TV3 Ultrahigh Def?

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smbunn

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# 122604 10-Apr-2008 17:02

I have to tick "use AC3 if available" in Media Portal. Do you know if anyone is broadcasting with AC3?
Also took a quick look at the TV3 press release, they name the following HD shows;

CSI,
CSI: New York,
Prison Break,
My Name Is Earl,
NCIS,
Bones,
Boston Legal,
Home and Away,
So You Think You Can Dance Australia,
Rove,
Underbelly

I noticed the TV3 news looks really clear for the in studio shots, the outside shots definitely seem inferior or am I imagining this?

lchiu7

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# 122630 10-Apr-2008 18:26

smbunn:
From my understanding TV3 is upscaling standard 576 broadcast to 1080i using the full 10 mbs. Only then they have HD content do they display the "HD where available" logo at the start of the program. Does anyone have a definitive list of these programs yet?

I saw the following in HD and they were excellent, but noticed Bones was a little soft focus on people, crystal clear on scenery shots, maybe they are going easy on actors who are comlaining that HD shows all their imperfections!
..

Nothing new. I have been watching the HD-DVD transfers of Star Trek (superb BTW) and whenever they have women in closeups the focus goes soft! And since Star Trek was filmed in 35mm, that is HD quality (above) but of course only 4:3 AR.

Pretty much all movies shot on film exceed HD quality so perhaps they take more time with makeup etc. For TV shows perhaps it's been less important prior to HD transmission?

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sbiddle

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# 122632 10-Apr-2008 18:27

Both TVNZ and TV3 were broadcasting stereo AC3 audio before the official Freeview launch and it appears that AC3 broadcasts have now stopped. TV3 did announce that 5.1 AC3 was coming but was going to start in several months time. My guess is that they're holding off transmitting stereo AC3 feeds to stop any confusion where people are complaining they are only receiving stereo AC3 and not 5.1 - this seems to be a common complaint in Australia.

DS248

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# 122683 10-Apr-2008 21:17

Current TV3 HD schedule (hopefully will display OK)?

TV3 HD listings (week from 10 Apr)		Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
	Home and Away	11:00am	11:00am	11:00am	11:00am	11:00am
	Home and Away	5:30pm	5:30pm	5:30pm	5:30pm	5:30pm
	So You Think You Can Dance Australia					7:30pm	7:30pm
	My Name Is Earl							8:00pm
	Bones	8:30pm
	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation							8:30pm
	Underbelly (encore screening)						8:30pm
	Rove					9:00pm
	Boston Legal		9:30pm
	Prison Break	9:30pm
	Underbelly							9:30pm

Non-current
	CSI: New York	SEASON 4 Premiere, Tue 22 Apr, 8:30pm
	NCIS	Not currently scheduled

jonathan18

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# 123051 12-Apr-2008 14:50

openmedia:
smbunn:
Also it was my understanding that the HE-AAC codes suported multiple channels, hence 128 k may allow 5.1? Is this true?

There are no plans for 5.1 in HE-AAC, it will be in AC-3.

Excuse my ignorance, but I had been under the impression that AC3 was another name for Dolby Digital, which is usually 5.1. Could you please explain what you mean when you say it will be in AC-3, but not 5.1? (Do you mean carrying a stereo signal or similar?). Ta!

cyril7

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# 123053 12-Apr-2008 15:04

AC3 (aka DD) can be anything from 1 to 5.1 channels, but its still uses the AC3 codec, the broadcaster (or DVD author) can switch on or off as many channels within that as they like even on the fly, still called Dobly Digital AC3.

Dolbys own documents on DD/AC3 describe the following valid channel descriptions

Mono (Center only)
2-channel stereo (Left + Right), optionally carrying matrixed Dolby Surround
3-channel stereo (Left, Center, Right)
2-channel stereo with mono surround (Left, Right, Surround)
3-channel stereo with mono surround (Left, Center, Right, Surround)
4-channel quadrophonic (Left, Right, Left Surround, Right Surround)
5-channel surround (Left, Center, Right, Left Surround, Right Surround)

The optional .1 channel can be used with all.

