Re: Open Timekeeper in EPCOT---In IMAX
- From: Charlie Foxtrot <Bennett6570@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2007 18:43:27 GMT
On Sat, 17 Feb 2007 19:52:14 GMT, Dave in Dallas - The One And Only
<Daveintx@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I guess that's what I'm not clicking into in the IMAX experience is
the detail in the projection. I can't tell the difference between a
HDTV and my perfectly good old fashioned TV. (I can tell the
difference in quality between VHS and DVD, though.)
Okay, Dave, I'm going to tell you what I told my friend, Harley, after
he bought himself and his wife an HDTV for Christmas, having heard the
bar's other manager and me hyping ours... If you can't tell the
difference, one of three things is happening:
1. You don't have the television set correctly.
2. You aren't watching HD programming.
or
3. You have sight issues that have not yet been detected.
For number one, if you are seeing every channel filling the screen,
you have the television set up wrong. Most of your channels should be
letterboxed on the sides. Bars down the side, giving a square picture
in the middle.
Litterally, every sports bar I have been in that has widescreen tvs
are just stretching the standard picture instead of getting an HD
cable box and it looks like absolute shit.
There are not many high definition channels yet and, except those that
are dedicated to HD only, most are not gving you high def 24/7.
My cable system is pushing HD and promises to add every network that
goes HD. As of now it consists of:
PBS - not the regular over the air channel, but a dedicated 24/7 HD
PBS feed.
NBC - and not every program is in HD. Most of prime time is but not
any of the news shows or things like Deal or No Deal. Leno and Conan
are in HD but Last Call with Carson Daly is not. The Today Show is in
HD but no other news programming and no day time or local production.
CBS - Same deal. Most of prime time but a lot that is not. Probably
the least amount of HD programming from the broadcast networks. No
news programming in HD. One daytime drama but no other day time or
local production. Letterman is in HD but Late Late Show is not. Most
sports coverage is but not all. Many NFL telecasts, last season, were
not in HD.
ABC - Again, same deal. Almost all of prime time but not the news or
reality shows. Jimmy Kimmil is not in HD. Good Morning America and
The View are but no other news, day time or local production is. Most
sports telecasts are in HD.
FOX - Total prime time HD. The animated shows are still in a square
format BUT are rendered in HD so they don't look as bad as standard
television pictures put up on the digital HD signal. All sports in
HD.
The CW - Most, if not all of prime time is in HD.
The only syndicated shows available in HD are Wheel of Fortune and
Jeopardy. Both look great, visually.
After the broadcast networks, only three cable networks are
broadcasting in HD. They are TNT, A&E and ESPN. Most of A&E's
product is still old 3:4 stuff but, at least, they are ready to go
when the product is there. TNT is very guilty of stretching a
standard picture at the studio. Makes for some really bad viewing but
the stuff that is 16:9 and in HD is great. All the NBA games are in
HD.
ESPN is the most dedicated of the "traditional" cable networks to HD.
Sports Center is in HD and all their major live coverage is HD. Looks
incredible too. I'd say the second best HD picture to...
Discovery HD Theater. Not the Discovery Network but a new net, from
Discovery that is dedicated to 24/7 HD programming. The best picture
in HD out there.
Also, just launched is MHD. Music videos overnight and long form
music programs from MTV, VH1 and CMT from 9 AM eastern until 3 AM
eastern. Only problem is lack of content. The same shows run day
after day. Net is a little over a month old and just added a couple
of new programs to the rotation, for the first time, this week.
Then you have the premiums: HBO (only the original net, none of the
extras) and Showtime (again, only the original network, none of the
extras) and a handful of specialty HD networks. These are all 24/7 HD
dedicated.
INHD presents a variety of programing, including a lot of old IMAX
films.
HDNet - A variety of programs including some televsion shows that were
produced in HD before HD was available in most of the country.
HDNet Movies - Uncut movies. Most are about 20 years old but all good
major studio movies.
Universal HD - Old TV shows, remastered into HD and movies from
Universal plus some NBC produced extreme sports programs.
And that's it. Not a lot of HD out there and most of it isn't 24/7.
What's not HD will look pretty bad on an HDTV because the size of the
screen and the need to utilize multiple pixels for what used to be one
pixel adds to the flaws of standard television.
BUT HD is the future of all programming and the next couple of years
will see a boom, now that the televisions are at a price point where
more people are buying them.
So, the point is, make sure your HDTV is set to the 16:9 aspect ratio
and don't fuss over the bars on the side for regular television. If
you set the TV to stretch that picture, you'll end up with a very
distorted picture. You'll also stretch your widescreen HD picture and
make it look bad in the process.
Second point is that standard television on an HDTV does look bad.
Don't worry, in a few years it will all be HD. What's out there now,
is by far superior.
An example, on Sunday Austin and I were watching the Florida Gators in
the NCAA tourney. CBS lost their HD signal towards the end of the
game and the analog picture popped up in its place. Austin went
"ARRRGH! What's with that picture?" The difference in seeing the
imediate switch from HD to standard and then back again, a few minutes
later, really showed just how superior the HD product is.
As for Harley... I went and, sure enough, his cable company rep set
up the TV the way most of the unwashed masses want their HDTVs set up,
which is to fill the screen with a picture that was meant to only fill
about 2/3 of the screen. This makes for an extremely distorted
picture from regular TV and a horrid, butchered picture on the HD
broadcasts. Once I set it right, suddenly, he didn't think HD was
over rated any more.
Foxtrot
.
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