Olympics

[Injuised]

The Olympics started last night with the womans soccer
nice picture too
Is this a downscaled HD picture or is it just SD???

[paulw]

The Olympics started last night with the womans soccer
nice picture too
Is this a downscaled HD picture or is it just SD???

I for one wasn't too impressed with things,

1. That crappy opening music. Why does TVNZ always seem to find royalty free music loops for their stuff. What about using the John Williams scores as they did from Atlanta or some Chinese music..
2. Welcome to China. 4x3 letterbox. Come on guys.
3. The fly over the event center. 16:9 but the low audio level commentry was coming out of the left speaker for most of it.
4. Back to more Welcome to China once again 4x3 letterbox.
5. The PQ. Looked like a Sky feed. At times a web cam could have done better..

I sure hope this is not a sign of things to come on TVNZ 1 in HD..

[Injuised]

Looked better than the rugby in SD on Sky , but then that wouldnt be hard

[wiredr]

i watched the nz v ch soccer on tv1 this morning on hd/ tvnz , sports extra and web stream and in that order they were best OK and watchable .it was also interesting that the quality of the movies on sky sd are improved when in hd . havnt been able to work out bit rate yet.

[kiwisteve]

The quality of the games will depend on many factors , inc the link back to NZ

[Digital]

The opening ceremony was amazing, a tad repetitive in my opinion though.

One thing I was pissed off about was that the TV Guide listed the opening ceremony to start at 11pm and finish at 2am so I set the DVD Recorder up. To my surprise when I watched it back this morning, the recording cut off half way through the countries walking out with the flags so I didn't even get to see New Zealand march out. It must have finished at 2:30am or something. I'm sure I'm not the only one who that would have pissed off.

Anyway, was the best opening ceremony I've seen yet. But so it should be at over 43 billion dollars worth lol.

[kiwisteve]

I have the whole lot on the HDD The commentator said early on it would be about 4 hours coverage so I
set the timer for much longer !! I didn't go by the TV Guide !!

[paulw]

It looked real great in HD. I did flick between analog, Sky and Sports Extra but compared to the HD feed they were crap. Surprising was how crap Sports Extra looked considering they were both from the same feed. Pity about the ads that TVNZ put in on their CH1 feed as when we went to bed after the team march in they were about 15 minutes behind the realk ceromany.

I showed my wife the diffrence and she agreed that the $400 spent on the HD STB was well worth it..

One down note. The equestrian was list as starting at 10.00am NZ time this morning but there was no feed on anything of the TV or online channels. I would have though as this was a meddle chance sport that it would be on.

[Apsattv]

As expected TVNZ put it on delay and made us stay up all night.

As someone said the Freeview sports Extra feed was 50 mins ahead of Tv1 ..

[Injuised]

freeview 50 mins ahead of Sky

[nzoliver]

I watched the opening ceromony and switched between SE and TV1. Similar quality but both wern't fantastic. :confused:

[paulw]

I watched the opening ceromony and switched between SE and TV1. Similar quality but both wern't fantastic. :confused:

I assume your talking about the TVNZ1 HD feed?? The HD feed was way better than the SE feed that looked like an internet feed with mono sound..

What sort of TV were you watching it on??

[krs]

and on Satellite or T. HD?

[herbie_g]

I assume your talking about the TVNZ1 HD feed?? The HD feed was way better than the SE feed that looked like an internet feed with mono sound..

What sort of TV were you watching it on??

He's in Lake Tekapo. I very much doubt he'd see either Sugarloaf (Christchurch) or Mt. Cargill (Dunedin). Heck, they only get 2 channels from their main TX on Mt. Mary! Studholme (Timaru) analogue may get in there as well, but there's no DTT from that site either.

So, I'd guess he'd be talking about DTH, which I'd have to agree with him with regard to pic quality being similar on TV1 and SE.

Herb.:):)

[kiwisteve]

TV1 on DTT was far superior to SE so he must have meant satellite !!

[Digital]

Hell yeah, the HD broadcast was a heck of alot better than the SD broadcast. It's almost impossible not to notice the difference.

[kiwisteve]

If you didnt notice the difference you either have your STB set on SD or you have a faulty set or not a true HD set :D:D:D:D
on a 1080 x 1920 LCD the pix is Exc

[Digital]

For sure, like stay away from the brand Soniq - absolute rubbish.

Did anyone hear about part of the fireworks being fake (the footprints ones) at the Opening Ceremony??

Here's the article:


Fireworks over the Olympics pyrotechnics erupted when it was learned that part of the elaborate display broadcast to the world in the opening ceremony was altered, done digitally in 3-D computer graphics.

