Broadcast TV format question

[Paul Conners]

I watch some programs on PBS TV that are strangely formatted. The video image
is bordered on all 4 sides by black. This makes for a quite smaller image.

If this were an aspect ration issue the image would be either full width or
full height (bars on only 2 sides).

What's the reason for this odd formatting?

A better forum in which to ask this?

Thanks.

 

[Kaz Kylheku]

On 2014-01-27, Paul Conners <pconners98@gUSmail.com> wrote:

I watch some programs on PBS TV that are strangely formatted. The video image
is bordered on all 4 sides by black. This makes for a quite smaller image.

What's likely happening is that the broadcast is adding the top and bottom
borders, because the broadcast is in a 4:3 aspect ratio, but the program is a
wide-screen format like 16:9 or whatever. Then your wide-screen TV takes the
4:3 broadcast and adds borders of its own, resulting in borders on all sides.

Dig through your TV's menus to see if any combination of its zoom and
aspect ratio options helps.

If this were an aspect ration issue the image would be either full width or
full height (bars on only 2 sides).

That would be the expected case if the broadcast itself didn't have the black
bars embedded in the video.

 

[Jasen Betts]

On 2014-01-27, Paul Conners <pconners98@gUSmail.com> wrote:

I watch some programs on PBS TV that are strangely formatted. The video image
is bordered on all 4 sides by black. This makes for a quite smaller image.

If this were an aspect ration issue the image would be either full width or
full height (bars on only 2 sides).

What's the reason for this odd formatting?

not enough pixels in the video?

> A better forum in which to ask this?

http://www.pbs.org/about/contact/

--
For a good time: install ntp

 

[Kaz Kylheku]

["Followup-To:" header set to sci.electronics.basics.]
On 2014-01-28, Kevin McMurtrie <mcmurtrie@pixelmemory.us> wrote:

In article
0001HW.CF0B3BC1009DCA9BB01029BF@news.eternal-september.org>,
Paul Conners <pconners98@gUSmail.com> wrote:

I watch some programs on PBS TV that are strangely formatted. The video image
is bordered on all 4 sides by black. This makes for a quite smaller image.

If this were an aspect ration issue the image would be either full width or
full height (bars on only 2 sides).

What's the reason for this odd formatting?

A better forum in which to ask this?

Thanks.

That's a 16:9 program reduced and padded to 4:3 (top bars) and then
reduced and padded again to 16:9 (side bars). Sometimes PBS will run it
through that cycle twice and transmit it at 640x480i to make sure that
it's completely destroyed.

Digital TV's have a "zoom" mode to get rid of the padding caused by
cyclic conversion. Some TVs, like Panasonic, have upscaling and
de-interlacing bugs while zoomed so it may look worse.

Digital TV's may have zoom, but Usenet has digital echo.

 

[Kevin McMurtrie]

In article
<0001HW.CF0B3BC1009DCA9BB01029BF@news.eternal-september.org>,
Paul Conners <pconners98@gUSmail.com> wrote:

I watch some programs on PBS TV that are strangely formatted. The video image
is bordered on all 4 sides by black. This makes for a quite smaller image.

If this were an aspect ration issue the image would be either full width or
full height (bars on only 2 sides).

What's the reason for this odd formatting?

A better forum in which to ask this?

Thanks.

That's a 16:9 program reduced and padded to 4:3 (top bars) and then
reduced and padded again to 16:9 (side bars). Sometimes PBS will run it
through that cycle twice and transmit it at 640x480i to make sure that
it's completely destroyed.

Digital TV's have a "zoom" mode to get rid of the padding caused by
cyclic conversion. Some TVs, like Panasonic, have upscaling and
de-interlacing bugs while zoomed so it may look worse.

 

[JACKLOPS]

On 01/27/2014 10:08 PM, Kaz Kylheku wrote:

Digital TV's may have zoom, but Usenet has digital echo.

Wipe froth off

 

[Jim Thompson]

On Tue, 28 Jan 2014 22:52:13 -0800, Kevin McMurtrie
<mcmurtrie@pixelmemory.us> wrote:

In article <20140127220827.22@kylheku.com>,
Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> wrote:

["Followup-To:" header set to sci.electronics.basics.]
On 2014-01-28, Kevin McMurtrie <mcmurtrie@pixelmemory.us> wrote:
In article
0001HW.CF0B3BC1009DCA9BB01029BF@news.eternal-september.org>,
Paul Conners <pconners98@gUSmail.com> wrote:

I watch some programs on PBS TV that are strangely formatted. The video
image
is bordered on all 4 sides by black. This makes for a quite smaller image.

If this were an aspect ration issue the image would be either full width
or
full height (bars on only 2 sides).

What's the reason for this odd formatting?

A better forum in which to ask this?

Thanks.

That's a 16:9 program reduced and padded to 4:3 (top bars) and then
reduced and padded again to 16:9 (side bars). Sometimes PBS will run it
through that cycle twice and transmit it at 640x480i to make sure that
it's completely destroyed.

Digital TV's have a "zoom" mode to get rid of the padding caused by
cyclic conversion. Some TVs, like Panasonic, have upscaling and
de-interlacing bugs while zoomed so it may look worse.

Digital TV's may have zoom, but Usenet has digital echo.

Extremely severe multipath, to be exact. There's little coordination
and propagation latency varies from milliseconds to days.

PBS now has many programs that are in various wide-screen formats. If
your set can't (or isn't set to) handle such formats, you get the
"border".

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson | mens |
| Analog Innovations | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| San Tan Valley, AZ 85142 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

 

[Paul Conners]

PBS now has many programs that are in various wide-screen formats. If
your set can't (or isn't set to) handle such formats, you get the
"border".

Enquiring minds want to know... why? I know that "classic" programs need to
be broadcast as-is (not re-mastered, whatever that means) for broadcast on
DTV, but why do new (in the pass few years) programs take on this same look?
Even "live" programs (ie, Nightly News program).