NCIS on TV3 tonight - was this HD?

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lchiu7

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#23682 6-Jul-2008 21:51

Have just started to record TV3 HD programmes using a Hauppauge HVR-900H. Tonight's NCIS was advertised as being HD but it looked rather soft to me compared with other shows I have watched/recorded on TV3. The sound appeared to be DD 5.1 though.

Just wondering what others saw. I wonder if I am actually capturing the HD version of TV3 (the channel search says TV3 (AC-3) ). I did capture CSI NY the other day and that looked fine, as did the movie Just My Luck on Saturday.

Larry

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Disrespective

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#143556 7-Jul-2008 08:34

Something that i've noticed is that with NCIS, and Chuck, the HD broadcast looks 'grainy' like an old high iso photograph. Has anyone else noticed this? Alhough the shows like Home and Away (shudder), and Bones look sharp as a tack so i'm pretty sure it's nothing to do with my system.

fisher191

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#143601 7-Jul-2008 09:55

NCIS was very 'soft' last night. It was worse than the better upscaled SD material.

I would be very interested to know if this is the source material or something tv3 is doing. Has anyone seen NCIS in the US or on Blu Ray?

lchiu7

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#143645 7-Jul-2008 10:56

fisher191: NCIS was very 'soft' last night. It was worse than the better upscaled SD material.

I would be very interested to know if this is the source material or something tv3 is doing. Has anyone seen NCIS in the US or on Blu Ray?

That was the point I was making - it was quite soft. Interestingly at the end of each segment, they would show a still picture of the main character and that was much sharper than the show images.

Haven't seen NCIS in the US but have seen a bunch of other shows in HD (primarily 1080i) and they look sharp. Even CSI New York the other day was much sharper than NCIS last night,

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Nety

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#143649 7-Jul-2008 11:11

Looks soft in SD as well.. I think it is intentional ie the producers are adding a soft filter to it. Kind of like the CSI NY program having an odd (orange tinge I seem to recall) colour pallet.

There is some cooking thing on before the news on TV one where they constantly de focus on things.. after about 10 seconds it starts getting really annoying!

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bigbob

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#143741 7-Jul-2008 13:21

My wife noticed this straight off and pointed it out to me. It looks intentional, very much like it is used on some US interviews from 60 minutes that feature 'older interviewers'. To my mind it is the same approach as using a soft focus filter in photography to provide a more flattering look, commonly seen in some wedding / portrait photo's.

Why they would use it on a show like this is a real mystery and disappointment. If it wasn't intentional then it is very poor technical form.

Rob

rugrat

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#143763 7-Jul-2008 13:49

I thought the same thing when watching. Know it just wasn't me now. Be a shame if it starts happening to other shows. The sound was top notch. Loved the boom it does just before the adds.

Chuck mentioned in a post above that's TV 2, no HD on TVNZ channels only upsaled SD, they still need time to catch up to TV 3 just like they did with widescreen.

gulfa

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#143823 7-Jul-2008 14:44

Just noticed TV One and Two doing HD preview on the Demo Channel Posiden Ugly Betty Cold case and couple of others

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Jarno

270 posts

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#143865 7-Jul-2008 15:29

Yeah, some shows do things like throw a gigantic bloom filter over everything for the "look". It just kills the
fine detail.

Grainy images can be caused by the show being shot on film, or grain was added to make it look like it was shot on film (again for stylistic purposes), or it was shot digitally in low light conditions.

So far the best HD I've seen on TV3 was Underbelly.

---JvdL---