"And now a brief word from the Olympics..." (Tech stuff only, please)..

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Steve D., Aug 8, 2008.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Steve D.

    Steve D. Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I guess NBC is planing on paying for their Olympics' coverage the first night. The opening ceremonies are technicaly spectacular, but the commercial breaks out number the performers.

    -Steve D.
     
  2. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Steve-O,

    I watched a minute or so in high-def. The audio was ridiculously out of sync. The video signal looked pasty to me.

    I'll try more later..
     
  3. Spitfire

    Spitfire Senior Member

    Location:
    Pacific Northwest
    I agree. The commercial breaks are ridiculous.
     
  4. I was pleasently surprised that Channel 7 here in Oz hardly had any breaks throughout the opening ceremony. :righton:
     
  5. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Maybe Steve knows or anyone....

    The feed from China, is this a "pool" feed? NBC doesn't have all those cameras there, right? Just a few and the rest are for the world's feed? Has to be..

    Just wondering who was calling the "switching", China broadcasting, the Olympic people, NBC?

    Gotta know this stuff, makes it more interesting...
     
  6. Johnny66

    Johnny66 Laird of Boleskine

    Location:
    Australia.
    Unfortunately, what restraint they showed with the commercials was lost when Bruce McAvaney took the mike...

    ;)
     
  7. charlie W

    charlie W EMA Level 10

    Location:
    Area Code 254
    NBC has its own crews at most popular venues but the opening ceremony is a combination of both "international" and its own feeds.

    www.tvtechnology.com

    The website sucks but the subscription to the printed edition is free.
     
  8. SamS

    SamS Forum Legend

    Location:
    Texas

    Yes, NBC is shooting much of it with their own cameras:

    http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/08/10/nbc-to-shoot-3600-hours-of-2008-olympics-many-in-hd/

    There's apparently a lot provided by Beijing Olympic Broadcasting Co. I think you'll like this link Steve:

    http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/olympiccities/beijing/n214488300.shtml

    [​IMG]
     
  9. Dan C

    Dan C Forum Fotographer

    Location:
    The West
    Our NBC affiliate just put their signal on our cable outlet in HD. Seriously just a couple of hours before the start. Cable subscribers are lucky because they won't have their digital transmitter up for a while.

    They seem to be manually switching between the HD feed and back to standard def during breaks. It's a bit choppy but I'm fine with it. The NBC coverage is stunning!


    I also agree that the commercial breaks last night were annoying.

    dan c
     
  10. munson66

    munson66 Forum Dilettante

    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    Commercial breaks were frequent on the CBC as well -- even public broadcasters gotta find a way to pay the bills, I guess. Many, many opportunities to see the new ad campaign (and corporate ID) for Bell Canada -- I wish they'd bring back the animated beavers.
     
  11. bencasey

    bencasey New Member

    I learned years ago the only way to watch the Olympics is to tape it or record it on the DVD hard drive like I do. Unless you like sitting through 50% show, 50% commercials. But then again, I haven't watched anything LIVE as it was on television in about 20 years.
     
  12. Doug Sclar

    Doug Sclar Forum Legend

    Location:
    The OC
    That's what we did. We took a break right near the beginning for about 30 or so minutes and then breezed through the commercials with the DVR. We did n't get caught up until around 11:30.
     
  13. charlie W

    charlie W EMA Level 10

    Location:
    Area Code 254
    Most affiliates do that because local content is not in HD. Some do it better than others. The local ABC affiliate here does it almost seamlessly. If you can, try to pick up the local NBC feed off air and watch how much better it looks than cable.
     
  14. Marty Milton

    Marty Milton Senior Member

    Location:
    Urbana, Illinois
    Maybe I don't have as critical eye as some, but I thought the video looked great. The number of commercials didn't bother me that much, especially during the parade of nations.
     
  15. MichaelR

    MichaelR New Member

    Direct quote from channel 7 commentary (Aust) when the Japanese team came in - "China enjoys a special relationship with Japan, having been invaded by them during WW II"

    Duh !! Lesson 1 in international broadcasting - DONT MENTION THE WAR !!

    Apart form that, I was floored by the ceremony - don't see that being topped in a long time ..
     
  16. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    China was invaded by Japan WAY before WWII!
     
  17. MichaelR

    MichaelR New Member

    Actually I can't remember if WWII specifically was mentioned, my mind was reeling that the topic was brought up at all ! "Special Relationship" and "Invaded" !!? What was he thinking ...
     
  18. Frodis

    Frodis New Member

    Location:
    Balti-Moe
    I may be wrong but it almost seems like the NBC crew are reporting on the Olympics from NYC. I haven't seen anyone live in China yet. It's like they're doing the commentary as they watch the feed.

    Strange.
     
  19. Marty Milton

    Marty Milton Senior Member

    Location:
    Urbana, Illinois
    This was the case last night while I was watching some events on Universal HD after 1:00 am Central time. It was during the Women's Air Rifle event. I have a feeling there will be live commentary for the major events like swimming, gymnastics, track & field, basketball, among others.
     
  20. TeacFan

    TeacFan Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    Arcadia, Ca.
    Here in Los Angeles, Time /Warner has added CNBC & USA in HD just for the Olympic coverage. Channels will revert to whatever after.
     
  21. Doug Sclar

    Doug Sclar Forum Legend

    Location:
    The OC
    Did you notice pixelization on any of the UHD feeds? I had some here, but not a hint of it on the NBC feeds.
     
  22. charlie W

    charlie W EMA Level 10

    Location:
    Area Code 254
    They could be broadcasting from the International Broadcast Center in the Olympic Park in Beijing while watching the world or CCTV feed.

    To Marty Milton: the cable company are further compressing the station's compressed HD signal in order to fit it within the bandwidth of the cable system. In my case, comparing the HD cable to the off-air HD signal, it's like a very fine veil is removed from the screen.
     
  23. pocofan

    pocofan Senior Member

    Location:
    Alabama
    I thought the event was spectacular. Yeah, too many commercial breaks, but visually it was awesome. Hate to be the next city to host them. They have a hard act to follow.
     
  24. reechie

    reechie Senior Member

    Location:
    Baltimore
    In fact, they actually do mention that the commentators are broadcasting from NBC in New York.
     
  25. Dan C

    Dan C Forum Fotographer

    Location:
    The West
    Yeah, I noticed the HD to SD switching on the Fox affiliate during a trip to Phoenix last year. I was surprised that a station in that large of a market wasn't fully converted yet.

    The switching doesn't really bother me if they stay on top of it. The switching this morning during Olympic coverage was very choppy, with large chunks of coverage coming in SD and stretched before someone at the station noticed it.

    Our local NBC station is only broadcasting in HD on the local cable provider. They don't have a digital transmitter yet. I would be curious to see how it looks over the air but we don't have that option.

    Our cable here is Bresnan and to their credit they do a fantastic job with their HD channels. I rarely see any compression artifacts.

    dan c
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine