Two & Half Men - Syndicated in HD

[CycloneGT]

Someone in the DC forum pointed out yesterday that Two and a Half-Men is in HDTV on our local CW affiliate. So sure enough I had to check it out tonight (they air at 7pm & 11pm) and it was in HDTV for the 11pm broadcast. I had missed the earlier one, but its said to be in HDTV also.

This is the first time besides Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune that I have seen a syndicated show in HD. Sure there was a Billy Graham special once in a while, but this is more significant. Imagine how many more hours of HD we will have once this takes off? Bernie Mac, Raymond, King of Queens? etc.. It will be great.

Maybe that long rumored Seinfeld in HD will finally actually happen. Star Trek too!

[coug7669]

link http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...2#post11209322

[Lucid504]

Yeah well two and a half men out here in st louis isnt in hd on the local cw.

[hdtvjunkie247]

I'll have to check WPIX later at either 7:00 p.m. or 11:30 p.m. to see if they're showing it in HD.

[McDonoughDawg]

In Atlanta, we have some joke of a station called Woopah, and it's not in HD there either. They even put "grey bars" up, when all other stations use black. Unwatchable in my opinion.

[Daryl L]

It was in HD DD2.0 on WRAZ-DT 50.1 FOX out of Raleigh NC (250 TWC Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville NC). I thought that was cool. The show was not produced in DD5.1 so don't expect it. If you get it in DD5.1 then your local station is either upmixing it to pseudo/faux dd5.1 or sending dd L/R stereo over a dd5.1 signal.

[jpr281]

do soaps count as syndicated shows? i'm pretty sure i've seen at least one in HD (WCBS)

[Marcus Carr]

Originally Posted by jpr281

do soaps count as syndicated shows? i'm pretty sure i've seen at least one in HD (WCBS)

The Young and the Restless is in HD and is not syndicated.

[oblomov724]

It's in HD on the CW in Miami as well.

[ENDContra]

Originally Posted by Daryl L

It was in HD DD2.0 on WRAZ-DT 50.1 FOX out of Raleigh NC (250 TWC Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville NC). I thought that was cool. The show was not produced in DD5.1 so don't expect it.

Awesome...wondered if they would since they started airing non-live/non-network HD with NC Wanted a few months ago. Now if only The King of Queens was made available in HD or the HD transfers of Seinfeld.

[bigglare]

Oh snap! in Albuquerque we just have the sd version. I have to call and ask our CW team to step up and get the hd. I love this show and only watch it in hd. Its been killing me this week watching in SD.

[Daryl L]

Originally Posted by ENDContra

Awesome...wondered if they would since they started airing non-live/non-network HD with NC Wanted a few months ago. Now if only The King of Queens was made available in HD or the HD transfers of Seinfeld.

King of Queens was on after both episodes Two and a Half Men but I didn't watch King of Queens so no idea if they were HD also or not.

[Meinken]

Originally Posted by McDonoughDawg

In Atlanta, we have some joke of a station called Woopah, and it's not in HD there either. They even put "grey bars" up, when all other stations use black. Unwatchable in my opinion.

I wrote to WUPA and asked if they would be putting this out in HD anytime soon. I got back an email from their chief engineer...."Probably not. We do not have an HD playout server for this yet. It will
quite likely be 2nd quarter next year before we get that capability."

So not gonna happen in Atlanta very soon..

[URFloorMatt]

Only some seasons of The King of Queens are in HD, so I'd be surprised if anyone bothered with syndicating it in HD.

[TravelFan1]

Originally Posted by hdtvjunkie247

I'll have to check WPIX later at either 7:00 p.m. or 11:30 p.m. to see if they're showing it in HD.

junkie, I am watching right now and it is indeed in HD.

[Zissou]

I've seen KofQ in HD and Raymond as well in syndication here in Toronto.

[goldrich]

In the Indianapolis area Two & A Half Men is in HD via WTTV-DT as well as translator station WTTK-DT, Kokomo, IN.

Steve

[CJPC]

Not 100% sure if this was mentioned, but im nearly 99% sure its just being passed through off the CW network feed, as many stations without the capability to "archive" HD are well, showing this in HD.

[videojanitor]

The show is being delivered exclusively by Pathfire, and since they (Pathfire) don't currently have a client that can play HD content, stations that want the HD version must have a way to copy the HD file from the Pathfire server to their air playback server.

Many of the stations named in this thread are CW stations, owned by Tribune. I believe that all the Tribune stations that carry this show are doing so in HD.

[michaelk]

for us ignorant folks- whats pathfire?

[65T500]

How can I tell if its actually being shown in HD when I am watching?

[CycloneGT]

Usually the appearance gives it away.

But I guess if you station runs enough sub-channels, it could be hard to tell. I would guess that you would want to see if it is full screen (ie 16x9) like other CW HD programming, or is it 4:3 like some other SD program that your CW station is sure to show.

[videojanitor]

Originally Posted by michaelk

for us ignorant folks- whats pathfire?

Pathfire is a file-based distribution system that is used by the majority of syndicators to get their programming to TV stations.

