HD Formula One to kick off in 2010

[Fil]

Interesting to note this from BBC's Head of HD..

No news on F1 is neither good news, nor a reflection of the BBC's desire to have F1 to give you in HD: The events are being filmed in HD (as far as we know) but they are not made available by F1 to broadcasters in HD. Link

If true, my best guess is that the only thing holding back the release of a HD feed is most probably FOM contracts written for a SD feed only.

[rich1701]

It took an age for Bernie vision to change from 4:3 aspect ratio to 16:9 in 2005, some 5 years after it should of been implemented. In the UK at least. Before 2003 he granted ITV only limited onboard action, Bernie is quick to judge, slow to change.

[Giblet]

Bernie is an idiot of a dinosaur in most regards. The only reason his success has not waned is that he is a monetary genius, and money has not changed, and how to make money also has not changed.

Why should someone who is at every race give a damn about TV?

What he doesn't understand, is the Americans get to watch NASCAR in HD, and many people will watch HD just because it is HD. The sounds of F1 and the in car cameras in the 80's were one of the main reasons it made me all excited to see again.

Those same images in HD, will gain more viewers, and keep existing ones who are on the fence.

To anyone not from the age of dinosaurs, mentally at least, it's a no-brainer.

Facepalm.

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[TheMinister]

Interesting to note this from BBC's Head of HD..

No news on F1 is neither good news, nor a reflection of the BBC's desire to have F1 to give you in HD: The events are being filmed in HD (as far as we know) but they are not made available by F1 to broadcasters in HD. Link

If true, my best guess is that the only thing holding back the release of a HD feed is most probably FOM contracts written for a SD feed only.

Not that I have evidence or anything to back this up, but; everything is filmed in HD nowadays. Any modern camera at any sporting event is capable of capturing at HD and beyond resolutions. The extra costs involved are in the bandwidth- and they are minimal.

I bet it's that Bernie is hoping that the longer he holds this stupid situation, the more he'll be able to squeeze out of broadcasters for the HD feed.

[alexbarwell]

HD kit is about 25% more than SD, but is quite often backwards compatible. A lot of the SD kit is getting towards End Of Life/Development, so HD kit is a natural progression. F1 were talking to the broadcast kit manufacturers about 4 years ago. There are a bunch of SD only OB trucks out there - being run into the ground. BTCC done for ITV used a Carlton 021 truck running SD only kit - it works and there are fewer issues running a lower data rate on a long cable. But to put things in perspective, BBC News has HD studios and production planned to be operational for 2012. Come on Bernie!

[Giblet]

The pinnacle of motorsport has worse equipment than NASCAR. Not that NASCAR doesn't need/deserve it, but F1 certainly does.

[DaveKillens]

The quality of Formula One television.



The quality that NASCAR fans enjoy

[The_Man]

The pinnacle of motorsport has worse equipment than NASCAR. Not that NASCAR doesn't need/deserve it, but F1 certainly does.

On the other hand one camaera at the centre of the stupid oval can cover all NASCAR, I can't imagine how many new camera's would be needed for tracks like Spa and the Nurbergring.

I suggest HDTV for Singapore(Bernie's 50% income source) so it would add excitement to a no overtaking race.

More then HD I'd love to see some thermal imaging and super-slow-mo at major corners. This would be very exciting.

[Miguel]

I'm an avid linux user, so I'll put it this way: I'll get seamless on-the-fly GPU switching in linux earlier than I will get HD F1.

It's shameful, because very convincing monetary arguments can be used that would benefit Bernie. You guys have struck them all: higher added value ads in the cars, more spectacular, equalise the playing ground with NASCAR on the US. How the heck does Bernie plan to compete with HD feeds from competing sports? They've got more bling!

Finally, don't get me started on the on-screen info... there is a reason why most of us watch the races with the Live timing in our laptops.

[Giblet]

The pinnacle of motorsport has worse equipment than NASCAR. Not that NASCAR doesn't need/deserve it, but F1 certainly does.

On the other hand one camaera at the centre of the stupid oval can cover all NASCAR, I can't imagine how many new camera's would be needed for tracks like Spa and the Nurbergring.

I suggest HDTV for Singapore(Bernie's 50% income source) so it would add excitement to a no overtaking race.

More then HD I'd love to see some thermal imaging and super-slow-mo at major corners. This would be very exciting.

Dude every car has a HD camera in it, and they rotate to get the best view. It's a moot point. If you watched some NASCAR HD coverage, you would quickly understand that there are cameras all over the track, not just in the middle.

Good HD cameras can do super slo mo, out of the box, like the RED ONE. Don't just spout bud. Know what you are spouting about.

[tok-tokkie]

From CrashNet: http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/158021 ... ollow.html

MotoGP is to be broadcast in full HD for the first time in 2010, while a documentary will be produced using 3D technology.

In 2010, RTL Club (Belgium), Eurosport (France), Sport TV (Portugal), Digisport (Hungary) and Viasat (Scandinavia) will all broadcast the MotoGP season in HD within Europe.

Outside Europe, HD will stretch as far as Speed TV (US), ESPN (Latin America), Globosat (Brazil), One HD (Australia), StarHub (Singapore), Sky (New Zealand), Al Jazeera (Middle East), ESPN Star Sports (Asia) and Supersport (Africa), with further HD broadcasters expected to come on board during the season.

Meanwhile, 3D and digital systems specialists Vince Pace - which worked with Dorna Sports during a successful trial of 3D technology at last year's US Grand Prix - now plans to produce a 3D MotoGP documentary.

'This will feature images captured during the [2010] MotoGP season, and channels broadcasting in 3D such as ESPN and Sky have already shown interest in broadcasting such coverage of the sport,' said a Dorna statement.

The Pace team is led by John Bruno, who was part of the Visual Effects team involved in the Academy Award winning film Avatar.

[kenshaaka]

From the way he looks I don't think Bernie can tell the difference between HD and SD

[TauToadmiester]

(ref: 3D HDTV via ESPN sports channel and others I would expect)

Since many of Bernie's decisions are based on European needs (night/afternoon races,etc) and the fair lack (I think) of HDTV stations/broadcasters and viewers relatively to some parts of the world (where some of us watch ONLY HDTV channels),
just maybe Bernie, that smart dastardly dog who makes more decisions than we all know about, Is he that sharp to put off HDTV F1 modernization awaiting 3D HDTV???

Of course, if he waits long enough, we will have 3D full eye resolution/color via brain implant/jack and be able to say 'Look how much money we saved by not going to that low tech HDTV' !!

What you think?

[Giblet]

That dinosaurs are no longer relevant. What an idiot. Most people don't care about 3d and few are going to early adopt 3d tv. He just doesn't get that HDTV will not alienate a single viewer due to downscaling, attract new fans as f1 is very visual, and get some more viewers that just like HD and will watch it for the experience.

He's fully losing it. Fom needs youth, not old rich car salesmen who aregetting increasingly out of touch.

[mx_tifoso]

Max Mosley recently said that Ecclestone could use improvements in the way the FOM utilizes the internet, and while he didn't mentioned HD I'm sure that it's part of the overall marketing weakness.

Apart from the 2-6 hours spent on a GP every other weekend most of the time spent looking up F1 related things is on the internet. Forums, news sites, videos. And most of it is not on the official site so they're losing out on a lot.