High Definition

Just because a show is broadcast in wide screen on a HDTV channel does not mean that it was shot in HD. Movies and TV shows are not shot in HD, they are just shot in wide screen, so they fill the screen but do not have the better detail. My cable system (Cablevision) has 2 channels called INHD, on which the shows are actually shot in HD and the difference is amazing. The only type of programming that is regularly availabe in true HD is sports, and even then some games are only in wide screen, but not in HD.

 

I think NBC actually does that "widescreen but not HD" with the handheld cameras it uses during the US Open. Maybe I'm imagining things, but the picture looked WAY better when they were showing the view from a tower camera instead of one on the course.

As for why some football games looked great yesterday and the lesser games did not, Boom, that would be because CBS only shows its top three games in HD. Fox, I believe, does all their games in hi-def.

What really annoys me is that ABC only does its primetime college football game in hi-def, but all the 3:30 games are not. Now, in theory, the better afternoon games are on ABC, while the lesser games are relegated to ESPN regional broadcasts. Yet, ESPN shows all their college football games in hi-def. So, you're getting a better production on a worse game. You'd think if ABC was so hell-bent on pushing the ESPN brand name on its sports coverage, they would at least have ESPN production quality.

 

Thomson - I don't think that's entirely true. While anything shot on film is indeed shot in a widescreen format... movies, your CSIs, your Grey's Anatomy, etc, etc. Film does in fact go through a process called "up converting" to HD. So a movie or show on HBO HD that is shot on film would actually be a higher quality. I'm pretty sure I'm right about this because I have a friend who's a film editor in L.A. and he tells me about "up-conversion" to HD all the time.

As for whether a film seen in a theater is "higher definition" than the same film seen on HBO HD... I think the HD TV is more "real," but I've heard people in the industry debate this.

Citizen Tino -- Great point -- That explains it! Mr. Lugs and I noticed the same thing on the golf! They're cutting corners. They're calling it "HD" when only a few HD cameras are being used. Wow. Shame on them.

 

thats my point also - somewhere along the line networks are cutting corners on some high def telecasts- I've heard its camera's and also heard the theory of how its transmitted is reason why you get such inconsistancy.

One thing for sure on big national events the networks bring out their finast HD "china" and put on the dog. Picture quality of NBC Sunday night game is amazing.

 

Boom - right - you can telecast in 720 or 1080. You'll notice also that your TV set can be switched b'tween 720 or 1080. Some people say sports is actually better in 720 and film up-converts are better in 1080... and that your TV set should be switched to whatever matches the telecast. Honestly, though, I just keep my TV set on 1080.

See... I thought FOX had the best picture quality by far yesterday. On the pregame, I could see the dryness of the gel on Jimmy Johnson's hair.

The NBC studio shot sucks balls. It looked like "panty hose over the lens," and do Bettis and Sharpe smell? Is that why they're sitting so far away from Costas and Colinsworth?? (Sorry - as a TV person - it bugs me.)

 

I am a confirmed 1080 guy also. I've tryed switching but don't notice much difference - kind of like how I view "dolby" - just can't tell.

I've never noticed hair gel but then again i've not looked. My HD hobby is to look for distinct clevage birth marks on the stable of female reporters.

 

You know, yesterday it was the brain surgery nurses, today it's the cleavage birth marks. What's the deal here?

 

come on you know we've both shared a laugh when I tried to count all the freckles showing in Michelle Tayfoya's clevage before she finished her report.

 

Luggy - I've never "sucked balls" so I guess I'll have to take your word for it on the NBC studio shot. I thought it looked ok from laymans perspective.

I heard a rumor that it is in Peter King's contract that broadcast had to be shot in that manner.

 

Doesn't explain the nurses. A troubling trend. We need a vacation.

Back to the topic, how cool would it be to put a hi-def camera in space...on the moon. Could it happen?

 

I have the 60-inch Sony as well... It ruins watching TV in all the other rooms...

 

Baby - you're the only one that takes me to the moon.