...1920x1080 MPEG stream with a framerate of 23.976 Hz with the "progessive" flag set to "on"
These latest posts are not really valid for this CBC-HD thread. If you wish to discuss further, please start another thread. Thanks.

Thanks for the update HiDefBob!

Hopefully it will get added soon. How much content is actually in true HD?

Yesterday was I beleive it was the premier of Lost in French on SRC.
Since I'm on BEV can anyone who is on other provider tell me if SRC-Hd was playing Lost in HD???

Yesterday evening the programme "Life and Times (Patrick Watson)" aired in "HD" at 7PM. Good programme, but as I've noted before, there was a lot of 4:3 material that was contained in this widescreen programme and that material had the tops and bottoms cut off.

There were some segments where people's heads were totally cut off and where people's names at the bottom of the screen were unreadable.

Although I appreciate seeing this widescreen production fill my 16:9 screen, perhaps something else needs to be done with the 4:3 material of such a programme (which was quite a large percentage).

It either needs to have black bars, or it needs to be stretched. Simply airing the programme with some portions widescreen and some portions 4:3 (cut off) doesn't seem appropriate, especially when the 4:3 portion was more than the "odd shot".

Perdus was in 4:3 format and sound was not coming from the center speaker.

If the programming is indeed stereo, then we are missing nothing, however, if the programming were Dolby Pro Logic (DPL), then we are missing something. Let me explain.

You are currently sending DD5.1 all the time. If a DPL programme gets sent as two-channel DD5.1 (instead of DD2.0) then anyone with an A/V receiver connected via a digital connection will hear "stereo" only. ie - sound from the LF & RF speakers. What we really want to hear is DPL if it is present. Sending DD5.1 all the time also causes dialogue to come from the LF & RF speakers instead of the center channel as it should (unless the material is DD5.1)...

The only workaround for consumers is to force the receiver to listen to the analogue stereo signal (if you have it connected) and then it would be decoded in DPL.

By always sending DD5.1, any DPL is "sacrificed" for many people. It would be "proper" for CBC to send DD2.0 for all "stereo" (or DPL) programmes and DD5.1 for all DD5.1 programmes.

However, we don't want you to forget to "throw the switch" when there really is a DD5.1 programme, because we want to hear that. If there's a likelihood that you'd forget to "throw the switch", we'd probably all prefer that you continue to send DD5.1 full time, since it's not a huge issue.

I hope this is clear.

Questions.

1. Is it possible to automate the above? (DD2.0 to DD5.1?)

2. Is the "switching" between HD programmes and SD programmes automatic? Or does someone manually switch these? Is the switch between the HD programme and the SD commercials automatic? (I realize that everything is sent out as 1080i)


thanks 57 what you explanied answers all and explaines why dpl was never any good coming on digital....thanks....louis

Thanks 57.

Update on Potter picture issue: We had the Tandberg folks in yesterday to test the broadcast encoders. We were able to reproduce the problem by running the version of Potter on our servers through a spare encoder with the encoder's Film Mode button on, as it was on Sunday. Film mode is supposed to detect content that has a 3:2 pulldown (eg filmed content like Potter and the Peter Cottontail clip from Saturday) and run that content through a different encoding algorithm which optimizes bandwidth. With film mode off, the problem goes away. We are looking at the original master and our post production process to see if we introduced something that would throw the encoder off, because Film Mode should be a useful feature.

Btw, we may get a chance to see Potter again properly in May...

Other upcoming HD: a doc called Slammin’ Iron: Rebuilding The World. Follows the lives of ironworkers working in Manhattan... Passionate Eye April 13th 9pm. 5.1 Surround.

--mark


thanks mark

this ones for you mark iam on the north shore of lake erie and the ofa siginal is strong a 94 on my meter on a toshiba hx 93 and the french ch is also real good thanks for all your info..i am in port colborne due south of TO and i am
using a 30 yr. old uhf dehi ant. with amp. that i cleaned up and it works great
and on some days it even sucks in city hd.....

You must use a 6100 receiver for this procedure (See section 2-19 of the manual).

1. Connect a coaxial cable in the 8VSB TV Antenna / Cable In connection (in the back pannel of the receiver). The cable will work as an antenna. A 3-meter cable did the trick for me but depending on your geographical position, I suppose results will vary. You must also remember that over-the-air digital signals are received on a strict on/off basis. Either you get a perfect signal or you get no signal at all.

2. Press the Menu button on your remote control.

3. Press 6-1-5 to get to the Local Channel Setup.

4. Click on Scan Digital to add any available local digital channel.

If you are in Montréal, you will see a 1 appear next to "Channels Found" as soon as Channel 20 will pass. This means that the receiver found a digital over-the-air channel (in this case, CBMT-HD). For some technical reasons unknown to me, Channel 19 (French SRC) is not yet operational.

You can also Click on Add DTV and type 20 in the box provided. However, the scan is a better option for it will detect any new channel as soon as it is made available. I make a daily scan, just in case...

The local channel will appear in the Guide in position 6. Rembember that on-line schedules provided by BEV are not available for local channels.

So far I am extremely satisfied with the HD quality of the over-the-air CBC HD channel. I hope SRC will become available soon.

