Post by dkennedy on Mar 4, 2005 12:22:22 GMT -5
Posted on Fri, Mar. 04, 2005
Basketball doesn't fit wide screen
This season, hundreds of NBA games, including all 76ers home games, are being produced for TV in high definition. That means crisper images for viewers who want to see individual beads of sweat on forwards' foreheads or identify what sneaker brand everyone wears.
No one would dispute HDTV's improved picture. But most telecasts really aren't using HDTV's other big difference - its wider screen - to show the game of basketball in new ways.
Marketers of high-def TV often advertise how much extra video you're getting on the sides, stuff you wouldn't see in a conventional picture. But a wider screen isn't inherently bigger than a regular TV set; it's just a different shape. You could as accurately say a square TV picture would add viewing area on the top and bottom. What matters is how well networks shoot scenes to the fill the viewing window.
The screen shape that all new TV sets will have in the near future is great for movies. It's not a slam dunk that a screen shaped more like a dollar bill than a playing card is better for basketball. NBA basketball is a half-court game, after all. The standard TV shot that frames all 10 players in action from above forms a square, not a wide rectangle.
"Basketball is definitely one of the more difficult sports to utilize the different framing," says Lenny Daniels, senior vice president and coordinating producer for Turner Sports. "NASCAR is a horizontal sport. [In wide-screen] you're going to see more of the cars coming and going."
"The field of play [in basketball] is one of the most confined in sports," says Jamie Campbell, senior coordinating producer for ESPN's NBA coverage.
ESPN is doing 26 games this season in high definition. But since it sends the same video feed to both its regular and HD channels, camera operators frame every shot for conventional screens, not wide screens. If anything really compelling happens in the margins that only wide-screen viewers see, it's a mistake.
Comcast SportsNet operates the same way. Viewers of 76ers games in high definition will notice the scoreboard-clock graphic is positioned not in the upper-left-hand corner but toward the middle of the screen. That graphic defines the edge of the picture that regular viewers get; the extra stuff that wide-screen viewers see is usually a few rows of fans behind the backboard.
TNT, which does the most NBA games in HD (26 doubleheaders, plus 40 playoff games), has taken the step of dedicating two or three cameras per game exclusively to wide-screen shots.
"There are ways to take advantage of it," Daniels says. "Think of the camera under the basket, with the guy taking a foul shot." With wide-screen framing, he says, you could also see all the players lined up waiting for the rebound and "the coach screaming on the side." Alas, TNT's innovative HD feed isn't carried by Comcast in Philadelphia (it's on Dish Network satellite TV.)
Some producers talk about showing players along a team bench, or fans in a crowd, without panning the camera across them. A single, wide shot gets them all at once, and the improved image quality creates a panoramic close-up, letting viewers decide what to look at. When HDTV becomes standard, you will see less camera movement, they say.
Rational pastime. There are few better ways to slow down than enjoying a meandering, meaningless spring-training ball game. ESPN has the Braves-Dodgers today at 1 p.m. and will telecast 13 spring games. XM Satellite Radio's coverage of every game this year has begun.
No U-turn. ESPN's 24-hour college-sports channel, ESPN U, launches this weekend, but for Comcast subscribers in Philadelphia it's a zero-hour channel. Comcast, in the midst of renegotiating fees and channel lineups with ESPN, doesn't carry the U yet. The new channel is on DirecTV satellite and Adelphia cable systems.
Cherished, painful memories. Shield your eyes. The official DVD of Super Bowl XXXIX is out. I don't want to spoil the ending, but Corey Dillon is on the cover. It's about $20, wherever hard-to-watch DVDs are sold.
Basketball doesn't fit wide screen
This season, hundreds of NBA games, including all 76ers home games, are being produced for TV in high definition. That means crisper images for viewers who want to see individual beads of sweat on forwards' foreheads or identify what sneaker brand everyone wears.
No one would dispute HDTV's improved picture. But most telecasts really aren't using HDTV's other big difference - its wider screen - to show the game of basketball in new ways.
Marketers of high-def TV often advertise how much extra video you're getting on the sides, stuff you wouldn't see in a conventional picture. But a wider screen isn't inherently bigger than a regular TV set; it's just a different shape. You could as accurately say a square TV picture would add viewing area on the top and bottom. What matters is how well networks shoot scenes to the fill the viewing window.
The screen shape that all new TV sets will have in the near future is great for movies. It's not a slam dunk that a screen shaped more like a dollar bill than a playing card is better for basketball. NBA basketball is a half-court game, after all. The standard TV shot that frames all 10 players in action from above forms a square, not a wide rectangle.
"Basketball is definitely one of the more difficult sports to utilize the different framing," says Lenny Daniels, senior vice president and coordinating producer for Turner Sports. "NASCAR is a horizontal sport. [In wide-screen] you're going to see more of the cars coming and going."
"The field of play [in basketball] is one of the most confined in sports," says Jamie Campbell, senior coordinating producer for ESPN's NBA coverage.
ESPN is doing 26 games this season in high definition. But since it sends the same video feed to both its regular and HD channels, camera operators frame every shot for conventional screens, not wide screens. If anything really compelling happens in the margins that only wide-screen viewers see, it's a mistake.
Comcast SportsNet operates the same way. Viewers of 76ers games in high definition will notice the scoreboard-clock graphic is positioned not in the upper-left-hand corner but toward the middle of the screen. That graphic defines the edge of the picture that regular viewers get; the extra stuff that wide-screen viewers see is usually a few rows of fans behind the backboard.
TNT, which does the most NBA games in HD (26 doubleheaders, plus 40 playoff games), has taken the step of dedicating two or three cameras per game exclusively to wide-screen shots.
"There are ways to take advantage of it," Daniels says. "Think of the camera under the basket, with the guy taking a foul shot." With wide-screen framing, he says, you could also see all the players lined up waiting for the rebound and "the coach screaming on the side." Alas, TNT's innovative HD feed isn't carried by Comcast in Philadelphia (it's on Dish Network satellite TV.)
Some producers talk about showing players along a team bench, or fans in a crowd, without panning the camera across them. A single, wide shot gets them all at once, and the improved image quality creates a panoramic close-up, letting viewers decide what to look at. When HDTV becomes standard, you will see less camera movement, they say.
Rational pastime. There are few better ways to slow down than enjoying a meandering, meaningless spring-training ball game. ESPN has the Braves-Dodgers today at 1 p.m. and will telecast 13 spring games. XM Satellite Radio's coverage of every game this year has begun.
No U-turn. ESPN's 24-hour college-sports channel, ESPN U, launches this weekend, but for Comcast subscribers in Philadelphia it's a zero-hour channel. Comcast, in the midst of renegotiating fees and channel lineups with ESPN, doesn't carry the U yet. The new channel is on DirecTV satellite and Adelphia cable systems.
Cherished, painful memories. Shield your eyes. The official DVD of Super Bowl XXXIX is out. I don't want to spoil the ending, but Corey Dillon is on the cover. It's about $20, wherever hard-to-watch DVDs are sold.
