I saw the graphics on the Vancouver game broadcast and it was a big improvement. If it were me I would move it up on the screen maybe 30%.

BTW, I was at the Sens/Pens game last night. It was great to see all the HD cameras...the centre ice camera location seemed to be really crowded...I don't know how they can work in that small area.

My ears are still ringing from the noise and my stomach is upset from the beer and wings....great game, great time....:cool:

I liked the graphics too. Different in the end from what I had seen in the early development, but overall I liked them. For what I could tell, they fixed the penalty time dissapearing problem from the Sens/Pens game during the Van/Dal game.

As for me - my hockey is done for the year with both Montreal and Toronto bowing out. It was a long season once again and I can't wait till next year :)

Onto baseball, soccer, golf and Raptors playoffs for now!

Cheers!

Also, get rid of the web address, only put information there when it's needed.

I agree with this totally!!! It is a complete waste of screen real-estate. Overall I was impressed though. It looks much better than I expected. I was a little upset when they didn't show the penalty information during the first few power plays, but I guess they were just working out some of the bugs.

I also liked the way the out of town scoreboard was shown to the right of the scoreboard and clock instead of replacing the scoreboard and clock (as long as they don't show it during a powerplay).

I wish they could find a way to show the graphics any time they are showing a live feed and only turn it off for replays instead of turning it off every time there is a stoppage in play.

As for me - my hockey is done for the year with both Montreal and Toronto bowing out.

Sorry to hear that. They won't have you do any of the Sens games or the Flames games in Detroit?

I'm gonna be in the minority here I know, but I saw the new look CBC graphics and must say that I was completely underwhelmed by them.

For one thing the font size they use appears smaller than either TSN or NBC has used for their broadcasts, requiring you to actually look at the banner rather than glance at it (and this is on a 50" TV from 8ft away)

The style is so similar to the NBC look that I had to do a doubletake and realize that I wasn't watching an NBC broadcast (The deletion of the CBC logo from the scoring banner doesn't help that)

One thing I will say I liked was the fact that the penalized team is indicated by the background behind the team name turning red, much easier to tell at a glance than the old yellow was.

With some work, the graphics package can improve and I'm sure the CBC will keep on tweaking things as the playoffs progress.

NefCanuck

I think the graphics are fine. But why can't either CBC or TSN show a 4 on 4 running time?

i too found it to look very similar to what NBC uses. i was waiting for info boxes to drop down and parts light up like most of the american broadcasts have. i'm not a fan of all that extra information with the top score graphic. i guess most canadians aren't either because all the canadian networks seem to stick with the basic score, time and PP info when there is one.

For one thing the font size they use appears smaller than either TSN or NBC has used for their broadcasts, requiring you to actually look at the banner rather than glance at it (and this is on a 50" TV from 8ft away)

I found the font size to be OK on my 27" TV downstairs, but agree that it was a bit small (especially the time) for the 19" TV in the bedroom. I think I was about 10' away from the TV in both cases (maybe a bit more in the bedroom). I wasn't too worried about this though.

But why can't either CBC or TSN show a 4 on 4 running time?

I totally agree! I was intending to mention this in my previous post, but forgot.

Like most responses here, I found the new graphics to be an improvement (once they fixed the time remaining in a penalty).

My quibble with the font is that the 5 looks an awful lot like a 6. When the Sens scored their sixth, the difference between the 5 and 6 was clear, but that's only helpful in a 6-5 game. When a 5 is on the screen by itself, it wasn't clear at a glance.

Agreed with others that mentioned the full width bar. Not really necessary.

As for the scoreboard disappearing at every whistle, I don't mind that actually.

Overall verdict, a nice set of changes.

Sorry to hear that. They won't have you do any of the Sens games or the Flames games in Detroit?
Hey Roger,

Nope - enough full timers around and locals to do the games. If both Montreal and Toronto had made the playoffs it would have been chaos - so to be honest, I'm not that upset about it. Besides, there's enough stuff going on right now that I'm good and busy :) LOL!!

I'll only do games or work out of the broadcast studio when someone is sick and they can't find a local to replace them and my schedule is free - but with Raptors, lacrosse, baseball and the like, not doing a couple of hockey games is fine with me!!

Besides, Joe Louis Arena is a bi$ch to work in :)

Cheers!

I found the surrounds on the Van game were alot higher than the Ottawa game. Just an observation. I was sitting closer to the speaker than I usually do (not in my sweet spot).

I found the surrounds on the Van game were alot higher than the Ottawa game. Just an observation. I was sitting closer to the speaker than I usually do (not in my sweet spot).

Even in stereo, the audience noise seemed a lot louder than normal. You could even hear general chatter from people close to the mics. My wife's comment was, "Can you hear voices in the house?" ;)

I was happy to see the canucks were shown in HD for game one even though it wasn't listed on their website. I'm guessing all games in vancouver will continue to be HD but what about in dallas? anyone know if they can show those ones at 1080?

no the HD Truck will be in Calgary when Vancouver is playing in Dallas. I don't get the point of this thread. check the schedule, each game IS listed on the website, and so far has been accurate in saying which will be in HD. If you match up the dates to which games are in HD. you can envision the route of the two trucks the whole first round

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/stanleycup2007/tvschedule-rd1.html

The PQ on the Detroit game last night was stunning. I don't often get the HD wow anymore but I got it when I tuned in for a while during the first period. The sweaters were sooo red (and bright).