In years past, everyone used real-time satellite feeds -- that is, the program was sent at a specific time, and all the stations had to record it for later playback. With Pathfire, the programming is sent as files and reside on a server at each station -- the station then transfers the shows to their air playout system.

The method for that varies. If they are going to play it back from videotape, they have to play the file in real-time and record it onto tape. Same thing if they plan to play from a video server, unless they have additional hardware/software that can take the Pathfire files and convert them to the format their server needs (and if their server supports receiving files over a network).

With the HD shows, the "real-time" playback option is not available (yet), so the station MUST have a server that can accept content delivered as files.

[HDMe2]

I just posted in the OTA section for Raleigh, NC about this as I just noticed on our FOX affiliate this week the 2-and-a-half-men in HD syndicated episodes.

Unfortunately for me I don't care for this show.. but I was pleasantly surprised to see it in HD, meaning we have another local station (Our ABC affiliate shows Wheel & Jeopardy) carrying syndicated HD content.

[CJPC]

I've got one simple followup question. The National CW feed, are they showing two and a half men over the feed before the primetime lineup block. As in they are taking it from syndication sources, and putting it into the network feed.

[coug7669]

Originally Posted by videojanitor

Pathfire is a file-based distribution system that is used by the majority of syndicators to get their programming to TV stations.

In years past, everyone used real-time satellite feeds -- that is, the program was sent at a specific time, and all the stations had to record it for later playback. With Pathfire, the programming is sent as files and reside on a server at each station -- the station then transfers the shows to their air playout system.

The method for that varies. If they are going to play it back from videotape, they have to play the file in real-time and record it onto tape. Same thing if they plan to play from a video server, unless they have additional hardware/software that can take the Pathfire files and convert them to the format their server needs (and if their server supports receiving files over a network).

With the HD shows, the "real-time" playback option is not available (yet), so the station MUST have a server that can accept content delivered as files.

I have a question concerning the audio of 2.5 men in hd. Does the pathfire transmission add any audio artifacts to the stream? I watched the local presentation via CW 39 in houston that had a known audio sound similar to hum on some episodes(early). It was the first day of transmission and there were some problems including video artifacts also. My local runs a secondary channel but it does not affect the primary channel as they "massage" the secondary(2.0Mbps).I bring this up because I believe the Simpson's are transmitted via the analog pathfire for its syndicated episodes. The Simpson's syndicated shows are some of the worst presentations that i see. Are the Simpson's presentations due to the pathfire or does the pathfire not have access to better prints?

[videojanitor]

Originally Posted by coug7669

Does the pathfire transmission add any audio artifacts to the stream? [...] I bring this up because I believe the Simpson's are transmitted via the analog pathfire for its syndicated episodes. The Simpson's syndicated shows are some of the worst presentations that i see. Are the Simpson's presentations due to the pathfire or does the pathfire not have access to better prints?

I can't say that I have ever heard any audio artifacts that could be blamed on Pathfire. I have heard some bad audio come through, but it is always from the same distributor (who shall remain nameless), so I'm sure that is what they are providing to Pathfire for delivery. Pathfire doesn't have access to any "prints" or other materials -- they are merely a delivery "pipe."

Are you sure that the syndicated Simpsons episodes were/are sent via Pathfire? That doesn't sound right to me, as that is a 20th Century Fox product, and that's the only large studio that is NOT using Pathfire -- they have always sent their material (to this day) via analog C-Band satellite. I totally agree that those episodes look horrible -- totally unwatchable -- but that's a problem that was caused when they edited the episodes for syndication. For whatever reason, they ended up looking like VHS. Maybe worse.

[videojanitor]

Originally Posted by CJPC

I've got one simple followup question. The National CW feed, are they showing two and a half men over the feed before the primetime lineup block. As in they are taking it from syndication sources, and putting it into the network feed.

I can't see the CW feed, but I would kind of doubt it, as they don't have the rights to distribute the show.

[Thomas Desmond]

Originally Posted by videojanitor

Are you sure that the syndicated Simpsons episodes were/are sent via Pathfire? That doesn't sound right to me, as that is a 20th Century Fox product, and that's the only large studio that is NOT using Pathfire -- they have always sent their material (to this day) via analog C-Band satellite. I totally agree that those episodes look horrible -- totally unwatchable -- but that's a problem that was caused when they edited the episodes for syndication. For whatever reason, they ended up looking like VHS. Maybe worse.

I'm under the impression that "The Simpsons" is a cash show with no barter advertising content. Consequently, there is no need to send a fresh feed of the show every day, and most likely the stations that air it play it back from recordings libraried at the station.

Even aside from the issues regarding the way Fox distributes syndicated content, I would think that Pathfire is most likely not used for libraried cash programs. Can anyone in the industry confirm (or correct) those assumptions?

[TVOD]

Originally Posted by videojanitor

I can't say that I have ever heard any audio artifacts that could be blamed on Pathfire. I have heard some bad audio come through, but it is always from the same distributor (who shall remain nameless), so I'm sure that is what they are providing to Pathfire for delivery.

Not all Pathfire is created equally