While the guys playing in the World Cup are professionals, it seems the stateside broadcasters are still very much amateurs when it comes to displaying the beautiful game. I've caught a couple games since the tournament started, and while the quality of the broadcast is excellent. You can see everything very clearly and the sport is more fun to watch in widescreen, as you can see the positioning of the players better. While it is almost enough to wipe the nasty taste of the Winter Olympics debacle from my mouth, and doesn't have the
HDTV compression problems cited in Korea, there are still some issues to be worked out.
For reasons unknown to anyone with half a brain, ABC and ESPN have decided to obscure large areas of the screen with wide bars and dark translucent areas. Often when they go to a close shot of exciting action with two or more players battling for control of the ball or positioning, part of their heads get cut off at the top of the screen. Even worse, when they display stats or other information it often pops up and takes away a whole third or even half of the screen. It's silly and wouldn't pass in a high school sports broadcast. This screenshot from one of the posters on AVS Forum shows the BBC's minimal screen bug that gives a much better view of the pitch on an HDTV.
Also, it seems that neither ABC or ESPN-HD are passing the surround sound properly, leaving watchers without the feeling of actually being in the stadium. When you can really crank up the crowd noise and get into it, the game is at its best, much like the NBA's tests with
silent games this year. Especially with the World Cup and all the crazed fans, the background noise is as much a part of the game as the grass it's played on, it's the atmosphere.
[Thanks for the
tip HDJanitor!]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Maha10k @ Jun 13th 2006 11:02PM
You can post complaints on ESPN's website under 'contact us.' I've already submitted a complaint.
Neil Crespi @ Jun 13th 2006 11:38PM
I would also like to watch the games in a way that would make me feel like I am really in the stadium or something. Nice of you to open this thing up. I hope ESPN and ABC are seeing this.
Neal Saferstein @ Jun 14th 2006 2:09AM
This is so depressing
Neal Saferstein
shamo @ Jun 14th 2006 2:25AM
oh, abc's not bad...compared to ESPN. Flipping ESPN puts the crawler on the bottom and the score bar up top. I feel like I'm loosing a 1/4 of my screen when I'm watching ESPN! I wish those score bars and any graphics for that matter could act like widgets, so I could close and resize them at will.
Maff Mace @ Jun 14th 2006 3:49AM
I can't believe the size of the DOG you guys have in the US, you shouldn't have to tollerate that
DOG = digital on-screen graphic
BrazilMonkey @ Jun 14th 2006 5:15AM
Nice device I think.... as I see on the pictures of course
bfos @ Jun 14th 2006 11:02AM
ABC has had audio issues ever since I started getting HD service. It makes all big games (like the Texas-USC) seem flat, because there's basically no surround.
You also have to crank your volume, which means you get blown across the room when you change channels.
Brian
Andrew @ Jun 14th 2006 11:32AM
The reason why the on screen graphics obscure the action sometimes is that ABC/ESPN aren't in control of the cameras. Each network is given raw camera feeds from the 20 or so cameras around the stadium. They can switch between then at will, they can overlay scores, tickers and graphics. Unlike a domestic broadcast, however, those overlays don't feed back into the cameraperson's monitor. The cameraperson has no idea that ESPN2HD put up a useless "Quick Fact" that takes up half the screen, and is covering the ball. Now, it IS ESPN's fault that they designed a graphic that takes up half the screen in the first place.
Colin @ Jun 14th 2006 2:12PM
I went to Fox Sports Grill in Houston to watch the games since they have DirecTV (with ESPN2HD) but they cant feed hdtv to their monitors. It is even worse watching an SDTV broadcast of ESPN2 with the big bars on the top and the bottom in SDTV on an HDTV widescreen! ARGH. You think you have it bad!
E dub @ Jun 14th 2006 3:08PM
Shamo's estimate is very close. I geeked out a bit and measured the height of ESPN2's banners with a tape measure...
With a 50" panny, total image height ~25", ESPN2's banners take up +5", or over 20% of the vertical.
Plus, why do they need "ESPN2" in two locations on the screen?
I did notice sound improved for AUS v JPN, as compared to the opening match. But even with my center -10dB and surrounds +10dB, audio commentary by the presenters is still much too loud.
Bubba @ Jun 14th 2006 3:20PM
All of y'all should stop complaining and watch the game on Univision.
airpolgas @ Jun 14th 2006 7:02PM
I just finished watching the PVR'ed Brazil game, and I have to say I'm pretty pissed at the poor coverage of ESPN2. Granted they do not have controls of the cameras, but those bars almost always takes the attention away from the game. Ronaldinho was trying to do some fancy footwork, and all I can see is the damn ticker showing baseball scores.
That BBC coverage screenshot up there looks pretty nice. I'd pay money to BBC if I can get their coverage here in the US.
HDjanitor @ Jun 15th 2006 5:45AM
@ comment #8: "The reason why the on screen graphics obscure the action sometimes is that ABC/ESPN aren't in control of the cameras. Each network is given raw camera feeds from the 20 or so cameras around the stadium. They can switch between then at will, they can overlay scores, tickers and graphics."
Hmm... the reason why the on-screen graphics obscure the action MOST (not some) of the time is that ABC and ESPN use dark, opaque graphics and borders that go all the way across the screen. ESPN had time to plan all this. They knew that they weren't going to be in control of the cameras and should be doing a better job with these graphics. Instead, both HD and standard viewers are getting poor coverage. Take a look at the BBC screenshot above. Graphics are mostly translucent, no borders, very small, and it manages to tell you team shirt colors to boot!
Also, they cannot switch between the cameras at will as you wrote. There are about 10 isolated feeds from each game. Most of them are "supplemental" and not available in HD at the Int'l Broadcast Center in Munich, where the games are beamed back to ESPN in Bristol, CT. See http://www.hostbroadcastservices.com/06prodplan.php
SomeDude @ Jun 17th 2006 3:59PM
I'm ABC's broadcast of USA v. Italy on Dish Network. The audio is terrible. The volume of the announcers keeps going up and down at random and WAY too often the audio is just a buzz for a second or so.
Also, the graphics are huge and annoying, and they over compress the video.
Does know if the video compression artifacts vary between different US broadcasters (Dish, DirectTV, Comcast, etc.) and also between different countries?