BBC World News in 14:9

That's funny. I was in Hong Kong during the summer, and I watched BBC World at my friend's place. I don't remember seeing any black bars at all. It could be my memory that's failing me, but still...

Which package then Harshy, how do you receive it?

Something weird, I was watching a foreign news channel and you could see BBC World right in between the news anchors, and I couldn't see black bars.

Well I don't know off the top of my head, i'll have a look!

Intlesat 707!

Then why was CBBC 4:3 until september 3rd this year, TOTP+ and TOTP @ play 4:3 and it looks highly likely that the new TOTP will be 4:3 then?

Good point there!

I also forgot to add BBC News before last october. There has been many 4:3 productions from TVC since 1999, and indeed there still is.

(Edited by james2001 at 9:07 pm on Oct. 15, 2001)

It's absolute rubbish to say that everything from TVC studios has to be 16:9. All the studios are widescreen switchable, so can make either 16:9 or 4:3 programmes.

If a client comes along and wants to make a programme at TVC in 4:3, they aren't going to turn them away are they?

BBC World is 4:3 everywhere, the suite only outputs 4:3.

It's absolute rubbish to say that everything from TVC studios has to be 16:9. All the studios are widescreen switchable, so can make either 16:9 or 4:3 programmes.

If a client comes along and wants to make a programme at TVC in 4:3, they aren't going to turn them away are they?

BBC World is 4:3 everywhere, the suite only outputs 4:3.

BBC World is available on a number of European digital packages - however it seems that many of these broadcasters are re-broadcasting an analogue version (you can sometimes see the analogue signal sparklies - which would not be present on a wholly digital uplinked service)

BBC TVC studios are 16:9/4:3 switchable - and MOST BBC One/Two programmes are commissioned in 16:9. Not all are - even when made in 16:9 capable studios. 'The Sky at Night' is still very 4:3 - though made in a 16:9 capable studio.

However almost all TVC news editing, incoming feeds, and many camera rushes are 16:9, and thus for World to remain 4:3 would be unworkable. The material World took from BBC One/News 24 would still have to be converted to 14:9 (centre cut 4:3 would be horrid). In fact World used this annoying compromise of being mainly 4:3 but running some 14:9 packages before they re-launched in the N24 original studio. It looked very messy.

Also N24 and World simulcast - but not always using the same graphics etc - if both studios are working in the same ratio it makes these far more compatible.

BBC World presentation is still 4:3 and analogue though - as I would imagine are most of the affiliate re-broadcasters across the globe. I think it unlikely that World will move to digital widescreen uplinking as a channel for quite a while - as there would need to be a compelling commercial reason to do this... Remember World is a commercial channel, not a licence fee funded public-service channel, though obviously it shares the BBCs commitment to impartial and un-biased news coverage, irrespective of sponsorship and advertising.

Yes, studios and camera are switchable between 16:9 and 4:3. In the case of BBC World, the output is 4:3 - like the majority of the world viewers are. The BBC World news studio output, as has been mentioned before by Techy Peep, is 16:9 widescreen, as is normal in news. The ouput is then arc'd to 14:9 letterbox for TX on World. What's complex about that?