TMJ4 Weather in HD

[trev57]

Fox6 can't run their "only station with weather in HD" ads anymore. TMJ4 debuted their HD weather during today's 3:00 news.

[WITI6fan]

It appears that they're just using the computer they've been using for HD Radar. So as much as it is now in HD, it looks as if they rushed to HD just so WITI couldn't claim to be the only one with HD weather.

You can almost tell it's a rush job due to how many things are stretched out (the maps) and how transitions will randomly start in black sometimes.

[mrschimpf]

It appears that they're just using the computer they've been using for HD Radar. So as much as it is now in HD, it looks as if they rushed to HD just so WITI couldn't claim to be the only one with HD weather.

You can almost tell it's a rush job due to how many things are stretched out (the maps) and how transitions will randomly start in black sometimes.

And the sudden use of a 'weather cube' presentation to cover up that a few of their graphics are still 4:3? It makes no sense at all.

What annoys me more is that HD viewers don't get any advantage at all; all the observations end at Jefferson and you'd think that western Wisconsin is a foreboding frontier as the map isn't filled with extra temps for Madison, Eau Claire, La Crosse or MSP. HD means you can use more of the the screen and not be stuck within the 4:3 space.

[ArgMeMatey]

And the sudden use of a 'weather cube' presentation to cover up that a few of their graphics are still 4:3? It makes no sense at all.

What annoys me more is that HD viewers don't get any advantage at all; all the observations end at Jefferson and you'd think that western Wisconsin is a foreboding frontier as the map isn't filled with extra temps for Madison, Eau Claire, La Crosse or MSP. HD means you can use more of the the screen and not be stuck within the 4:3 space.

What I'd like to see is a tally of how many Time Warner, Dish Network and DirecTV subscribers are still watching locals on analog at 4:3 vs. Clear QAM, Digital HD, or OTA.  I suspect all the locals know this is still a big part of their audience.  I wonder if TW is going to letterbox at some point?

[BK7725]

Actually, these new graphics debuted on Wednesday, December 30th at 10pm, according to the weather video archives on JSOnline. Brian Gotter said that "some cool bells and whistles will debut in the upcoming weeks." Hmmm.....

Anyways, I think that TMJ4's new weather graphics are drastically better than their old one. DId anyone watch Michael Fish's weather broascast today? He sure did alot more things than Brian Gotter yesterday. Radar/satellite, Future 4-Cast, and other graphics. Everything was in HD, too.

Mrschimpf, if they added extra temps for the HD viewers, and the meterologist said them out loud, the SD viewers may wonder, what is he talking about? Those temps aren't on there. Thats what the multiple temp maps are for: local, regional, and national. I don't feel like being jipped at all. Milwaukee isn't the only market like this. Indianapolis and Orlando also have the local, regional, national temp maps.

I do like the weather cube for the final forecast. Its unique and different.

Also, Michael Fish pointed out that the weekly 7 day forecast is "3D" of sorts. It is animated, as the panels for each day appear to fly in front of him, then land behind him. Cool!

Overall... good work TMJ!

[mrschimpf]

Mrschimpf, if they added extra temps for the HD viewers, and the meterologist said them out loud, the SD viewers may wonder, what is he talking about? Those temps aren't on there. Thats what the multiple temp maps are for: local, regional, and national. I don't feel like being jipped at all. Milwaukee isn't the only market like this. Indianapolis and Orlando also have the local, regional, national temp maps.

I have seen on other stations that they sometimes have more of a 'static' appearance where they don't call out those distant temps but you can see them or they're cut off halfway in the safe area, but they do show up so you don't get this sense of an empty map.

The big problem though is that I think the lakeshore is too far to the left and we see too much wasted space on Michigan (in that case I don't mind that temps aren't shown for Grand Rapids or Muskegon because they're a whole different region). They need to tinker with how much land they show in the 4:3 box possibly.