Top Gear NOT in High Def

[TurnerGTX]

The new Top Gear series will not be shown in High Definition.

This is a disgrace.

People in the UK will know there is a BBC HD channel and lots of shows are now in HD. Crappy sitcoms like The Green Green Grass and Jam & Jerusalem, which only attracts 1 or 2 million viewers, are in HD. But one of the beeb's flagship shows is still filmed in SD.

When will TG enter the 21st century.

[Devon]

Isn't this a repost?

[otispunkmeyer]

makes sense


i know very few people with a HD capable TV set, and i actually know nobody at all that that has SkyHD (the only HD service at the moment i think) £300 for a HD version of a sky+ box and for what? a handful of chanels most of which are questionable at best. its not worth it.

i know no one with a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player either

the only use HDTV's seem to be getting here is from the Xbox360. HD just hasnt taken off yet in britain, britain being the target audience for TG.

also shooting in HD costs more.... considering all the stuff they do on the show maybe the Beebs budget for TG just didnt cover filming in HD as well, cant use all the licence fee payers money on one show. but hey i wouldnt mind paying a little more for the licence fee if it meant HDTG!

[Dsemaj]

HD doesn't gen shown free to air? In Aussieland, as long as you have a HD tuner (either built in or cheap set top box which costs like ~150 or so) you can pick up all the HD channels.

Pretty much everything (Apart from old shows) is shown in HD over here. I love HD

HD would be magnificent, but it's probably not cost effective at this stage in time.

[Hidden_Hunter]

mornings with kerry anne dsemaj :p

I have a LG set top box connected to a sony tv and it's great

[whitehornmatt]

Originally Posted by Dsemaj

HD doesn't gen shown free to air? In Aussieland, as long as you have a HD tuner (either built in or cheap set top box which costs like ~150 or so) you can pick up all the HD channels.

England went with having tonnes of channels at low quality as opposed to having HD over the air. Once they switch off analogue over there they will have enough bandwidth free for HD but for now they are stuck with Sky for their HD.

Top Gear would be great in HD, but HD would really be limited to the studio and some track stuff, the in-car cameras would have to stay SD because the cost would be way too high.

[ahpadt]

Maybe they will introduce it in the next series.

[Magnet]

Honestly, unless you have a massive 1080p TV, there is no need for HD. 42 inch TVs are too small for full 1080. I have a HDTV with HD tuner and I'll be buggered if I can tell the difference between HD and SD.

[hakusil]

Originally Posted by whitehornmatt

England went with having tonnes of channels at low quality as opposed to having HD over the air. Once they switch off analogue over there they will have enough bandwidth free for HD but for now they are stuck with Sky for their HD.

Finland did just the same "mistake"

Originally Posted by Magnet

Honestly, unless you have a massive 1080p TV, there is no need for HD. 42 inch TVs are too small for full 1080. I have a HDTV with HD tuner and I'll be buggered if I can tell the difference between HD and SD.

Magnet I have to say I disagree with you. On our 42" plasma you see in seconds whether your watching digital tv, dvd or high def, but after the resolution 1280x720 I consider video bitrate is more important than even higher resolution.

[Blythy]

they said the budget would have to increase by 40% to cover just for HD.

I'd rather they have more stunts, I don't have HD, won't have for a while.

[tom_kauf]

Originally Posted by Dsemaj

HD doesn't gen shown free to air? In Aussieland, as long as you have a HD tuner (either built in or cheap set top box which costs like ~150 or so) you can pick up all the HD channels.

That's right. It's great.

[Viper007Bond]

Originally Posted by Magnet

Honestly, unless you have a massive 1080p TV, there is no need for HD. 42 inch TVs are too small for full 1080. I have a HDTV with HD tuner and I'll be buggered if I can tell the difference between HD and SD.

You're kidding, right? The difference between PDTV and 720p is night and day!

[monkeymax]

Originally Posted by Viper007Bond

You're kidding, right? The difference between PDTV and 720p is night and day!

Agreed. My parents have a 37" HDTV (1080i IIRC). I compared Planet Earth in SD and HD by plugging in my MacBook Pro straight into the TV. The difference was incredible (and it should be noted that the SD version of Planet Earth I had was better quality off the computer than what we originally watched from our set top box too!). Just look at the leaves on the trees between the two and the difference is impossible to miss. That's before you go on to look at anything else.

