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Are some HD OTA programs broadcast in 4:3 aspect

 

 

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brent.bolin at gmail

Jan 24, 2010, 6:00 PM

Post #1 of 7 (863 views)
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Are some HD OTA programs broadcast in 4:3 aspect

I can see in my recordings programs that are listed as 1080 but when I
watch them they are in 4:3 aspect.

These are OTA HD programs in the Chicago viewing area.

For example:

Meet the press
Face the nation

Are they really 4:3 aspect or is something in my setup not correct?
Seems odd to me a program would be in HD and not a wide screen format
16:9

I am using stock settings for playback. TV settings are set to "High Quality"

Most 1080 and 720 shows are in a widescreen format and display fine.
The only way to get rid of the side bars is to zoom in to half or
full.

Thanks
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kevin at familyross

Jan 24, 2010, 6:02 PM

Post #2 of 7 (822 views)
Permalink
Re: Are some HD OTA programs broadcast in 4:3 aspect [In reply to]

Brent Bolin wrote:
> I can see in my recordings programs that are listed as 1080 but when I
> watch them they are in 4:3 aspect.
>
> These are OTA HD programs in the Chicago viewing area.
>
> For example:
>
> Meet the press
> Face the nation
>
> Are they really 4:3 aspect or is something in my setup not correct?
> Seems odd to me a program would be in HD and not a wide screen format
> 16:9
>
> I am using stock settings for playback. TV settings are set to "High Quality"
>
> Most 1080 and 720 shows are in a widescreen format and display fine.
> The only way to get rid of the side bars is to zoom in to half or
> full.
>
> Thanks
>

The source was most likely originally SD but they upconverted it to HD
resolution, but kept the aspect ratio the same, instead of stretching or
cropping it.
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newbury at mandamus

Jan 24, 2010, 6:27 PM

Post #3 of 7 (809 views)
Permalink
Re: Are some HD OTA programs broadcast in 4:3 aspect [In reply to]

On 01/24/2010 09:00 PM, Brent Bolin wrote:
> I can see in my recordings programs that are listed as 1080 but when I
> watch them they are in 4:3 aspect.
>
> These are OTA HD programs in the Chicago viewing area.
>
> For example:
>
> Meet the press
> Face the nation
>
> Are they really 4:3 aspect or is something in my setup not correct?
> Seems odd to me a program would be in HD and not a wide screen format
> 16:9
>
> I am using stock settings for playback. TV settings are set to "High Quality"
>
> Most 1080 and 720 shows are in a widescreen format and display fine.
> The only way to get rid of the side bars is to zoom in to half or
> full.

Make sure that you TV isn't forcing the aspect ratio. I've been caught
by that. Set it to 'Set by Program' or equivalent. It *IS* possible that
they are still broadcast in 4:3 but you would expect proper HD.
Geoff


Tux says: "Be regular. Eat cron flakes."
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oliver.greg at gmail

Jan 24, 2010, 6:29 PM

Post #4 of 7 (813 views)
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Re: Are some HD OTA programs broadcast in 4:3 aspect [In reply to]

On Sun, Jan 24, 2010 at 8:27 PM, R. G. Newbury <newbury [at] mandamus> wrote:
> On 01/24/2010 09:00 PM, Brent Bolin wrote:
>>
>> These are OTA HD programs in the Chicago viewing area.
>>

The majority of daytime TV in Dallas area is still recorded SD and
framed into HD resolution and broadcast.. All depends on the show
here..

-Greg
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digitalaudiorock at gmail

Jan 25, 2010, 7:01 AM

Post #5 of 7 (787 views)
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Re: Are some HD OTA programs broadcast in 4:3 aspect [In reply to]

On Sun, Jan 24, 2010 at 9:29 PM, Greg Oliver <oliver.greg [at] gmail> wrote:
> On Sun, Jan 24, 2010 at 8:27 PM, R. G. Newbury <newbury [at] mandamus> wrote:
>> On 01/24/2010 09:00 PM, Brent Bolin wrote:
>>>
>>> These are OTA HD programs in the Chicago viewing area.
>>>
>
> The majority of daytime TV in Dallas area is still recorded SD and
> framed into HD resolution and broadcast..  All depends on the show
> here..
>
> -Greg

In the New York area a growing majority of shows are going HD.
However I've never seen one of the network stations actually switch to
SD resolution for any show. They've always upconverted to SD to 1080i
or 720p (depending on the station) and added black letterboxes on the
sides.

I never understood why they apparently are/were so adverse to
switching resolutions. It was/is annoying to me for two reasons: 1)
Having SD shows take just as much disk as HD, 2) Forcing me to have
their black letterboxes when I have my TV set to add gray ones when
the aspect is 4:3 (I have an RPCRT).

