[opendtv] Re: 70th Anniversary Blu-ray and standard DVDs of the Wizard of Oz

  • From: "John Shutt" <shuttj@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 6 Oct 2009 11:47:56 -0400


----- Original Message ----- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
So much of the day, that 1080i or 720p is transmitting pillarboxed content that my TVs and STBs cannot zoom in on. And there are the occasional postage stamp commercials as well.

Much local ad insertion is still 4:3, including letterboxed 16:9 within a 4:3 frame, resulting in more than occasional postage stamping. The industry as a whole is working furiously on implementing AFD throughout the broadcast chain, so such material is properly upconverted to HD. However, many advertisers actually shoot letterboxed 4:3 and don't want it blown up to full 16:9 in the HD frame, because many cable systems throw away the left and right edges when downconverting back to SD for basic tier cable distribution.

Most network 16:9 content is shot and graphics strategically placed to protect the 4:3 center cut. Many commericals are not.

However, the situation is still very fluid. Just last week, cable channel Fox News began broadcasting all of it's programming in 16:9, requesting that cable systems letterbox the channel. This includes national commercials. My local system's ad insertions are still 4:3 full screen, however.

Hey Jeroen: How about Philips including channel-by-channel memory of display settings of 4:3 SD channels? Remember that one channel is set to "Movie expand 16:9" and another channel is set to "Super zoom." (BTW, I agree that Philip's Super zoom is best in industry for credibly stretching 4:3 content onto a 16:9 screen.)

I've never seen a broadcast station change the transmission mode of its multicasts, by the way. Typically, the -1 subchannel is always set to HD and the higher subchannels are always set to SD.

The reason is that it upsets many OTA receivers used at DBS collection sites and cable headends.

(Parenthetically, I read yesterday that one TV station is starting to transmit 2 HD 720p and two SD programs in the same 19.39 Mb/s multiplex. Not bad.)

Reserve judgement until you see the actual video, Bert. However, with today's multipass encoders and more effective stat muxing, this is not unusual, especially for PBS-style content. (No rapid sports scenes.)

John


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