With our latest snowstorm raging, something that irks HDTV owners to no end reared its ugly head again -- primetime TV shrinkage.
WLUK has dubbed it Snowstorm Carter, and it's making Monday primetime a little smaller for primetime television. With weather warnings and event cancellations strewn across the screen, HDTV owners are seeing chunks of their precious wide screens empty.
What's the problem?
Most Green Bay broadcast stations have not upgraded their graphics overlay systems to high-definition. Viewers still watching the analog standard-definition feeds are none the wiser. Anyone tuned into these stations' digital feeds on high-def capable televisions are finding their primetime programming squeezed into the center of their TV, with a big black mote surrounding it.
WBAY alternated between an overlay over a standard 4x3 feed, and later squeezed the series finale of Boston Legal into the top of the screen. WLUK aired a letterboxed SD version of Prison Break with a small winter warnings bug on the lower right, while its 16x9 station logo still adorned the side of the wide frame. WGBA, clearly the night's winner for most obtrusive graphic, splattered a red warning box across the bottom of the screen, although only a small Wisconsin map, station logo and text crawl were laid over it. What a waste of space, especially over a letterboxed SD feed of Heroes. If you tuned in for that on a big HD screen, you probably got the least actual program real estate of any of the Big Four networks tonight.
Only WFRV, who invested the resources and time to upgrade their facilities to full-HD, had a watchable television experience for HD viewers tonight, while still making weather information available. Their weather overlays spanned the full HD image of CBS' Monday night comedies, like The Big Bang Theory. The information and radar map were clearly visible but incredibly unobtrusive.
We applaud WFRV for finally making the first leap in local HD, and beg the other Green Bay broadcasters to follow suit. If the rest of this Wisconsin winter remains as unpredictable as the first few weeks, Northeast Wisconsin HDTV viewers are in for a long, cold pinch during primetime all winter long.
Fox Cities TV is an independent blog and member-driven community based in Green Bay, Wisconsin and serves the Northeast Wisconsin area, including Green Bay, Appleton, and Oshkosh. TV lovers can come here to learn about what's happening in local (and national) television, interact with other TV viewers and express their opinions.
I hate this also. You pay
I hate this also. You pay for HD service and at the sign if any trouble, you lose it. I know they will upgrade their gear, but what is taking them so long??
I would agree, but what I
I would agree, but what I find even more annoying is when they completely cut into the show you are watching to tell you 30 mins worth of information that you already know from all the other times they previously cut in to tell things you could look out the window to find out.
Great commentary,Mark!
Great commentary,Mark! Thank you for bringing to light something that's annoyed the heck out of me more and more. These Green Bay stations did the same thing on election night. If they were all as unobtrusive as WFRV's, it wouldn't be so bad, but to shrink the picture and overlay obnoxius graphics is uncalled for. Have you noticed that these stupid overlays are only aired during the program itself? You never see them during the commercials. If they want to shrink anything, then shrink the commercials, not the program!
Ummm... the advertisers PAY
Ummm... the advertisers PAY for the entire screen for their 30 seconds.
If you give them less, they DON'T PAY.
It would be a bad business model to give away your airtime for free. During tornado and thunderstorm warnings it makes sense to blow out commercials. But for a snow warning? Come on.. look out your window and get over it!
Last night I think I saw a
Last night I think I saw a full width HD scroll on WGBA. Perhaps they will all have HD production capabilities in the near future.
HD scrolls are one thing.
HD scrolls are one thing. HD production is quite another. I always thought they had the capability to do HD scrolls and CG, because they've been able to overlay legal IDs and station logos on 16x9 HD images before. I figured they were just too lazy to actually do two different CGs at once. WFRV can do it because they're running their facility in HD and downscaling it to feed their 4x3 analog transmission.
WBAY during Pushing Daisies
WBAY during Pushing Daisies last night didn't change resolutions to post its warnings.
On top of the screen
On top of the screen changing, I notice the volume changes also. I listen to all my audio through a receiver hooked up with a digital audio cable. So after dealing with the size change, I'm also adjusting the volume up and down. GRRR!!!!
WFRV's Director of
WFRV's Director of Operations/Marketing can be thanked for WFRV HD's continued high ratings as an HD broadcaster.
He is concerned, innovative, and, as a viewer, like us, sees what is coming into our homes and wants his product to be only top quality and ahead of the competition.
I think, he's doing a great job providing us with this level of quality. Hopefully, in short time, the other local HD broadcasters can reach this same level of excellence.
Agreed, WFRV has made a good
Agreed, WFRV has made a good decision here. I love WFRV even though I watch NO CBS SHOWS. LOL