However we do not have a Sky HD box as - as has already been said above - they're too expensive at the moment if you're just after the HD channels. As I don't live at my parents anymore and they don't watch much TV (mostly movies) they're not really interested in the Sky package, although they did debate it for the HD channels (well, the BBC one). They decided that there is currently nothing of that much interest to them on the HD channel to make it worthwhile getting the box & satellite yet (Planet Earth was about all they were interested in).

And therein lies the problem. The expenditure required to switch a program like Top Gear (think about how many cameras they have - a few per review (onboard shots + outside shots) plus several reviews being done at one time possibly) is quite large, and given that not many people have made the switch to HD yet it doesn't make sense.

I think it's a great shame. Having experienced it myself I can't wait for the proper switch to HD. Unfortunately I cannot personally afford a HD TV right now myself and this is a problem a lot of people here have... But when there's more quality programmes in HD I reckon the amount of people using it will skyrocket... (I will be one of them - somehow!)
Really it does need flagship programs like Top Gear to be early adopters of the technology to help push the technology forward. But as it's paid for by the BBC, they do have to be careful with their budgets. Like others here, and I believe the TG crew share this feeling too, I'd rather see the money spent on the reviews and stunts etc at the moment, but I really do look forward to the day when we get TG in HD. I just don't think it's a priority at the moment as it's not a show that will benefit a great deal from HD - unlike Planet Earth...

Sorry, a bit of a convoluted post and I can't spend time sorting it out now!
Basically I'd love to see TG in HD but just don't see it happening in the near future...

[Viper007Bond]

It'll just take a bit. It took a couple years for everything here to go to HD and even then, it's only primetime TV that's HD. Everything else is low res.

It's just too expensive to replace all the cameras and such.

[Magnet]

*runs off to check the TV*

I see the problem. Most programs are recorded in SD, but broadcast in HD. Therefore there is no discernible difference between equivalent SD and HD channels (Say 9-Nine Digital and 90-Nine HD).

[Viper007Bond]

Originally Posted by Magnet

I see the problem. Most programs are recorded in SD, but broadcast in HD. Therefore there is no discernible difference between equivalent SD and HD channels (Say 9-Nine Digital and 90-Nine HD).

Bingo. We have it easy though. Widescreen = HD, not widescreen = crap.

Hell, even on a normal TV, I think I can tell the difference between a midday show and something like Conan. Even though the res of my TV is crap, I think the image is better.

[Prost264]

Originally Posted by Viper007Bond

Bingo. We have it easy though. Widescreen = HD, not widescreen = crap.

Hell, even on a normal TV, I think I can tell the difference between a midday show and something like Conan. Even though the res of my TV is crap, I think the image is better.

Widescreen does not always = HD. Widescreen does = digital programming, just not always HD.

And I agree, HD programming shown on a SD TV will look better compared to a normally SD show.

[Viper007Bond]

Originally Posted by Prost264

Widescreen does not always = HD.

I know that of course, but around here, it's a good rule of thumb.

[ESPNSTI]

Top Gear still looks pretty decent on my 55" 1080p set.
As far as SDTV is concerned, TG's quality is pretty good IMHO.
I've seen other SDTV programs and channels that just look awful.

On my 55" set, the difference in quality between SDTV and HTDV is usually massive, while I need to concentrate a bit to detect the difference between 720p and 1080i.
What I noticed though is that the source material is just as important as the format it's shown in.
I've seen shows in 1080i that have all sorts of problems, while others look stunning.

[TurnerGTX]

And therein lies the problem. The expenditure required to switch a program like Top Gear (think about how many cameras they have - a few per review (onboard shots + outside shots) plus several reviews being done at one time possibly) is quite large, and given that not many people have made the switch to HD yet it doesn't make sense.

I don't think cost should be an excuse. The BBC are covering the Six Nations Rugby tournament in February. All matches will be shown in HD. This means that on one weekend there will be literally dozens of BBC HD cameras in London, Paris & Rome.

I repeat, Top Gear is not just another programme, it's a flagship show.