Oscar's Red Carpet 2008, On ABC in 720p HDTV and Dolby Digital 5.1, 8pm ET
&
The 80th Annual Academy Awards, On ABC in 720p HDTV and Dolby Digital 5.1, 8:30pm ET
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Regis Philbin will host the Red Carpet Show.

From the Kodak Theatre, Jon Stewart will host the 80th Oscar's

From Oscar.com

Jon Stewart has been set to host the 80th Academy Awards® telecast, producer Gil Cates announced today. This will mark Stewart's second stint as Oscar host.

"Jon was a terrific host for the 78th Awards," said Cates. "He is smart, quick, funny, loves movies and is a great guy. What else could one ask for?"

Stewart has been host and executive producer of Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, winner of four consecutive Emmy® Awards for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series, since 1999. The show has also been bestowed with two Peabody Awards. In 2004 Stewart and the writers of The Daily Show also authored "America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction," which was awarded the Thurber Prize for American Humor and was a staple on The New York Times best seller list for 46 consecutive weeks.

"I'm thrilled to be asked to host the Academy Awards for the second time because, as they say, the third time's a charm," said Stewart.

Stewart has appeared in more than a dozen motion pictures. His television credits include a one-hour HBO comedy special, Jon Stewart: Unleavened, a recurring role as himself on HBO's series-within-a-series, The Larry Sanders Show, as well as an upcoming appearance on The Simpsons. Stewart hosted the Grammy Awards in 2001 and 2002.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2007 will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2008, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network.

A full list of nominees can be found here: http://www.oscar.com/nominees/

Red Carpet show is now up in HD.

Watching on WXYZ via Comcast in Detroit.

Video looks good.

Really nice graphic package being used on the pre-show.

Preshow looks and sounds good as expected, though that lights wipe doesn't look quite right, like the cut is happening before the wipe comes full screen ill have to look at it in slow motion. Also the bottom text field of the lower third graphics is hard to read. Last year they used SuperShooter 25 to cover the preshow (the Monday Night Football truck) and the NEP Denali outfits for the primary show. I would imagine they're doing similar this year.

Gil Cates is the chief tonight. This is something like his 13th time producing the show.

Louis J. Horvitz is directing. He has directed every Oscars since 1997 (69th Annual).

Roy Christopher is the set designer he's been designing this show off and on since 1984.

This is the fifth time the show has been broadcast in HD dating back to 2003.

Preshow looked very good. Not too much filtering.

Main show is now up.

Getting a pretty good conversion to 1080/50i on Sky Movies over here in the UK. Looks fine, and it is nice to see it isn't horribly edge enhanced, nor does it appear to be horribly soft filtered. Nice looking faces with a natural skin tone - or unnatural tan - you can tell the difference! (Good work by the vision team)

Some of Sky's red carpet stuff - which they did themselves I think - was not as good...

Looks and sounds great, so far. ABC Detroit WXYZ-DT OTA.

Enough of the blather, bring on the eye candy!

Whew, Jennifer Garner just in the nick of time.

Damn CTV in Canada!! they did it with the Superbowl, and now they're doing it to the friggin Oscars!! Damn subsimming!!! The never did it on HD channels last year and before, but they sure are doing it now.

It wouldn't be too bad if the commercials were all in HD, and weren't repeated, but they won't all be in HD and they will be repeated.

Great video iPod widescreen gag!

Wasn't Brad Bird in the original Dawn of the Dead?

Beautiful Katherine Heigl.

Ken, I think you and I are the only people watching.

Damn CTV in Canada!! they did it with the Superbowl, and now they're doing it to the friggin Oscars!! Damn subsimming!!! The never did it on HD channels last year and before, but they sure are doing it now.

It wouldn't be too bad if the commercials were all in HD, and weren't repeated, but they won't all be in HD and they will be repeated.

Actually CTV did okay. Not sure if the audio and video are perfectly in sync. Looks like the video arrived slightly before the audio, this was evident during the Amy Adams live performance. I'm sure she was live, but there was a sync issue.

I'm watching but there hasn't been anything too incredibly interesting yet.

And in that clip from The Golden Compass, why isn't Iorek in any armor? (I never saw the movie.)

Is anybody noticing jittery-ness during the telecast?

I have Comcast in the Chicago region.

Golden Compass my arse

Hey, Joyce Brothers won an oscar!!

