ITV1HD

Probably an error on my part, but as you already know both Auntie and ITV use 1440x1080 and all that is going to happen is the regular awful programming will just be upscaled to this, and no I don't think 1440x1080 is a poor resolution, isn't it just a square picture anyway and stretched back to 1920x1080.

Britain's Got Talent, Law and Order UK, The Bill, HD dramas such as Father & Son, Identity and The Prisoner, the World Cup.... it's a start!!

Well I'll watch the World Cup at least

Best not to think about it that way IMHO. Much better to think of it as a 16:9 picture but with pixels that are rectangular rather than square. (Or even better samples that are more spread out and wider than they are tall - as TV is better thought of in terms of samples rather than pixels, particularly when you consider that the colour-difference signals are subsampled horizontally and vertically)

Standard SD 702x576 is not square pixel based in either 4:3 or 16:9 resoulution (it would be 768x576 and 1024x576) either. 1920x1080 and 1280x720 16:9 HD formats ARE square pixel based, as is the 4:3 VGA 640x480 standard - and that can make PC video easier to handle.

However there is no real reason for broadcast samples to be based on square sampling sites, particulary if you are using interlaced technology. (1920x1080/50i with movement is VERY unbalanced in resolution terms as you end up with a 16:9 image that effectively has 1920x540 resolution on fast motion - much less vertical detail than horizontal - though motion blur can hide this extra horizontal resolution in many cases)

I find it much easier to think in terms of different shaped pixels making up an image of a given aspect ratio, rather than thinking in terms of stretching or squeezing a square pixel image. If you think about it as I do other processes become easier to think about - like ARCing, re-sampling, sub-sampling etc.

I try not to think in terms of any signal having a "real" shape - it is just a function of the number of scanning lines, the sampling frequency and the source image aspect ratio which derives the horizontal and vertical angular resolution.

To be honest, I'm surprised ITV have even thought about a HD channel, they're normally the last to do anything!

Further erosion from the core STV service then. Do STV ever have plans to embrace HD and launch a service ?

Exactly...

There are BBC HD, C4 HD, E4 HD and soon Film4 HD channels - all with more HD content than ITV1 HD I'd think... To be fair though, Five are usually the last to do anything (they were the last to properly do 4:3/16:9 switched SD on satellite as well)

I bet it won't appear in the EPG on STV and UTV area registered Sky cards or Freesat boxes though ?

Thanks noggin as ever a very informative reply

The original plan, with Granada - Winter Hill being designated as the first Freeview HD region was that Granada would be the chosen DTT region to 'source' all Freeview ITVHD. Whether with the more recently planned interim Pre DSO arrangements this still stands or as Crystal Palace is now on air, London could be used instead.

Are there any users of ITVHD on either CP or WH that can confirm here?

I can only imagine that the same ITV1 HD service will be used for Freeview HD and Freesat HD - and last time I watched that was still non-CP (non-ITV1 London) adverts. I can't imagine they would run split pres for a relatively niche service at the moment.

Also - the CP service is at low-power whilst it is an additional one - so won't be covering as large an area as its DSO replacement on Mux B will? I think Winter Hill is still best seen as the first proper HD region - the interim stuff is a bit temporary.

If we were really to be pedantic Blaenplwyf would have to be declared the first Transmitter Group to attain FreeviewHD status, as WH's relays are still playing catchup, whereas the Welsh Transmitter did everything in one shot.