ESPN's 'Pardon the Interruption' and 'Around the Horn' to go HD - Fall 2010! - Page 2

6:00-7:00 ET is not a West Coast repeat. That's only 3pm out here. A West Coast repeat would be something like 8pm EST, or 5pm West coast. I'm not home from work until after 5pm anyway, so I'd probably still have to record it.

I've kind of been envisioning in my mind that PTI might end up looking something like how ESPNNews looked (before Dish got cut from that in HD)... with better quality video BUT still in a 4:3 box with all their sidebar stuff still going so that we don't actually get 16x9 PTI.

Around the Horn I'm hoping will be different and not have the extraneous stuff on the sides like PTI needs.

I'm curious if the ATH remote feeds will be in HD. Hopefully so, since they mostly are at fixed locations... but it's possible those feeds could still be SD, though it would be strange since a lot of the show ends up being closeups of the different remote "contestants."

However it shakes out... I will be glad to have whatever higher quality presentation we get out of it... and it's a good sign that ESPN is behind these shows to get them upgraded to HD in any form.

The only issue for me is that I normally see these shows while I am at the gym.

There are a few possibilities I see:

1) Do it in letterbox like WSOP. A true 16:9 presentation would be the best way to maintain the existing look and feel of the program.

2) Do it like SportsCenter with the rundown. Rather than center cut the SD feed, right cut it to include the rundown (so the left half of the HD picture will be mostly dead space). To mitigate the appearance of dead space, they could frame the studio cameras for 16:9, as I think they do for anchor shots already on CNN. This will make the picture look more natural to HD viewers, while appearing perhaps a little zoomed to SD viewers (with cut off shoulders).

3) Re-organize the graphics to be more like ATH (or Dylan Ratigan on MSNBC): have the rundown horizontal across the bottom instead of in a column.

I don't see how they could do it like ESPNEWS used to because I don't think they're interested in running two separate graphics packages for HD and SD viewers. (I suspect that's why ESPNEWS no longer does it.)

Artist renderings of the new HD studios:

Cool looks like the Enterprise.

I just hope they tone down the lenz flares.

How did T.I. get on the ATH panel ?

I believe it's actually Lil Wayne, who was a guest last Spring. He won the showdown, too.

The sets reveal an alternate way to present the graphics while avoiding the 16:9 problem: Integrate the graphics into the set (into the digital screen on ATH and onto what appears to be a screen between and behind Kornheiser and Wilbon). The CNN approach.

The PTI guys look like they are on the transporter pad! Maybe they can beam in for the show

I'm kind of hoping that ATH takes advantage of going HD to also revamp their graphics so they can do some fancier stuff if they want with the split/4-way screens.

For PTI, maybe they could do the CNN hologram thing instead of the hanging TV screen for when Wilbon or someone else like LeBatard is on the show from a remote location

Wow.

Those look absolutely vomitrocious.

I really don't mind how it looks. I like it, why?

Because it's in HD!.

I just want all programs to be in HD, to be honest.


(You can actually see the headline in around the horn in the video feed from the columnists.)

I think those are just artist renderings. I seriously doubt that's how the show will actually look.

That PTI rendering looks like just about every new HD news set these days, with all the glass, piano-black and brushed aluminum/stainless steel.

Future trivia question/answer....ok maybe not but....

Q: Who won the last ATH in SD ?

A: Tim Cowlishaw beat Woody Paige.


Woody shouldve won....i think he has the most wins in the shows history.

As always, I watched the last show today in SD and they said goodbye to the studio and it appears even the video feeds from broadcasters will be in HD, I could be mistaken.

The way Tim Cowlishaw was saying "goodbye" to the SD signal and welcoming a new sharper HD signal in his 30 second of facetime.

That's what I've been wondering myself... if their remote location feeds would also be in HD. If so, that would be really nice.

If not, it can probably be covered up by the way they display them in the new HD broadcast... but it will be nice if everything is HD.

Monday should be interesting.

Don't hold your breath. Few of those locations are set up for HD. They're often affiliate stations, using either newsroom cameras (which may not be HD even if the studio cameras are) or portable ENG units.

ATH framing for 16:9. And also it's LIVE!

ESPN SD channel is 16:9.

I am watching Around the Horn now and is absolutely beautiful.

Everything in HD even the feeds from panelists.

Yea that artist rendering was WAYYYYY off.

Woody Paige: Now using HD chalk....classic.

What a waste of the screen for PTI. Could they get the graphics and fonts any larger?

And with ATH, about the bottom third of the screen is lost with ticker and graphics.

I think ESPN is getting worse at this rather than better.

My thoughts exactly... The text on the right is so large that it's distracting...

Blame 4:3 viewers. It's the price we pay for true 16:9.

"Letterbox safe" is obviously going to become a bigger and bigger thing now that a majority of viewers are 16:9 and forward thinking productions are willing to push a letterbox presentation, but so long as a substantial minority still view in 4:3, we're going to have to suffer with oversized graphics. I wonder how high HDTV penetration will have to be before we stop showing concern for the 4:3 viewer altogether?

This is a good trend for ESPN though. I'd love to see them go 16:9 for sports presentations. It seems like their sports boxes might already be letterbox safe.

Wow, that looks nasty..

OK....

Yo 4x3ers get with it....its 2010 c'mon peeps.

Do it "Like a G6" & go HD already....fushizzle my izzle.

Really don't have a problem with graphics overload on these talking heads shows. Especially when they are serving a functional purpose as they do on both of these programs. Thought they looked very good in HD and the remote shots on ATH in HD was great to see. I hope they can make that a mainstay despite the ever fluid cast.

Oh good god, these bars are way too big. The set itself is okay.

i missed it, does anyone have screencaps?

Engadget HD put up a little gallery.

http://hd.engadget.com/photos/pardon...he-horn-in-hd/

both Around The Horn and PTI looked amazing in HD...much better then any other ESPN HD show (including SportsCenter)...why does it look so much better for?...better quality HD cameras?...it looked stunning