Only 20 more awards to go. This might actually be one of the lowest rated Oscars in a long time. No big political controversies, no controversial nominees and I think Ratatouille was the most popular movie of the bunch and it already won.

The show looks fabulous though as usual and the 5.1 mix is phenomenal. Kudos to Kyle Cooper and the Prologue crew on the graphic design. Bob Dickinson's lighting is gorgeous as usual (as it was on the Grammys), skin tones are excellent on the crowd shots. The audience is definitely being heavily sweetened in the surrounds but it sounds good. The 5.1 on the opening CG thing was great.

I think Bill Conti has been playing the same music for the last 30 years. Some of that presenter theme playon music was written way back in the 70s.

Kate Blanchett.

that cuba gooding moment is my all-time favorite

What do you guys think of the Oscar replay segments from years past they have going tonight?

That was some horrible Sweeney Todd music that the orchestra played, who arranged that?

I'm upset that they are not in HD.

What do you guys think of the Oscar replay segments from years past they have going tonight?

80 years of history, the 56th year on TV. Lots of footage to plow through.

I'm upset that they are not in HD.

Most of them weren't in HD originally.

Well, Javier winning is no surprise.

Thank god the streaker scene wasn't widescreen HD.

80 years of history, the 56th year on TV. Lots of footage to plow through.

Yea this is usually one of the most meticulous group of editors and producers in the business I am shocked that the Oscar clips from the HD years weren't in HD as well.

Most of them weren't in HD originally.
I know. I needed some sort of jokingly sarcastic smilie.

Indeed on Javier Bardem. Massive favorite.

Whoa, hello mom!

Yea this is usually one of the most meticulous group of editors and producers in the business I am shocked that the Oscar clips from the HD years weren't in HD as well.

Jon Stewart just solved our questions. They put a whole bunch of these together just in case the writers didn't settle.

Keri Russell.

See? Even the short films are 2.35:1

wow that actually an impressive production number. Those kids had pipes.

These animated bits never work.

First awkward moment. Owen Wilson. The audience didn't know if they should applaud.

Yea this is usually one of the most meticulous group of editors and producers in the business I am shocked that the Oscar clips from the HD years weren't in HD as well.

They'd have to cut back and forth between aspect ratios. It'd be distracting.

They'd have to cut back and forth between aspect ratios. It'd be distracting.

or just pillar the SD stuff. ESPN does it all the time.

If I was going to be thinking about nipples during the Oscars, I didn't really want to be thinking about George Clooney's.

...but then they mentioned Jessica Alba, so all is ok

...but then they mentioned Jessica Alba, so all is ok

...and like out of a dream, she appears....

Hurray For Joel And Ethan!!!

Hands up people who knew that Alfred Molina was in Boogie Nights

Miley Cyrus's face weirds me out.

Miley Cyrus's face weirds me out.
I found her voice rather annoying. Why are people scalping tickets to see her again?

I found her voice rather annoying. Why are people scalping tickets to see her again?

...because the Disney channel says she's worth it.

Don't screw with anybody from the Disney Channel...my niece will hunt you down and cut you.

It kinda scares me.

Here's your award...now beat it.

The show is only 100 minutes young, and they've given out three of the four acting awards.

I wonder if Nintendo liked that bit of product placement.

I wonder if Nintendo liked that bit of product placement.

I'm sure they didn't mind.

For some of these people it might be the only time they win and still they try to boot them off the stage via music :P

Why not just cut down on all those scripted intros?

During the Best Picture montage, the titles and years at the bottom are being cut off on the 4:3 SD !!

Renée Zellweger.

I wonder if Nintendo liked that bit of product placement.

I just want a screen that big the 80,000 DLP projector. Though Dance Dance Revolution would've been a better game to be playing.

During the Best Picture montage, the titles and years at the bottom are being cut off on the 4:3 SD !!

The piece was letterboxed on the SD feed. If it wasn't on your end then your station is doing something different.

Was that a StealthScope camera setup in the orchestra pit?

Nicole Kidman.

Wow, the North By Northwest clips looked great.

Wow, the North By Northwest clips looked great.

it can't come out on Blu-ray soon enough.

I just want a screen that big the 80,000 DLP projector. Though Dance Dance Revolution would've been a better game to be playing.

Would a screen that size finally be big enough for me to be able to see all my receivers in Madden?

Damn this guy sounds great @ 93.

Damn this guy sounds great @ 93.

98.

This is the first person they have not tried to music off stage

This is the first person they have not tried to music off stage

They never do stop the lifetime acheivers. And rightly so.

This is the first person they have not tried to music off stage
Thank God. Anyone who can still get up in front of that size crowd at 98 years of age deserves to say whatever he/she wants to.

LOS ANGELES - Just 12 seconds and 34 words, including the "um."

Alexandra Byrne set the gold standard in short award show acceptance speeches when she picked up the costume design Oscar for "Elizabeth: The Golden Age."

And she still got in four "thank yous."

Penelope Cruz.

ABC with the HD promos tonight look good.

wow with all due respect to the field of audio, are you kidding me to send a post saying the 5.1 sounds good, the 5.1 and the stereo folddown are quite possibly the worst i have ever heard on a major production, ed greene and bobby douglass should at the least retire if not be arrested

Someone once told me he didn't find penelope Cruz hot.

I forgot him completely.

That singer looks high.

Anyone having major sound problems? Getting drop-outs, weird surround effects in and out, center channel problems...

Best song performances have been the best ever - all five good production numbers, Amy Adams nailed hers, Chenewoth was awesome, etc. Usually that's a weak point in the ceremony...

John Travolta has the strangest hairline in Hollywood.

Anyone having major sound problems? Getting drop-outs, weird surround effects in and out, center channel problems...

Best song performances have been the best ever - all five good production numbers, Amy Adams nailed hers, Chenewoth was awesome, etc. Usually that's a weak point in the ceremony...

I'm not having any audio problems at all.

wow with all due respect to the field of audio, are you kidding me to send a post saying the 5.1 sounds good, the 5.1 and the stereo folddown are quite possibly the worst i have ever heard on a major production, ed greene and bobby douglass should at the least retire if not be arrestedBe specific about the 5.1; what don't you like?

When they announced John Travolta I was expecting the camera shot to change and see him walk on.

Once 5 or so seconds later when you could see him dancing it made sense.

"Make art! Make art!"...now shut up and get off the stage.

The piece was letterboxed on the SD feed. If it wasn't on your end then your station is doing something different.

I see. So CTV (SD) in Canada is taking a feed that's different from all those ABC affiliates. My guess is they're just taking the ABC-HD feed and hack off the sides for SD. CTV-HD is unaffected, of course.

I agree that the 5.1 is just fine. Quite good where I am actually.

I see. So CTV (SD) in Canada is taking a feed that's different from all those ABC affiliates. My guess is they're just taking the ABC-HD feed and hack off the sides for SD. CTV-HD is unaffected, of course.

Yup, that's what they're doing. They are a cheeseball network. And I hate them.

My local station (KVIA from El Paso) has been in stereo all night. I guess I don't really see the need for surround in such a show. Do you get crowd noise out of the back speakers like in sports broadcasts?

wow with all due respect to the field of audio, are you kidding me to send a post saying the 5.1 sounds good, the 5.1 and the stereo folddown are quite possibly the worst i have ever heard on a major production, ed greene and bobby douglass should at the least retire if not be arrested

Ed's definitely missing those mic cues at the top of the segments. Tommy's orchestra mix i'm happy with.

Btw, I remember the days when Paul Sandweiss mixed this show. Back in the old Margolis days...oh the memories.

She's baaaaaaaaack!

Speaking of Mic cues, John's mic was off a half second when they came back from break.

The pattern for this year's major awards seems to be to honor the foreign nominees.

If bringing that girl back out was Jon's idea, god bless him.

Cameron Diaz.

Wow - what a great decision to bring Marketa back out - nice moment.

Great song - great movie - I almost don't feel bad losing my oscar pool this year just to see that win... (as was the case for seeing Arkin win last year...)

My local station (KVIA from El Paso) has been in stereo all night. I guess I don't really see the need for surround in such a show. Do you get crowd noise out of the back speakers like in sports broadcasts?
Yes, you hear ambient crowd in the surrounds.

Yes, you hear ambient crowd in the surrounds.

I get the crowd in the surrounds full and clear as well.

Heath Ledger will be last this year.

Yes, you hear ambient crowd in the surrounds.

Wow. I was just kidding with that idea and wasn't actually expecting that they'd put that in the mix. Any annoyingly fans loud near a microphone yelling for the entire show?