<ot_rant>What really annoys me is the growing trend toward aspect
ratio blindness everywhere I turn. It's bad enough that everyone I
know who buys a widescreen TV watches 4:3 shows skewed to 16:9 (oh the
horror) and bars/restaurants all do the same, but even when people do
get it right, the producers of, for example, TV news programs can't.
Now that news is mostly 19:6 they seem to be endlessly skewing news
footage to 16:9 instead of adding letter boxes to the side. I've even
seen then do the opposite...cruncking a 16:9 clock to 4:3 and adding
the letter boxes(???). How the hell does someone who can't detect an
incorrect aspect ration (where for example Obama has magically put on
40 pounds) get a job producing TV news content??...just something
that's increasingly annoying the crap out of me. I'm dumb founded at
how few of my friends can tell when video is skewed...it's like
finding out everyone you know can't see color or something.</ot_rant>

Tom
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beww at beww

Jan 25, 2010, 7:17 AM

Post #6 of 7 (781 views)
Permalink
Re: Are some HD OTA programs broadcast in 4:3 aspect [In reply to]

On Monday 25 January 2010 08:01:42 am Tom Dexter wrote:
> On Sun, Jan 24, 2010 at 9:29 PM, Greg Oliver <oliver.greg [at] gmail> wrote:
> > On Sun, Jan 24, 2010 at 8:27 PM, R. G. Newbury <newbury [at] mandamus>
wrote:
> >> On 01/24/2010 09:00 PM, Brent Bolin wrote:
> >>> These are OTA HD programs in the Chicago viewing area.
> >
> > The majority of daytime TV in Dallas area is still recorded SD and
> > framed into HD resolution and broadcast.. All depends on the show
> > here..
> >
> > -Greg
>
> In the New York area a growing majority of shows are going HD.
> However I've never seen one of the network stations actually switch to
> SD resolution for any show. They've always upconverted to SD to 1080i
> or 720p (depending on the station) and added black letterboxes on the
> sides.
>
> I never understood why they apparently are/were so adverse to
> switching resolutions. It was/is annoying to me for two reasons: 1)
> Having SD shows take just as much disk as HD, 2) Forcing me to have
> their black letterboxes when I have my TV set to add gray ones when
> the aspect is 4:3 (I have an RPCRT).
>
> <ot_rant>What really annoys me is the growing trend toward aspect
> ratio blindness everywhere I turn. It's bad enough that everyone I
> know who buys a widescreen TV watches 4:3 shows skewed to 16:9 (oh the
> horror) and bars/restaurants all do the same, but even when people do
> get it right, the producers of, for example, TV news programs can't.
> Now that news is mostly 19:6 they seem to be endlessly skewing news
> footage to 16:9 instead of adding letter boxes to the side. I've even
> seen then do the opposite...cruncking a 16:9 clock to 4:3 and adding
> the letter boxes(???). How the hell does someone who can't detect an
> incorrect aspect ration (where for example Obama has magically put on
> 40 pounds) get a job producing TV news content??...just something
> that's increasingly annoying the crap out of me. I'm dumb founded at
> how few of my friends can tell when video is skewed...it's like
> finding out everyone you know can't see color or something.</ot_rant>


I guess most consumers just want to "get their money's worth" out of their
large screens.

It's often said that TV adds 30 pounds, I guess it's still true today, for
different reasons.

I agree it's annoying. Most of the DGA directors are aware of the problems,
but most often the directors don't control the engineering side of things, and
DGA-quality directors are rarely found in news shows outside the largest
markets.

It was a long time before stations stopped "forgetting" to switch between
color and B+W (the FCC mandated killing the color subcarrier on B+W
programming).

I'd guess the problem won't be resolved until the advertisers start refusing
to pay for incorrect aspect on both the ads themselves and the programs the ad
runs in. This is what it took to finally solve the color problems.

It wasn't until quite recently that stations guaranteed color to advertisers,
until they have to guarantee the correct aspect the problem will persist.

If you want to complain to someone I'd suggest the sponsors, the stations
don't care as long as they continue to get paid.

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gull at gull

Jan 26, 2010, 12:43 PM

Post #7 of 7 (723 views)
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Re: Are some HD OTA programs broadcast in 4:3 aspect [In reply to]

On Mon, January 25, 2010 7:17 am, Brian Wood wrote:
> It wasn't until quite recently that stations guaranteed color to
> advertisers,
> until they have to guarantee the correct aspect the problem will persist.

Commercials sometimes have really bizarre aspect ratio issues, too. I use
a converter, so by now I'm using to seeing SD content pillarboxed for HD,
then letterboxed by my converter (aka. "windowvision.") Stupid, but
common and understandable. But recently I saw an ad that had been
letterboxed for SD, then pillarboxed for HD, then letterboxed again by my
converter, so there was a little mail slot of picture in the middle of a
sea of black.


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