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4 hd

(December 2007)

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DC
DrCheese
Quote:
I see though why they've opted for a simulcast - that way HD viewers can just stick to ch140 for C4, rather than having to switch themselves everytime a HD programme comes on.


aye I think thats probably the main reason they did it, at least we will have C4's SD programmes broadcast at a decent bitrate when they aren't HD.
I hope that its not long before film4 launches a HD channel tho
RR
RR
It may well be the case they haven't got the rights to put the programmes on another new channel, but that the C4 rights include any means of simulcasting.
BC
Blake Connolly Founding member
It's on the EPG now, and the upscaling of the SD picture is very very good, there's a noticable difference to channel 104.

noggin posted:
Red Bee are likely to be handling the playout of C4HD long term - it was mentioned in the press releases announcing Red Bee getting the C4 playout contract. Not sure if Red Bee are doing it from launch or if there is a temporary solution at Horseferry Road - it would be best if it were co-sited I would expect - as it is a simulcast of C4. Be interesting to know whose transponder capacity they are using.


It's using one of Sky's transponders, sharing with one of the HD movie channels. It does look like Sky gave them a bit of a helping hand in getting the channel on air sooner rather than later.

Brekkie Boy posted:
Will anything actually be in HD on it's first day?


Happy Gilmore, the movie tonight. Hollyoaks was expected from launch, but doesn't seem to be HD yet, according to the EPG. For the rest of this week it's Ugly Betty and a couple of other movies.
DA
David
Blake Connolly posted:

Brekkie Boy posted:
Will anything actually be in HD on it's first day?


Happy Gilmore, the movie tonight. Hollyoaks was expected from launch, but doesn't seem to be HD yet, according to the EPG. For the rest of this week it's Ugly Betty and a couple of other movies.


Just before Happy Gilmore, Channel 4 continuity told me to check it out on Sky 140.

Does anyone have any idea what C4 Mix is yet? They show The Ghost Squad everynight at 10pm and a few other things afterwards. During the day they show the 'Channel 4 HD Coming Soon' barker, even today after the HD channel launched.
NG
noggin Founding member
Blake Connolly posted:
It's on the EPG now, and the upscaling of the SD picture is very very good, there's a noticable difference to channel 104.


Yep - though isn't C4 544x576 not 720 or 704x576 on DSat - so 104 is hardly a great SD picture anyway.

That said the SD material upscaled on HD channels - like Sky One etc. - looks a lot better than the SD channel - partially because it is far less compressed, and partially because a broadcast quality upconverter is much better quality than the cheap scalers in most HD Ready TVs,
DO
dosxuk
That and a broadcast scaler has access to the raw uncompressed SDI feed rather than a compressed version losing most of the actual quality.

Raw PAL direct from a camera head on a proper monitor is very high quality, much greater than the majority of people think from their experience from getting it out of the back of their £50 VCR into their £100 TV.
NG
noggin Founding member
dosxuk posted:
That and a broadcast scaler has access to the raw uncompressed SDI feed rather than a compressed version losing most of the actual quality.


Though these days it is rare for an uncompressed SDI feed to reach presentation - live shows are usually fed via compressed circuits, and recorded shows are normally delivered on compressed VT formats (though high-end formats like DigiBeta use relatively transparent compression) and stored on compressed servers. C4 initially used an uncompressed VT format for delivery - D5 - but have since switched to DigiBeta AIUI.

Most compression schemes used by broadcasters are relatively transparent - though the widespread use of DV25 doesn't help - as that is anything but transparent.

Quote:

Raw PAL direct from a camera head on a proper monitor is very high quality, much greater than the majority of people think from their experience from getting it out of the back of their £50 VCR into their £100 TV.


Raw component sure - but not PAL (i.e. composite) as this suffers heavily from subcarrier artefacts - and the RGB or component output from a £50 DVD player can look better than the PAL output from a £50,000 broadcast camera...

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