"BBC Planet Earth" on CBC (1 in WS, 2-6 in HD & DD5.1) Returning June, 2007

[gesundheit]

I eagerly await marc's reply. Although if he says that was HD, then I won't know what to think, because that was no better than DVD on my projector, where HDTV usually looks far better.

[timbo]

Last Friday I emailed the CBC regarding the HD on air promos conflicting with the HDTV Listings on their website.

CBC's response (Monday) in part:

"Planet Earth" was shown last night in widescreen. It's true that the program was promoted as being in high definition but regrettably, the promotions were wrong.

So, there you have it. At CBC you pays your quarter and you takes your chances.

[JesseJ]

Thank-you for confirmation.
Can the thread title be changed?

On a side note, this Saturday's game is listed in HD on the CFL page, but isn't even acknowledged on the schedule.

Marc, there has to be a better way. Too much stuff is being missed. I mean, yes, I can just check the HNIC page, or CFL page, but it would be nice if everything in HD was actually listed on the HD page.

[pillcutter]

So does this mean that future episodes won't be in HD?

It sounds like a cool show.

[HiDefBob]

This was a co-production ... BBC/Discovery Channel/NHK

It may not have been HDTV (only widescreen), but this program was one of the most spectacular nature specials I have seen. The slo-motion and time lapse sequences were spectacular. And the aerial sequences were second to none. And considering it was widescreen SD, the PQ was very good.

I kept thinking while I was watching ... this should have been filmed in IMAX!!! It would be stunning on a large IMAX screen.

Here is a link to the Planet Earth website ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/planetearth/

[VBC1]

I today contacted CBC in regard to the issue also discussed here, and I found out that it seems that eventhough the Planet Earth is an HD show, CBC seems to have received its SD-widescreen version from BBC.
Not sure if it is all or just the first episode that was distributed to CBC in SD.

[fatboyp]

Originally Posted by timbo

Last Friday I emailed the CBC regarding the HD on air promos conflicting with the HDTV Listings on their website.

CBC's response (Monday) in part:

So, there you have it. At CBC you pays your quarter and you takes your chances.

Talk about false advertising!

[mark_in_2k]

Well guys, I'm just as upset as the rest of you. I was so looking forward to this, and knowing that the BBC in the UK is currently running their HD 12 month trial and showing the HD version of Planet Earth, it just makes it worse.

Is it possible that it was just an inital screw up on CBC's end? Will the other episodes be broadcast in true HD? I guess we'll have to watch this weekend to find out.

On anothe note, I'm not sure if this is relevant, but IIRC, the BBC was broadcasting it's HD in H264 format. Could this be an issue?

One more thing... where's my edit post button! I need to change the thread title but the button is know where to be seen (should be bottom right of post, yeah?).

[james99]

You can only edit the post within the first hour of posting. Moderators can edit anything.

[57]

Thread title changed.

I watched the programme last night and have to say I was very impressed with the photography and the PQ was certainly not bad, even though not HD.

[gesundheit]

Originally Posted by mark_in_2k

Will the other episodes be broadcast in true HD? I guess we'll have to watch this weekend to find out.

Looks like we'll have to wait until the following weekend to find out; "Mountains" is scheduled Sept 3rd.

[mark_in_2k]

According to this forum post which is talking about the differences between the original BBC HD broadcast and the re-broadcast on ABC (that's Australian Broadcasting Corp.), it seems that the BBC was originally 19Mbps h.264 transport stream at 1440x1080i. However, from the posted screenshots, it seems that this broadcast also suffered from softness, leading me to believe that it's from the source material (although CBC did still broadcast the SD version).

Also, this site has a few screenshots, and also a sample download of the opening sequence. I'm going to test it through my Xbox 360 when I get home.

[gfong]

Originally Posted by moodie

I must have been watching a different program. I thought it looked great. No macroblocking or fuzziness that I could see. The great white shark scene was amazing. I have a Hitachi 42HDT52 so maybe it made a difference. Can't wait for the rest of the series.

I have a Sony but other than that I must fully agree with your comments.
No macroblocking or fuzziness could be seen, the little male bird doing the dance with his mate was awesome looking. The shark scene slowed down 40 times or something was shooking and outstanding looking.
I can not wait to see the others

[lars]

I'm watching on a Panasonic hd plasma. HD broadcasts look very good, and SD looks awful. Maybe your better off than me, because I can't watch any SD and enjoy it. I will not be watching future episodes unless they upgrade to HD.

[57]

Originally Posted by lars

SD looks awful.

This was not really SD. It was upconverted widescreen and definitely should not look "awful" although it's not quite as good as HD.

You may wish to check out the Digital Home FAQ on "poor SD PQ" (under help). A signal this good should look "good" (not HD) and not awful.

Many people with smaller HDTVs don't even notice the difference and are quite happy with upconverted WS.