Cyril

rugrat

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# 123054 12-Apr-2008 15:10

sbiddle: My guess is that they're holding off transmitting stereo AC3 feeds to stop any confusion where people are complaining they are only receiving stereo AC3 and not 5.1 - this seems to be a common complaint in Australia.

I don't get it. If they're not transmitting 5.1 then we are only getting stereo now, so people would be complaining now, about not getting 5.1.

If they're transmitting 5.1 why would people complain about not getting it? If they've got the equipment and a 5.1 show and setup etc correct then you'd think you'd get 5.1 audio. Hows holding off a few months change that?

openmedia

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# 123056 12-Apr-2008 15:22

jonathan18:
openmedia:
smbunn:
Also it was my understanding that the HE-AAC codes suported multiple channels, hence 128 k may allow 5.1? Is this true?

There are no plans for 5.1 in HE-AAC, it will be in AC-3.

Excuse my ignorance, but I had been under the impression that AC3 was another name for Dolby Digital, which is usually 5.1. Could you please explain what you mean when you say it will be in AC-3, but not 5.1? (Do you mean carrying a stereo signal or similar?). Ta!

HE-AAC has been designed to carry upto 7.1 channels of information, but the current plans for freeview mandate a 2 channel stereo signal.

AC-3 is capable of upto 5.1 channels as has already been explained, and will be the standard for digital surround on freeview subject to broadcaster support.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC a Technology Evangelist and Product Manager. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

lchiu7

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# 123057 12-Apr-2008 15:28

openmedia:
jonathan18:
openmedia:
smbunn:
Also it was my understanding that the HE-AAC codes suported multiple channels, hence 128 k may allow 5.1? Is this true?

There are no plans for 5.1 in HE-AAC, it will be in AC-3.

Excuse my ignorance, but I had been under the impression that AC3 was another name for Dolby Digital, which is usually 5.1. Could you please explain what you mean when you say it will be in AC-3, but not 5.1? (Do you mean carrying a stereo signal or similar?). Ta!

HE-AAC has been designed to carry upto 7.1 channels of information, but the current plans for freeview mandate a 2 channel stereo signal.

AC-3 is capable of upto 5.1 channels as has already been explained, and will be the standard for digital surround on freeview subject to broadcaster support.

Just a couple of questions on this

1. Even if HE-AAC can carry 7.1 channels I suspect it would be somewhat folly for the broadcasters to use this format. Assuming that folks get new STB's, the only way a punter could hear the multichannel mix is if the STB had up to 7 analogue outs (and of course the AVR had seven analogue inputs) or the HE-AAC were converted to LPCM over HDMI and then the punter needs an AVR that can handle HDMI audio (this is not exactly low end gear)

2. OTOH if they broadcast AC-3 multichannel sound, then all the STB has to have is a Toslink output that can connect to pretty much any decent AVR out there.

Not having seen the current STB's I would imagine they output the HE-AAC as PCM over Toslink which most receivers can handle (not much onerous than handling PCM from a CD).

This is going to make life easier for me. If they broadcast multichannel sound in AC-3 then my Popcorn Hour can play that fine - no diddling around with PowerDVD8 etc.

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sbiddle

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# 123064 12-Apr-2008 16:43

rugrat:
sbiddle: My guess is that they're holding off transmitting stereo AC3 feeds to stop any confusion where people are complaining they are only receiving stereo AC3 and not 5.1 - this seems to be a common complaint in Australia.

I don't get it. If they're not transmitting 5.1 then we are only getting stereo now, so people would be complaining now, about not getting 5.1.

If they're transmitting 5.1 why would people complain about not getting it? If they've got the equipment and a 5.1 show and setup etc correct then you'd think you'd get 5.1 audio. Hows holding off a few months change that?

TV3 don't yet have the capability to transmit shows in 5.1 AC3, they can only transmit AC3 in stereo.

My understanding is that only ever want to transmit a 5.1 signal over AC3 and not transmit a stereo AC3 signal to avoid any confusion.

rugrat

1787 posts

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# 123073 12-Apr-2008 17:16

Thanks. Prologic works on the sound they're transmitting at moment. So that's the main thing for now, better then just left and right speakers having sound only.

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