The 2008 Masters - 3rd Round Saturday & Final Round Sunday Coverage on CBS HD!

[homcom]

The Masters Tournament
Late Round Coverage
CBS HD
From Augusta National, Augusta, GA
Saturday 3:30-7 PM ET
Sunday 2:30 - 7 PM ET


Production Equipment for The Masters
From CBS

Equipment:
60 High Definition cameras including:
-- 42 hard cameras
-- 2 point of view cameras on tees
-- 10 hand-held cameras
-- 2 jib cameras
-- 2 studio cameras on pedestals
-- 2 robotic cameras

12 RF parab microphones for on-course audio

33 video replay devices

6 Pinnacle graphic generators

5 television mobile units

4 large trailers

1 linear and 1 non-linear editing facilities

2 uplink trucks

From The Charlotte Observer, by Ron Green Jr.

Immelman is golf's comeback kid; faced cancer scare in December, still in lead

AUGUSTA, Ga. --There is a seven-inch scar on the right side of Trevor Immelman's back where doctors went in December to remove a golf ball-sized tumor that had attached itself to his diaphragm, making the simple act of breathing almost too painful to endure.

For two morphine-dulled days, Immelman awaited results on the tumor, which turned out to be a rare benign variety. For two weeks, he couldn't walk and for more than a month, he couldn't play golf.

All of that was a second, unrelated chapter to a health story that began a year ago when a parasite attacked Immelman's system, causing him to lose 22 pounds and a month of his golf season. He spent Masters week, before the ailment was diagnosed, munching on toast and wondering why he felt so poorly.

And today, midway through a Masters with a still fuzzy plot line, Immelman has a one-stroke lead over Brandt Snedeker while the imposing presence of Tiger Woods sits on the periphery.

"Obviously, this year is pretty special," said Immelman, who has made nine birdies and one bogey so far.

If the year's first major championship was supposed to be the unfolding of Woods' quest to win the Grand Slam, it has veered in a different direction. While Woods has made two unspectacular tours around Augusta National, Immelman, a South African, has been nearly flawless, pairing rounds of 68 for an 8-under par 136 total after two warm, mostly sunny days.

Snedeker, whose blond hair spills out like a surfer's locks from under his visor, sits a stroke behind while Phil Mickelson, Ian Poulter and Steve Flesch are three from the lead.

Woods, meanwhile, is seven off the lead and tied for 13th with this reality facing him -- since 1986, no player has come from outside the top 10 after 36 holes to win the green jacket.

"I'm in good shape," Woods said. "You just have to stay patient on this course."

Immelman, who lost the 2006 Wachovia Championship in a playoff to Jim Furyk, spiced his day with birdies at the 17th and 18th holes, reshaping the top of the scoreboard. He holed a 15-footer at the 17th then floated an 8-iron approach to within 10 feet of the hole at 18.

Happy to be healthy again -- Immelman confessed to worrying about every ache and pain for weeks after his surgery -- he has also been lifted by his surroundings.

"The whole atmosphere, the mystique, the way the golf course is set up, everything about this tournament and this venue, it's what dreams are made of," Immelman said.

Asked jokingly after his round how the morphine high compared to the kick of finishing with two birdies, Immelman chose the feeling at Augusta National.

"I felt kinda bulletproof when I was in the hospital," Immelman said. "It was a little bit degrading when you have other people washing you morning and night."

Other than a tie for fifth here three years ago, Immelman's Masters record is undistinguished. The same could be said for his 2008 season, which has produced one finish inside the top 40 and left him "lacking in total confidence."

Immelman will be paired today with Snedeker, last year's PGA Tour Rookie of the Year and winner of the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro.

Snedeker played the first two days with his boyhood idol, Tom Watson, whose quick tempo is similar to his own. Like Immelman, Snedeker closed his second round with birdies on the 17th and 18th holes.

It was, however, Snedeker's touch of improvised magic on the sixth green that provided the day's most sparkling moment.

Having left his tee shot on the par-3 in a wicked spot -- on the back right plateau with the hole cut near the back left corner and down a sizeable slope -- Snedeker made the unconventional play of clipping a lob wedge shot off the putting surface.

Figuring a bogey 4 was a reasonable result, Snedeker watched his ball disappear into the hole for a deuce.

