The Newsroom

Election night

this Thursday (April 2008)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
SA
salfordjohn
noggin posted:
salfordjohn posted:
noggin posted:
salfordjohn posted:
thanks for that matey. BTW what does BBC1 Audio Desc mean?


BBC One Audio Description I think... Though I thought all BBC One channels carried AD on DSat - it was just ITV1 that had a separate ITV1 AD channel in the 900s for those outside London - as only ITV1 London has AD on DSat?


and what's the point of having an Audio Description channel??


It is a requirement of the Broadcasting Act that broadcasters provide audio description for visually impaired viewers.

This provides additional narration explaining visual action that is relevant to drama, documentary etc. so that those who can't see what is going on can better understand a programme, and get more from it.

On Freeview this is provided as a separate lower bit rate stream carrying just the narration that receivers and modern IDTVs will mix with the programme sound. This allows viewers to alter the balance of narration and programme sound.

On Sky the narration is pre-mixed by the broadcaster and is broadcast at full quality - as there is more bandwith available on satellite.


Cheers Noggin. I know of the service, didn't realise there were devoted channels, thought it was just an option on the digibox. Got a funny story about The Tudors and Audio Desc - but not for this thread . . . .
RE
Reboot
noggin posted:
Just had a look - truly woeful. Why bother with the cameras if you are going to do it so badly and use cheap Z1 type camcorders? Looks like school TV - students would do better... I'd hope...

What they SHOULD do if they're going to take up a video/interactive stream is take a leaf out of the book of their Test Match Special colleagues - forget the video, and put up screens of relevant stats.

noggin posted:
Reboot posted:
Oh, and Virgin/cable has Audio Description available only on specific, separate channels, carrying the Network/London feeds for BBC & ITV.


Ah - they must be taking the DSat versions of BBC One and ITV1 London as they can't deal with the two stream local Freeview variants?

Presumably (the C4 AD channel also carries the London ads). It's not the sole audio stream on the channels - there's an option buried in the menus to turn AD (where available) on & off, and the BBC1 AD channel is identical to the BBC1 England channel (no English Regions on cable, only England (=Network), Scotland, Wales & NI), but it seems they can't put AD on the localised channels.
BH
Bvsh Hovse
RDJ posted:
Anyone looking at the Interactive service with 5 live voiceover?

They're at the 1999-2002 News 24 set complete with desk, railings and newsroom backdrop.

I think they're in the Westminster studios though?


The picture quality is, erm, interesting. From the glimpses of the cameras we keep getting, they look like they are shooting it all on Sony Z1s. The Z1 isn't a bad camera for shooting a webcast, but they are not really broadcast cameras.

I'd love to know what the broadcast chain is, and I might make enquiries about it tomorrow. Something is mismatched somewhere in terms of resolution or interlacing as some weird effects are happening on the edges of things or when something moves quickly.
MS
msim
The Jeremy Vine cowboy thing was just painful to watch.

Incidentally, does anyone have a video of the BBC Election 2005 closing credits which IIRC were over 3mins long.
NG
noggin Founding member
Bvsh Hovse posted:
RDJ posted:
Anyone looking at the Interactive service with 5 live voiceover?

They're at the 1999-2002 News 24 set complete with desk, railings and newsroom backdrop.

I think they're in the Westminster studios though?


The picture quality is, erm, interesting. From the glimpses of the cameras we keep getting, they look like they are shooting it all on Sony Z1s. The Z1 isn't a bad camera for shooting a webcast, but they are not really broadcast cameras.

I'd love to know what the broadcast chain is, and I might make enquiries about it tomorrow. Something is mismatched somewhere in terms of resolution or interlacing as some weird effects are happening on the edges of things or when something moves quickly.


Probably an Anycast then - they de-interlace and scale everything to 1280x1024 or similar and then re-interlace and scale to 576 lines. Box designed for webstreaming and mixing video and VGA graphics - but pants for broadcasting... Think the real problem is unlit Z1s feeding composite and not even exposed properly.
NG
noggin Founding member
salfordjohn posted:
noggin posted:
salfordjohn posted:
noggin posted:
salfordjohn posted:
thanks for that matey. BTW what does BBC1 Audio Desc mean?


BBC One Audio Description I think... Though I thought all BBC One channels carried AD on DSat - it was just ITV1 that had a separate ITV1 AD channel in the 900s for those outside London - as only ITV1 London has AD on DSat?


and what's the point of having an Audio Description channel??