Yesterday evening the programme "Life and Times (Patrick Watson)" aired in "HD" at 7PM. Good programme, but as I've noted before, there was a lot of 4:3 material that was contained in this widescreen programme and that material had the tops and bottoms cut off.
Yes, this is going to become more and more of an issue. Right now the info we have from our schedule is not very granular--it basically shows an entire program as either 16:9 or 4:3. If we use the 16:9 upconverter, we know when the commercial breaks are, and can put them back through the regular 4:3 upconverter process. But when the material inside a programming block contains both aspect ratios, we're currently choosing one or the other. The trick is to go one level deeper and get the timing for aspect ratio changes *within* a program segment. The timings exists of course, it just requires different information flows, and results in more switches than our presentation group typically has to deal with. But I'm told it is possible.

I'm going to try and get this sorted for the Slammin' Iron doc on Passionate eye on April 13. The program segments will be HD, but the show opening and intro are SD 4:3. So the upconversion process has to be smart enough to know exactly when to switch. Let's see how we do!

P.S. Peter Cottontail on Sunday March 27 will also be HD (5-7pm ET)

this ones for you mark iam on the north shore of lake erie and the ofa siginal is strong a 94 on my meter on a toshiba hx 93 and the french ch is also real good thanks for all your info..i am in port colborne due south of TO and i am
using a 30 yr. old uhf dehi ant. with amp. that i cleaned up and it works great
and on some days it even sucks in city hd.....
Good to hear. I gather CBLT-DT is one of, if not *the*, most powerful digital transmitters in Canada, so I'm glad you receive it. I'd be curious if any of our friends in upstate New York can bring it in.

I'm going to try and get this sorted for the Slammin' Iron doc on Passionate eye on April 13. The program segments will be HD, but the show opening and intro are SD 4:3. So the upconversion process has to be smart enough to know exactly when to switch. Let's see how we do!

P.S. Peter Cottontail on Sunday March 27 will also be HD (5-7pm ET)Ah, good luck! There must be a lot of challenges in this type of technology change!

Any idea what format we'll be getting Doctor Who in, on April 5th? Did CBC manage to get a 16:9 anamorphic transfer from BBC, or are we going to get a 14:9 version ala Coronation Street.

Nick

Ah, good luck! There must be a lot of challenges in this type of technology change!

Any idea what format we'll be getting Doctor Who in, on April 5th? Did CBC manage to get a 16:9 anamorphic transfer from BBC, or are we going to get a 14:9 version ala Coronation Street.
Thanks. We should have 16:9 for Dr. Who. And we are getting anamorphic masters now for Coronation Street, but a number of episodes in inventory are still 14:9, so it'll be a few episodes yet before the aspect ratio is correct.

Thanks. We should have 16:9 for Dr. Who. And we are getting anamorphic masters now for Coronation Street, but a number of episodes in inventory are still 14:9, so it'll be a few episodes yet before the aspect ratio is correct.Ah thanks. And good news for the Coronation St. fans (though knowing that lot, they'll be complaining because the picture got smaller :-) !

Nick

If anyone knows...

We might guess that Toronto Broadcasting Center staff will probably «help» or assist the Montreal Broadcasting Staff.

Is there any hints about how the HD transition is going on there, the pace is very and it seems that there is some problems left...

«Le bleu du ciel», that we had in HD, last week, was black boxed last wednesday. «Auberge du chien noir» was OK two weeks in a row. That would then be THE only program in HD...

Besides that, no films in HD, and some recent programs that might be good candidate for HD, or at least full screen, are still in black frames...

Is there some unknown facts, is there any planning in the near future to continue the transition or we will have to wait to the next season?

If anyone knows...

We might guess that Toronto Broadcasting Center staff will probably «help» or assist the Montreal Broadcasting Staff.

Is there any hints about how the HD transition is going on there, the pace is very and it seems that there is some problems left...

«Le bleu du ciel», that we had in HD, last week, was black boxed last wednesday. «Auberge du chien noir» was OK two weeks in a row. That would then be THE only program in HD...

Besides that, no films in HD, and some recent programs that might be good candidate for HD, or at least full screen, are still in black frames...

Is there some unknown facts, is there any planning in the near future to continue the transition or we will have to wait to the next season?

At times watching CBC I was wishing that the SRC would help out. The HD that the SRC has shown was perfect.. no stuttering & was home made (not a hollywood movie). To date the amount of over zoom on the externally procurred (British) CBC material is so bad I wish they just had the black bars around it. At least we could see all of the content.

As I said earlier, it is possible for BEV subscribers using a 6100 receiver to get the CBC HD over-the-air signal on channel 20 (see Post 269 in this forum for the how-to). As of yesterday, SRC is available on channel 19. Surprisingly, the channel is called SRC DT and not SRC HD...

Téléphage,
Where are you located in Montreal? I am in Pointe-Claire and cannot get the channels. Know anyone in the West-Island that can?

And good news for the Coronation St. fans (though knowing that lot, they'll be complaining because the picture got smaller :-) !

Nope - we'll complain because we can't get Coronation Street or Doctor Who or anything from the CBC in HD this far from the center of the universe aka Toronto/Montreal :)

Imagine - Vera Duckworth in all her tiger-spotted fake fur glory in HD - I can hardly wait! I'll have to bolster myself with a scotch and threat, I say a scotch and threat!

Dave

Surprisingly, the channel is called SRC DT and not SRC HD...What is "high-definition" called in French? I'd be surprised if was abbreviated HD!

Nick