OT: CBS to air more games in HD (2007)

[mgcolby]

Good news for NFL fans: CBS will air five or six games a week this season in high definition, up from three a year ago. The NFL has decreed all games must be shown in HD starting in 2008.

This is good news for HD SuperFan subscibers. Last year CBS only carried three games in HD. I just hope they actually continue to show them in 1080i. Their pictrue quality is far better than FOX's.

DTV plans on having 13 ST HD channels for the upcoming season.

Here is a link to another article.

http://www.tvpredictions.com/cbsaudible042407.htm

 

[goalkeepr]

That's funny. Regarding 720p, the opposite is supposed to be true (from the net):

Some U.S. broadcasters use 720p as their primary high-definition format; others use the 1080i standard. While 720p presents a complete 720 line frame to the viewer between 24 to 60 times each second (depending on the format), 1080i presents the picture as 50 or 60 partial 540 line "fields" (24 complete 1080-line fields, or "24p" is included in the ATSC standard though) which the human eye or a deinterlacer built into the display device must visually and temporally combine to build a 1080 line picture.

The main tradeoff between the two is that 1080i may show more detail than 720p for a stationary shot of a subject at the expense of introducing interlace artifacts from a motion of the camera (such as a pan) or motion of the subject. 720p is used by ABC and ESPN because the smoother image is desirable for fast-action sports telecasts.

 

[theONLYJerseypatsfan]

To you tech guys....what is better 1080i or 720p...I have both through comcast and it seems like its better in 720p but I dont know since I cant look at both at the same time....

 

[Patjew]

There's no HD in Hong Kong yet.

Just thought you folks should know.

 

[Rob0729]

It is about friggin time CBS increased the number of games. We have been spoiled locally because we almost always had CBS games being in HD. I have turned into an HD snob and I can't stand watching games in HD. Fox shows almost all of their games in HD already. I can't understand why CBS is so behind the curve.

 

[RichardHead]

A few things to keep in mind with HDTV and 720p v. 1080i (or 1080p for that matter). The format the picture is transmitted in may or may not be the format the picture is displayed in. For example, your Comcast cable box may be set to output 1080i, but your HDTV may be displaying it as 720p. If you get your HD signal over the air, it could be recieved at either 720p or 1080i (the major networks are pretty much split on what they transmit). So in many cases there is at least one conversion of formats (if not more, for example if one network is transmitting a highlight from a different network). It really all comes down to the fact that most people can't tell the difference between each format, rather they have preferences based on their TV's and individual set ups. I have my Comcast box set to output 720p and my Toshiba displays 1080i natively, so I find that to be the best combination for the highest picture quality. Of course this will change over time as more HD channels come on line, and the cable companies will have to do more compression to squeeze more channels in the available bandwidth...which leads to switched broadcasting which is a whole other story....

 

[Born_a_Patriot]

There's no HD in Hong Kong yet.

Just thought you folks should know.

Thanks.

 

[mgcolby]

That's funny. Regarding 720p, the opposite is supposed to be true (from the net):

Some U.S. broadcasters use 720p as their primary high-definition format; others use the 1080i standard. While 720p presents a complete 720 line frame to the viewer between 24 to 60 times each second (depending on the format), 1080i presents the picture as 50 or 60 partial 540 line "fields" (24 complete 1080-line fields, or "24p" is included in the ATSC standard though) which the human eye or a deinterlacer built into the display device must visually and temporally combine to build a 1080 line picture.

The main tradeoff between the two is that 1080i may show more detail than 720p for a stationary shot of a subject at the expense of introducing interlace artifacts from a motion of the camera (such as a pan) or motion of the subject. 720p is used by ABC and ESPN because the smoother image is desirable for fast-action sports telecasts.

The only noticable issue with 1080i is the occasional botchiness of the picture when the camera pans to fast. But other than that I IMO the 1080i is much clearer than 720p. I have read that most TV stations prefer 720p. I haven't watched anything in 1080p yet. But in theory it should be the best of both worlds.

 

[mgcolby]

It is about friggin time CBS increased the number of games. We have been spoiled locally because we almost always had CBS games being in HD. I have turned into an HD snob and I can't stand watching games in HD. Fox shows almost all of their games in HD already. I can't understand why CBS is so behind the curve.

Because FOX's HD quality is not equal to CBS. Alot of FOX games are 480p upconverted to 720p. CBS uses true 1080i and only had enough bandwith to pump out 3 games per weak (according to them, I think it really came down to cost). I hope the additional games don't dillute CBS's picture quality which is superior to FOX's.

 

[mgcolby]

A few things to keep in mind with HDTV and 720p v. 1080i (or 1080p for that matter). The format the picture is transmitted in may or may not be the format the picture is displayed in. For example, your Comcast cable box may be set to output 1080i, but your HDTV may be displaying it as 720p. If you get your HD signal over the air, it could be recieved at either 720p or 1080i (the major networks are pretty much split on what they transmit). So in many cases there is at least one conversion of formats (if not more, for example if one network is transmitting a highlight from a different network). It really all comes down to the fact that most people can't tell the difference between each format, rather they have preferences based on their TV's and individual set ups. I have my Comcast box set to output 720p and my Toshiba displays 1080i natively, so I find that to be the best combination for the highest picture quality. Of course this will change over time as more HD channels come on line, and the cable companies will have to do more compression to squeeze more channels in the available bandwidth...which leads to switched broadcasting which is a whole other story....

Good point. I have DTV and a Mitsubishi HDTV that does not display 720p it only displays 480 and 1080i. I have a 20" flat panel that only goes up to 720p. So I can't do what you have done because if my DTV box is set for 720p my Mitsubishi won't display a picture and the same is true for the flat panel when the box is on 1080i. This may be the basis of my CBS bias.