So I finally and honestly say that High Definition television, when properly setup with high def input signals and the right cables is really great!!!
Why the damn stores that sell any form of HDTV don't all put infrastructures in, even DVD-based, that show the true HD output of the HD wares they peddle is beyond me. I've been so unimpressed with these stores' products that I put off buying an HD tv for years!
The other day I watched several men beat the shit out of each other at a few UFC bouts on HD.net and there's something awesomely perverted about watching each sweat bead fly and the blood ooze. I am so loving MMA more and more!
Now what's kind of awesome, and frankly, not that unexpected, is that our local PBS channel, WOSU, has been all HD for some time and it really makes a difference in their output. My friend Cynned, is a producer/director for them and he'd keyed me in to this a long time ago but I wasn't really able to experience it until now.
HD.net, WOSU, and Discovery seem to be the only real channels that do a lot of HD. Well... and the ESPNs too but there's not much I really give a shit about on them.
I'm actually kind of shocked that other major producers and networks haven't just done the inevitable and converted over.
Transformers: Animated should have be done in HD from the moment it was conceived. Most modern animation, even those that are still somewhat cel-driven and based, can easily be planned out for the new format. And let's face it... most animation being generated is for television and DVD so why not make the investment now.
HD.net will be showing Series 2 of Torchwood in all of its HD glory and hopefully the show won't suck as much story and character balls as Series 1 did. (And yes, I know I said I liked the show when it debuted but in retrospect it really was a garbage mish-mash start!)
I can only hope Series 4 of Doctor Who also gets broadcast this way.
There's nothing quite as horrifying as watching SCI-FI Channel, and even BBC America, butcher these two programs with their commercial editing inserts! Talk about destroying a story beat. They may as well just create a random time generator to insert the commericals into the flow of any given story. It is just awful.
I'm also extremely excited and happy at all the channels that took the simple station ID ghosting in the bottom corner and throw in all that fucking animated advertising and bullshit! It does wonders for shows that are subtitled, or captioned, etc. Thank you so much marketing people! I love you!
And no NBC... having a constant reminder that your fucking American Gladiators is going to be on in can't really equate to people who wouldn't normally watching it actually watching it!!!
Anyway, what was I saying... oh yes.
HD rocks if you set it up right!
The problem with doing more common program (such as Transformers) in HD is there are costs and complications on the producing end as well. Granted it's different for a mass scale distributor like CN a bit but here's the basic story based on the broadcast station I work for.
Basically you can't just selectively add random HD shows to a line up. HD in it's 16x9 hugeness is a lot higher bandwidth and required different encoding/description. For CN to have Transformers Animated in HD there would have to be a Cartoon Network and a Cartoon Network HD channel. Now, in the future it's likely that once HD is more prolific there will just be "CN-HD" and anyone wanting an SD sized picture will down convert it and send it out for cable or whatever. At the moment CN feeds SD cable networks with mostly old SD programming so it's more feasible for them to just put out an SD picture. Trith be told it's possible TF:Animated Is done "in High Def" they just downconvert it for their over the air until a time when HD is everywhere. Maybe in five years if they are showing reruns of the show on CN-HD it will be widescreen High Def.
As for syndicating HD. The technology is there it's just costly and once again not always feasable. There's also not much HD based syndication available yet. For all three of the statios I work for we send out a regular 4x3 picture and a 16x9 HD picture. Most of our HD is an upconverted version of our regular programming. Only during Prime Time and Sports do we send out true HD and that all comes straight off the satellite from the network.
To show HD programming outside of network would require special inputs and outputs on our video servers to record and take in those feeds. Special receivers to catch them off of the satellites. To shoot or air HD commercials we'd need the special servers as well as special cameras and decks to play and edit on. Basically HD video isn't overly compatible with SD equipment so the economics behind HD for the producing end aren't quite there yet.
I took a tour of Nelvana Animation Studios in Toronto last spring. They do all their current animation in HD. They do shows like Ruby Gloom and 6teen and a lot other stuff. I think the guy said that its also filmed normally as well but that animation has a longer shelf life then live action TV so they wanted their stuff to be ready for when HD becomes the standard. Its possible Transformers Animated has been filmed that way as well.
Congrats on getting an HD system. It will be a few more years before I can upgrade.
I know what you mean about the commercial situation... I felt like I was going into some sort of visual attention shock when I first came to this country. Commercials every five minutes? Watermarks? Screen-hugging animations? Fifteen billboards in 200ft of road?
No wonder the kids are succumbing to ADD.
I don't think, per se, that there is anything intrinsically wrong with the US other than the stark fact that the American Dream is open to all, advertisers included. Still, I want someone to come in and regulate the ever-loving shit out of them. A sort of Minimum Cultural Standards commission, as it were.
RJ: With the 2009 govt-mandated changeover, is that just to digital or to digital and high def? I think I may be just merging the two together in terms of what I figured the eventual infrastructure of broadcasters was to be.
Well, it's just digital change-over here in England, and my region won't be getting it til 2012. Just in time for the Olympics, eh!?
And as for Torchwood, just be prepared for the gayest start to a TV series season ever.
I mean it. EVER!
M.
Mark: Unfortunately, I read a few reviews of the episode yesterday.
Technically the Digital changeover is just to digital. I imagine a fair number of stations will go HD only. I am pretty sure we plan to drop out SD subchannel on the only station of the three that has it.
Still, it only really applies to broadcasters. We'll still get analogue based sat feeds for syndication and such not. Supposedly we're going to upgrade one of our three video servers for HD capability but that's still hinged a bit on can the HD server still be used for SD. We can't loose 2 record inputs and 2 play outputs and 700 hours of space for the ability to syndicate one or two shows in HD. The rest of our line up won't work well with that set up.
Granted we are a smaller market. We're only just now going tapeless which is something that a lot of larger stations and markets have done years ago.