Post by Skaggs on Mar 17, 2007 9:15:44 GMT -5
The writer, Pete Dougherty, lurks here at the AlbanyHDTV.com website. He writes mainly about golf, but is a HDTV junkie. We started corresponding last year concerning the 2006 Masters in HDTV.
[/size]
First published: Saturday, March 17, 2007
Had their team not been trailing 19-4 at the time, University at Albany basketball fans might have been more upset. Those watching WRGB (Ch. 6) in high-definition Friday afternoon were switched away briefly from UAlbany's NCAA Tournament game against Virginia.
At 12:36 p.m., WRGB's hi-def audience was switched to the Memphis-North Texas game. A little more than a minute later, the UAlbany game returned, but not in high-definition.
A CBS spokeswoman said WRGB was using the wrong signal for the UAlbany game, although station manager Bob Furlong said the network was responsible for making the switches.
"We started out with the best hi-def we could find up on the transponder," Furlong said. "We took the hi-def signal where we could, and when they made the switch to take it off of the flex feed, it went back to standard definition."
To placate as many viewers as possible, CBS -- which produces games from eight sites during the NCAA Tournament's opening week -- creates two signals from each location: a constant feed, intended only for the home markets of the participating clubs, and a flex feed, which will switch to other games if the original becomes one-sided.
Only the flex feeds are distributed in high-definition. The constant feed, which a network spokeswoman said is received only by a small portion of the total audience, is not.
"There's just not the capacity to protect those home markets in HD yet," Leslieanne Wade of CBS said. "By next year, there may be."
WRGB's hi-def viewers started on the flex feed, enabling them to catch the first 8:14 of game action in HDTV. When the flex audience switched to Memphis-North Texas, it took 69 seconds before the local hi-def viewers were returned.
Those fans might have missed some of the best moments. UAlbany outscored the Cavaliers 5-0 in that span (a Brian Connelly layup and a Jamar Wilson 3-pointer), returning in time to see Virginia's T.J. Reynolds swish a 3-pointer to make the score 24-9.
The high-definition feed returned with 17:28 remaining in the second half and Virginia leading 50-28 before leaving for good 4:17 later and the score 60-32.
"If people are complaining," Furlong said, "it means they're watching."
Pete Dougherty can be reached at 454-5416 or by e-mail at pdougherty@timesunion.com.[/quote]
Hi-def TV pulls disappearing act
Picture changes with switch to another game
By PETE DOUGHERTY, Staff writer
Picture changes with switch to another game
By PETE DOUGHERTY, Staff writer
First published: Saturday, March 17, 2007
Had their team not been trailing 19-4 at the time, University at Albany basketball fans might have been more upset. Those watching WRGB (Ch. 6) in high-definition Friday afternoon were switched away briefly from UAlbany's NCAA Tournament game against Virginia.
At 12:36 p.m., WRGB's hi-def audience was switched to the Memphis-North Texas game. A little more than a minute later, the UAlbany game returned, but not in high-definition.
A CBS spokeswoman said WRGB was using the wrong signal for the UAlbany game, although station manager Bob Furlong said the network was responsible for making the switches.
"We started out with the best hi-def we could find up on the transponder," Furlong said. "We took the hi-def signal where we could, and when they made the switch to take it off of the flex feed, it went back to standard definition."
To placate as many viewers as possible, CBS -- which produces games from eight sites during the NCAA Tournament's opening week -- creates two signals from each location: a constant feed, intended only for the home markets of the participating clubs, and a flex feed, which will switch to other games if the original becomes one-sided.
Only the flex feeds are distributed in high-definition. The constant feed, which a network spokeswoman said is received only by a small portion of the total audience, is not.
"There's just not the capacity to protect those home markets in HD yet," Leslieanne Wade of CBS said. "By next year, there may be."
WRGB's hi-def viewers started on the flex feed, enabling them to catch the first 8:14 of game action in HDTV. When the flex audience switched to Memphis-North Texas, it took 69 seconds before the local hi-def viewers were returned.
Those fans might have missed some of the best moments. UAlbany outscored the Cavaliers 5-0 in that span (a Brian Connelly layup and a Jamar Wilson 3-pointer), returning in time to see Virginia's T.J. Reynolds swish a 3-pointer to make the score 24-9.
The high-definition feed returned with 17:28 remaining in the second half and Virginia leading 50-28 before leaving for good 4:17 later and the score 60-32.
"If people are complaining," Furlong said, "it means they're watching."
Pete Dougherty can be reached at 454-5416 or by e-mail at pdougherty@timesunion.com.[/quote]