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2008 Honda Classic Golf on NBC HD

post #1 of 26
2/29/08 at 4:29pm
Thread Starter 
I just watched the second round of the Honda Classic on VSGOLF, and ALL of the cameras were HD Could nbc have turned the corner, and will now do golf with all HD cameras?

Maybe it is just because of this course layout that they are not using that many hand held wireless cameras? But the hand held ones they were using today were HD. This is a very promising development. Time will tell if this is the new product for nbc.

Anyone else notice this?
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post #2 of 26
2/29/08 at 7:12pm
What you saw is correct, the NBC handhelds were HD along with the hard cameras. Sony HDC-1500s are being used with Total RFs new HD gear linking the remote signals back to the production trucks.
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post #3 of 26
2/29/08 at 7:24pm
I thought I noticed that yesterday. Could this portend good news for the TPC and the U.S. Open, if not the remainder of NBC's golf coverage?
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post #4 of 26
2/29/08 at 7:49pm
I have watched very little of this so far, but I am about to go watch some now. If true all I can say is, A.F.T.
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post #5 of 26
2/29/08 at 8:20pm
OMG...this would be enormous news if true. I'd love to see Sawgrass in all HD.
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post #6 of 26
2/29/08 at 8:28pm
I just flipped over, appears to just be interviews...
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post #7 of 26
2/29/08 at 8:47pm
Way to go NBC! We hope that it stays this way from now on. It looked good but still not as good as the CBS coverage. Better late than never!
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post #8 of 26
3/1/08 at 7:28am
The handheld shots were definitely better then what we got from the Match Play. Didn't look as good as CBS, but was a great improvement for NBC. Looking forward to todays airing on NBC for a true comparison.
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post #9 of 26
3/1/08 at 12:08pm
So far today, no HD at all in Detroit, WDIV-DT OTA.
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post #10 of 26
3/1/08 at 12:42pm
HD on WBAL in Baltimore.
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post #11 of 26
3/1/08 at 12:54pm
'Technical problems' in Detroit.
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post #12 of 26
3/1/08 at 4:24pm
Definitely a good start for NBC Sports. I gotta admit, when I first saw this posted, I was wondering if it would be yet another complaint about the picture reverting to a low quality SD when there's a close up on the athlete.
Now it's time for NBC to improve on their picture and sound quality.
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post #13 of 26
3/1/08 at 7:27pm
Thank you NBC. Very happy with today's telecast. The only shot I saw that looked SD widescreen was the one behind Brent Quigley when he holed out from the fairway bunker. We should all send NBC a thank you since we sent them nasty grams for their previous coverage. A great golf season now awaits since NBC has stepped up to the plate.
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post #14 of 26
3/2/08 at 12:33pm
The surrounds are absolutely dead despite the receiver showing 5.1.

They came alive during the Tiger woods commercial so i know that 5.1 is being passed.
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post #15 of 26
3/2/08 at 12:52pm
Finally getting HD in Detroit today, looks very good, meaning no SD, at least so far.
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post #16 of 26
3/2/08 at 12:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken H View Post

Finally getting HD in Detroit today, looks very good, meaning no SD, at least so far.

Agreed. Nice to not see blurry shots! The TPC at Sawgrass should look great in HD.
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post #17 of 26
3/2/08 at 1:10pm
The picture looks great on the handheld teebox cameras. When camera is following a long shot in the air and it comes down there is a little distortion in the grass with the camera movement and I think it is worse on NBC than the CBS golf events. I see similar effects on NBC's football broadcasts vs CBS and I assume it is due to NBC's HD lower bitrate. It's a huge improvement vs the previous NBC broadcasts and I think that the audio isn't as out of sync as it was during the match play broadcasts last weekend.
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post #18 of 26
3/2/08 at 1:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Star56 View Post

The surrounds are absolutely dead despite the receiver showing 5.1.

They came alive during the Tiger woods commercial so i know that 5.1 is being passed.

The mix from the event is stereo, as is customary for NBC golf. Due to the age of NBC's HD distribution system, they must send 5.1 metadata if they want to air any 5.1 at all. It's more foolproof for NBC to keep it in 5.1 (and not switch to stereo), so they don't screw things up during a 5.1-mixed event. In addition, some commercials are in 5.1, and so NBC can play those in native audio from their control room.

NBC must have only upgraded the RF equipment on one of their HD trucks. The truck for the Honda Classic may be different from that of the WGC Match Play, due to the distance between the two events.

