Anyone else love watching this show. Pure HD goodness!

Does anyone else have any other suggestions of cool shows like this for me to Tivo?

Anyone else love watching this show. Pure HD goodness!

Does anyone else have any other suggestions of cool shows like this for me to Tivo?


It works quite well as eye candy, and for relaxation, I suppose.
Good demo material.

its nice to look at for a little bit but its hard for me to look at the same thing for 20 minutes. lol

its nice to look at for a little bit but its hard for me to look at the same thing for 20 minutes. lol


The way I look at it, it turns my LCD into a nice animated piece of art on the wall!

The way I look at it, it turns my LCD into a nice animated piece of art on the wall!

Exactly.....

Exactly.....

I really enjoyed the 5 new shows, from from up north in AK., sorry there were not more (new ones), maybe later? But I have some on D-VHS for demo and enjoying when I like, :)

I always put on Sunrise Earth when I'm reading. It's very relaxing just to listen to it, but not distracting. When my eyes need a rest from reading, I put down the book and watch for a few minutes, then back to the book.

I saw an ad that Sunrise Earth is returning with a new season June 19. Can't wait!

The way I look at it, it turns my LCD into a nice animated piece of art on the wall!


Yes, it is good/nice to see. I used to be able to say the same thing about MOOV on VOOM (back in the good old days of the VOOM soap opera - here and elsewhere). Now MOOV is gone but I'm glad that Sunrise Earth is still around for my eye-candy fixes.

The way I look at it, it turns my LCD into a nice animated piece of art on the wall!


Yes, it is good/nice to see. I used to be able to say the same thing about MOOV on VOOM (back in the good old days of the VOOM soap opera - here and elsewhere). Now MOOV is gone but I'm glad that Sunrise Earth is still around for my eye-candy fixes.

The way I look at it, it turns my LCD into a nice animated piece of art on the wall!


Yes, it is good/nice to see. I used to be able to say the same thing about MOOV on VOOM (back in the good old days of the VOOM soap opera - here and elsewhere). Now MOOV is gone but I'm glad that Sunrise Earth is still around for my eye-candy fixes.

The way I look at it, it turns my LCD into a nice animated piece of art on the wall!


Yes, it is good/nice to see. I used to be able to say the same thing about MOOV on VOOM (back in the good old days of the VOOM soap opera - here and elsewhere). Now MOOV is gone but I'm glad that Sunrise Earth is still around for my eye-candy fixes.

I was thrilled with this show when I first got HDTV. It really is nice to see a show, as the ads state, that takes it's time and slows things down. But the novelty has worn off for a while now , though I like Gecko's idea of playing it while reading... I'll probably try that.

Is this show still in production? It seems like they show about 20 or so episodes over and over again.

Is this show still in production? It seems like they show about 20 or so episodes over and over again.

Sure is, New season starts June 19th.

My brother shot the eclipse from Natal, Brasil for this production a couple of months ago. Looking forward to seeing the end result. Apparently is was a bit hit and miss with the clouds but the sky cleared just prior to the event..

My brother shot the eclipse from Natal, Brasil for this production a couple of months ago. Looking forward to seeing the end result. Apparently is was a bit hit and miss with the clouds but the sky cleared just prior to the event..


Great to see a thread dedicated to Sunrise Earth, and thanks for all the thoughts and feedback. In addition to Central America, we will continue the international theme with new episodes later this year from Asia, Europe and South America. Concerning South America, don't miss your chance to join the crew -- literally. Head over to Circuit City and pick up a sweepstakes entry card, then register online at www.discovery.com/hd

As for the new Central America episodes, we will be uploading some fantastic new production stills onto the Discovery HD Theater website soon, but I've attached some quick descriptions of the new season and premiere details on the primetime eclipse special, Sunrise Earth: Total Eclipse.

Thanks again, and enjoy.

Regards,
John
DHDT Programming


Sunrise Earth: Central America
5x60
June 19-23, 7am E/P

Ep.1 - Mayan Pyramid
The National Park of Tikal, Guatemala

Hidden within the heart of the Guatemalan rainforest, a 2,800 year old city was once home to nearly 100,000 Mayans. Today, the jungle has returned. Cries of howler monkeys pierce the dawn, while colorful parrots and toucans soar from branch to ancient temple. From atop the Lost World Pyramid, we see the red sun break the morning mists. This site once charted the solstices and planting seasons, and was accessed exclusively by the priests and the social elite. Each day's return of the sun was seen as a rebirth of the sun god Kinich Ahua. On this morning, we witness the magnificence of a lost human world and the ongoing life force of the Central American rainforest.

Ep.2 - Birds of Palo Verde
Tempisque Basin, Palo Verde National Park, Costa Rica

The last remaining water from the wet season attracts birdlife to this wide open seasonal marsh of west central Costa Rica. Brilliant reds and oranges streak across the fast moving and scattered clouds, reflected in the shallows. The moon sets. Light increases, as does the wind. Flocks of black-bellied whistling ducks hunker down in the face of its 25 mph persistent force. Long-legged Northern Jacana run jerkily, seeking insects and snails. White Ibis stiffen their necks in the direction of least resistance, reconfigured as living wind vanes. Roseate spoonbills huddle. Passing horses wade and graze.

Ep.3 - Cloudforest Waterfall
La Paz River, Vara Blanca, Costa Rica

The crater lake of the Poas Volcano drains from 9,000 feet into this high altitude cloudforest ravine. Stepping downward through a series of five waterfalls, we descend as the sun rises. Rays of light catch suspended water particles from the falling water, as green threads of life cling to sodden cliff walls. From within its pupa, an owl butterfly emerges with the increasing warmth of day, pumping fluid into its silken wings. Through the last rock opening, the water and sun burst out and down towards a restful pool, the famous La Paz waterfall.

Ep.4 - Playa Grande Moonset
Playa Grande, Marino Las Baulas National Park, Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Once a month, the full moon dips into the waves of the pacific as the sun rises over the upper beach. Creatures of the beach begin to stir. Pelicans glide in formation. Buff surfers catch the last of the break, while an older gentleman tries his luck hand-lining for fish in the surf. As the sands dry, crabs dig their way to the surface, grain by grain. The soothingly eternal waves await the next full moon.

Ep.5 - Dawn of Cerro de La Muerte
Cerro de La Muerte, Costa Rica

We awake with the sun at 11,500 feet, the highest point in Costa Rica. Below are the silent distant twinkling lights of a city. As the crow flies, the Pacific lies 25 miles to the west. The Atlantic is 50 miles to the east. We sit astride a narrow band of land that is the isthmus between North and South America. Aside from a passing hummingbird, few animals can be found. But alpine flora abounds in this windswept cool blue habitat, only slowly thawed by the graphic reds of morning warmth. Shadows reveal the drops of melting ice from the previous night. We understand the perils for the tropical traveler here. This hill is known as "Cerro de La Muerte," the Mountain of Death, because many unsuspecting voyagers have been lost over the centuries.


Sunrise Earth: Total Eclipse
1x60
Sunday, June 25, 8pm E/P

This program records the events of one total solar eclipse, that of March 29th, 2006 as it happens in two locations on the planet. We travel to Natel, Brazil (at the beginning of the eclipse) and observe a group of fishermen and wild native species along an open stretch of beach. We then shift to Antalya, Turkey (for the mid-point of the eclipse) and observe a peaceful village as the moon makes it's way across the sun.

Looking forward to those new episodes.
Great background programming. I often listen to music while watching Sunrise Earth (TV on mute).

DHDT, why name the shows 'Sunrise Earth Central America' when you went to only two countries (Guatemala and Costa Rica)? A more appropriate name for these shows would be 'Sunrise Earth: Costa Rica 1, 2, 3, 4...' BTW, anyone remember when the only nature show you could look forward to seeing on TV were the two or three minutes of nature footage at the end of 'CBS Sunday Morning'? Good Lord, I feel so old! :(

Wow, definitely looking forward to those new episodes!!!