It is a requirement of the Broadcasting Act that broadcasters provide audio description for visually impaired viewers.

This provides additional narration explaining visual action that is relevant to drama, documentary etc. so that those who can't see what is going on can better understand a programme, and get more from it.

On Freeview this is provided as a separate lower bit rate stream carrying just the narration that receivers and modern IDTVs will mix with the programme sound. This allows viewers to alter the balance of narration and programme sound.

On Sky the narration is pre-mixed by the broadcaster and is broadcast at full quality - as there is more bandwith available on satellite.


Cheers Noggin. I know of the service, didn't realise there were devoted channels, thought it was just an option on the digibox. Got a funny story about The Tudors and Audio Desc - but not for this thread . . . .


They aren't separate channels on Freeview or for BBC services on DSat - they are just second audio streams (on Freeview the two are mixed in the receiver, on DSat you switch between them)

ITV and C4 only provide AD on the London variants of ITV1 and C4 on DSat (though provide the same system as the BBC on Freeview). Viewers who live outside the London region get the London variants for AD in the 900s.

Sounds like Virgin Media similarly provide separate channels.
BH
Bvsh Hovse
noggin posted:
Bvsh Hovse posted:
RDJ posted:
Anyone looking at the Interactive service with 5 live voiceover?

They're at the 1999-2002 News 24 set complete with desk, railings and newsroom backdrop.

I think they're in the Westminster studios though?


The picture quality is, erm, interesting. From the glimpses of the cameras we keep getting, they look like they are shooting it all on Sony Z1s. The Z1 isn't a bad camera for shooting a webcast, but they are not really broadcast cameras.

I'd love to know what the broadcast chain is, and I might make enquiries about it tomorrow. Something is mismatched somewhere in terms of resolution or interlacing as some weird effects are happening on the edges of things or when something moves quickly.


Probably an Anycast then - they de-interlace and scale everything to 1024x1024 or similar and then re-interlace and scale to 576 lines.


I've used an Anycast a few times and never seen that effect, other than with the VGA inputs. I wonder if they have left the Z1s in a HD mode and the Anycast (or something else) is having to rescale and interlace.
NG
noggin Founding member
Bvsh Hovse posted:
noggin posted:
Bvsh Hovse posted:
RDJ posted:
Anyone looking at the Interactive service with 5 live voiceover?

They're at the 1999-2002 News 24 set complete with desk, railings and newsroom backdrop.

I think they're in the Westminster studios though?


The picture quality is, erm, interesting. From the glimpses of the cameras we keep getting, they look like they are shooting it all on Sony Z1s. The Z1 isn't a bad camera for shooting a webcast, but they are not really broadcast cameras.

I'd love to know what the broadcast chain is, and I might make enquiries about it tomorrow. Something is mismatched somewhere in terms of resolution or interlacing as some weird effects are happening on the edges of things or when something moves quickly.


Probably an Anycast then - they de-interlace and scale everything to 1024x1024 or similar and then re-interlace and scale to 576 lines.


I've used an Anycast a few times and never seen that effect, other than with the VGA inputs. I wonder if they have left the Z1s in a HD mode and the Anycast (or something else) is having to rescale and interlace.


Well it is covered in PAL artefacts so I suspect that it is composite coming out of the Z1s...

Wonder if they are using a cheap and nasty link to get it back to W12 - or some horrid mixer.

I've not used the Anycast - but have heard horror stories about it mangling pictures.
IS
Inspector Sands
noggin posted:

They aren't separate channels on Freeview or for BBC services on DSat - they are just second audio streams (on Freeview the two are mixed in the receiver, on DSat you switch between them)

ITV and C4 only provide AD on the London variants of ITV1 and C4 on DSat (though provide the same system as the BBC on Freeview). Viewers who live outside the London region get the London variants for AD in the 900s.

Sounds like Virgin Media similarly provide separate channels.


Yes, just putting it on the London versions saves them having to duplicate the AD kit for every regional stream. As regional programmes aren't yet AD'd it makes no diffence
RE
Reboot
Reprise of the cowboy bit - WITHOUT the accent, thank ye gods...
NO
No Overall Control
I thought you'd all gone to bed...
NO
No Overall Control
Was that a Wilhelm Scream?

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