ntl Dublin now has RTE in widescreen

thrillseeker

RTE 1 & 2 now seem to be in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen on NTL digital
TV3 and TG4 showing in some kind of zoom format

SteM

Good stuff, will have to check this out when I get home. I'm surprised that RTE has actually gotten it's finger out to go widescreen to be honest.

Alun

thrillseeker wrote:

RTE 1 & 2 now seem to be in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen on NTL digital

They've been playing about with this for a while now. More often than not switching to widescreen for what is actually a 4:3 broadcast and making everybody look short and squat. Let's hope they can figure it out. And let's also hope they don't do what the BBC does and put out 4:3 broadcasts in pillarbox mode.

TV3 and TG4 showing in some kind of zoom format

That's your TV doing whatever you set it to do with 4:3 broadcasts, nothing to do with NTL digital.

Mossy Monk

Alun wrote:

And let's also hope they don't do what the BBC does and put out 4:3 broadcasts in pillarbox mode.

luckily RTÉ don't do that. not on Sky anyway

Marcopolo85

thrillseeker wrote:

RTE 1 & 2 now seem to be in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen on NTL digital
TV3 and TG4 showing in some kind of zoom format

Hope they dump that stupid 14:9 format they're using at the minute on some programmes.

celticfc

Bout time too...

It was in widescreen before a few weeks ago, it only lasted for a day though http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=265903

JDxtra

The picture quality of RTE1 & RTE2 is now also much improved. They must have established the dedicated link between RTE & ntl they were talking about.

...looking at Pulp Fiction tonight, it puts TV3 to shame.

SteM

Anyone know if this means we'll get widescreen broadcasts of Premiership matches on Saturdays this coming season? I noticed the live game (hurling?) on Saturday evening was broadcast in w/s. Also, why would they broadcast Eastenders in w/s but not Fair City which is their own product?

celticfc

SteM wrote:

Anyone know if this means we'll get widescreen broadcasts of Premiership matches on Saturdays this coming season? I noticed the live game (hurling?) on Saturday evening was broadcast in w/s. Also, why would they broadcast Eastenders in w/s but not Fair City which is their own product?

Read somewhere a while ago that RTÉ expected to have all their Premiership, Six Nations etc. etc. coverage broadcast in widescreen by sept/oct along with most homegrown stuff eg. RTÉ News, Late Late Show, Fair City etc.

So far the only sport coverage I've seen broadcast in w/s is The Sunday Game (RTÉ Production), golf (sourced from Sky Sports) and a bit of horseracing (Sourced from BBC/C4), although there has probably been Some more. Interesting to see if this weeks Dublin Horse Show will be filmed in widescreen..

SteM

Cheers, looking forward to the footy in w/s this season so.

Mossy Monk

will RTÉ show premiership games in w/s though. not all the international feeds were w/s i heard

spockety

14:9 will be used by RTE as a 'compromise' feed on analogue, as is being done by many European broadcasters.

The intention was always to put widescreen out on Digital, and with the fibre link to NTL up and running now, that's what they've done.

It's been widescreen on Sky digital for some time.

All ads are taken in 16:9 anamorphic now, as are all externally produced content..

Mossy Monk

wasnt there some European law that says all adverts must be made in 16:9 or am i slowly going crazy

Round Cable

Mossy Monk wrote:

wasnt there some European law that says all adverts must be made in 16:9 or am i slowly going crazy

I remember there was some UK law about that alright.

extopia

Is this still the case? I've never noticed RTE in anamorphic on my NTL digibox and I've just checked and the current afternoon progs are in 4:3...

Alun

Most afternoon stuff is going to be old programming in 4:3, and so far, relatively few programs appear to be actually being transmitted in widescreen. In fact not even studio based programming like the news is widescreen, which you would have thought would be the first to be 'converted'. Advertisements are consistently in widescreen format though

extopia

So RTE are switching over to anamorphic for every ad break? That's new. They'd been displaying wide ads in 14:9 previously...

extopia

I noticed that sports such as GAA games are being shot in widescreen but still ARC'd back to 4:3 (only noticed 'cos they are occasionally late hitting the switch!)

extopia

If they are simply switching over to anamorphic for ads that's crazy. They could put 4:3 stuff through an ARC to be properly pillarboxed as part of the widescreen feed.

Of course they are demanding that all programmes and ads are produced and submitted as anamorphic widescreen.

cgarvey

For me, all ads are in anamorphic 16:9, most recently produced foreign content (Auzzie/British soaps) is in 16:9, but most RTE (internally) produced content (Fair City, News) is regular full screen.

.cg

Alun

If they are simply switching over to anamorphic for ads that's crazy. They could put 4:3 stuff through an ARC to be properly pillarboxed as part of the widescreen feed.

PLEASE NO !!!! The BBC do that and it drives me mad. Maybe it's OK for all you people with Plasma's and LCD's, but trying to get perfectly vertical edges to the pillarboxed content on large flatscreen CRT TV's is nigh on impossible. Add to that that my Philips TV shifts RGB inputs to the right, even by a small amount, and it makes watching pillarboxed stuff a PITA. I prefer to let my TV switch itself, and I have it set for a default of "Super zoom" for 4:3 material which suits me just fine.

Marcopolo85

cgarvey wrote:

For me, all ads are in anamorphic 16:9, most recently produced foreign content (Auzzie/British soaps) is in 16:9, but most RTE (internally) produced content (Fair City, News) is regular full screen.

.cg

Am I correct in stating that the likes of Home & Away are broadcast in 14:9 (two vertical black bands down each side of the screen)?

Alun

Marcopolo85 wrote:

Am I correct in stating that the likes of Home & Away are broadcast in 14:9 (two vertical black bands down each side of the screen)?

They (still) are on analogue, but I haven't noticed what format they're broadcast in on digital. (I should add I don't watch it, but noticed the switch to 14:9 while "zapping" ... just to make that perfectly clear )

cgarvey

In case it's not clear .. we're talking about ntl Digital, Dublin .. nothing else! So as Alun points out its 14:9 on analogue here (and any RTE analogue feed, presumably). On digital, it's anamorphic 16:9 though.

.cg

Mossy Monk

Marcopolo85 wrote:

Am I correct in stating that the likes of Home & Away are broadcast in 14:9 (two vertical black bands down each side of the screen)?

it is 16:9 on widescreen along with loads of other stuff. people not seeing it are just tuning in at the wrong time