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ATrainDriver

Listed below are comments made by ATrainDriver between Saturday, 6th June 2009 and Friday, 20th November 2009.

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Points of View and HD Picture Quality: a response 2:10pm on 20 Nov 2009 @digitalscoobiedoo (#226)

Don't get me wrong,you are spot on right re the p/q on the programmes you mentioned.

The issue I wanted to highlight was how one OB facilities provider (Arena) seemed to get substantially better picture results than another (SIS-Live) with presumably the same (reduced) transmission bitrate(s). And if you cannot get consistency, this has to raise the issue of whether every quality-critical element in the origination and transmission chain is being continually assessed to ensure that quality is being maximized at this earlier stage. On C I N R the number of variables would have included:- lighting, camera positions, lens selection, camera settings, bitrate on wireless cams, director's 'style' to allow for HD sensitivities, technical competence of camera operators and vision engineers, quality of uplink and subsequent downlink, etc etc etc...and that's well before the product is exposed to +/- 9.7 mbps...surely any deviation from best practice at the OB source (as with the football?) is going to be magnified by a reduced play-out bitrate?

It would be interesting to see if any kind of 'best practice'for Sport/Major Events OBs in HD exists (maybe Host Broadcaster guidelines for the upcoming Winter Olympics and/or 2010 World Cup? I am sure one or more of the extremely well-informed posters here can probably help) and to what extent BBC expectations/guidelines compare with these? I think it is significant that the 2009 World Athletics Championships had really exceptionally good BBC HD channel picture quality (even though I believe they took place AFTER the bitrate reduction) and yet the host broadcaster would have provided all the source material apart from the stadium-based studio presentation segments.
Points of View and HD Picture Quality: a response 11:59pm on 19 Nov 2009 Errrr...big surprise but I have to say that Children In Need Rocks probably best BBC HD p/q since the World Athletics Championships in the summer? The shape and separation of the sound (albeit through (pretty good) stereo headphones, dunno about 5.1) was surprisingly good too...

Just thinking aloud...a lot of the BBC HD OBs that have attracted p/q criticism (e.g., second-tier football) are done I believe using SIS Live kit and I suspect some of this may be to do with the disposal package for BBC outside broadcasts...I noticed that C I N R was by Arena OBs. Maybe the SIS HD kit isn't the best? And I'm pretty sure that ITVs (usually praised) HD football is done by 021, Sky footy and cricket is Visions, so is OB equipment (and crew?) quality an issue here?
Points of View and HD Picture Quality: a response 5:48pm on 13 Nov 2009 I've been following this debate across half a dozen different (now closed) threads in (almost) silence for months now. Having spent 20+ years in the media/marketing sector before taking up my current paid hobby (and no, I am not working to rule!), a few observations:-
Let us assume -
1. The BBC is unable to replicate earlier levels of full HD picture and sound quality because of technical and financial limitations
and
2. Concerned viewers have noticed the difference between the perceived quality of the BBC offering and what is offered on the Sky platform here and various satellite and/or cable providers overseas
3. So, you have a clash between customer (i.e., viewer) expectation and product (i.e., transmission) reality.
4. If the BBC was really savvy, they would now endeavour to manage viewer expectations. And the best way of doing this would be to relaunch BBC HD as a cross-platform (i.e., digital terrestrial and satellite using the currently reduced bitrate, encoding etc etc) 'Enhanced Digital' or 'Digital Plus' service which would no longer claim 'full HD'status.
5. This should be done before Freeview HD gets under way so that the existing debate is not multiplied a thousandfold as Freeview users start complaining regarding PQ compared with perceived 'full HD'. The spin (sorry, marketing message) should be that at no extra charge BBC digital viewers will be offered a selection of programming with enhanced video and audio and that the level of enhancement provided will ensure that the degree of image sharpness to which they are accustomed on smaller-screen TVs will generally be replicated on 40inch-plus displays.
6. Nothing more, nothing less.
7. Sure, it would be a halfway house but it would be fair on the viewer, and it would be fair on the electrical retail and maunfacturing sectors, as the latter would still have a reason for shifting large-screen sets; Freesat would also still benefit as the sales pitch would still be that you are getting enhanced picture quality and almost 100 channels. All that happens is that the albatross of perceived 'full HD' would be removed from the BBCs neck. And if Danielle would like to make a contribution towards my next TV licence as a reward for making her life a whole lot easier...

I do not attempt here to be an apologist for the widely perceived reduction in BBC HD picture quality. However, at a time when they are being squeezed to hell by the current (and even more by the next) Government, maybe full HD provided for hours on end at no additional charge by a public service broadcaster is just one step too far? I do travel quite frequently to mainland Europe to keep in touch with acquaintances from previous working lives and it is worth noting that no public service licence-fee funded broadcaster in France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria or Italy is attempting to run a full-out HD channel; programming is sporadic at best and most of the pacesetting is being done by pay-tv providers such as Canal Plus in France and Sky and SAT-1 in Germany who have beefy subscription budgets and advertising revenues to support relevant investment.
BBC HD: Autumn Schedule 10:57am on 13 Sep 2009 Re Post 67. above

It's slightly off-topic but the comments re poor commissioning need a response...

