BBC World [soon to be BBC World News]

The problem with blurry picture I am having is not to do with reception. I'm getting a signal level of 85% which is more than adequate, and in any case, it is a digital signal so if you receive a strong enough signal for it to work, the picture is exactly the same no matter where you are (unlike analogue). It's definitely something to do with the cameras in the studio, as it is only then that the picture is blurry. When reports, breakfiller, countdown etc. are on everything's fine.

Yea, I noticed one of the cameras is really washed out looking.

My cap card is crap but here are 4 different camera shots...

http://www.damiankovacs.com/bbcwmishal.jpg

I noticed the camera used for the wide shot is the blurriest, even when up close to Mishal.

This shot looked out of focus too... hard to tell though in this cap.

http://www.rp-networkservices.com/tvforum/uploads/juliettebbc.jpg

Just as Mishal introduces a story about clear images from space, the camera starts getting extremely blurry!

before/after

http://www.damiankovacs.com/blurrymishal.jpg

Yeah, just look at that. And, you can tell it is just the camera because the ticker and dog are crisp and sharp.

Looks to me like the camera is having problems with its black level as well - as in those caps the blacks get greyer and the picture looks washed out and desaturated, though without a full resolution cap it is difficult to tell - as low-level focus issues disappear when an image is scaled down. The focus in a lens is typically remotely controlled and servo controlled internally - both can fail and cause drift/wobble to take place, especially if tweaked on-shot.

I suspect that after 10 years of service 18-24 hours a day in that studio, some of the cameras, lenses and remotes are suffering a bit.

The same model of cameras (or similar) are also in use in News 24 - and suffering similar issues. BBC London also use that model - but they seem to have more time (and skills) to line them up and keep them looking OK on camera.

BBC One news bulletins also used them between 1998 and last year until they moved to the current projector set (which would require a hardware modification on the cameras - as the current projectors use a spinning colour wheel and this caused problems with the mechanical shutter in the camera) and replaced them with new items, also now in use in the Newsnight/Newsround/Working Lunch studios - conceivably some of the last standard def cameras the BBC will buy for network studios.

On News 24, I've noticed that the studio camera shots can often be very grainy, rather than blurry like BBC World. I was watching yesterday afternoon and the main presenter shots are fine, but the side shot of the presenter and screen is very grainy, as is the camera on the second set screen (where they do the sport). As you said, noggin, it must be down to the age of the equipment.

Here are full res caps, as I said I have a really cheap cap card so quality is poor no matter what. Maybe ginnyfan could post a few full res ones...

Before
After

i had the misfortune to watch this whilst overseas -- why was it full of india and pakistan programmes & click. I thought world service was to let british citizens overseas know what was going on in their motherland while they were away.

there was very little imho the headlines were about 2mins long. Also 2nd rate presenters - that business guy was awful. MIshal Hussain the only saving grace. I couldn't even escape the dreadful carol kirkwood doing the weather.... aarrgghh :)

That is a PART of World Service radio's remit, yes (although it increasingly moves away from it's original intended purpose by the day). BBC World, the television channel is a commercial entity whose purpose is to inform everyone of what's going on around the world. While I'm sure British viewers will appreciate it while abroad, it's certainly not aimed at them. A majority of British citizens won't have even heard of BBC World. BBC World and World Service radio are in no way connected (other than falling under the BBC brand).

You've got that completely screwed up. For a start, the reason it was "full of India and Pakistan programmes" was due to the fact it was the 50th anniversary of independence of those countries. I would have thought that was fairly obvious, given the constant trailers, animated channel DOG as well as mentions in the news bulletins.

Secondly, BBC World is not aimed at British citizens abroad. It is aimed at English-speaking people living around the world, just as CNN International and Al Jazeera English. Those channels aren't for US and Arabic citizens living abroad, are they? BBC World does include some British news but only when it is important enough to warrant it. They treat Britain just like any other country in the world, something which I find quite refreshing. It's nice to be able to tune in to a news programme and get news from outside Britain, the USA and Iraq.

As for your rather generalised criticism of the channel's presenters, I completely disagree. I'd argue that the BBC World presenters are far better than at least half of the National/News 24 ones. The likes of Nik Gowing, Lyse Doucet, David Jessel, Alastair Yates are excellent journalists with a huge knowledge of international affairs.

I couldn't agree anyfurther Itsrobert, for her to say BBC WORLD anchors are second rated is an insult to the people who work hard everyday at BBC WORLD. They are professionals who are respected in their fields and are well rounded with diverse knowledge of international issues.
eg. You can take a BBC WORLD presenter and put him or her in a News24 chair and they will excel. eg. Johnathan charles, Mishal Husain, Nic Gowing even Lucy and Matinne will do wonderfully. You cann't do that with most of NEWS24 people they will stumble and crash when international news breaks. It is like comparing CNN US and CNNI. CNN US with the Multi-million dollar contracts, that comes with perks as clothing, hair and jewellry allowances. Is the quality in the presenters any different? NO.
If BBC WORLD had the same income or budget on the same level as NEWS24 and the national news then the visual, graphics and everything else will come together. That's the main difference between the two groups.
The majority of BBC presenters are good at what they do. That's why when AL Jazerra and CNNI wants people they hire ex BBC staff. Thats a testimony to the level of Journalism. You don't usually see it the other way. Right?