HD syndication ... more on the way - Page 9  

Damn good question. Is it that Disney doesn't want to admit that 720p was not the way to go for OTA and is forcing 1080i stations to bump up the video? I wish I knew the real reason for not feeding it in 1080i. Going from 1080i to 720p, IMHO, is a better way to convert.

Since Disney is producing the new syndicated series, Legend of the Seeker, I'm speculating that it too will be fed in 720p


Yep, since Lost is being released in 1080/24p. While they can ram 720p down the throats of stations airing the show, I suspect releasing Blu-ray in 720p would result in a huge backlash.

Oh. Since this thread is about syndication, we assumed that you were listing the syndicated format.

Lost and DH are being fed 1080i

Then to quote an old SNL figure, regarding my posts about Disney and 720p:

NEVERMIND!

Ah - I read your list as covering the syndication format.

Ken H is new at this but he'll catch on

Remember that Disney*ABC Domestic is what used to be Buena Vista and Touchstone. They are under the same parent, but have their own path that doesn't mean they do what ABC does.

Also, an argument can be made that it is easier to cross-convert 720p to 1080i. No de-interlacing.

I want to know were all episodes of House in HD? Because yesterday I saw that it was beginning its weekend syndication on the local Fox affiliate. But they were showing it in SD.

WUTB showed Desperate Housewives in HD but House was in SD immediately after it.

My bad.

KGMB Honolulu airs CSI:Miami, CSI:NY, Lost and Desparate Housewives in HD, House was SD.

Speaking of House, anybody else see that different opening theme song on Sunday night's show? The title sequence and visuals looked the same, just the theme was different.

It might have been because it was the pilot. But I'm just guessing though since I have seen the pilot since it first aired.

I also noticed that Monk just started it weekend syndication also. Is it in HD also? I haven't got a chance to see it yet since my local NBC station shows it at 1:30 in the morning.

Don't forget that the first weekend in November the new first-run syndicated drama hits your local screens.

Head on over to http://www.legendoftheseeker.com/ to see if your local station is airing the series.

After years and years of no first-run syndicated dramas, history is being made. Not only is a first-run syndicated drama hitting the local airwaves, it will be in HD (check local listings, or call the station to see if your station will be able to air it in HD).

XETV syndicates House on Saturdays at 9PM. A rep says maybe next year for HD. Maybe it is HD but they don't have the right equipment. Gary Stigall the fairly reliable head of engineering says that it's SD only.

KSWB will air it since I saw an promo for it while watching MadTV. However they probably should upgrade their syndication equipment. They air 2 1/2 men in SD though KTLA airs it in HD. Hopefully they can get some HD syndication equipment soon.

The 700 Club is in HD on WBFF.

...and with that show, the picture quality should be impeccable....

Actually, it looks pretty good. They're using Sony 1400 cameras and a decent bit rate with MPEG 4 transmission on the bird.

Yep, know that. Their analog transponder on G16/17 has been rebranded to the new name. Don't know why they are keeping the analog transponder, since the U.S. syndicated programming is sent via CBS Pathfire and HD stuff goes out digital. I just don't keep an eye on the analog transponder anymore.


While that may be true, bumping up isn't as good and bumping down (IMHO). For ABC network 720p air masters, AFAIK they are derived from 1080/24p (OK, 1080/23.97psf) source. No de-interlacing there either. But, the affiliates that air 1080i fed syndicated material as 720p do have to de-interlace.

rotflmao!

I watched the "Making of a Legend" special for the series (hosted by Lucy Lawless) and it is looking good.

While the series is in HD, the audio is NOT in DD5.1. Hell, the show isn't even fed to the stations in DD2.0, it is fed MPEG-1 layer II (Dolby Surround).

Things might look good for now without much motion, but that could change when all hell breaks loose.

LITERALLY!.. At that point in time I certainly won't be watching TV..

It looks like "Seeker" is on our CW affiliate, WBNX/55.

WBNX does CW in HD, and has a decent signal...but I'm pretty sure they don't have the equipment to record syndicated HD yet. My bet is "no" on the HD part here, at least at the start.

CW55 also has Desperate Housewives, Raymond and Lost. All are available in HD, but are not shown in HD. Only WEWS and WKYC can currently record HD. But I'd wager that WBNX is not that far behind. And after that I'd say WAKC, WNEO, WVIZ, WQHS, WOAC, WDLI will have HD recording before WOIO/WUAB even broadcast in color!

While the audio for the "Making of" special was only stereo, the actual series will have 5.1 audio sent as Dolby E.

BTW, MPEG-1 audio is preferable to DD when being fed to be recorded and re-encoded at the local station. It will be of better quality as AC-3 audio is really best for only one encode-decode cycle due to its lossy nature.

That's why I said "for now"...I don't remember if I brought it up in the Cleveland thread, but WBNX actually answered an E-Mail I sent them about it.


Sounds like they're on the case.

ABC uses 640K 3/2L AC3 and it sounds OK to me. That will change when they go to their new MPEG4 distribution. MPEG-1 audio - which layer? 2 (aka Musicam)? I don't know if MPEG2 sounds significantly better than 2/0 AC3 at decent bit rates - 320k+. If the audio is 5.1 then AC3, preferably at a high bit rate like 640k, is much better than using multiple MPEG2 stereo streams. The individual MPEG2 stereo streams could sound better but inter-channel timing is an issue (NBC).