Wow. I was just kidding with that idea and wasn't actually expecting that they'd put that in the mix. Any annoyingly fans loud near a microphone yelling for the entire show?

that surround mix is heavily sweetened.

Is that Kristin Wiig from Saturday Night Live?

(one of the winners of that short documentary - wow, this is most worthless post ever)

Amy Adams.

are you kidding me, do you not hear the audience and sweetening disappear when the music playon begins, not to mention the huge disparity in the 5.1 to stereo folddown, I normally wouldn't even post on this site but I could not help myself given the weirdness of the sound mix

No screenshots this year, anyone??

are you kidding me, do you not hear the audience and sweetening disappear when the music playon begins, not to mention the huge disparity in the 5.1 to stereo folddown, I normally wouldn't even post on this site but I could not help myself given the weirdness of the sound mix

If that was to me, I'm only getting a stereo mix. The only reason I know this is because I switched on the receiver to try listening to the 5.1 mix after seeing it mentioned in the thread. Otherwise I'd just be using the speakers in the TV.

are you kidding me, do you not hear the audience and sweetening disappear when the music playon begins, not to mention the huge disparity in the 5.1 to stereo folddown, I normally wouldn't even post on this site but I could not help myself given the weirdness of the sound mix

I'm afraid it's just on your end. Sounds perfectly fine here.

Is Harrison slurring? To much pre show booze?

Is Harrison slurring? To much pre show booze?

Well, after all, the guy's 65 years old.

I thought Amy Adams looked very nice in her emerald dress ;)

Cheers,

got ya thanks for the post I will check my wiring, evidently I am getting the wrong feed, although I am not sure how.

Daniel Day Lewis should win this by far.

Daniel Day Lewis should win this by far.

Biggest favorite of the big awards of the night at 1/20. (Everything is better when you put a number on it.)

I Drank Your Milkshake!!

Is this the only awards show left to do full credits?

Once again Kevin O'Connell is ignored for sound. And what was Renee Zellweger so mad about? She didn't look happy at all.

Watching OTA on my local ABC affiliate, KHOG, the picture in HD was perfect.

Who was the hottie that was sitting next to George Clooney in the audience?

Technically it was flawless, did not see one error, or problem. Other than that it was boring! I enjoy Jon Stewart, I watch Jon Stewart, this was not Jon Stewart's finest moment. The opening monologue was flat at best, the show needed some energy to kick it off but there was none. I'll be curious to see the ratings.

In the past, the ratings seem to be driven not by the quality of the show, but by the box office of the major nominees.

And this year, with the exception of "Juno", they have not been big grossing films.

I would guess the ratings will be fairly weak.

Many in Hollywood are expecting the worst Oscar ratings in quite a while.

Who was the hottie that was sitting next to George Clooney in the audience?

His girlfriend.

George has such a tough life ;)

And what was Renee Zellweger so mad about? She didn't look happy at all.
perfect.


She always has that look like shes going to cry. Kinda sad, "In Memoriam" tribute that they didnt mention Brad Renfro.

Was watching on KGO in SF through Comcast. I did experience some audio dropouts during the broadcast. Nice use of surrounds with the applause. After one instance of graphics the switching back to a recipient going up to get his award the picture got really blurry, then back to normal.

I also wondered if that was Jon's decision or came from the producers of the show to bring Markéta back out. Either way it was one of the highlights of the evening and easily one of the best acceptance speeches.

flat out perfect pic on COX in Oklahoma CIty...wish the rest of ABC's were close to this!

Interesting that the Academy awards for acting were identical to the BAFTA (British Film Awards) - Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton.

(Is this one of the first years no acting Oscar has been won by an American or Canadian?)

I also wondered if that was Jon's decision or came from the producers of the show to bring Markéta back out. Either way it was one of the highlights of the evening and easily one of the best acceptance speeches.

Was anyone else surprised to find out that she's only 19? They said it on NPR this morning when they talked about her return to the stage. I'm glad they gave this young woman a chance to speak.

Also, how did Transformers lose its categories? Did the Academy somehow miss the giant robots transforming with perfect precision and blowing everything up everything in sight?

That song Amy Adams sung I can't get it off my head aaaaaaaaaargh!

*off to Best Buy for the soundtrack*

are you kidding me, do you not hear the audience and sweetening disappear when the music playon begins, not to mention the huge disparity in the 5.1 to stereo fold down, I normally wouldn't even post on this site but I could not help myself given the weirdness of the sound mixTypically the audience & sweetening levels are an aesthetic decision, probably by the mixer, it didn't seem a problem to me.

