ABCs of HDTV on PBS (in SD)

[57U]

On WNED (SD) Buffalo this Thursday at 10:30PM. Airing at different times depending on your affiliate - check your affiliate listings.

Here's a link to a Webcast.

http://www.detroitpublictv.org/ondemand/special/abc.shtml

Here's the programme summary:

http://www.ket.org/pressroom/2008/06/HDTV_homepage.html

Edit - watched the webcast and it contained several errors.

When demonstration aspect ratio, they were showing a 2.35:1 aspect movie on a 16:9 TV when talking about 16:9 aspect.

When discussing 720P vs 1080i, they stated that:

1. 720P fed to the TV is better
2. 720P is the most used format.

Neither of these statements is correct.

I have no idea why these sorts of errors need to be incorporated into an educational programme on a single topic. Anyone who knows about HDTV would have easily found these errors and they should have been corrected instead of disseminating incorrect information.

[Splicer]

On points 1 & 2...They probably meant for PBS...;)

[57U]

But PBS is 1080i for most of their affiliates, Buffalo and NJ excepted - I believe Detroit is back to 1080i).

http://www.hdtvoice.com/voice/showthread.php?t=10220

Almost all HD programming is produced in 1080/24P.

[Splicer]

I was under the impression that PBS was transitioning to 720p from 1080i due to bandwidth issues with their additional digital...yet still SD...programming like World and Create???

[Wolfpacker96]

this is from an old article, but it states:

PBS will transmit the PBS HD Channel via satellite to local PBS stations as a 1080i HD signal.

http://broadcastengineering.com/news/broadcasting_pbs_launches_first/

I'm sure they wouldn't have changed a satellite broadcast in just 4 years. I suppose the local station could convert it to 720p. Is the amount of information less in the 720p signal than the 1080i? Just curious.

But that is a pretty stupid statement to make. Besides ESPN, what format are all these newer HD stations broadcasting in, such as USA-HD and SciFi-HD?

Of course, the people they are trying to educate wouldn't know any of this and really wouldn't care, so..... I haven't watched it, but I'm sure that their target audience isn't the people on this forum!

[57U]

The bitrate of 720P is a bit smaller than 1080i, hence the decision by some PBS affiliates to broadcast using 720P. See the link in post 3.