ESPN in HD

[BroncoManiac_69]

Now IMHO, The Discovery Channel is by far the best HD broadcasted network.

However... ESPN really had a much better quality last night I thought. In fact, during the pregame commentaries, looking at Kornheiserhead in such clarity really made me back up from the TV.

Has anyone else with HD noticed an increase in quality from ESPN?

[sneakers]

Now IMHO, The Discovery Channel is by far the best HD broadcasted network.

However... ESPN really had a much better quality last night I thought. In fact, during the pregame commentaries, looking at Kornheiserhead in such clarity really made me back up from the TV.

Has anyone else with HD noticed an increase in quality from ESPN?

I always thought that Fox HD was garbage, but I saw a preseason game last week on it, and i was impressed.

[LbloodOjunkieG]

I love ESPN HD, although it is lacking compared to the Discovery Channel in HD. I hate those stupid bars on the sides as well, I want a full screen!!!

[BroncoManiac_69]

I love ESPN HD, although it is lacking compared to the Discovery Channel in HD. I hate those stupid bars on the sides as well, I want a full screen!!!

I know what you mean. But I only see those bars during some of the commercials and not all of them which is odd. During a game, they go away for me. We are DirecTV people.

And when NFLN claims HD, Um.....They need to work on that.

[LbloodOjunkieG]

I know what you mean. But I only see those bars during some of the commercials and not all of them which is odd. During a game, they go away for me. We are DirecTV people.

And when NFLN claims HD, Um.....They need to work on that.

Charter is are cable provider, and not only are there bars on the sides for commercials, but they are there during Sportscenter, NFL Live, World Series of Poker, actually, the bars on the sides are there almost always. Sometimes when I'm watching a baseball game, it's not full screen. I haven't watched any preseason games though.

[BroncoManiac_69]

Charter is are cable provider, and not only are there bars on the sides for commercials, but they are there during Sportscenter, NFL Live, World Series of Poker, actually, the bars on the sides are there almost always. Sometimes when I'm watching a baseball game, it's not full screen. I haven't watched any preseason games though.

This is very interesting. I can't imagine why one provider would be different from another when the Network broadcasts to all known providers you would think the same. Hmmm.

I am not an expert on HDTV's but perhaps your screen size settings (mine is 1080) need changed? Dunno.

I would find that highly annoying as well.

[Nick]

bars on the side is for anything not in HD

[BroncoManiac_69]

bars on the side is for anything not in HD

That is what I have thought all along when I saw them.

It is odd that LB is having this problem even during an HD broadcasted show.

[LbloodOjunkieG]

bars on the side is for anything not in HD

If it is not hi def, why would it be on the high def channel? This is confusing. 69, I don't think it is my tv settings, because the bars are not black. They are gray, and it says ESPNHD down the sides, so I think it has something to do with ESPN. Then again, the bars are not there for you. I want to get to the bottom of this somehow.

[Reidman]

If it is not hi def, why would it be on the high def channel? This is confusing. 69, I don't think it is my tv settings, because the bars are not black. They are gray, and it says ESPNHD down the sides, so I think it has something to do with ESPN. Then again, the bars are not there for you. I want to get to the bottom of this somehow.

This is one of two things. Either your TV is not set on widescreen resolution 16:9 (if you have a widescreen TV) or your HD receiver is not setup properly. You should not have bars on the sides during actual HD broadcasts.

Also, Discovery uses 1080i (interlacing, so scanlines are invisible) for their HD programming so that is why it is so crisp and clear, it is true to life HD. Other channels such as ESPN and Fox use a lesser resolution (usually 720p or 1080p). Although it is not a substantial difference, it is noticeable when changing from one channel to the other.

Here is some good info on HD programming:

http://www.discoveryhd.ca/reports/Article.aspx?aid=209

[tnedator]

If it is not hi def, why would it be on the high def channel? This is confusing. 69, I don't think it is my tv settings, because the bars are not black. They are gray, and it says ESPNHD down the sides, so I think it has something to do with ESPN. Then again, the bars are not there for you. I want to get to the bottom of this somehow.

Even if a channel like ESPN HD is a hi def channel, it dosn't mean everything it will show is HD. Take sportscenter. You will have the studio show in HD and it will completely fill your screen, however, when they start showing highlites, then it all depends on whether or not the video clips they have for highlights are HD.

If the right and left side of the highlight clip has the blurry, double-vision thing ESPN does (rather than just black side bars) that means the video highlight they have is 480i, or standard def. Same with ESPN or network shows during commercials. A great deal, if not most, commercials run on the networks are still SD (standard def), 480i commercials so that the same commercial works on their HD and SD feeds. That is why during commercials, you often see the black side bars.

