Versus in HD?

I thought I heard Phil Ligget mention that Versus was broadcasting in high
definition, but on OLN Canada I'm only getting standard definition. Is HD only
available in the US, and Canada being a few years behind the times is still only
carrying it in SD?



J. Spaceman

Actually, nevermind. I see that Versus has a separate HD channel. Give OLN
Canada about 10 years, then they'll have an HD channel too.



J. Spaceman




Jason Spaceman wrote:

I thought I heard Phil Ligget mention that Versus was broadcasting in high
definition, but on OLN Canada I'm only getting standard definition. Is HD
only available in the US, and Canada being a few years behind the times is
still only carrying it in SD?



J. Spaceman

On Jul 4, 3:37*pm, Donald Munro wrote:
Jason Spaceman wrote:
I thought I heard Phil Ligget mention that Versus was broadcasting in
high definition, but on OLN Canada I'm only getting standard definition.

"Jason Spaceman" wrote in message
...
I thought I heard Phil Ligget mention that Versus was broadcasting in
high
definition, but on OLN Canada I'm only getting standard definition.
Is HD only
available in the US, and Canada being a few years behind the times is
still only
carrying it in SD?



J. Spaceman

VS is definitely feeding their contractors HD. Dishnet/Echostar finally
came out with an HD channel for VS, and the HD content is wonderful
compared to the heavily-compressed and artifacted SD we lived with
before. The first inkling that things were going to be better came with
the rebroadcasted stages from the past (Lance: The Look Back) which were
of far better quality than the DVDs (which were already better than what
you saw on TV).

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

In article ,
"Mike Jacoubowsky" wrote:

"Jason Spaceman" wrote in message
...
I thought I heard Phil Ligget mention that Versus was broadcasting in
high
definition, but on OLN Canada I'm only getting standard definition.
Is HD only
available in the US, and Canada being a few years behind the times is
still only
carrying it in SD?



J. Spaceman

VS is definitely feeding their contractors HD. Dishnet/Echostar finally
came out with an HD channel for VS, and the HD content is wonderful
compared to the heavily-compressed and artifacted SD we lived with
before. The first inkling that things were going to be better came with
the rebroadcasted stages from the past (Lance: The Look Back) which were
of far better quality than the DVDs (which were already better than what
you saw on TV).

OLN Canada does not use the "Versus" brand at this point. It also has
certain amounts of Canadian content not seen on the US channel. I
believe that it's a case of the channel operator licensing the brand and
some of the contract.

At least on my satellite service, OLN Canada doesn't have an HD channel.

--
Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/
"In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls."
"In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them."

On Jul 4, 12:43*pm, Jason Spaceman
wrote:
I thought I heard Phil Ligget mention that Versus was broadcasting in high
definition, but on OLN Canada I'm only getting standard definition. *Is HD only
available in the US, and Canada being a few years behind the times is still only
carrying it in SD?

J. Spaceman

On Comcast, yes it's in HD, but in another 'package' that I don't
have.

"P. Chisholm" wrote in message
...

On Comcast, yes it's in HD, but in another 'package' that I don't
have.

Dang! You mean you can't see the blackouts in high fidelity?

P. Chisholm wrote:
On Jul 4, 12:43 pm, Jason Spaceman
wrote:
I thought I heard Phil Ligget mention that Versus was broadcasting in high
definition, but on OLN Canada I'm only getting standard definition. Is HD only
available in the US, and Canada being a few years behind the times is still only
carrying it in SD?

J. Spaceman

On Comcast, yes it's in HD, but in another 'package' that I don't
have.

For anyone who's seen Versus Tour (or other racing) coverage in HD:

Is the on-road picture quality any good? I assumed that the
transmissions from the motos and the helicopters was low-def, so Versus
HD would just allow us to see low-def source video rebroadcast in hi-def
(which could be even worse). Then you're left with P&P's pores (and
Bobke's receding hairline) in high-def.

Seriously, though, was I wrong above? It's not too late for me to
upgrade my Comcast "package."

Mark J.

On Sun, 05 Jul 2009 18:24:00 -0700, "Mark J."
wrote:

Seriously, though, was I wrong above? It's not too late for me to
upgrade my Comcast "package."

Mark J.

The picture is pretty uniform HD, with no real drop off in quality. It
does mean that we will probably get pixilation more often under bad
conditions, but I can live with that.

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

On Jul 6, 3:38*am, wrote:


The picture is pretty uniform HD, with no real drop off in quality. It
does mean that we will probably get pixilation more often under bad
conditions, but I can live with that.

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

The on the road segments may be in 16x9 HD format size, but they are
definitely NOT in "high definition" (full 760P or 1080i resolution) .
You can tell this by looking at the foliage in the helicopter shots
which is little more than a series of green smudges. Faces of the
riders lose all detail. The very heavy pixelation during high action
sequences is another give away . The video compressor is working into
the red trying to fit the changing action into too small a pipe. Such
pixelation is by no means inevitable, it's just a symptom that VS. is
renting too little bandwidth and are cramming too much into it. Loss
of detail and pixelation is an inevitable result of this. BUT IT DOES
NOT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY. VS IS JUST CUTTING CORNERS. The cameras may
be shooting in true HD, but lack of adequate transmission bandwidth is
killing the high definition. This is the same thing that happens when
you try to shoe horn an HD video into a low bandwidth UTube picture.
It's not HD any more.

I believe this is because probably because the signal is being
heavily compressed for satellite relay that the effective resolution
is no better than "SD" standard definition analog. VS, probably
rents a transponder that can't handle full HD bandwidth. (CHEAP) The
screen ratio may be 16X9, but resolution isn't significantly better
than on an old analog TV during the road sequences.

Versus is is trying to hide this dumbing down by image manipulation.
Long shots show the bunch looking sharper because Versus is
apparently using a heavy "edge sharpening" filter on the receiving end
to give the illusion of higher detail. This works in static shots in
the booth, but IMO, on the road, this often looks worse. If you
have ever put too much "sharpenning" into a photo in a program like
Photoshop, you know what I mean. Some of VS 'HD" Stanley Cup games
really suffered from over sharpening.

If you watched VS "HD" coverage of the Spring Classics, you saw the
same poor video quality. Essentially a standard definition broadcast
in 16X9 format. I was hoping they would spend the extra $ for the
Tour to broadcast true HD, but apparently the bean counters won.

Zeno