[opendtv] Re: 4:3 transmissions of syndicated programming
- From: Albert Manfredi <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2008 21:20:40 -0500
John Shutt wrote:
> The biggest drawback is that there is no standard way
> of automatically signaling video as 4:3 or 16:9. If there
> were, then it would be much easier to store anamorphic
> 16:9 alongside 4:3 within a video server, and have a
> downstream format converter either pillarbox the 4:3,
> or alternately letterbox the 16:9 automatically on a clip
> by clip basis.
I'm not sure what is actually happening under the hood. But here goes.
Best I can tell, when I watch the HD subchannels, EVEN if they are recorded on
my SD-only PVR as pure SD, everything in that subchannel is arriving
anamorphic. This includes the 4:3 ads. So, I set the STB, or the monitor, to
stretch out the image to 16:9, and this un-distorts both the wide screen
images, which now fill the 16:9 screen, and the 4:3 ads, which now appear
pillarboxed and a proper 4:3 ratio. This is consistent on these subchannels,
all times of day. (WBAL-DT in Baltimore was doing strange things awhile back,
but that seemed the only exception.)
This sounds like "straight stick" operation to me. And it seems that after
everyone has either a digital set or an STB, all programs could be transmitted
this way, no? Because the end users should have enough control to undistort
whatever is transmitted. Does this require automatic signaling?
For the PBS non-HD subchannels, instead, any 16:9 shows arrive as pillarboxed +
letterboxed, and I have to zoom in to fill the screen. I suppose that's also an
option, although I'm not sure that mode of transmission would be needed
anymore, once everyone has the STB or DTV set. Seems like you're wasting
resolution unnecessarily when zooming in.
Bert
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