The "SuperBowl 2004" Thread . . .

Yeah. CBS also used what they called "EyeVision" during several replays to show multiple angles of plays. "EyeVision" also used the timeslices that you mentioned.

CBS had used the system during the college basketball tournament the past couple of years. I can't recall if they used it the last time they aired the Super Bowl or not though.

This also marked the Super Bowl debut of the "flycam", a camera set in wires directly above the field of play. The camera zipped around the field following the action more or less over the shoulder of the quarterback. That type of view is one of the only things that migrated to the NFL from the ill-fated XFL a few years ago.

Is it always CBS that does the superbowl? I'm getting the impression that it's not.

Well would you think it offensive if Justin got his cock out ?
Why would that flabby, pierced, hairy tit turn anyone on?

Personally I think this sort of "stunt" is pathetic... she's just another
sad Jackson desperate for headlines.

Didn't get to see any Superbowl this year.

Who provided the best coverage, Sky Sports or five?

No, it rotates between CBS, Fox, and ABC.

There was a HDTV transmission of Superbowl on Astra 19.2E, labelled DPC TV 3, Premiere Sport had an anchor at the stadium itself, with their usual aston style, but an english version was also available on their second soundtrack.

its on tonight on five again,
tho i think its pointless to show 1 event if they dont show nfl through the year or do they??

They show 1 game a week from the NFL I think

Stu

Yep - it was HDTV in the US, CBS covered it 1080/60i in 16:9. It was only shown in the UK in 4:3 on Five and Sky Sports. Five had what looked like an international clean feed, Sky Sports were showing a much more CBS branded version - and it looked much cleaner.

AIUI the 1080/60i feed was broadcast in Europe on Astra 1A - and un-encrypted - by the German Pay TV broadcaster Premiere. As there are only a few HD viewers in Europe there was no point encrypting it - and I expect it was just use to demo HD.

I watched a bit of the Sky Sports coverage - and there were some obviously dodgy analogue NTSC radio cameras being used that stuck out like a very sore thumb. Also the Super SloMo cameras (high frame rate that when replayed at normal frame rate give fluid slow mtion) seemed to be SDTV as well - though component they had much harsher detail/aperture correction - which made me think it was SD.

For Sky Sports I suspect the conversion was 1080/60i 16:9 to 480/60i 4:3 (aka 525) to 576/50i 4:3 (aka 625) - however it was all done in the component domain by the looks of it (no subcarrier artefacts) so it did look rather nice.

It rotates between CBS, Fox and ABC; next year's game (Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville) will be on Fox, in 2006 (Super Bowl XL in Detroit), it will be on ABC.

After that, the network television contracts will be up for renewal, and considering the changes that have taken place the last two times the contracts were renegotiated (Fox entered the game, and both TNT and NBC got bumped out), I wouldn't count anyone or anything out of the realm of possibility next time.

Can you get a standards converter that will do 1080/60i 16:9 to 576/50i 16:19 ? It seems like with the convertion process above we're losing out on the widescreen and about 100 lines of resolution.

Yep - Snell and Wilcox manufacture converters that do this (and I am sure others do to). I think there is even a 1080/60i to 1080/50i converter.

The aspect ratio is a non-issue in conversion terms - it is trivial. However it is likely that the rights deals involved in the international feeds may limit provision to 4:3. (This is the case with a number of sports rights deals that run for a number of years - you have to wait until the coverage contracts are finished until you can renegotiate to provide 16:9 coverage to some rights holders)

The other option is that they didn't want to confuse matters - with only Australia and the UK having a high penetration of digital 16:9 transmission systems outside the US? (Yes I know other countries have 16:9 transmissions - but not to the same market penetration as the UK)