[opendtv] Another first for OTA SD 16:9
- From: Albert Manfredi <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2011 17:16:39 -0400
Some time ago, I posted that Euronews was transmitting 16:9 SD as anamorphic
squeeze, requiring me to set the LG HDTV aspect ratio to 16:9. This provided
the appropriate stretch. Thats was the first time I had noticed anamorphic
squeeze used in ATSC SD widescreen. Well, now Euronews has gone to postage
stamp like most of the others, but to make up for that, the Korean Arirang
*occasionally* goes to anamorphic squeeze. But that's just parenthetical.
The discovery I made today is much more exciting.
Scanning through my TV channels, I reached 4-2, which is from the local NBC
O&O, WRC-TV. (Speaking of local programming, 4-2 transmits exclusively "DC
scene" programming. They were interviewing restaurant chefs in the DC area.
This subchannel must make Commissioner Copps happy.)
But whaaaaa's this? As expected, 4-1 is the HD subchannel, and it always fills
the 16:9 display, or it transmits pillarboxed SD ads. And 4-2, in the past, has
always been postage stamp.
Today, 4-2 was filling the 16:9 screen! All by itself.
My first thought was, wow, they went to two HD streams at WRC? But no, it
wasn't HD quality.
My TV has an asect ratio setting of "set by program," which is what it's
usually set to. In the past, all this meant was that HD subchannels always fill
the 16:9 screen, or transmit pillarboxed ads, and SD subchannels are always
displayed as 4:3 (pillarboxed, postage stamp, or squeezed horizontally). So how
come this SD program was filling the 16:9 screen?
I checked the display status reported by the TV, and it showed "480i 16:9."
That's odd. SD in the past always says "4:3."
Could it be that "set by program" means AFD? And that at long last, someone is
actually transmitting AFD?
To see what WRC-TV was actually doing, I tuned 4-2 in my Philips PVR, which is
a purely SD ATSC receiver, and assumes everything is being received as 4:3,
including the downconverted HD programs. So I typically set that PVR input to
stretch to 16:9. And 4-2 was coming in as undistrorted 16:9, filling the screen
just like HD programs do.
My conclusions are:
1. The NBC O&O is transmitting AFD in this one SD subchannel.
2. My LG TV is set up for AFD, even though it's a couple of years old. Maybe 2
1/2 years old.
Too bad that 4-3, the Universal Sports subchannel, insists on transmitting
*uncentered* postage stamp format.
I can only hope that this is the beginning of a trend. OTA TV transmitting SD
widescreen as God intended all along.
Bert
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