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Post by David Huggins on Nov 11, 2011 20:04:52 GMT
I recall reading somewhere that in the early 90s the BBC recorded some editions of Top of the Pops in 1250-line high definition widescreen format, as a test of the HD system then being proposed.
I was wondering if anyone on the forum might know which episodes these were, and if this footage still exists in its native resolution and format. Thanks for any info people may be able to supply on this!
Regards, David.
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Post by markboulton on Nov 13, 2011 12:30:41 GMT
I would love to know this too. I remember the format: D2 Quadra. It used 4xD2 tapes running in sync, with each one recording every fourth pixel, so that any one of the four tapes could be played on a standard D2 machine to produce an ordinary PAL picture. I remember BBC2 showing an orchestral concert in this format, announced as being recorded with "the very latest high definition widescreen technology...the shape of television screens of the future." I have the announcement and first couple of minutes of the programme somewhere on VHS.
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Post by David Huggins on Nov 13, 2011 14:32:30 GMT
I would love to know this too. I remember the format: D2 Quadra. It used 4xD2 tapes running in sync, with each one recording every fourth pixel, so that any one of the four tapes could be played on a standard D2 machine to produce an ordinary PAL picture. I remember BBC2 showing an orchestral concert in this format, announced as being recorded with "the very latest high definition widescreen technology...the shape of television screens of the future." I have the announcement and first couple of minutes of the programme somewhere on VHS. Thanks for info Mark. Fascinating stuff! Would be good to see some of that footage on BBC HD today - maybe as part of a documentary about how HD developed. Apropos of nothing ISTR reading that some episodes of Noel's House Party were done in HD too. I have a hazy childhood memory of watching the show (in around 1994/95) and noticing how sharp and colourful the picture was. And I think around that time Noel joked that now his Crinkly Bottom could now be seen in high-definition (and they say wit is dead). With TOTP I imagine that anyone putting together a new programme or Blu-ray of an artist's appearances on the show might benefit from knowing which editions were HD, in order to source the best quality versions (assuming that the footage still exists, of course...) Cheers, David.
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Post by Peter Stirling on Nov 15, 2011 10:53:58 GMT
have a google for the 'MAC' system, this IIRC was going give us HD TV in the 1980s or 1990s.
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Post by Anthony Clark on Nov 15, 2011 12:05:59 GMT
The BBC's first HD production was, as I recall, The Ginger Tree. I saw it in studio and it looked amazing. I'm pretty sure it was a co-production with a Japanese broadcaster.
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Post by Mark Tinkler on Nov 15, 2011 14:27:39 GMT
...and didn't the BBC junk all their HD copies of "The Ginger Tree" so they only have SD copies left?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2011 14:50:54 GMT
I think the co-production was with NHK, Anthony.
They junked the HD copies though, Mark?!? Obviously not learning from the mistakes of the past there, I see.
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Post by Mark Tinkler on Nov 15, 2011 15:05:39 GMT
I'm sure I remember that somewhere a little while back and thought exactly the same thing!
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Post by Matthew Brannigan on Nov 17, 2011 5:45:52 GMT
When my family originally got BSB with the D-MAC system (and later watching D2-MAC from Scandinavian channels) the picture quality was utterly flawless, however I don't think it was anything more than standard 576 lines, but it was probably the best quality you could've eked out of standard definition.
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Post by Steve Roberts on Nov 20, 2011 8:28:35 GMT
I once worked on a project for BBC R&D that used four VTRs recording a quadrant each, but they were D1 (component digital) rather than D2 (composite digital).
As far as I'm aware, BBC Worldwide still hold HD copies of 'The Ginger Tree' in the obsolete 1125/60 Sony Hi-Vision analogue HD format that it was produced on. I remember going to a screening of it at work and being surprised at how fast the spools on the HDD1000 VTRs went round!
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Post by David Huggins on Nov 20, 2011 12:31:37 GMT
I once worked on a project for BBC R&D that used four VTRs recording a quadrant each, but they were D1 (component digital) rather than D2 (composite digital). As far as I'm aware, BBC Worldwide still hold HD copies of 'The Ginger Tree' in the obsolete 1125/60 Sony Hi-Vision analogue HD format that it was produced on. I remember going to a screening of it at work and being surprised at how fast the spools on the HDD1000 VTRs went round! Thanks to everyone for the replies on this. Steve, you might be interested in this page on VT Oldboys site, which shows those VTRs and and has some info about how The Ginger Tree was edited (good to hear it survives on its original format BTW!) www.vtoldboys.com/nbig08.htmPlayback HD's site has an interesting article on their involvement with the 1250-line HD tests of the early 90s, dating the Noel's House Party coverage as being from January 93. Couldn't see a mention of Top of the Pops. www.playbackhd.tv/hdtv_1.html
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Post by Brian Fretwell on Nov 20, 2011 22:24:00 GMT
When my family originally got BSB with the D-MAC system (and later watching D2-MAC from Scandinavian channels) the picture quality was utterly flawless, however I don't think it was anything more than standard 576 lines, but it was probably the best quality you could've eked out of standard definition. I believe the standards were there for HDMAC, but I have no idea if anyone ever transmitted it.
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Post by Steve Roberts on Nov 20, 2011 22:40:58 GMT
Funnily enough, I was actually emailing Chris Booth at VTOldBoys this morning about that picture - there's another version of it elsewhere on the site in higher res with the three VTRs labelled as all being the same. Actually, the two VTR's on the right are HDD-1000s, but the one cut-off on the right is an earlier HDV-100.
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Post by David Huggins on Feb 15, 2017 22:26:23 GMT
Sorry to bump an old thread, but I thought some here might find this of interest. Archive footage of New York in 1993, shot on analogue high-definition video cameras. This was apparently made to promote the MUSE HD LaserDisc format available in Japan at the time. The upload is from a promotional D-VHS cassette released in 2002. Very good quality, and it retains fluid video motion as the upload is at 1080p60. Would be interesting to see some of the BBC's HD experiments from the 90s too. As mentioned earlier several TOTP episodes, and this edition of Noel's House Party, broadcast 23.1.93, was shot with Vision 1250-line CCD cameras as a test of the format (reference is from Brendan Slamin's book 'Understanding Wide Screen', p. 127). genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/a80d1067216b472cb09af284f53e3e2b
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Post by brianfretwell on Feb 18, 2017 16:55:39 GMT
I had seen A LaserDisc HD demonstration at a video show in Islington, shown to a very large screen CRT set. That looked good, especially very low video noise on the picture. Also there was one Sony 1125 line camera at the recording of the 1991 "Joy to the World" Christmas show at the Albert Hall. All others looked 625 line. I wonder what that was used for and if anything from it still exists.
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