It is changing rapidly, but even a year ago, the networks still had many shows (news and some primetime) that were not being recorded in HD and therefore when televised, even on their HD channels, they would have black sidebars. The only way around the black sidebars is to stretch the image, which makes the picture look lame.

As time goes by and more studios become 100% with their equipment, and more people are receiving HD signals via satelite or cable (or OTA), then the less black sidebars (from standard def) material you will see, with the exception being old material that is replayed.

[tnedator]

Also, Discovery uses 1080i (interlacing, so scanlines are invisible) for their HD programming so that is why it is so crisp and clear, it is true to life HD. Other channels such as ESPN and Fox use a lesser resolution (usually 720p or 1080p). Although it is not a substantial difference, it is noticeable when changing from one channel to the other.

Small clarification here. The 1080i is actually the HD resolution where you 'can' theoretically see scan lines. The 'i' is for interlaced, just like the old signals from DVD and TV were typically 480i. In the case of 480i, the every other line of the 480 lines would appear on your tv (call them the odd lines 1, 3, 5, 7, etc), and then in the next frame, the even lines (2, 4, 6, 8, etc.) would be displayed. This happens fairly quick, but there is still some flicker present and it is possible to see the scan lines.

1080i has many more lines, so each line is smaller and therefore easier to distinguish, but it still uses the approach of showing half the image in one frame (every other line) and then the rest of the image on the next frame.

I did a google and found some images that show how interlacing works.



So, the above shows how interlaced (480i sd or 1080i HD) works.

With 720P, while it is technically a lower total resolution, it displays all lines at once on the TV, like the first image in the series of three above.

There is a great deal of debate on forums as to which is truely better. There is some contention that one or the other (1080i v 720p) might be better for sports or fast action, etc.

One important point in comparing 'which' resolution is better is what your TV's native resolution is. If for instance you have a 720p TV, then 720p will be played on your TV with no need of scaling (converting an image to match your native resultion). If you get a 1080i image, then your TV, Cable box or satelite receiver has to convert (multiple methods, some better than others) to 720p, before your TV can display the image. Same if you have a 1080i image, your TV has to convert (scale/upconvert) the 720p image into a 1080i image. The quality of the picture can vary greatly based on how good the scaler is designed.

This article eplains in more detail how the 1080i interlaced signal has to be deinterlaced before being displayed on a 1080p set (displaying on a 720p set is a whole nother story) and how at the time of the article last year, about half of the HD sets tested were using cheap deinterlacers that were not displaying 1080i HD images ad full resolution. http://hometheatermag.com/hookmeup/0506halfrez/

[BroncoManiac_69]

I don't think it is my tv settings, because the bars are not black. They are gray, and it says ESPNHD down the sides.

This is what I see during some of the commercials. But not all of them. Strange.

This is one of two things. Either your TV is not set on widescreen resolution 16:9 (if you have a widescreen TV) or your HD receiver is not setup properly. You should not have bars on the sides during actual HD broadcasts.

Yeah...That is what I was trying to say but wasn't sure. I remember I had to set mine up when I first got it.

[Nick]

If it is not hi def, why would it be on the high def channel? This is confusing. 69, I don't think it is my tv settings, because the bars are not black. They are gray, and it says ESPNHD down the sides, so I think it has something to do with ESPN. Then again, the bars are not there for you. I want to get to the bottom of this somehow.

Channels will be either black or gray if the video is not high def. ESPN does put their ESPN bars on non high def video.

It is pretty simple and it is not TV settings. It will flip back and fourth if you are watching sportscenter from high def and non high def highlights. Same thing with comercials on other channels and videos / shows.

What I do... mainly because it bugs my wife and daughter likes a full screen always.

I have hooked up HDMI for cable and my PS3. This way I can go to "regular" Cable if needed.

But you really just get used to it

[Nick]

This is one of two things. Either your TV is not set on widescreen resolution 16:9 (if you have a widescreen TV) or your HD receiver is not setup properly. You should not have bars on the sides during actual HD broadcasts.

Also, Discovery uses 1080i (interlacing, so scanlines are invisible) for their HD programming so that is why it is so crisp and clear, it is true to life HD. Other channels such as ESPN and Fox use a lesser resolution (usually 720p or 1080p). Although it is not a substantial difference, it is noticeable when changing from one channel to the other.

Here is some good info on HD programming:

http://www.discoveryhd.ca/reports/Article.aspx?aid=209

To compare 1080i and 1080p, it is important to compare framerates. Due to interlacing, 1080i has twice the frame-rate but half the resolution of a 1080p signal using the same bandwidth.

It is how the lines interlace. if they weave in and out of eachother our you have the lines sitting on top of eachother.

As far as 1080 i and 1080 p. You really cant utalize the 1080 p yet but is a better overall TV to get. Of course there is a price difference between both.