DHDT, why name the shows 'Sunrise Earth Central America' when you went to only two countries (Guatemala and Costa Rica)? A more appropriate name for these shows would be 'Sunrise Earth: Costa Rica 1, 2, 3, 4...' BTW, anyone remember when the only nature show you could look forward to seeing on TV were the two or three minutes of nature footage at the end of 'CBS Sunday Morning'? Good Lord, I feel so old! :(


Because the last time we checked, Costa Rica and Guatemala were in Central America. ;) Point taken though, thanks. "Central America" simply great for packaging, promotion, etc.

In hindsight, we could have easily done the same for the initial 25 SE's. A majority were shot in Florida, New England, California and Wyoming. (Oops, cheated a bit there with New England!)

In fairness though, the new series for Europe, Asia and South America will be 5x60s as well. In each case, we work with our producers to identify the most active and compelling areas within each region to capture in HD. Plus, there's nothing stopping us from going back... perhaps there could be a Sunrise Earth: Central America II somewhere down the line.

And ahh yes, I remember those CBS Sunday Morning closing clips. I may be wrong, but as I recall, Charles Kurault (sp?) adopted a similar closing montage for "On the Road" some years later. Good catch.

DHDT, why name the shows 'Sunrise Earth Central America' when you went to only two countries (Guatemala and Costa Rica)? A more appropriate name for these shows would be 'Sunrise Earth: Costa Rica 1, 2, 3, 4...' BTW, anyone remember when the only nature show you could look forward to seeing on TV were the two or three minutes of nature footage at the end of 'CBS Sunday Morning'? Good Lord, I feel so old! :(

Don't feel too old. My wife and I are in our 20s and early 30s and we still look forward to those 2 or 3 minutes every week. Wish Sunday Morning was in HD!

If I wanted to watch grass grow I would do it in my own back yard!

HD Rookies!! :D

If I wanted to watch grass grow I would do it in my own back yard!

Watching grass grow in my own yard just reminds me that I have to cut it. ;)

DHDT: Love the series. Just got HD for the first time this week and have been enjoying your program. I will say that some of the most beautiful sunrises I've seen on this planet have been in western Ireland. Do you have plans to film there?

And ahh yes, I remember those CBS Sunday Morning closing clips. I may be wrong, but as I recall, Charles Kurault (sp?) adopted a similar closing montage for "On the Road" some years later. Good catch.

There are other things that Charles Kuralt "adopted" while on the road... families, kids, etc. :D

Watching grass grow in my own yard just reminds me that I have to cut it. ;)

DHDT: Love the series. Just got HD for the first time this week and have been enjoying your program. I will say that some of the most beautiful sunrises I've seen on this planet have been in western Ireland. Do you have plans to film there?


Thanks for the kind words.

I agree, Ireland is captivating but unfortunately the Emerald Isle didn't make the cut this time around. If we return to Europe for more SE eps, Ireland will certainly be considered.

Thanks for the kind words.

I agree, Ireland is captivating but unfortunately the Emerald Isle didn't make the cut this time around. If we return to Europe for more SE eps, Ireland will certainly be considered.

Just wondering if you could provide any info on this thread. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=684721

Thanks

Is it just me or did that 'Total Eclipse' episode they were advertising all weekend look a lot like the Central America episode 2??
At least that is the episode that I saw Sunday (6/25) at 8 pm here.

it was the wrong show. monday's "replay" was the solar eclipse episode.

There are other things that Charles Kuralt "adopted" while on the road... families, kids, etc. :D

Good Ole down home looking Kuralt, living the life other guys just dreamed of. :D

it was the wrong show. monday's "replay" was the solar eclipse episode.

Also, Sunday night's replay showed the correct eclipse episode. Intraview1, I thought the footage turned out great. The clouds actually worked out nicely. Pass on the kudos to your brother...