"I was more nervous on that shot than I was all day because I knew if I messed it up, people were going to have a field day with me," Snedeker said.

[Tiger_61]

On Armstrong Cable in Pittsburgh - no HD for CBS? I thought CBS was suppose to have the games in HD???

[OggideM]

not in HD here on KDKA either.

ridiculous

[Tiger_61]

Never mind - someone at Armstrong must have read my post - it just now switched over

[OggideM]

kicked on about 338 on kdka

*whew*

[Ken H]

Round three in HD is up on the CBS digital television network. As usual, looks and sounds great. WWJ-DT CBS Detroit OTA.

[Berk32]

Originally Posted by Tiger_61

Never mind - someone at Armstrong must have read my post - it just now switched over

um...

its much more likely the fault of your local CBS affiliate.

[Student of A/V]

Looks fantastic on my DirecTV HR-21, DNS West Coast feed via my Pioneer 5080HD Kuro.

[XCgeoff]

Weekend broadcast quality is terrific. I love that they don't have any network logos or anything cluttering my screen - just pure, unadulterated golf. I'm watching on D* channel 707 and I think it looks a little better than the local CBS affiliate. I wonder if it is due to the bandwidth being consumed by the local sub-channels.

[Mike4HDTV]

Watching on D*. PQ looks great. The DD5.1 sounds great.

[TallGuy]

I thought there would be a thread or a mention here about the extra HD channels for The Masters that D* has on 706-710. I'm just seeing them for the first time so don't have any analysis yet, but it's great to have options as to what you want to see. From the main mix screen on 706 with the leaderboard and the 4 pictures, you can arrow around and select the channel you want to jump to. Very cool.

[jdspencer]

The Master's Mix channels and the interactive feature is getting a work out here. I used the Amen corner feed when Tiger was going through. The PQ is looking good.

I'd like to see a Mix channel just have the four screens without the leaderboard. Then with a larger screen TV you could just leave it there and switch around for the audio.

[__Josh125__]

Watching it on Houston Comcast and I must admit, it looks darn good. Oddly enough, KHOU just dropped down to SD for some reason.

I couldn't agree more, this is the way HD is meant to be. No screen bugs mucking up the presentation!

[TallGuy]

The highlights channel 708 is perfect for me, just sitting down now to watch mid-round, and wanting to see Tiger's shots and any other important ones from the other schmoes.

[TallGuy]

Originally Posted by jdspencer

The Master's Mix channels and the interactive feature is getting a work out here. I used the Amen corner feed when Tiger was going through. The PQ is looking good.

I'd like to see a Mix channel just have the four screens without the leaderboard. Then with a larger screen TV you could just leave it there and switch around for the audio.

Nice! I hadn't realized you could stay on the mix channel and choose your audio from any of the 4 screens. I like seeing the leaderboard too. It probably is better on a 65" HDTV than say a 27-37". They could have used a little smaller margins on all 4 sides to make the video larger.

Looks like the 5.1 is only on the main channel, 707, not on the others.

Might as well list them out:

DirecTV extra Masters coverage in HD - probably MPEG4 boxes only:
706 Masters Mix - leaderboard plus other 4 channels in windows, choose your audio
707 CBS-HD coverage, DD5.1
708 Today's highlights
709 Amen Corner
710 Holes 15 & 16

[jdspencer]

Not that it really matters, but there are SD versions of these as well, chs 701-705.

[snowcat]

I thought the coverage was very well done by CBS. Of course it helps when my favorite golfer, Nashville local boy Snedeker, was in first or second place for most of the day.

Dynamite, Dynamite, when Vandy starts to fight!

[TallGuy]

oops, there was a thread about the new D* channels: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1016720

[John Schneider]

Anybody else having audio problems? (massive dropouts-every 10-20 seconds, 3-4 second dropouts)

I'm watching the D* CBS LA feed (channel 2). It got so bad, I had to go into the settings on my box (20-700) and turn the DD audio off. -Better, the dropouts were far less frequent and shorter, but still annoying.

Just saw the info on the 700 feeds - I'll check them out this afternoon.

