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HDTV Production of NFL Games?

This Sunday (09/14) I watched 3 games in HD. The early game was on DirecTV.
I was demo'ing it to some friends and thought it was quite a bit less than
spectacular. The resolution, color and clarity were very good, but the
"production", i.e., choice of shot angles, amount of zoom, etc. were not
particularly flattering to a 16x9 broadcast. (Non CBS game)

The 2nd game was with the Patriots (or it might have been the same time but
the 2nd HD feed), was superb! Totally different shot angles, much wider zoom
and positively electric colors. (This was a CBS game) (DirecTV)

The 3rd game was the ESPN-HD Bears/Vikings game. Again, totally different
shot angles, zooms, etc. Very impressive use of expanded views with very
sharp clarity.
(DirecTV)

The CBS produced game was the most impressive and seemed to make the best
use of the expanse available in HD. My question:

1. Are these various productions limited by the camera locations they have
to live with?

2. Are all these productions still in the "learning" phase of how to best
present a given sport in HD?

I haven't done a lot of comparisons yet, but I think the most striking
presentation of HD football has been on CBS via our local OTA channel. It
clearly looks better than anything I see (sports) on DirecTV. This isn't a
complaint, just an observation. Some of the Discovery HD Theater stuff on
DirecTV is STUNNING...so it is possible to produce a stunning pix on
DirecTV.

I'm getting the impression that the production of football games for HD is
still in a learning process by the providers.

Thoughts? Observations?

....hasan, N0AN

Very interesting. Do you know if the college football on Saturday nights
on ESPN-HD is true 1080? I'm watching the RedSox thats a joint venture
between NESN, Comcast and inHD1. I would be very suprised if it wasn't
1080i. It looks & sounds fantastic - and they happen to be winning to boot!

-alan

"Mr Fixit" wrote in message
...
Occasionally what you see in HD on satellite is upconverted from
480i, much as would be the effect with a line doubler. Good but not great.
When you see "superb" resolution, color and clarity then it truly is a
1080i broadcast. My experiences with Direct TV have pretty much mirrored
yours. Some of their HD stuff indeed is superb, but almost an equal amount
is less than superb. This variation holds true for ESPN-HD where again, a
considerable amount of their HD programming (though not all) is
upconverted.

I anticipate that tonight's game on ABC will be spectacular OTA
just as was last Monday's ABC (OTA) game. When the local broadcasters
carry the network HD feed LIVE it is a thing to behold, even in 720p.

Most of the film presentations I have seen on HDNet Movie channel
and HBO-HD leave something to be desired in the way of resolution color
and clarity. Showtime-HD is, in a word, lousy. We are considering dropping
the $10.99 HD package. Discovery-HD is usually pretty nice, but not enough
programming variety for my liking. ESPN-HD has been a disappointment. Too
much of what little there is, is upconverted. They say more HD is coming.
All I can say is it better come real soon.

My opinion is right now the OTA channels have way more to offer
(more consistent quality) than the Satellite HD channels. If satellite is
going to offer HD as a premium extra cost service, then all programming on
those channels needs to be 100% HD with no upconversion. If I am going to
be expected to pay for HD I expect it to be a consistent superb quality of
HD. So far it is not.

In article "hasan schiers"
writes:

This Sunday (09/14) I watched 3 games in HD. The early game was on
DirecTV.
I was demo'ing it to some friends and thought it was quite a bit less
than
spectacular. The resolution, color and clarity were very good, but the
"production", i.e., choice of shot angles, amount of zoom, etc. were not
particularly flattering to a 16x9 broadcast. (Non CBS game)

The 2nd game was with the Patriots (or it might have been the same time
but
the 2nd HD feed), was superb! Totally different shot angles, much wider
zoom
and positively electric colors. (This was a CBS game) (DirecTV)

The 3rd game was the ESPN-HD Bears/Vikings game. Again, totally different
shot angles, zooms, etc. Very impressive use of expanded views with very
sharp clarity.
(DirecTV)

The CBS produced game was the most impressive and seemed to make the best
use of the expanse available in HD. My question:

1. Are these various productions limited by the camera locations they
have
to live with?

2. Are all these productions still in the "learning" phase of how to best
present a given sport in HD?

I haven't done a lot of comparisons yet, but I think the most striking
presentation of HD football has been on CBS via our local OTA channel. It
clearly looks better than anything I see (sports) on DirecTV. This isn't
a
complaint, just an observation. Some of the Discovery HD Theater stuff on
DirecTV is STUNNING...so it is possible to produce a stunning pix on
DirecTV.

I'm getting the impression that the production of football games for HD
is
still in a learning process by the providers.

Thoughts? Observations?

...hasan, N0AN

If what you say is true, that ESPN HD isn't HD at all,
then that's pretty disgusting that the law allows them to
lie about their programming.

Jeff

DirecTV claims that their NFL package is available in HD.
FOX and CBS produce the NFC/AFC games. Thing
is, FOX has no HD capability. Is DirecTV pulling a sneaker play,
showing SD and calling it HD?

Jeff

Jeff B wrote:
If what you say is true, that ESPN HD isn't HD at all,
then that's pretty disgusting that the law allows them to
lie about their programming.

Right now, *most* of ESPN HD's material is non-HD source up converted
when broadcast. But they do occasionally broadcast a game in true HD.

--
Ben in DC
(put 030516 anywhere in the subj to get thru)

They didn't lie...they DO broadcast it in HD. It just wasn't HD to start
with. A legally defensible position.

"Jeff B" wrote in message
...
If what you say is true, that ESPN HD isn't HD at all,
then that's pretty disgusting that the law allows them to
lie about their programming.

Jeff