C4 News: Now Widescreen

I think you are implying that because ITV News is able to switch to 16:9 (as any decent gallery built since about 1995-7 should be able to) for a specific recording/live broadcast - in fact for something as simple as the coming up you'd only have to switch one camera and ensure your backings were 16:9 - with ITV News doing all of their production at Grays Inn in 16:9.

ITN have had 16:9 capabilities for a while - I believe that the Tonight with Trevor McDonald links are recorded at ITN - and other shows have been co-ordinated in 16:9 by ITN. However having facilities for 16:9 transmission and 16:9 production aren't the same - the training, extra aspect ratio conversion for archive, incoming 4:3 sources etc., are not trivial in comparison to flipping a camera, a mixer/DVE and a monitor stack to 16:9. (And unless you are doing wipes with an aspect ratio, or rotating the picture in the DVE you don't really have to switch the mixer and DVE for a quick hit in 16:9 to be honest)

AIUI this was not the case. When ITV News is/was broadcast 4:3 on analogue and 14:9 pillarbox on digital it is/was being produced in 4:3.

It is widely expected that ITV News WILL go 16:9 - the main reason it hasn't been isn't, AIUI the regions, it is the extra cost of production (bunging in aspect ratio converters both in the studios/edit suites/MCR and in the field etc.)

I think ITN are switching from an older Quantel Clipbox+Editbox+Omnibus browse/cut-edit desktop editing sysem to a newer Avid system - it could be this is the major driving force to a switch - as the previous desktop editing platform would have been more difficult to deploy for 16:9 production.

I think at the end of the day the only reason they haven't changed to 16:9 is because ITV are waiting for the regions. However, I want to know exactly what ITV are waiting on, because the only regions I don't think will be able to provide their news service in 16:9 are Channel and possibly Border. As far as I'm aware the others have had 16:9 cameras (both in the field and in the studio) and playout for some time, especially since the change to generic studios for the majority of them.

I don't see why ITV can't change ITV News's production to 16:9, and then leave the regions that can't produce 16:9 in 4:3/14:9.

Partly because, for one, the headline sequence on the 12.30 and the 10.30. Aspect ratios don't tend to to change through the programme.

And STV (at least in the old Scottish region) has been cropped on digital since Scotland Today converted to 16:9.

You speak as though the national ITV News and the regional news programmes are entirely separate. That simply isn't how the ITV News division works, as I understand it. Much of the picture for the national prgrammes come from regional crews and reporters. Regional and national aren't separate - it is the regions that serve the national pogrammes with material to a large extent.

And it's a bit naive to comment that 'going 16:9' is simply a matter of having widescreen capable cameras in the studio and in the field. That's just the beginning of the kit list you'd need in the production chain.

I know they aren't seperate, as I know the lunchtime and 10:30 news opt to the regions, and that regional stories end up on national news. However, there is no reason they can't ARC just the stories that aren't in 16:9 (like BBC News), and then for the few regions that don't have the facility to broadcast their regional news in 16:9, broadcast the news in the 4:3/14:9 format just there.

It is far more complicated than that. It's not just whole packages that are used from the regions, but library footage, stock shots, interviews, GVs etc. It is surely far easier to move your entire operation to one standard (albeit with a wait in the meantime) that try to cope with two standards across what amounts to a 'national grid' of news operations?

And transmitting a 4:3 package ARCed to 16:9? One would look very poorly framed and the other would look soft as old boots. Or both.

What is the situation then with regard to the titles and that - have they been stretched, remade or were they originally made in 16:9.

They certainly appear stretched to me - mainly as we have widescreen images rather than 4:3 images in them, but things like the logos and text are still in proportion, so perhaps they've been remade.


Last night at 7pm they didn't have any clips in the titles, with just blocks of white filling the frame instead. Previously, any titles without clips included footage of a purple and green globe.

As I understand it, they were made in 16:9, but designed to be in the 4:3 safe area when cropped to 4:3 and then ARCed to 14:9.

What are you talking about? Channel 4 News "ARCed to 14:9???

I believe he meant about ITV News, not Channel 4 News, which was obviously 4:3 on digital and analogue.

I think you've answered your own question there!

Ah. Silly me, thinking he was talking about Channel 4 News, given the thread title. His response was clearly to Brekkie Boy who was talking about Channel 4 News!