Is Top Gear broadcast in high definition in the UK?

[AJ888]

Originally Posted by M. Brown

They are talking about season 12 going to be in HD? As anything changed?

Sadly, it doesn't look like it:

SPECIAL INTEREST: Antiques Roadshow
On: BBC HD
Date: Sunday 2nd November 2008 (starting in 14 days)
Time: 19:15 to 20:15 (1 hour long)

Antique experts travel the country to appraise people's wares.
(Stereo, Widescreen, High Definition, Subtitles)

DRAMA: Robin Hood
On: BBC HD
Date: Sunday 2nd November 2008 (starting in 14 days)
Time: 20:15 to 21:00 (45 minutes long)

Drama series which gives a contemporary feel to the classic Robin Hood legend.
(Repeat, Widescreen, High Definition, Subtitles, Dolby Digital 5.1, 2006, 3 Star)

Directors: John McKay, Declan O'Dwyer
Starring: Jonas Armstrong, Keith Allen, Lucy Griffiths, Richard Armitage, Gordon Kennedy, Sam Troughton

DOCUMENTARY: Consuming Passions
On: BBC HD
Date: Sunday 2nd November 2008 (starting in 14 days)
Time: 21:00 to 22:25 (1 hour and 25 minutes long)

Entertaining series that brings us into the world of consuming passions where people from all walks of life are fanatical about the pastimes they engage in.
(Stereo, Widescreen, High Definition, Subtitles, Audio Described)

[ninja-lewis]

Additionally, the Coming Soon advert says 'on BBC Two only' or words to that effect. Normally they highlight it being on BBC HD as well with the logo at the bottom of the screen.

[janstett]

Originally Posted by Shawn

No, it's not.

Only the polar special episode was broadcast in HD (720 and 1080 rips are both available for download).

And a Blu-Ray version was just announced, available on amazon.co.uk.

[Hidden_Hunter]

Well at least the roadshow is in HD, I really need to see some of those crappy items in HD (no that shitty rug your aunt made isnt' worth anything)

I've seen it a couple of times and some of the experts on it are real douchebags, one of them goes "as a print this picture is worth around 50 pounds" the women has this devestated look on her face he waits for like 20 seconds for it to sink in and then goes "however this is not a print and is an original documented painting worth around 75,000 pounds"

[janstett]

Originally Posted by leviathan

Does 1080p make much sense if the actual screen resolution of the monitor is less that that? I mean, my 20" widescreen has 1680x1050, and 1080p would be 1920x1080 - so it would be scaled down to actually fit, and not look that great any more. The only screens capable of true full HD would be the huge 24"+ ones with native resolution of 1920x1200, man I want one of those

Well, it's always better to have higher resolution and scale it down(1920x1080->1680x1050), than to have lower resolution and scale it up (1280x720->1680x1050). It's easier to get rid of excess information than to create information that doesn't exist.

For example, a lot of LCD/Plasma screens have odd resolutions that aren't 720p or 1080i, so you never see an image natively on them.

And BTW my monitor is 2560x1600, I need "4k" video 1080 is not enough

[bruces]

Janstett my Toshiba LCD is native 1080i/p and when in exact scan mode it shows each pixel for pixel from the Sky HD box as it was broadcast.

As for BBC TopGear being in HD, it is filmed in HD as per Hammonds quote and fans that have been to the last series.. But i'm quite unsure why it is not broadcast in HD. I think the best thing for us to do is to ask/compain/suggest to the BBC using this link..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv/feedback/

Also as for the current programming slots on BBC HD i doubt it would be Simulcast at the same time as the BBC2 airing anyways. It would be delayed or ahead much like other programes are on BBC HD compaired to thier SD versions.

[AJ888]

Originally Posted by bruces

As for BBC TopGear being in HD, it is filmed in HD as per Hammonds quote and fans that have been to the last series.. But i'm quite unsure why it is not broadcast in HD.

The studio segments may be filmed using HD kit, but the on-location stuff might not be (and the in-car stuff almost certainly not). I can't remember the exact figure, but it's something like 70% of a BBC show needs to be HD for it to be eligible for a HD broadcast (with the remainder upscaled).

[Cobol74]

I have just asked why it is not broadcast in HD - thanks for the link bruces.

[jmb]

I've noticed this too. Most disappointing when some random kids shows like Raven (?) are shown in HD. Also, Spooks is back on tonight and is also not HD. And why don't they show Heroes in HD simulcast with BBC2?! The missus likes to go to bed at 10 so we cant watch it in HD (plus it's next weeks episode too) but she likes to watch it on the night to talk with her friends about the next day. Damn you BBC!