Understand these are all video taped at 1080/24p. Wonder how many are viewing them with inverse-telecine displays for 1080i? With my 1080i CRT RPTV, which only displays 1080/60i (30i) as it's delivered (60 fields per second), I see slight judder that (presumably) slightly blurs finer details. Perhaps, with really good deinterlacing and display at 48 or 120 fps, like with the pixel-by-pixel motion adaption and noise reduction provided by the Realta HQV chip for some high-end projectors (and video processors), the judder vanishes. Sun rises still look good here captured at 24 fps, but similar video captured at 1080/60i, matching the broadcast standard, always appear crisper. And--if more motion were involved--1080/60i has smoother motion, too, since it's 60 fields per second capture versus 24p capture. -- John

Sunrise Earth is by far one of my favorite HD shows on TV. Nothing else is so relaxing or beautiful to watch. If I want to show off the HDTV, I just throw on Sunrise Earth and all are amazed by it. I look forward to seeing the new episodes. :)

Thanks.. great to hear it looks good, I missed the premier. My brother is in central Florida working with the BBC and David Attenborough for the next couple of weeks after just getting back from Australia. Tough life!

Thanks.. great to hear it looks good, I missed the premier. My brother is in central Florida working with the BBC and David Attenborough for the next couple of weeks after just getting back from Australia. Tough life!

*Dreams of the Blue Planet series in HD*

When are the new "international" episodes re-airing? I missed them the first time around.

When are the new "international" episodes re-airing? I missed them the first time around.


Sunrise Earth: Central America will re-air the week of July 10 (7am E/P).

Sunrise Earth: Total Eclipse will encore in primetime on Thursday, July 20 (9pm E/P).

DHDT - Does your network have any plans to re-air the fascinating "Alien Planet" again? That show was possibly the coolest thing I've ever seen on DHDT.

When I had DHD with Comcast, I enjoyed Sunrise Earth as nice background material for reading or working on schoolwork or take home work. I look forward to getting it again. Something I would enjoy seeing is some "spin-offs" of the program. Other things "happening" in nature, not just sunrises. Snowfall (not storms, just the normal piling of snow onto things can be really nice watch) or thunderstorms (not terrible exciting this like tornadoes and hail, just those soothing summer thunderstorms), for example.

Oh, and a special on moonrises would be kinda neat too!

Just a thought!

DHDT - Does your network have any plans to re-air the fascinating "Alien Planet" again? That show was possibly the coolest thing I've ever seen on DHDT.


Absolutely. Alien Planet will air again in the fall. Thanks for the feedback.

The biggest shame is that the bitrate on these (at least as far a Dish is concerned - not sure about the source or othe providers) is about half of what these were 18-24 months ago :(

Eclipse clocked in at about 3.5Gig - a far cry from the first time the programs were on with a good 7.5Gig of info.

Today if you get 5.0 Gig on the same reruns its a miracle - and the 3.5 Sunday night was a series low.

I thought Dish wasn't do this kind of thing and it was restricted to the Voom channels?

I thought Dish wasn't do this kind of thing and it was restricted to the Voom channels?


Resolution is still 1920x1080i.

Bitrate is a totally different matter.

In fact, the bitrates on HBO and SHO took another big hit 60-90 days ago.

Don't feel too old. My wife and I are in our 20s and early 30s and we still look forward to those 2 or 3 minutes every week. Wish Sunday Morning was in HD!

Unfortunately, CBS' Sunday Morning chopped the once-relaxing closing segment down to 45 seconds or so now that Kuralt has gone and the abrupt ending absolutely destroys the slower "Sunday Morning" pace of the show. I visited the CBS News (Sunday Morning) Web site and complained (to no avail so far), but perhaps others should do this as well.

So that leaves us with Sunrise Earth...

Unfortunately, CBS' Sunday Morning chopped the once-relaxing closing segment down to 45 seconds or so now that Kuralt has gone and the abrupt ending absolutely destroys the slower "Sunday Morning" pace of the show. I visited the CBS News (Sunday Morning) Web site and complained (to no avail so far), but perhaps others should do this as well.

So that leaves us with Sunrise Earth...

Yes, I do miss the longer end segment. But it's still a great show overall; the TV equivalent of the NY Times or All Things Considered with well-researched, well-presented stories. Outside of PBS and occasionally HBO, you don't see many shows of its ilk these days.

One potential bright spot: Showtime is producing a TV version of "This American Life." If it's in high-def, I might actually have to subscribe.

