The Newsroom

BBC's remaining 4:3 regions converting to 16:9?

North East & Cumbria now in full widescreen (April 2007)

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FU
fusionlad Founding member
tvarksouthwest posted:

Yes I noticed something, but the picture quality didn't seem that much better. During Breakfast, all reports were shown 4:3 in a 16:9 frame, and before the news the ident still looked faded.


Yea the picture quality does seem a bit rubbish at the moment. There's a lot of shimmering going on. It's like your Sky box is not set to RGB, that sort of effect.
DE
deejay
Nick Harvey posted:
I was amused by the report from Taunton from Clinton (I'm employed by Bristol, so I have to sound as bored as Malcolm Frith) Rogers in tonight's programme.

It had, obviously, been sent down the line form the Luddites in Bristol, so it had to be shown in 14:9 in the middle of the 16:9 programme.

I assume all the stuff for Weymouth and the surrounding area, sent down the line from Southampton will also have to be ARC'd up until the others catch up.


This is actually correct. In a 16:9 region or centre, all material originating in 4:3 will be ARC'd to 14:9 pillarbox. This is the same for national news - watch stuff taken from foreign broadcasters - it'll all be 14:9 Pillarboxed. Or at least it should be! Even archive stuff is stupposed to be pillarboxed like this. If it was shot correctly in the first place (i.e. 4:3 shoot & protect 14:9) then there should be as much picture information in a 14:9 Pillarbox on 16:9 Screen as 14:9 Letterbox on 4:3 Screen. Confused? You try working in a centre that has to deal with this nonsense!!!
SP
Steve in Pudsey
Nick Harvey posted:
I was amused by the report from Taunton from Clinton (I'm employed by Bristol, so I have to sound as bored as Malcolm Frith) Rogers in tonight's programme.

It had, obviously, been sent down the line form the Luddites in Bristol, so it had to be shown in 14:9 in the middle of the 16:9 programme.


This happenned a lot in the north, after Hull moved to their new building the weather was coming up the line from Leeds which was still at Woodhouse Lane and 14:9
NH
Nick Harvey Founding member
deejay posted:
This is actually correct.

Oh yes, I never doubted the correctness for a moment.

As I said, I was just amused by the fact that however hard Plymouth work to move into the twenty-first century, they still get dragged back (into the nineteenth?) by contributing Luddites from adjacent regions.

There was speculation at the top of this thread about when Bristol and Southampton might change over. Is anyone in a position to give a factual update on that?

8 days later

SD
SDigital
Bristol are going 16:9 in mid-July, though they're already using a new Kayak mixer in their main gallery.
NH
Nick Harvey Founding member
Does this Kayak have paddle controls, by any chance?

(Sorry, couldn't resist!)
DV
dvboy
Hull's national feed is still 14:9, and jumps horribly when switching.
SP
Steve in Pudsey
Every region's national feed is 4:3, or at least the feed they opt out of is.
DV
dvboy
Steve in Pudsey posted:
Every region's national feed is 4:3, or at least the feed they opt out of is.


It is? I never notice it when watching other regions.
NW
nwtv2003
dvboy posted:
Hull's national feed is still 14:9, and jumps horribly when switching.


Manchester has a nasty habit of doing this on Analogue where as on Digital I never notice a thing....
SP
Steve in Pudsey
The 4:3/14:9 analogue feed is what goes through the studio mixer for the soft-opt. The timings on the analogue and digital networks aren't identical so when they opt you often get the analogue feed ending up on digital for a few frames.

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