F1 races broadcast in HD?????

Pondering getting an HD TV & wondering if any of the F1 races are broadcast in HD?
Bill

 

Not in the US

 

Ya, cause we sure like to drink some beers and watch them Nascar boys drive fast in circles in High Def instead..... "yee-haw"

 

Speed's going HD this year. I dunno if we'll see F1 in HD this season though:

http://www.tvpredictions.com/cnnhdtv011007.htm

 

Not for a long time

 

that would be fantastic-
Once you get used to HD programming- regular digital or analog stuff just isn't the same. Given the detail level of the cars and in the fact that camera footage is almost always shot from quite a distance (think Alonso flipping off Michael) HD would really help F1.
Certain sports benefit more than others- hockey, baseball, and golf more than football or basketball - given the size of the playing objects. I think if ABC broadcast Monaco in HD it would command a much bigger audience - simply given the sheer visual spectacle.

Just my $.02

 

Is it even shot in HD? That would be a much larger hurdle than getting SPEED to broadcast it in HD. Especially considering the fact that each individual race is shot by local production companies (some are done by FOM). That means that alot more companies ponying up the dough for equipment. Of course it probably wouldnt be hard for FOM to force it in its race contracts.

 

I think there is a premier subscriber channel in Europe weher they show more onboards and enhanced stuff. Don't know if this is broadcast in HD though?

 

i've been told that the cameras for F1 are provided by F1....that's why they haven't gone HD yet? I'm probably wrong though...

 

I just bought a HDTV, but other than for DVDs I think it is rather disappointing: Even shows (like ABC evening news) that are in HD don't really do a thing for me, because they still use the 4:3 aspect ratio (and I hate loosing pieces of the picture or really fat or really skinny people). Unless the show is in HD AND 16:9 aspect ratio I really don't see the point.

So Speed TV going to HD IMHO only is interesting if they also broadcast in 16:9.

 

There was... Bernie quit, sold off all the production equipment and fired the staff after he couldn't make a go of it after three years...

 

I can't really blame him for that. That whole concept was really targeted at too much of a niche market (total F1 nuts who also happen to have disposable income). Quite frankly I doubt I would have signed up for that myself. Do I really care that much to switch from car to car and fiddle with a remote? Probably not. About the only thing I wish we hadn't to deal with are the commercial breaks: You loose race footage and it is always the same old same old ad.

 

That's the issue.

I am fairly certain that F1 does not broadcast in HD anywhere. Bernie would have to provide the special cameras and broadcast equipment, so I'd guess this is at least 2 years away.

But... Since Speed and Fox are broadcasting the USGP, and the HD cameras are already at the speedway, I'd give us a 50-50 shot of getting the USGP in HD on Fox this year.

 

The 4:3 broadcasts really aren't HD even though they may be on ABC HD or ESPN HD. Part of the HD standards is a wide aspect ratio. They also are only presenting you with a standard vertical resolution (476 I believe) instead of High Def's 720 or 1080. These broadcasts do generally look better than the SD channels, but that is because it is a digital signal. Lack of content (especially on over the air broadcast channels) is one of HD tv's biggest cons right now. The best HD channel, in my opinion, has to be Discovery HD. It seems to be of better quality, and the channels content lends itself to big improvements through HD.

Of course, unless you are watching and HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc, your dvds arent really HD either. A good DVD player can upscale them and make them look a good deal better though.

-back to F1
Does anyone know if the cameras are owned by FOM or the local production companies? I know that the broadcasts are directed by locals (generally), but Im not sure of the equipment.

 

Around late summer of 2006 FOM announced it's contract to buy HDTV equipment from Panasonic.

 

Well thats awesome. Any time table or do you have a link? Ill go see if I can find it.

edit- Had a look around and found this:
http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=27731

If their sources were correct, then FOM may have been using the equipment since last summer. Seems to me that if you have the equipment you might as well hammer out a few contracts to use it to its fullest.

 

They may be want to test the system and work out bugs. Last thing Bernie want's is TV broadcast to fail. But I would like more information on it. F1 in HD will make me switch TV providers.

 

IMO the problem is thus:

FOM (Bernie) is the ones who "produce" the broadcast. In other words, the cameras at the track are FOM owned cameras, and the men working them are FOM employees. Bernie "owns" the broadcast and resells it to various companies (such as SpeedTV).

The thing is, High Definition is a USA-only thing. They don't have it in Europe. Since 90% of the races are in Europe, there is limited appeal to moving to HD. Whereas in the USA, everything seems to be going to HD, it just isnt that way in Europe or the rest of the world.

If SpeedTV goes HD, they are still using a non-HD feed of the race, meaning all they are doing is converting a non-HD source to HD to broadcast it - so it won't look any better than the F1 races do today. If they ever do F1 in HD, I would expect it would probably be the N. American races first (US and Canada), then maybe the S. American races - MAYBE. Bernie would be spending mucho $$ on it - new cameras, production/editing equipment, transmission equipment, and possibly new staff. At the very least he'd have to down-convert the HD source to non-HD to resell to the non-HD (European) market, or he may have two seperate sets of cameras. It would be $$ and it would be for a small % of the entire F1 market.

Its possible they will do it for the N. America races in the next year/two but I think it will be some time before it is done for the other races.

 

Um....not entirely true. We have HD running on satellite and cable (these are subscription services) and trials for HD via a TV aerial (free) have taken place.

For example, from ITV (broadcasters of F1 coverage in the UK) http://www.itv.com/page.asp?partid=5645

cheers
CG

 

The article admits Speed hasn't claimed it's going HD:
"The problem, however, is that those channels had yet to announce they were launching HDTV editions of their standard definition networks."

It was exciting to see HD cameras at the Canadian GP but then I didn’t know they’re such a small link in the chain when it comes to seeing F1HD at home… if only Fox could work it out.

 

the difference is in the HD TV's, not the service.


anyone have any figures on HDTV's sold in Eu vs US?

 

Am I misunderstanding the technology or does this convert standard def content to HD?

http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=4174

 

no its doesn't...it can't increase the resolution since it isn't there...only so many pxls for the analog input...

 

Any info you guys have would be a great help. I am just about to purchase a "HD ready" LCD TV with built in digital tuner (freeview).

It like many other HD ready TV's (in the UK) does have the HDMi inputs, though I have no HD equipment as of this moment, but I wondered about the digital tuner and if it will receive HD signal???

 

I do hope that F1 racing is broadcast in HD for the 2007 season...if not on Speed, at least on the few races the networks broadcast...A mistake I have seen some of my friends make is to buy an HD TV and then hook it up using their old TVs non-HD cables. You must have the HD TV, buy the HD cable service or satellite service or HD over the air antenna, hook it up with the proper HD cables, and be sure you go through the TV menu and select 720p,1080i and 1080p resolution as well as 16:9 aspect ratio...my DirecTV HD receiver will automatically change resolution and aspect ratio depending on what the programing is being broadcast in...while my satellite HD is great...it is even better with my over the air antenna as the signal is not compressed like it is with satellite and cable HD...