So I can get virtually every sporting event in HD now. Women's basketball, bowling, hockey and all kinds of nonsense. Will the 2007 Indy 500 finally be broadcast in HD?

I have heard all the excuses but for an event that bills itself as the "greatest spectacle in racing" it is an absolute farce to broadcast in std. definitition. Is it any wonder that NASCAR is just crushing open wheel racing in popularity. In my lifetime Tony George surpasses all others as the clown prince of sports. Open wheel racing has just slipped into obscurity because of one pompous ass's ego!

Many would argue that since the Champ Car series split, the Indy 500 has been a farce. This includes the related IRL series that can't even draw a decent crowd.

"Greatest spectacle in racing, " I think not. It deserves to be in SD on an obscure cable channel.

I think it's on Versus this year..... ;)

What is Versus?

Tony is spending too much money subsidizing teams/drivers for his farce series. Maybe Bernie E. will let him borrow the F1 cameras.

What is Versus?
It's the old Outdoor Life Network, which for HD only, has recently combined with Golf Network = VSGLF, available on Comcast & soon on DirecTV.
http://www.versus.com/


Also, read the HDTV Programming Synopsis.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=164671

Women's basketball, bowling, hockey and all kinds of nonsense.

Bowling?

Doesn't IMS (Indy Motor Speedway) provide the TV Camera Coverage? If so, there may not be enough Tony Bucks (¥en) left over after paying to pad the field to 33 entries to pay for HD cameras.

Doesn't IMS (Indy Motor Speedway) provide the TV Camera Coverage? If so, there may not be enough Tony Bucks (¥en) left over after paying to pad the field to 33 entries to pay for HD cameras.
IMS does provide camera for the ESPN on ABC telecast of the race. ESPN provides some of the camera as well, and uses the IMS cameras to supplement their coverage.

Bowling?

Yeah, I haven't seen bowling in HD yet either. Of course it would look better, and I would like to see the upgrade, but it is probably the sport least likely to benefit from HD as far as providing any additional critical details.

It also wouldn't benefit at all from the 16:9 aspect ratio. Unlike tennis, which would be much improved switching to a side view, you can't do that with bowling unless you want to see everything but the pins. ;)

Indy 500 in HD yet?I'll ask.

Bowling?

I'm not sure I'd want to see Ernie McCracken in HD..... ;)

I'll ask.

IMS productions does all of their events, and they don't have an HD truck yet due to expense. A response on the TiVo forums yields:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=301619&page=2&pp=30

And IMS productions do not have an HD production truck, though they are digital.

http://imsproductions.tv/docs/trucks.html

They do indicate that they are able to do 16:9, but since it's not HD, forget it. Not worth the extra cost of sending it up on an HD bird if it isn't HD.

Don't bother.Please. I'm fully aware of the IMS issues. If you don't mind, I'll ask my sources.

I'll ask.
The word right now, is no word.

Please. I'm fully aware of the IMS issues. If you don't mind, I'll ask my sources.
Hey Ken,

Sorry, I responded out of frustration, that came out way bad. I apologize. Thank you for looking into it.