Stoakley Audio, you should hire a hit squad out for the guys that always stand up and block the camera when the action heats up. ;) That would make it easier to work at Joe Louis Arena and the audience would benefit too.

I agree with your comment Joesoap. The local Detroit FOX station has done two HD games there and the PQ was also amazing. Maybe it has something to do with in-building braodcast equipment?

Marc, please pass this on to the powers that be at CBC. I was going to go directly via the webform, but they don't accept uploads. Please download the referenced JPEGs and pass them on too.


I am not a scoreboard freak. I don't tune into CBC to stare at a bleeping scoreboard, I tune in to watch hockey. I wouldn't mind it so much if the scoreboard only came up during stoppages in play. Actually, I think that the best scoreboard is no scoreboard, but that's apparently a lost cause.
Here's a compromise solution that allows the scoreboard freaks to watch scoreboards, and hockey freaks to watch hockey. The NTSC standard defines 4 CC (Closed Caption) channels, and the ATSC standard defines 6. Why can't you feed current-score, time-to-play, out-of-town-scores, yada-yada-yada via one of the CC slots? People who want this garbage cluttering up their screens can clutter up their screens. Hockey fans can have hockey.
Apparently, somebody who absolutely hates hockey, and wants to ruin it for everyone else, is obviously in charge of the graphics on hockey games. If you ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE stupid graphics on the screen, PLEASE try to minimize the damage to peoples' viewing experience.

Here's what I mean. Take a look at http://www.waltdnes.org/misc/H1.JPG which is an actual screen capture from from a game. The bottom of the horizontal bar is 130 pixels from the top of the picture. The little strip of picture above the scoreboard is useless. So the scoreboard display has effectively destroyed 130/1080 or over 12% (almost 1/8th) of the picture. AND WHAT IS THE POINT OF THE BLACK BAR ACROSS THE SCREEN??? You're not carrying any info in it, just destroying people's viewing experience. Ditto for the big expanse of blue around "cbcsports.ca" (WHY do you need the URL scrawled over top of the action in the first place???)

How can you reduce the damage you ask?

Start by moving the scoreboard strip up against the top of the picture. That cuts the amount of screwed-up screen real-estate in half, right there.
Get rid of the horizontal black stripe, which doesn't serve any purpose except to degrade peoples' viewing experience. Move the remainder of the scoreboard bar into a corner.
Cut down the expanse of blue around "cbcsports.ca"

Take a look at http://www.waltdnes.org/misc/H2.JPG a mockup that I put together in a few minutes. Please note that IT DISPLAYS ALL THE "INFO" THAT YOUR CURRENT SCOREBOARD STRIP DISPLAYS. But it destroys "only" almost 70,000 pixels of the 1920x1080 picture, versus the almost quarter of a million by your current setup. That's down to 1/30th of the picture versus almost 1/8 by your current scheme.

Take a look at http://www.waltdnes.org/misc/H2.JPG a mockup that I put together in a few minutes.
That is the same thing I was thinking of, but there is one little problem with putting it all the way to one side. I was at a friends house the other day watching that game and I noticed something interesting. On a 4:3 screen , the scoreboard streaches/touches both sides of the screen (you don't see those bars), but on a 16:9 the black bars are added so the scoreboard doesn't "float" all by itself.

Just watch all the games that are broadcasted in HD, and if you are able to, switch to the regular 4:3 versions and you swill see, that they strategically place everything on the screen so that it will fit onto a 4:3 screen. That's why everything thing seems out of place when you watch the same thing on a 16:9 screen. In other words... even though it's broadast in HD, they would rather make 4:3 tv set owners happy. :(

Take a look at http://www.waltdnes.org/misc/H2.JPG a mockup that I put together in a few minutes.


I like this look when compared to what CBC is using. I have to agree that the problem would be SD viewers getting cut off of the scoreboard though. Also, it can't be put right at the top of the picutre because different tv's have different overscan settings, so some people would also see part of the scoreboard cut off, thats why most broadcasters have it a little lower. I also like the proposed idea of using a CC channel for scoreboard info. The only thing I would change right now if I was CBC would be to get ride of the website info. That is a complete waste of space. When there is a PP or out of town scores, just have the "bar" appear then and take it off after instead of putting on the web address.

Walter Dnes,

I try to stick with the on air technical issues. The graphics are a production decision, not a technical fault. Just paste the text of your post including the URLs into the form on the CBC site. The Producer will read them.
Even without the samples, your point is clear.

FYI as markb notes, your example won't work for 4:3 viewers. The same graphics appear in both HD and SD. You have to stay clear of overscan and the 4:3 center cut.