As for the fold down, most here aren't listening in stereo.

Interesting that the Academy awards for acting were identical to the BAFTA (British Film Awards) - Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton.

(Is this one of the first years no acting Oscar has been won by an American or Canadian?)

Our CBC showed the BAFTA last week. I was thinking the same thing. Perhaps the Brits were thinking (when they were casting the ballots): nobody's going to show up in L.A., let's vote for the Oscars here and have the winners pick 'em up in London.

Didn't watch Hollywood's self-love-fest; however, I read a funny article in a UK newspaper about some of the things the actresses do to prepare for their moment in the spotlight:

-- Botox; under their arms!
-- False eyelashes made from mink (about $10k)
-- Cleavage buffing (tough job for the buffers, eh?)
-- Facial scrubs...with diamond dust! (several thousand bucks)
-- etc.

My local station (KVIA from El Paso) has been in stereo all night. I guess I don't really see the need for surround in such a show. Do you get crowd noise out of the back speakers like in sports broadcasts?


Agreed, also most commercial breaks where in SD (except the JC Penney one), even the ABC ones, did anybody else in the Country got most SD commercials?

What do they cut from Javier's Bardem speech at the end? or was it a glitch?

Man this year's Oscars were boring, very few good moments

Yep, bring back Billy :). Stewart is better on his own show.

Not a bad show. I am not much a Jon Stewart fan but I thought he did a pretty good job.

The one really awkward moment was having the american troops in Iraq involved. The audience really didn't know how to respond and gave at best luke warm applause. It also didn't help that the winner was a short film about same sex issues in the american military.

It only became more awkward when the next award went to a documentary accusing american troops of murdering a taxi driver in Afghanistan.

Typically the audience & sweetening levels are an aesthetic decision, probably by the mixer, it didn't seem a problem to me.

As for the fold down, most here aren't listening in stereo.
Ah yes, but most of the rest of the viewers are listening in stereo, which is exactly why I only have stereo in my living room (where the computer I usually use for these postings is, too.) Of course I do have a 5.1 system in the "play room" for hearing the 5.1 and viewing on a larger screen (but ironically at a lower resolution than the new set in the living room.)

Plus, if the downmix sounds good, the 5.1 is usually good as well. I think the downmix sounds fine, with a bit of flanging on the audience applause. I'm not sure what Paul is hearing, but it's fine here (except for the short audio glitches notes by some others.)

What do they cut from Javier's Bardem speech at the end? or was it a glitch?

Man this year's Oscars were boring, very few good moments

I didn't hear anything being cut from Bardem's speech. He thanked his mom in Spanish at the end. Audio dropouts where you were?

Considering they only had 9 days to prepare. They had prepared an abundance of highlight reels from past Oscars in case the strike wasn't settled and the present-day stars don't show up.

That montage of 79 Best Pictures was long but nonetheless informative. Many of the best movies never won Best Picture (Citizen Kane - 41, Raging Bull - 80, just to name two)

Political comments deleted.

Ah yes, but most of the rest of the viewers are listening in stereo, which is exactly why I only have stereo in my living room.....Well, sure, but I say let'em eat cake.

During the show, on the Sky HD 1080/50i feed in the UK, we got specific drop outs when they cut to the wide frontal shot of the stage. It looked like a specific glitch resulting from cutting to that camera. (Wonder if this was only on a world multilateral feed?)

Did anyone see this in the US - or was it specific to use viewers overseas?

I also noticed that some of the graphic key effects didn't quite reach the edge of frame on my 1:1 pixel matched display with no overscan. There was thin sliver of the picture underneath the key still visible on the right of frame.

The six way boxes used to display the nominees and zoom in to the winner were very nicely executed I thought - and the graphics package was classy.

Interesting that the Academy awards for acting were identical to the BAFTA (British Film Awards) - Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton.

(Is this one of the first years no acting Oscar has been won by an American or Canadian?)

I read somewhere that the last time it happened was in 1964 - or there abouts.

During the show, on the Sky HD 1080/50i feed in the UK, we got specific drop outs when they cut to the wide frontal shot of the stage. It looked like a specific glitch resulting from cutting to that camera. (Wonder if this was only on a world multilateral feed?)

Did anyone see this in the US - or was it specific to use viewers overseas?

