FOX 6 News HD

[trev57]

I just received an email from an engineer at WITI. He told me that within the next few weeks they will begin using an HD bug and ticker.

He said that for the time being they will still be framed for 4:3. The interesting thing he said was that in the future, SD viewers will receive a 16:9 picture similar to FOX Sports, meaning they will be able to frame everything for 16:9.

I personally have never seen a local news station do this. As an HD viewer, I like it. Any thoughts?

[WITI6fan]

There's a few stations that do that, but I can't think of them off the top of my head.

I hope this means a graphics update...

[trev57]

I hope this means a graphics update...

I agree 100%. I know they haven't even been using them for a year yet, but I can't stand the blue and yellow graphics they use.

[Will]

Did anyone notice the overlay they used yesterday during the Packer game?  In the top middle of the screen they were plugging the post-game show.  

Every time they did this, the audio was attenuated and there was a bit of a timing issue.  Audio and video skipped back or forward a tiny bit, like a quarter of a second rewind or fast forward.  WAY better than dropping to SD, but I wonder how many people noticed this.

[Steve Mann]

I noticed it. Took me about three times before I put it together and figured out what was happening. It was a BIG difference in sound. I was listening in 5.1 and when they put the overlay up, it went to what seemed like just the center speaker. Very amateurish to say the least.

[LoadStar]

Noticed it every time, and it was VERY annoying, particularly because it seemed like they were doing it off and on every few minutes.

[mindmess]

Noticed also. The others watching with me thought I had a problem with my services.
Glad to know I was not alone in the crapped out sound department.

[ddysart]

I totally noticed it too. Not only did the sound change, but the picture stuttered briefly.

[foxeng]

It may be "amateurish" but you work with what FOX is willing to give you. 5.1 audio is only available with the splicer.

[LoadStar]

If the only choice is to slam it from 5.1 down to what sounded like monaural... then they probably should either not do the overlay graphics.

If they must do them, then just leave the graphic up for an entire segment (commercial break to commercial break) so you don't have the distracting stutter in audio and switch in audio modes.

[WITI6fan]

It may be "amateurish" but you work with what FOX is willing to give you. 5.1 audio is only available with the splicer.

If I understand how the splicer system works, in order to overlay something, don't they have to cut back to "local" mode to do stuff like this? If that's correct, then wouldn't it just be their local audio equipment at fault?

[foxeng]

If I understand how the splicer system works, in order to overlay something, don't they have to cut back to "local" mode to do stuff like this? If that's correct, then wouldn't it just be their local audio equipment at fault?

FOX only provides stereo L/R to the "studio feed" to all stations. Not 5.1. The 5.1 is created at the network MC in LA, not at the stations.

[trev57]

WITI started using their new HD ticker/bug this morning. I don't have caps but their is a large yellow bar on the left underneath the bug with the time/temp in black, and the ticker is black with white lettering and is much smaller than the previous one. Almost too small for my taste.

[WITI6fan]

WITI started using their new HD ticker/bug this morning. I don't have caps but their is a large yellow bar on the left underneath the bug with the time/temp in black, and the ticker is black with white lettering and is much smaller than the previous one. Almost too small for my taste.

Found a cap. Yeah, it is a bit small. The black bar could probably stand to be made a bit bigger.

It looks like it might still be in 16:9 SD... That or the cap is really low quality. :huh?:

[trev57]

Found a cap. Yeah, it is a bit small. The black bar could probably stand to be made a bit bigger.

It looks like it might still be in 16:9 SD... That or the cap is really low quality. :huh?:

I think it's a low quality cap. It definetly looks HD on my TV.