While the dramatic fireworks display actually happened as portrayed on television, members of the Beijing Olympic Committee said it was necessary to replace live video with computer-generated imagery because the city’s hazy, smoggy skies made it too difficult to see, according to The Beijing Times, which first reported the story.

Committee members also said they were concerned that the helicopter pilot who would have flown overhead to film the fireworks would have been “at risk by making him try to follow the firework route,” according to a quote from a committee member reported in a Daily Telegraph story.

It took planners almost a year to create the 55-second sequence which appeared to be more than two dozen footprints amidst fireworks in the sky, said Gao Xiaolong, head of the visual effects team for the ceremony, in the Daily Telegraph story.

Even those at the city’s new Bird’s Nest National Stadium, where the Olympics are being held, viewed the computer-generated footage from their seats as they watched on the stadium’s giant television screens, said Britain’s Sky News in a story.

“Stunned viewers thought they were watching the string of fireworks filmed from above by a helicopter,” said SkyNews.com. “ But in reality they were watching a 3-D graphics sequence that took almost a year to produce.”

There were some real fireworks going on outside the stadium. But the footprint display was “inserted into the coverage electronically at exactly the right moment,” the Daily Telegraph said.

“Meticulous efforts were made to ensure the sequence was as unnoticeable as possible,” the newspaper reported Xiaolong as saying. “They sought advice from the Beijing meteorological office as to how to recreate the hazy effects of Beijing’s smog at night, and inserted a slight camera shake effect to simulate the idea that it was filmed from a helicopter.”

“Seeing how it worked out, it was still a bit too bright compared to the actual fireworks,” Xiaolong said in comments that appeared in the Daily Telegraph. “But most of the audience thought it was filmed live — so that was mission accomplished.”

Because the only organization in control of all Olympics footage is Beijing Olympic Broadcasting, the feed went out to everyone broadcasting the event, including NBC, which has exclusive rights in the United States to show the games. NBC's online coverage is being delivered by the MSN Network, NBCOlympics.com on MSN. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)

During Friday night’s opening ceremony, the network averaged 34.2 million viewers, making it the biggest television event since the Super Bowl, according to the Associated Press.

The network has been criticized itself for the 12-hour tape delay in showing the opening ceremonies, which it did because of the time difference between China and the United States, driving some viewers to other Web sites around the world to see the event live.

[grolschie]

I reckon the Olympics picture quality on TVNZ ONE on DVB-S has been pretty good. Looks really good on oiur 32" LCD via component output from a Topfield STB.

[Magoo]

I reckon the Olympics picture quality on TVNZ ONE on DVB-S has been pretty good. Looks really good on oiur 32" LCD via component output from a Topfield STB.

My 7 year old said it all when we were watching the womans beach volleyball on Saturday in HD from DTT on a 40" Bravia "Dad its like watching a TV but through a window", I thought that summed it up perfectly.

So if you think it looks really good in SD on an LCD wait till you see it in HD with live 5.1.

Started the olympic warmup by checking Rove out in HD via a Native 720p Projector projected onto an 83" screen, unfreaking believable, I have never experienced a picture this good ever full stop, and I have been playing with several HD sources, yet to experience Bluray though. I would have to catergorically say that I would rate the picture as flawless.

Olympics opening ceremony also viewed via the projector, all I have to say is that it had to be the best way for TVNZ to launch the HD feed. One issue we did have was the Live 5.1 mix was a little borked with the commentary coming from the center speaker being mixed way to low and this also carried over to the events held on Saturday and Sunday, this has now been adjusted and the mix is much better.

One thing that does crack me up though is how we can have live event and studio feeds all the way from Beijing in HD, yet they cant yet do a live studio broadcast locally.

[grolschie]

So if you think it looks really good in SD on an LCD wait till you see it in HD with live 5.1.


I am waiting for a combo DVB-T / DVB-S with USB PVR unit like the Hyundai AH3100 HD (http://www.satnet.net.nz/hyundai_ah3100_hd_combo.html) (or perhaps an NZ version of the Coolsat 8100 (http://www.coolsatusa.com/inc.php?inc=pro_cs8100) if it is coming to NZ). :)

[kiwisteve]

Yes agree TVNZ and TVWORKS need to upgrade their news studio promptly.
Some of the cameras look like they are passed their use by date !!

[brent]

did you see a few months ago on breakfast paul henery got a camera to swing round on to another camera to show it held together with rope ,duct tape,and a length of 4x2 :D:D:D:D

[Digital]

Haha yes I remember that!! Not long until he returns.

[brent]

it might be worth watching again when paul is back not the same without him