TV3 and C4 move to Widescreen

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Ultimate Geek

#66913 12-Apr-2007 13:15

steve98:

Exactly right... which is why scotteffone said they'd be slow to do that. Why would they kill off the one and only compelling reason to subscribe to the Rugby Channel?!

They need a differentiating feature to sell subscriptions to the Rugby Channel. So when they get around to broadcasting in HD, I would assume they'll do a similar thing - offer HD on the Rugby Channel and then maybe show WS SD on Sky Sports. Many moons away, I suspect....

pjamieson

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Chorus

#66935 12-Apr-2007 14:48

I didn't see any 16:9 on C4 yesterday. Even the one time when I saw it letterboxed, it didn't seem the right ratio.

Not sure what I'm going to do on my old 29" CRT, as when I set my Sky STB to 4:3 Pan-Scan (or whatever it's called) it's too big and custs off the top/bottom, and in 4:3 letterbox it's too small, especially the non widescreen stuff.

May have to bite the bullet and buy a Widescreen TV, which maybe alot of people will start doing because of this change?

scotteffone

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Master Geek

#66987 12-Apr-2007 22:50

It's similar to the move to colour I guess. You dont have to move to the new format straight away but it looks cool! Cricket will be broadcast in HD this season, but not sure if its only for international audiences. Full HD free to air? Im guessing 2011?

allstarnz

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#67025 13-Apr-2007 13:56

scotteffone: Cricket will be broadcast in HD this season, but not sure if its only for international audiences.

Do you mean NZ cricket in widescreen on Sky. Is this confirmed or speculation.

That is correct that WS is a compelling reason to subscribe to the Rugby Channel, however they also show a lot of other content that Sky Sport doesn't show. Eg 6 Nations, more rugby shows (both NZ and overseas), Guinnness Premiership etc.

scotteffone

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Master Geek

#67032 13-Apr-2007 14:17

allstarnz:
scotteffone: Cricket will be broadcast in HD this season, but not sure if its only for international audiences.

Do you mean NZ cricket in widescreen on Sky. Is this confirmed or speculation.

That is correct that WS is a compelling reason to subscribe to the Rugby Channel, however they also show a lot of other content that Sky Sport doesn't show. Eg 6 Nations, more rugby shows (both NZ and overseas), Guinnness Premiership etc.

I mean this years NZ cricket season will be shot in Widescreen HD. Thats the plan at this stage. A whole new OB Truck has to be built and might not be ready. But I dont think it will be broadcast in HD in NZ.

cyril7

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#67043 13-Apr-2007 17:22

Just Widescreen either SD or HD is great for most feild sports, and Cricket in particular.

Cyril

scotteffone

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Master Geek

#67045 13-Apr-2007 17:29

cyril7: Just Widescreen either SD or HD is great for most feild sports, and Cricket in particular.

Cyril

Agreed! I want Widescreen F1!!

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sbiddle

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#67052 13-Apr-2007 18:35

scotteffone:
cyril7: Just Widescreen either SD or HD is great for most feild sports, and Cricket in particular.

Cyril

Agreed! I want Widescreen F1!!

So do I! HDTV F1 would be even better!

Quattro

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#67057 13-Apr-2007 18:56

Ahh, so thats why tv3 and 4 now sometimes have a black border on Dscaler.

Somethings look weird though, like when TV3 show a 4:3 recording with their widescreen overlay:

Testerpot

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#67059 13-Apr-2007 19:11

I worked in the UK for a sports broadcaster when they made the move to 16:9. Our channel was subscription and we would get the odd complaint from 4:3 TV owners or people who didnt know how to switch their sky boxes.
The best was from a someone who's complaint went along the lines of.."I pay £15 a month for this channel and I want my screen filled with picture, I dont pay for black bars at the top and bottom of my screen!"...pricless!

Its a huge job though..actually a complete nightmare...just look at the news..all over the place in terms of aspect. --the cricket picture from Quattro is a good example
there is source material in 16:9 and 4:3. graphics in 16:9 coming off 4:3 items!!!...an editing nightmare if a story has many different sources and you had to arc 4:3 into a blow up. This is probably the reason they have chosen to go pillar box 4:3 instead of blowing up 4:3 to fit in 16:9 (which introduces all sorts of nasty problems like loss of resolution and cropping!)

It is surprising that TV3 looks like they've gone straight to 16:9 and not an interim 14:9 to make a slightly smoother transition while all the 4:3 stuff filters out over the next year or so!! fun and games !

can't wait for more channels to go 16:9!!!

scotteffone

215 posts

Master Geek

#67073 13-Apr-2007 23:19

An interim 14:9 would be a bit of a nightmare. Its not actually a standard shooting ratio. 16:9 or 4:3 are the two. Everything would then need to be arc'd wheather it was 16:9 or 4:3 and everyone would see black, so why not start now and get people into the 16:9 way of life! Then hit them with HD!

scotteffone

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Master Geek

#67076 13-Apr-2007 23:29

HD F1!! I want!

cyril7

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#67079 14-Apr-2007 08:05

As I mentioned a few weeks back on another thread, the F1 is delivered to Sky in 16:9 (albeit SD), however as they cannot handle 16:9 on all suites/channels yet they only provide it to us as 4:3. They hope their facitly upgrades will let us see it in 16:9 next year.

Whats worse, on the first cross over to practice in Melbourne this year, someone forgot to switch the ARC in time, there was about 30secs in unflagged 16:9 (ie everyone was all tall).

Cyril

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#67084 14-Apr-2007 08:52

heh you've ever been to the movies where the teens talk and make noise? beat this went to the movies and the characters were tall and skinny! they got the setup wrong! i so wanted my money back!

allstarnz

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#67203 16-Apr-2007 12:31

cyril7: As I mentioned a few weeks back on another thread, the F1 is delivered to Sky in 16:9 (albeit SD), however as they cannot handle 16:9 on all suites/channels yet they only provide it to us as 4:3. They hope their facitly upgrades will let us see it in 16:9 next year.

Whats worse, on the first cross over to practice in Melbourne this year, someone forgot to switch the ARC in time, there was about 30secs in unflagged 16:9 (ie everyone was all tall).

Cyril

you're exactly right, they did the same thing last night. At the start it was in widescreen stretched. The TV i was watching it on had the option to change the picture to 16:9 and I thought it was quite nice. Also the morons forgot to turn on the commentary feed, until about 1/2 a lap in. Was nice just having engine sounds.

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