Not noticed here in Canada, technically foreign but not really overseas. :-)

The six way boxes used to display the nominees and zoom in to the winner were very nicely executed I thought - and the graphics package was classy.

This year (possibly for the first time ever) the graphic boxes are designed for 16:9 and letterboxed for broadcasters taking a 4:3 feed, including ABC-SD analog.

Canada's CTV, however, took the same 16:9 feed for both their HD and SD services. On the SD channel, these graphics were cut off on the sides!!

I read somewhere that the last time it happened was in 1964 - or there abouts.

Yep - apparently that was the last time all the winners were European.

Not noticed here in Canada, technically foreign but not really overseas. :-)



This year (possibly for the first time ever) the graphic boxes are designed for 16:9 and letterboxed for broadcasters taking a 4:3 feed, including ABC-SD analog.

Canada's CTV, however, took the same 16:9 feed for both their HD and SD services. On the SD channel, these graphics were cut off on the sides!!

Ah - sounds like a clever submix system that dropped in the letterboxed graphics into a 4:3 SD feed blanketing the centre-cut presumably used for the camera shots and other sources? Dashed clever these modern vision mixer systems... (There are systems that can do simultaneous broadcaster and generic wipes into and out of VT replays, that can cut to logo-ed or non logo-ed wide shots dynamically on World and Domestic feeds etc.)

Yep - apparently that was the last time all the winners were European.

I think there's a correlation ...... the home team lost (so to speak).


Oscars could reach all-time low in viewership
Audience 14 percent below previous least-watched Academy Awards

NEW YORK - The Oscars are a ratings dud. Nielsen Media Research says preliminary ratings for the 80th annual Academy Awards telecast are 14 percent lower than the least-watched ceremony ever.

Nielsen said Monday that overnight ratings are also 21 percent lower than last year, when “The Departed” was named best picture.

The least-watched Oscars ceremony ever was in 2003, when there were 33 million viewers.

was the show broadcast is the same aspect ratio as cinema.

if so why didn't the network put bars on the top and bottom so we got the full widescreen?

on our broadcast in sf bay area we couldn't see what was shown on the sides. like when they showed all the best picture winners, the graphics showing the year and name of the film were cropped on the sides.

very weird

was the show broadcast is the same aspect ratio as cinema.

if so why didn't the network put bars on the top and bottom so we got the full widescreen?

on our broadcast in sf bay area we couldn't see what was shown on the sides. like when they showed all the best picture winners, the graphics showing the year and name of the film were cropped on the sides.

very weird

See post #139 above. Your affiliate probably took the 16:9 feed and cropped the sides, not the "flexible AR" feed.

You have some kind of zoom set up on your TV. The local KGO feed was shown absolutely perfectly on Comcast and that means it was the same on OTA. I saw those same graphics without any cropping at all.

Ah yes, but most of the rest of the viewers are listening in stereo, which is exactly why I only have stereo in my living room (where the computer I usually use for these postings is, too.) Of course I do have a 5.1 system in the "play room" for hearing the 5.1 and viewing on a larger screen (but ironically at a lower resolution than the new set in the living room.)

Plus, if the downmix sounds good, the 5.1 is usually good as well. I think the downmix sounds fine, with a bit of flanging on the audience applause. I'm not sure what Paul is hearing, but it's fine here (except for the short audio glitches notes by some others.)It's not too uncommon that separate 5.1 and stereo feeds are sent from a live show for the HD and SD networks. American Idol and Dancing With The Stars do this. I've compared the 5.1 folddown to the stereo and they didn't sound too different to me, so the HD stereo viewers are not being compromised.

Wasn't it a sweep? All European actors and even best song. I wonder if that has ever happened. The best song category must have had pretty slim pickings this year, 3 or 4 songs form the same movie? And to me these 3 or 4 were all innocuous and quickly forgettable. Wheee are the great Oscar songs?

Wasn't it a sweep? All European actors and even best song. I wonder if that has ever happened. The best song category must have had pretty slim pickings this year, 3 or 4 songs form the same movie? And to me these 3 or 4 were all innocuous and quickly forgettable. Wheee are the great Oscar songs?

Whenever the same movie has more than one song, or the same actor or actress is nominated more than once in the same category, at awards shows they often suffer through splitting the vote IMHO.