[ninja-lewis]

Originally Posted by jmb

I've noticed this too. Most disappointing when some random kids shows like Raven (?) are shown in HD. Also, Spooks is back on tonight and is also not HD. And why don't they show Heroes in HD simulcast with BBC2?! The missus likes to go to bed at 10 so we cant watch it in HD (plus it's next weeks episode too) but she likes to watch it on the night to talk with her friends about the next day. Damn you BBC!

Raven is produced by BBC Scotland who have full HD facilities at their new HQ. The licence for BBC HD probably demands a balanced schedule representative of all BBC output (i.e. a bit of sport, a bit of drama, a bit of documentary, a bit of childrens etc).

Spooks is produced using Super 16 to get it's appearance. This is a production decision by the Kudo's (the producer), not the BBC. Currently Super 16 isn't an acceptable source for BBC HD although Kudos can use it to release Spooks in HD Blu-ray.

Heroes isn't simulcast because Silent Witness on BBC 1 at the same time is simulcast on BBC HD instead. Not only is BBC 1 the main channel and normally gets priority, Silent Witness has higher ratings than Heroes

[jmb]

Thanks for the reply, ninja. Kind of explains some of the thinking behind it... (still annoying tho )

[arcticfox]

HD is sort of like shouldn't be a problem considering Topgear is the word largest motoring show. But, it's just a view of mine. It doesn't affect me since I don't watch it on telly.

[Reboot]

Originally Posted by bruces

Janstett my Toshiba LCD is native 1080i/p and when in exact scan mode it shows each pixel for pixel from the Sky HD box as it was broadcast.

Unlikely - aren't broadcasts generally 1440×1080? I know a lot of cameras film at that resolution anyway, so broadcasting square pixels (1920×1080) would require horizontal upscaling at some point in the transmission train.

[And if they do broadcast 1440×1080, an exact 1:1 match would leave you with a horizontally-squashed & pillarboxed picture.]

[F1_Fan]

Originally Posted by Reboot

Unlikely - aren't broadcasts generally 1440×1080? I know a lot of cameras film at that resolution anyway, so broadcasting square pixels (1920×1080) would require horizontal upscaling at some point in the transmission train.

In North America the standard 1080 broadcast is 1920x1080i (the other HD standard is 1280x720p). The only time I've seen 1440x1080 is BBC HD stuff (Space:1999) from what I imagine was BBC's test channel (true?). Those are anamorphically squeezed (from 16:9 to 4:3) 1920x1080 frames to conserve broadcast bandwidth.

[Reboot]

Originally Posted by F1_Fan

In North America the standard 1080 broadcast is 1920x1080i (the other HD standard is 1280x720p). The only time I've seen 1440x1080 is BBC HD stuff (Space:1999) from what I imagine was BBC's test channel (true?). Those are anamorphically squeezed (from 16:9 to 4:3) 1920x1080 frames to conserve broadcast bandwidth.

I've checked - BBC HD (even now, when it's an official channel rather than a "test") broadcasts at an anamorphic 1440×1080, and I believe the Sky channels do too.

[SkyPaulusPlus]

number one,topgear is the greatest motering show and should definatly be HD and secondly i in the uk am recording the whole series myself so not to worry abou d/l and last week i had the whold episode done be 8:30
with a good spec pc you can easily play 1080p like my 3gb ram ,750gb hdd, intel dual core quad ,massive fan ect.
bbc hd is for 100% hd content i think and aparrantly the bbc have some hd hardware but not enough to produce top gear in hd at least until series 13, with the tg live money and tg au,us and ru

[Aihyah]

damn shame, they should have used some film or hd years ago. reruns of topgear in full hd would have been brillliant. their camera work was made for it. hd cams use filters just fine.
many us shows were filmed in hd or on film year ago, and now even if you get an hdtv late in the game atleast you can go back and watch the shows in their full glory.

[Aihyah]

Originally Posted by leviathan

Does 1080p make much sense if the actual screen resolution of the monitor is less that that? I mean, my 20" widescreen has 1680x1050, and 1080p would be 1920x1080 - so it would be scaled down to actually fit, and not look that great any more. The only screens capable of true full HD would be the huge 24"+ ones with native resolution of 1920x1200, man I want one of those

1680x1050 is near 1080p. 1.7million pixels.
certainly more than 720p. optimally you'd get a crisper result with 1080p source.
esp since hd web video tends to be overcompressed.

Originally Posted by ViperVX

Nothing special really, if you look up smth like EZTV, they do 720p rips (44) mins - 1.1gb, TG (60min) will be around 1.5gb, which is fine. No need for 4gb stuff.

1.1gb is a compromise format. at that compression level the video is definitely bitrate starved. only on very small screens and low motion would you not notice artifacts/lack of detail.