access to equipment usually reserved for high-end film studios.

An even bigger problem for fraudsters was the inability to edit small, specific details. Analog formats recorded in a continuous stream and it was almost impossible to change a single frame or sequence without affecting the rest of the material. So even if someone tried to fake analog video, forensic analysis would reveal irregularities in the integrity of the image and sound.

Early digital formats

The shift to digital recording in the late 1990s and early 2000s brought new opportunities, but it also introduced its own obstacles for anyone trying to manipulate video footage. Early digital formats such as MPEG-1 and DV used high compression due to limited memory capacity at the time. Compression algorithms reduced file sizes by discarding some visual data, increasing the risk of video quality loss if tampered with.

Attempting to edit these early digital files without the proper knowledge can lead to noticeable artifacts such as image distortion due to compression inconsistency. These compression artifacts, such as block distortion or ghosting, get magnified if someone tries to insert new content or modify the footage.

Moreover, the tools available back then were not as advanced as they are today. Editing software was expensive, complex, and largely limited to professional environments. Even with access to software, the technical skills required to edit digital files while maintaining their authenticity were incredibly high.

The older the video, the more difficult it is to fake it convincingly. Analog tapes, early digital formats, and limited access to editing tools in the 1990s and early 2000s make it extremely difficult for anyone to alter footage without leaving detectable traces.