I'm not sure if it was new or a rerun, but one night recently I caught the Everglades edition, and WOW, was it beautiful to watch!

Not into logging bit rates of various shows, but wonder if they're using flag repeats within MPEG to reduce the rate(s)? Earlier posts indicated HBO and a few other sources do this with 24p movie material. AIUI, the flags achieve the same function as 2:3 pulldown required for 24p, except transmission of duplicated 1080i fields isn't necessary. Sunrise Earth (my earlier post above) is taped at 1080/24PsF, a HDCAM video recorder mode that emulates film and is used for various TV comedies and some dramas. Many other TV travelogues/documentaries are shot at 1080/60i (30i) with HDCAMs, which matches the 1080 broadcast format. -- John

I'm a big fan of Sunrise Earth as well. My HDTiVo went on a prime-time repeat rampage and recorded lots of shows while I was gone on vacation, wiping out all of my non-keep-until-I-delete shows. All but one Sunrise Earth was lost in the carnage.

This may not be the perfect forum for such a question, but has anyone heard of Sunrise Earth coming to HD-DVD or BluRay?

Can't wait to see all those shows - love the visuals

John, I have access to an HD Cam and HD deck with all the other hardware needed to do a true HD production. I live and know of some monumental locations in Northern/Central California. (and I know these locations very well)

Can you help me understand what I should do to submit a proposal to Discovery Channel?

Thank you,

Charlie

How about Sunset Earth?

Just a thought...

Don

How about Sunset Earth?

Just a thought...
Sounds good here. :-). Proposed something like that a while back, here (http://archive2.avsforum.com/avs-vb/archive/index.php/t-657844.html) and below:
Caught part of Discovery HD's "Wildflower Elk" repeat yesterday, showing sunrise at a unique seaside reservation north of San Francisco. One of the better segments in the "Sunrise Earth" series showing sunrise at various locations, with only wildlife, wind, water sounds and periodic captions about locales/scenes.

Began wondering if HD technology could deliver a similar series with evening/night wildlife scenes combined with views of the night sky. At Thoreau's Walden Pond (http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/northeast/wldn.htm), for example, HD cameras could capture wildlife at sunset, then evening 'stars', a rising moon, and prominent constellations such as Orion, briefly outlining/captioning it to indicate its shape. Toss in a Thoreau quote. A zoom shot would show the fuzzy nebula in Orion's belt, but could be briefly merged with spectacular 'closeup' shots from the Hubble telescope. Slow periodic pans of the sky could be intermixed with pond/forest shilouettes and night wildlife captured with low-light videography. Surround sound--the whole frogs/crickets thing--should be awesome. Potential locations, combined with constellations and astronomical objects, are endless. Should be great for 1080 DVDs, too. Might even shoot it with Panavision Genesis digital-cinema cameras, now being used for some TV series for night shots as well as feature movies. Suppose 3D production using the 800-Mbps HDCAM-SR portable decks would be going overboard. :-) -- John

Sounds good here. :-). Proposed something like that a while back, here (http://archive2.avsforum.com/avs-vb/archive/index.php/t-657844.html) and below:


John,

Funny you guys should mention this. I hear the "why don't you do sunsets?" question just about everywhere I go. The truth is, we've kicked the sunset idea around the room since the start.

True, sunsets would be gorgeous (and haven't been ruled out entirely), but when you consider the illuminating behavioral characteristics of first light, wildlife/predation and the myriad other daily rituals (whether human or nature-based) that are triggered by the rising sun, featuring sunrises makes the most logisitcal and narrative sense. Especially for an hour-long show.

Although if we ever shelve the series -- which certainly will NOT happen any time soon -- the final episode would most certainly have to be a Sunset Earth. ;)

Thanks for watching and participating in these discussions.

John

John (DHDT)-

I just wanted to drop you a quick note to thank you for this wonderful series! My wife and I just moved up to HDTV, and discovered (pun intended ;) ) this series and we absolutely love it! Sunrise Earth has replaced our watching of the news while we get ready for work. It gives us a nice fresh window to look out of every morning. What a brilliantly simple but effective show!

-Mark