I understand the ratings on this year's Oscar's Show is probably going to be the lowest in years. Likely because the nominated films were not blockbusters. Fox News spent a lengthy news story on this and the negatives of our current Hollywood. What I say to all of this is this...

The Academy Awards is nominated and voted by the Academy members themselves. It is the Academy that decides what they feel are the best in film in an artistic perspective. I may not always like what they come up with but it is their award show. If someone feels they are out of contact with the "people" out there then those people should watch the People Choice Awards and skip the Oscars. This show is watched by more than just Americans. It is watched by the international community. I am happy that the Academy members can go beyond borders to award the best to the best.

You go Oscars and many prosperous years ahead!

I understand the ratings on this year's Oscar's Show is probably going to be the lowest in years. Likely because the nominated films were not blockbusters. Fox News spent a lengthy news story on this and the negatives of our current Hollywood. What I say to all of this is this...

The Academy Awards is nominated and voted by the Academy members themselves. It is the Academy that decides what they feel are the best in film in an artistic perspective. I may not always like what they come up with but it is their award show. If someone feels they are out of contact with the "people" out there then those people should watch the People Choice Awards and skip the Oscars. This show is watched by more than just Americans. It is watched by the international community. I am happy that the Academy members can go beyond borders to award the best to the best.

You go Oscars and many prosperous years ahead!

hear hear!

I understand the ratings on this year's Oscar's Show is probably going to be the lowest in years. Likely because the nominated films were not blockbusters. Fox News spent a lengthy news story on this and the negatives of our current Hollywood. What I say to all of this is this...

The Academy Awards is nominated and voted by the Academy members themselves. It is the Academy that decides what they feel are the best in film in an artistic perspective. I may not always like what they come up with but it is their award show. If someone feels they are out of contact with the "people" out there then those people should watch the People Choice Awards and skip the Oscars. This show is watched by more than just Americans. It is watched by the international community. I am happy that the Academy members can go beyond borders to award the best to the best.

You go Oscars and many prosperous years ahead!

Yes - this year's show may not have had blockbuster ratings, and it didn't reward blockbuster films.

However there were some excellent nominations, and some very worthy award winners.

The fact that good work has been recognised and rewarded, whether by American or non-American performers, directors, writers, technicians etc. just gives the whole show an international, and much more credible, feeling. It definitely gives the Academy Awards a "the best person" won aura.

As you say - there are other awards that are a public popularity contest. The Academy is not based on that - it is about artistic and scientific merit in the field of motion pictures.

It's not too uncommon that separate 5.1 and stereo feeds are sent from a live show for the HD and SD networks. American Idol and Dancing With The Stars do this. I've compared the 5.1 folddown to the stereo and they didn't sound too different to me, so the HD stereo viewers are not being compromised.

No one said that they were being compromised. It's just that if the stereo downmix sounds good, the 5.1 mix is usually good, too.

That the SD stereo and HD downmix sound the same is no surprise. The SD stereo is often done with the same parameters as the HD downmix.

The choice to send separate stereo and 5.1 is usually is dictated by the signal flow at the network. Some networks only want a 5.1 mix and will make a stereo from it, while other networks want separate feeds because that's the way their SD service is set up. Once analog TV goes away I suspect more networks will go to a single HD/5.1 delivery.

No one said that they were being compromised. It's just that if the stereo downmix sounds good, the 5.1 mix is usually good, too.

That the SD stereo and HD downmix sound the same is no surprise. The SD stereo is often done with the same parameters as the HD downmix.

The choice to send separate stereo and 5.1 is usually is dictated by the signal flow at the network. Some networks only want a 5.1 mix and will make a stereo from it, while other networks want separate feeds because that's the way their SD service is set up. Once analog TV goes away I suspect more networks will go to a single HD/5.1 delivery.

Yep - one factor that influences this is often resilience - if both HD+5.1 and SD+2.0 feeds are backhauled from the OB location - so that a 4:3 SD world feed, or a 4:3 SD network backup feed are generated at the OB location and not at the network centre - then there is a requirement to generate a 2.0 mix on site.

If the only requirement is to backhaul an HD+5.1 mix on-site (with a resilient back-up or two) and any world feeds in SD+2.0 are generated elsewhere from the HD+5.1 feed then there is no need to derive 2.0 sound on-site.

At most major events I've been involved with - there has still been a need to generate 2.0 as there are often clients on-site who required a mono (News) and stereo (non-HD) sound source.