[John Mason]

Wow, 60 HD cameras. Wonder if the studio cameras are the only ones with big higher-MTF box-type lenses? These, on many golf HD setups (crane or similar mounts), seem to deliver the best images. Saturday's mostly overcast skies really diminished the crispness of 1080i and it might be same today. The poor light and reduced contrast also made fair comparisons of 720p (weekday) vs. 1080i (weekend) delivery unsuitable--although one of those slow pans of nothing but intermediate-rough-length grass blades yesterday seemed to emphasize 1080i's boosted effective resolution. -- John

[JohnMc]

Originally Posted by John Mason

Wow, 60 HD cameras. Wonder if the studio cameras are the only ones with big higher-MTF box-type lenses? These, on many golf HD setups (crane or similar mounts), seem to deliver the best images. Saturday's mostly overcast skies really diminished the crispness of 1080i and it might be same today. The poor light and reduced contrast also made fair comparisons of 720p (weekday) vs. 1080i (weekend) delivery unsuitable--although one of those slow pans of nothing but intermediate-rough-length grass blades yesterday seemed to emphasize 1080i's boosted effective resolution. -- John

Rest assured that every camera and lens is the best available for its particular application.

[MeCurious]

This has got to be the best HD presentation I have seen on my big 60" TV so far. No bugs cluttering the screen. Not even a station billboard in the corner. The colors are excellent. Crisp, smooth images. Nothing jumping up on the screen to remind me what I already know I'm watching. And only 4 minutes of commercials in the entire hour. I had to put my remote down and just watch. It's been a joy. I can't wait until the final round starts. I'm a Tiger fan. I hope he can make up 6 shots in one day. I couldn't ask for a better setup for a final round. The best picture presentation on one of the best events of the year. I wish there was a way I could tell CBS what a good job they are doing. I would like more please.

[homcom]

Originally Posted by MeCurious

I wish there was a way I could tell CBS what a good job they are doing.

You just did, they read this board.

[Steve_Smith]

Is this my affiliate or is there no HD right now???

[Steve_Smith]

There it is...

[URFloorMatt]

I figure with all the AVSers that despise on-screen graphics during live sporting events, this is a question worth asking: What are your thoughts on that IBM commercial that's been running during the Masters with real time graphics smattered all over the screen?

[Mike4HDTV]

I liked that IBM commercial. I can't stand all of the other IBM commercials.

[scb175]

I wasn't too happy today when I got home from work.

I have dish network, and live in Corry PA. I watched the Masters in HD on ESPN. I was expecting big things on cbs. When I got home, it wasn't even in HD. Why would they do this?

In fact, I haven't seen any local channel broadcast in HD. Maybe something with Dish Network isn't setup correctly in my area???

[snowcat]

Originally Posted by scb175

I wasn't too happy today when I got home from work.

I have dish network, and live in Corry PA. I watched the Masters in HD on ESPN. I was expecting big things on cbs. When I got home, it wasn't even in HD. Why would they do this?

In fact, I haven't seen any local channel broadcast in HD. Maybe something with Dish Network isn't setup correctly in my area???

Dish doesn't have HD locals in every market (neither does DirecTv). If not, you can hook up an antenna to your Dish HD receiver and try to pick up the local OTA HD stations for your area.

[sneals2000]

Originally Posted by JohnMc

Rest assured that every camera and lens is the best available for its particular application.

Yep - large box lenses are good for static mounted positions that need very high zoom ratios (and because they have much more powerful drive mechanisms they are able to move from maximum to minimum angle very quickly - no mean feat when you are whizzing large bits of glass around!)

However for handheld cameras you usually need wide angle lenses with quite low zoom ratios for handheld use (and need to be quite close to your subject), because if you go too tight, a narrow lens angle will give you more wobble.

Horses for courses.

Image quality isn't only about resolution after all - it is about the viewpoint you can give people as well. Whilst it would be possible to cover events entirely with big fixed cameras with box lenses, having steadicams, jibs, and handhelds with smaller lenses but much more interesting shots (and movement) can add much to production.

In Cricket coverage we have cameras (often two - a wide and a tight) in the stumps that are the three vertical bits of wood behind the batsmen. These cameras are tiny, and noticably poorer quality, but they give you a viewpoint that would be impossible with a full-size camera.

Similarly, the BBC radio steadicam on a Segway tracking camera used at the Open (aka British Open) provides a great shot that wouldn't really be possible using other techniques.