Since late March, at 1120 pm for three nights per week, a select band of us have been watching (or recording depending on shifts!) on BBC2 one of the most remarkable TV series to come out of the USA, The Wire. The epic richness of plot, the variety of themes covered, the language, the direction, etc etc broke so many moulds and the BBC acquisition team need a huge pat on the back for ensuring this did not end up on Ch4/5 or Sky and for being brave enough to show it, as the 'political incorrectness' at it's centre really marked it out as a non-BBC programme.

As always - and as with the debate on HD P/Quality elsewhere - the issue will always be one of managing financial resources. The issue will no doubt become even more acute for the BBC if the recently announced move to permit product placement among commercial broadcasters gives them a bigger pot for programme acquisition and HD developments - according to the BBC News website this could put an extra GBP 100-150 mill. in ITV/Ch4/Ch5's pockets.
BBC HD: Picture Quality and Dolby Research 7:27pm on 26 Aug 2009 Re Post 403. above
So, you want to gain maximum involvement from the Great British Public regarding the perceived deterioration of HDTV transmissions from the BBC?
One previous poster has rightly mentioned contacting the relevant House Of Commons Committee...you could of course take it right to the top by constructing an e-petition to the Prime Minister at
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/
and 500 responses guarantees a Government response and investigation if deemed appropriate. Posting is closed until Gordon Brown returns on 7 September...
Hope this helps.
A Train Driver (who actually got absolutely stunning Athletics pix from BBCHD via his Humax FreeSat box and with all enhancement engines turned OFF on his Samsung LED TV...maybe it's all down to the STB and the TV?)
BBC HD: Wimbledon and some Top Gear questions 10:43am on 05 Jul 2009 Re the bandwidth and encoding technology argument above...

I think there's definitely something in this - a few weeks ago I was able to watch Queens Club Tennis in both BBC HD (Pansonic integrated Freesat TV) and Eurosport HD (Panasonic + SkyHD)on adjacent sets (at John Lewis Kingston, actually!) and no doubt at all that Eurosport's fine detail rendering (scoreboard, net, wear n'tear on the grass playing area) in HD was superior, almost as if it was 'upscaled' BBC...the TVs were pretty much identical.

LuxeTV.HD (non-Freesat but FTA on Astra) also continually seems to provide better colour depth than BBC HD...

A Train Driver
BBC HD: Wimbledon and some Top Gear questions 2:00pm on 04 Jul 2009 I think all the above can be distilled into two key areas - visual and aural impact - and it is clear that in both areas Top Gear scores heavily. Visually you have not only the physical environment in which the segments are shot, but also the emphasis on framing, composition, lighting, digital enhancement/modification of the images, use of shutter-speed adjustment and the speed of movement of the cars themselves. Aurally you have the unique sounds generated by high-performance vehicles and the overall effects of tyre noise, etc., as well as the (usually) well-chosen background music.

As a licence-payer, I would suggest that BBC Vision should use these same two visual/aural impact benchmarks when assessing the justification for migration from SD across all in-house produced programming genres, but I would suggest that these should also be borne in mind when broadcasting feature films as many of these would meet these benchmarks requirements and justify HD play-out.

Also - and apologies for going slightly off-topic. In the 1970s and 1980s there was a twin-fee TV licence, to reflect the colour/black & white split before colour adoption became widespread. In other threads on this blog the issue of funding (especially where HD sport is concerned) for HD expansion has been raised. On the basis of these two points, it could be argued that the BBC have a case to go back to the Government and seek a HD 'enhanced licence' (say an extra £25 per year - 50p per week - 7p per day) with the yield ringfenced for HD programming and rights acquisition. The British public is already being 'softened-up' for such processes by the recently announced £60 per year 'phone levy' to pay for broadband enhancements, so there is a virtual precedent in place for paying extra for technological enhancement, even if the initial beneficiaries will be a relatively small minority.

A Train Driver
More in store on BBC HD 4:36pm on 08 Jun 2009 Every ICC 20-20 World Cup cricket match is being broadcast in HD right now and the BBC have the highlights rights. So why not put the highlights out in HD?

If I'm not mistaken, the HD Preview repeating loop on F/Sat Ch 108 usually restarts at about 1130 pm and the cricket highlights seem to be marooned in the post-Newsnight slot on BBC 2, so even scheduling wouldn't be a problem?
More in store on BBC HD 8:02pm on 06 Jun 2009 Just a couple of thoughts re HD Sport...

1. The BBC missed a real opportunity with the Derby today. The whole point about live horse racing (especially on the flat where runners are likely to be bunched together in blanket finishes) is that the ability to identify 'your' horse through spotting the jockeys' colours clearly would be greatly enhanced by the increased picture definition provided by HD. I live pretty close to the Epsom course and spoke to some SIS-Live (the outside broadcast company providing the transmission facilities) technicians who confirmed that to their knowledge no HD horseracing contact was in place with the BBC (and they should know as most of them are ex-BBC outside broadcasts employees!).

2. Match Of The Day 2 in HD should work - after all, the source matches on Sundays have usually been broadcast live the same day by Sky in HD so it should be possible to play out the limited highlights in HD as well? Perhaps someone from BBC Sport could confirm whether there are contactural limits that only Sky can play out Premier League coverage in HD?

Note to Andrew Knight (comment 5 above) - I don't think Match Of The Day on Saturdays would work in HD - only the Sky live match/matches is/are covered in HD and I could not imagine any BBC producer or accountant being willing to fork out a pile of extra cash to send HD trucks to a ground for 10-15 minutes of coverage (even less if it's a 0-0 draw...!)....

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