Some of the camera shots (including from the blimp) have a harsh yellow cast, especially to the sky. I especially noted it when Els was walking to the next tee just a few moments ago.

Watching OTA/WRC-DT/DC
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post #19 of 26
3/2/08 at 3:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikemikeb View Post

The mix from the event is stereo, as is customary for NBC golf. Due to the age of NBC's HD distribution system, they must send 5.1 metadata if they want to air any 5.1 at all. It's more foolproof for NBC to keep it in 5.1 (and not switch to stereo), so they don't screw things up during a 5.1-mixed event. In addition, some commercials are in 5.1, and so NBC can play those in native audio from their control room.

NBC must have only upgraded the RF equipment on one of their HD trucks. The truck for the Honda Classic may be different from that of the WGC Match Play, due to the distance between the two events.

Some of the camera shots (including from the blimp) have a harsh yellow cast, especially to the sky. I especially noted it when Els was walking to the next tee just a few moments ago.

Watching OTA/WRC-DT/DC

Thanks for the audio info.

I also noticed the bizzare yellow cast on some shots. Many of the Els shots seemed tinged with this strange yellow.
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post #20 of 26
3/2/08 at 4:11pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Star56 View Post

Agreed. Nice to not see blurry shots! The TPC at Sawgrass should look great in HD.

Thanks to NBC for finally getting the entire golf telecast in HD. What an improvement. The difference really showed when they replayed Boo Weekley missing that 3' putt from last year in glorious widescreen SD..man that was a bad picture.

And Sawgrass will look stunning in all HD.

Thanks again NBC.
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post #21 of 26
3/2/08 at 4:25pm
Finally, 100% HD for NBC golf, thank you.
Can we count on 100% HD Olympics?
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post #22 of 26
3/2/08 at 6:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HDTV888 View Post

Finally, 100% HD for NBC golf, thank you.
Can we count on 100% HD Olympics?

The Beijing Olympics' video vendor is a Chinese company, not NBC, and yes, it will be 100% 1080i HD.
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post #23 of 26
3/4/08 at 7:12am
Article from the Sports Video Group

Quote:


Wireless HD makes PGA debut for NBC Sports
By Ken Kerschbaumer

NBC Sports officially jumped into wireless HD coverage of its PGA events this past weekend with Total RF providing six wireless HD systems during The Honda Classic held at the PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.

Total RF did a spectacular job switching us over to HD RF on all our golf coverage, says Ken Goss, NBC Sports vice president, operations. Expect future NBC Sports events like horse racing to also take advantage of the technology.

Two of the systems were used on handheld Sony HDC 1500 multi-purpose cameras while four others were used on fixed cameras.

We knew from what we did last year in SD that we could go HD with reasonably good results this year, says Stephen Gansky, president of Total RF. The newest RF Central/Gigawave HD RF camera links provided the backbone for the system's success along with the new cameras. Gansky says the Sony cameras ensured the images passing into the RF camera links were of the highest quality.

The 1500 is a significantly newer camera and you can tell the difference vs. the Sony 950, he explains.

The transmission bit rate was 18 Mbps. New technology helped drive signal gain high enough to ensure the small 3dB hit for going wireless didn't impact signal quality. And Gansky says further improvements in the antenna and fiber infrastructure will further improve the noise floor and gain situation.

MPEG4 is another technology that could improve wireless HD. It's maybe two years away for wireless RF but it will provide significantly higher bit rates in less bandwidth, says Gansky. The much bigger pipe means we can experiment with making the signal even more robust.

Expect more wireless HD to pop up as NBC's PGA coverage progresses. The Players Championship will feature 13 cameras while the U.S. Open and Ryder Cup should build up to 18 RF cameras.

We waited for wireless HD to be spot on before deploying it, says Goss.


© Copyright 2006-2007 sportsvideogroup
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post #24 of 26
3/4/08 at 7:37am
Thank god, NBC finally got the memo
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post #25 of 26
3/4/08 at 7:54am
Quote:


We waited for wireless HD to be spot on before deploying it, says Goss.

It was "spot on" for CBS over a year ago. Better late then never NBC, I'm glad you finally joined the party. It will make watching golf on NBC much more enjoyable.
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post #26 of 26
3/4/08 at 8:10am
My local NBC hd was out this Sunday. How much did it cut down on the upconvert crap??
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