A HD First: Miss USA in HD 4/11/2008 on NBC!

Source ?

HD on the NBC.com schedule.

http://www.nbc.com/Schedule/?tz=ET

But not in my Comcast guide.

Nah... they don't want you counting the number of plastic surgeries the contestants had. (j/k)

So, it's at 9pm/8 central (for me)?

Beautiful!!!

Anyone else watching in D/FW OTA on KXAS? Seems horribly pixelated on motion shots. (Hope it's the feed and not my set )

lot of macro blocking but whateva

Did anyone just see Tennessee elbow Mississippi in the boob? haha!

Strobes & low bit rate transmission = blocking.

This is in the top 10 of the the worst HD presentations I have ever seen. I have had HD since 1999 and this is pitiful.

Thanks for the feedback. I feel better now...

The TOP 5 women are really not that pretty, IMO.

omg

hope the silicone sac didnt break!

ROFL

Unfortunately, none of the beauties I picked were in the top 5 at all!

I have a feeling the title will goto Oklahoma!

that's what I was thinking too, but we're wrong

it's gotta be Mississippi now

No I think it's Texas




!!!!!

ugh I hate this pc crap

She has Clearly a BETTER Resume!

WGRZ in Buffalo didn't flip the HD switch. I have KING in Seattle also, let's hope they didn't forget.

They sure like to say "actually" a lot. Tons of macroblocking on KKCO in Grand Junction. It looks like widescreen YouTube.

I guess it's good we all don't agree on beauty, or we would all be chasing the same women. I thought this was perhaps the best final five in Miss USA history. Of course, that is if you like ethnic/exotic beauty. I thought both Miss New Jersey and Miss Mississippi were totally stunning, and the winner, Miss Texas, was incredibly gorgeous although she came off a bit smug to me. Actually, seems to be a trend in beauty pageants the last few years to select multiracial beauties. Anyone notice that Miss New Jersey is only 5'5" and Miss Mississippi is only 5'4"? Very unusual for the beauty contests. By way of example, Latin beauty Roselyn Sanchez stated that, "I’m 5’5” and you have to be at least 5’8” to be Miss Puerto Rico"....so she entered and won the Miss Puerto Rico Petite contest, and a year later, she won the international title of Miss America Petite.

Regarding the negative comments on the HD quality, I initially thought that also as the first few minutes had a lot of macro blocking, but after that the HD quality was excellent. Great, vivid, super close-ups of the final five when they posed before the judges. They must have been instructed how to pose because they all turned their face to give the viewer a great look at their eyes before they left center stage.

I'm actually surprised to see that this many people on AVS watch this.

I'm sorry but, a few days ago I just burst out laughing when I saw an ad for this because the ad did not focus on the beauty and glamor of the pageant but rather the goofs (it show that dumb blond speech from last year and other ladies slipping and falling). So, Miss USA has fallen so low that they have to advertise the goofs.

What bothered me the most was the placement of the NBC logo (with promo for "Biggest Loser Finale" emblazoned above the Olympic rings), inside what would be the 4:3 zone on the left. How obtrusive can you get?

Consequently, the girls kept "walking right through the logo" (especially noticeable during the swimsuit competition when you really were trying to look at them) since that 4:3-safe framing was also how they placed camera shots. In other words, main content was never outside the 4:3 frame, and when the subject was on the left they were literally right over the logo.

To make it even worse, there was a large "LIVE" on the top part of the screen above the NBC logo, also within 4:3-safe frame.

So both of this horrible artifacts were always in our immediate field of vision as we looked at something in the middle of the screen, and were VERY VERY OBVIOUS!

Ridiculous, not to move bug and LIVE graphics far to the left in the 16:9 area for 16:9 viewers when producing a 16:9 version of a show.


All in all, I thought it looked like a "strip-off". Miss USA (owned by Trump) has always had a different type of contestant than Miss America, one able to compete in Miss Universe with beauty from outside of the US, which tends to be darker (i.e. non-blond) and taller and more gorgeous and elegant. But this collection of 51 girls looked particularly suited to being in a strip club, if you asked me... between hair, makeup, and clothing.

Furthermore, the whole production quality of this show is absolutely cheesy, what with rock music (live or recorded) chosen specifically for a beat which allows for appropriate strutting and preening (faux furs, whipped off suddenly??). Couldn't stop thinking of Ashley Dupre who would have been quite at home up there.

Terrible HD picture quality, lots of motion-blocking (especially from strobes), rapid-fire camera cuts and zooms that prevented you from seeing the entire person for more than 1/2 second, even when they were briefly standing still.

Of the final five I thought Oklahoma was going to take it, until she talked.

How did Florida get into the top 10?

All very disappointing, but a good way to waste some spare viewing time (thanks to DVR and FF/30-second-skip).

Surprised? Why?

I know for me, that one of the biggest reasons (if not THE) to watch HD is for beautiful women!

I know a lot of men feel the same way!

Miss Universe in HD?

It's in HD!!!!!


STUNNING!!!