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How did Public Television switch to 24/7 Hi Def so fast?

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How did Public Television switch to 24/7 Hi Def so fast?

Old 11-30-05, 03:38 AM
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How did Public Television switch to 24/7 Hi Def so fast?

Here in LA KDOC and KCET are both in Hi def 24/7 while the big network$ are still fartin' 'round with part-time Hi Def if any at all. I would guess the big networks have the money to do Hi Def so why are they so slow in switiching? Aren't Public Stations always begging for money to stay on the air? How can they afford to upgrade so fast?

Last edited by Giantrobo; 11-30-05 at 03:45 AM.
Old 11-30-05, 05:29 AM
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Broadcasting in HD (for both commercial and public stations) was mandated by the FCC, and I think the deadline was 2006, but it doesn't look like all broadcasters will get there by next year.

Anyways, since the switch to (or simulcast in) HD was ordered by the federal govt (the FCC), and PBS is (in part) funded by the federal govt, the public stations are getting a extra added push to HD.
Old 11-30-05, 06:55 AM
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Originally Posted by Count Dooku
Broadcasting in HD (for both commercial and public stations) was mandated by the FCC
No, broadcasters are required to be all-digital, but it doesn't necessarily have to be high-def. The last deadline I heard for the analog switchoff was April 7th, 2009, but I don't know if that's "final" or just something that happened to make it through the Senate.

The HD package is a completely different channel than the primary SD version you're seeing locally. There may be some program overlap, but the HD channel has a much more limited scope (I get the same few shows over and over and over...), and a fair amount of what they show is upconverted widescreen programming and not 'true' HD. They're not expected to be all HD until 2011. There's an article about the state of PBS-HD on current.org, if you're interested.

But comparing PBS-HD to something like CBS isn't apples-to-apples since it's not a simulcast. There isn't an infrastructure for distributing syndicated programming in HD, HD versions of the majority of syndicated shows aren't available besides, and costs are still too high for many markets to do their local news in high-def.
Old 11-30-05, 08:18 AM
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I haven't bothered checking, but that was educational to hear. Often I'll be tooling around and see something interesting on PBS SD. I guess it is safe to assume that the same show is NOT showing at the same time (if at all?) on my OTA PBS-HD. I don't even know if that is part of DTV's HD package, as I only get my HD "free". So I never really see a schedule for PBS-HD. The program guide that shows up on my HD receiver via the OTA signal is horribly slow and clunky to use (30 seconds to navigate).
Old 11-30-05, 08:30 AM
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My local PBS station started broadcasting HD at least a year before any other station did.
Old 11-30-05, 08:51 AM
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How?

"Because of viewers like you."
Old 11-30-05, 09:03 AM
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I think Dooku nailed it. PBS-HD is probably my most watched OTA HD channel. Heck, even the cooking shows are cool to watch in HD.
Old 11-30-05, 10:42 AM
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Originally Posted by SmackDaddy
I think Dooku nailed it. PBS-HD is probably my most watched OTA HD channel. Heck, even the cooking shows are cool to watch in HD.
That's true. I recently got a 4:3 HDTV (not easy to find, by the way) and was surprised that my local PBS channel has 4 HD channels that show different programming in addition to the regular PBS channel. I like to watch Rudy Maxa's Europe travel show in HD, even though I've seen all of them before. Of course, I also found myself watching a Nascar race on NBC just to marvel at the wonders of high definition.

From what I've seen so far, the PBS channels are the only one that are doing HD right, if they show a widescreen show, they broadcast it in widescreen, if that's followed by a 4:3 show, it's not letterboxed, it fills the 4:3 screen. My local NBC, CBS, and ABC affiliates broadcast everything as if it were widescreen, so if I'm watching a movie or TV show in widescreen, then the local news comes on, it's letterboxed ("black bars" on all 4 sides), which is pointless (since they are only 480i anyway). I typically just switch to the "Regular Def" channels to watch shows like that.

The only complaint I have with the PBS HD channels is that I can't find listings of the shows that are on, and they go off at midnight, regardless of whether they are in the middle of a show or not. After reading the article Adam Tyner linked, I'm guessing that's probably because of the cost.
Old 11-30-05, 10:45 AM
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Originally Posted by Quatermass
That's true. I recently got a 4:3 HDTV (not easy to find, by the way) and was surprised that my local PBS channel has 4 HD channels that show different programming in addition to the regular PBS channel.
Four digital channels, sure, and maybe one of them is HD, but you're not getting all four in high-definition unless you're picking up different channels from different markets.

Switching from 1080i to 480i on-the-fly doesn't work too well, which is why the majority of stations output in one resolution only.
Old 11-30-05, 11:25 AM
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You don't know good HD until you watch some of those kids puppet shows in PBS-HD. It's amazing.
Old 11-30-05, 06:33 PM
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Originally Posted by Deftones
You don't know good HD until you watch some of those kids puppet shows in PBS-HD. It's amazing.
They have a few shows that feature Travels in Europe and the views are breathtaking in HD.

Also, one of my new favorite cooking shows, "Chefs a Field", features gorgeous farmlands and natural areas where organic farming is taking place and in HD it totally rocks.

The cool thing is it's HD 24/7. None of this some things are HD others or not like on Network tv. Whether it's "true hd " or not doesn't matter. It's looks friggin awesome on my 16:9 HDTV. If I were going to try to convince someone of HD's awesomeness I would use KDOC here in LA to do it.
Old 11-30-05, 08:51 PM
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tax dollars?
Old 12-01-05, 05:14 AM
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Four digital channels, sure, and maybe one of them is HD, but you're not getting all four in high-definition unless you're picking up different channels from different markets.
What's the rule on that for cable networks, anyway? TWC in Charlotte has around six PBS stations in the HD end of the dial; 3 of them are in HD and all of these stations are (of course) in addition to the ones on the lower end of the dial.

I believe that one of them (WTVI) is local and another is not: UNC-TV (Charlotte is nowhere near Chapel Hill) and I don't recall what the other one is (Yahoo! lists it only as "PBS").

Are cable companies allowed to put multiple PBS stations on their cable? I didn't think they could put any additional OTA networks on your cable if you weren't in the station's viewing area. Or is it different for PBS?
Old 12-01-05, 07:02 AM
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Originally Posted by Rex Fenestrarum
I didn't think they could put any additional OTA networks on your cable if you weren't in the station's viewing area. Or is it different for PBS?
I'm not sure. I can pick up three different sets of PBS channels (including there in HD) from where I am, and I'm not too terribly far from you; I can pick up several channels fairly reliably from Charlotte. Cable operators don't have to carry all of the multicasted channels, but sometimes they work out agreements to pick them up. I didn't know that TWC was carrying three different PBS-HD channels, though -- that's definitely on the strange side.
Old 12-01-05, 08:10 AM
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I forgot to mention, those Soundstage concerts look awesom in HD. They had Dave Matthews live at Red Rocks and a Sheryl Crow concert on in recent weeks. Looks and sounds (in 5.1) great!!

For those that want to see the program guide, just go to pbs.org and check the schedule. It will give you the listings for the regular analog stationa nd the HD ones too.

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