³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD TV Update
Post categories: HDTV
| 12:02 UK time, Monday, 23 June 2008
Two weeks ago, I was in Geneva talking to colleagues at the about how we increase the hours of High Definition TV programming. You may like to know that this is a common challenge shared by all European broadcasters and pooling our collective brains seems like a sensible step in the right direction.
Going through some recent comments on Digital Spy, :
I thought when the channel, i.e. ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD was no longer a trial, the Beeb said it would be increasing the hours. Maybe some of the problem is that they only broadcast true-HD programmes rather than upscaled, and that HD is still somewhat in its infancy here.
Gamercraig is right; HD is still in its infancy.
At the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ, we have increased our hours considerably since we started, going up from 500 hours during the first year of the trial to over 1,000 this year. We do plan to keep up the pace. There is a lot more work to be done - with training, etc. - but the biggest hurdle is the lack of those small lightweight cameras in the market. We need manufacturers to make them, even as we keep trying to find intelligent ways of getting the costs down. More and more landmark programmes at the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ are now being made in HD. So, the increase in hours will happen, but it will take time.
I do agree with (from the same thread) that ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD is right in not simulcasting. Had the channel been a pure simulcast channel of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ ONE, then we could not have shown great shows from other channels - such as Heroes, Torchwood, Wild China, or indeed the Chelsea Flower Show.
For sports fans, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD in the next coming weeks is a daily treat. , and - in a very short while and for the first time in the UK - you can see the Olympics in glorious HD. I sympathise though with who hates football and doubts if he will look at much Wimbledon, though I think he is missing a lot if he does not: Wimbledon is mesmerising in HD. Even I, who am not sports mad, can be riveted. And I agree with him that the idea that either of these events would not be in HD is outrageous. It's the sort of thing HD is made for.
It's also why we cannot show a great new drama, Criminal Justice, which is being stripped across ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ ONE from 30th June to 4th July. It clashed with Wimbledon, but we will be playing it on Thursdays at 2100 starting the following week on Thursday 10th July.
All the comments I read have got me thinking even more about the trials of starting something new, especially when it involves changes all across the broadcast chain. This is what HD broadcasting in a nutshell entails.
What happened with Eurovision was an isolated incident, but it does flush out teething problems with a technology that is still evolving. The issues are not just how we internally deal with problems when they occur and what lessons we can learn. It's also about how we get better at communicating with those of you who are our testbed samplers of a technology that can achieve those moment of magic all programme-makers dream about, but which we all realise is still in its formative years..
Wildarpanet asked what contingency plans we have when disasters like Eurovision strike. During the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD trial and during the regulatory process, there were strict funding restrictions. Now that we are a channel, we are able to build resilience but we are doing it to a channel that is on air 24/7. It's the live programmes that root out the problems, and currently our fall back is SD transmission. Live 5.1 transmissions are complicated. I have asked experts who openly acknowledge this. Some among you may disagree. I will only point to Dolby acknowledging in their press release (view the press release here) that there is an issue with some domestic equipment...
Some comfort there. We are all learning together.
Seetha Kumar is Head of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HDTV.
Comment number 1.
At 23rd Jun 2008, ropies wrote:Thankyou for your thoughts once again. People only go on about the hours issue as it doesn't increase (you're not the only one there are a lot of thoughts on the ITV HD stream having not much appearing for the forseeable future and endless complaints about C4HD going backwards). Although there are a number of days around the next couple of weeks with 11hours coverage and even 13 that's not the norm i.e. week after wimbledon weekday average is 4.2 hours, pretty much what it's been for a long time. Things like Wimbledon coverage also hack some people off as this is exactly how ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ2 is/was run with respect to popular shows in the 1990s being delayed due to a "summer of sport". I think a number of people are also really interested when HD on demand stuff will reach the iPlayer on computers and Virgin Media's version.
I've looked up the Press Releases for the Olympics and the proposed HD coverage and SD coverage is extremely impressive and will take up a lot of planning so I hope the increase will start around after that september like you seemed to have said before. The euro 2008 coverage on both yours and your rivals platforms has been impressive also.
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Comment number 2.
At 23rd Jun 2008, Diem wrote:It may be a heretic question, but if hours is the measure of channel success, why do broadcasters not share their output.
The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ would presumably give more than it receives in this regard (I can see more flowing from us to Europe than the other way around), however given that some people seem to care as much, if not more, about the quantity, rather than the quality, this could quickly increase that measure.
I also find amazingly incompetent the treatment of electronics vendors in respect of HD. Go into any shop and you can find rows and rows of HD sets proudly displaying HD programming..... often with a poor picture quality due to splitting the signal too much.
I also find it beyond belief that the retailers are missing a simple marketing trick: Why not place a non-HD tv next to the HD ones to demonstrate the difference - no shop I've ever been to does this, and this would surely be a way of convincing the mass market (heathens such as myself, as opposed to those who can immediately tell the difference) of the superior quality.
Unless the reason they don't do it is because it's not *that* much better to warrant outlay on new equipment when you don't really need it...?
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Comment number 3.
At 23rd Jun 2008, sirasquith wrote:The eurovision incident is a bit concerning. The HD (H.264) with Dolby E is sent back via Eutelsat to TVC, the Dolby E decoded and mixed with his Woganness (probably sent to TVC via ISDN or IP), so the AC-3 encoder must have been set to 1.0. So no one at TVC (or Dolby) was listening to the HD program? Shame!
I think there is plenty of HD content available, but suspect Sky has the rights to most of it. I only hope the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ will soon insist on all it's flagship programmes being made (and transmitted) in HD. Even if it's only recorded in stereo, you can always use the splediferous Linear Acoustic "AeroMax" to give a good 5.1.
"Diem" is right about the display qualities you find in many shops, but it's not from splitting the signal. Until recently most Plasma and LCD displays were not true HD, and displaying a poor quality standard definition picture on a not quite HD screen is always pretty ugly. Thankfully there are some good HD screens available now, and as soon as ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ/Freesat can fill my viewing hours, I will go straight to the store and buy one.
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Comment number 4.
At 23rd Jun 2008, Bill Taylor wrote:Please advise: Should the information window on the Sky HD program guide/ information window for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD be believed? ie if you are atempting DD 5.1 then you will tag it DD. So no DD means you are using 2.0, even if my Denon amp shows 5.1 channels being decoded.
I am confused with todays Wimbledon. The guide showed no DD, but the amp decoded 5.1 chanels with crowd comming from the rear. The problem was that the commentators were comming from the front, but at too low a volume to be usable (background crowd and court noise too loud when commentators decernable).
When you tag the program as DD I get the truely remarkable 5.1 sound that adds another dimension to the program (even Football).
Thanks for all the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD have done and your use of this blog to keep us informed.
Please reconsider your decsion to reduce the HD bitrate. The trial demonstarted observable differences at the higher bitrate.
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Comment number 5.
At 24th Jun 2008, dennisjunior1 wrote:Seema
HD-TV is part of our futures..
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Comment number 6.
At 24th Jun 2008, LordGanja wrote:I've been very impresssed with the quality of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD programmes but do find the scope somewhat limiting.
Whilst I appreciate upscaling of SD programmes to HD isn't a valid demonstration of the new technology there is room for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ to be more inventive.
In particular films should be seriously considered as viable programming rather than constant repeats of Planet Earth.
I would like to see:
Classic films, especially those filmed in Vista Vision or Cinemascope on HD. The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ owns the broadcast rights for these and it should be feasibel to create HD versions and I'm sure the rights holder would contribute as their product is upgarded. Films such as The Searchers, Bridge on the River Kwai, Gone with the Wind would all be superb on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD.
Foreign Film. I would like to see more foreign films, not just European, but also Asian as well. The Korean D-War would be superb in HD and there are many others.
Finally as an Indian I'm sure you'd like to see some Bollywood films on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD, how about Shah Rukh Khan in Khabi Khushi Khabi Ghum or even the classic Pakeezah. These films are big entertainment items ideally suited for showing in HD.
These films could be broadcast quite easily without incurring the wrath of Sky as their target audiance for Sky Films is geared towards more recent Hollywood block busters.
The content is there we just have to be creative and think outside the box.
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Comment number 7.
At 24th Jun 2008, Diem wrote:Re: #3 from sirasquith
Thanks very much for the clarification. As I mentioned I'm a bit (a lot) of an audio/visual heathen, so was parroting back what I'd heard someone say a few months ago. ;-)
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Comment number 8.
At 24th Jul 2008, Tony29 wrote:hi, on the whole I really appreciate and enjoy the offerings on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD. Recent 'brilliances' for me have been Neil Diamond at Glastonbury and The First Night of the Proms.
I wonder if you could explain 'bitrate' for me. I suspect the higher it is the better the picture quality, therefore the lower it is the worse the picture quality. I do notice a difference between various HD channels, e.g Eurosprt HD, Sky Arts HD is excellent, do they use a higher bitrate than ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD?
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Comment number 9.
At 26th Jul 2008, Bill Taylor wrote:Why oh why have you changed the HD Digital On-screen Graphic (DOG).
I do not see why you have to have a DOG reminding me that I am viewing the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD channel. I selected it.
Why today (Sat26Jul08) have you chosen to intrude further by dispalying three white squares in the top left hand corner, two with B in them, one with C; followed by a larger white diamond with HD in it.
Who's idea is it to have DOGs and who decided on the more intrusive form.
Viewd on Sky HD.
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Comment number 10.
At 30th Jul 2008, Bill Taylor wrote:Having just read the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Press Release on Andrew Marr's Britan from the Above I was pleased to learn it was recorded in HD.
It proceeds to explain how ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ1,2 and 4 will be used to provide different aspects of the program.
Please explain why no mention of the use of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD to show the material.
I have looked at the HD schedules for Sun10Aug08, but many of the evening slots are To Be Announced.
Will you be showing this HD program on HD?
Why was ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD program not mentioned on the Press release?
Thanks for the information that it was recorded in HD.
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