F1 Racing

[Denzilern]

Would you know which channels I need to subscribe to to receive the F1 Racing grandprix season???

[Justin46]

F1 races are shown on SPEED Channel, channels 83 and 583. They are included in the Extreme HD package (I think SPEED may also be in the Essentials package, not sure).

__________________________________
Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
IMG 1.6.2, Build 08.58
Keller, TX 76248

[jamieva]

But keep in mind the races are not broadcast in HD.

[Justin46]

---

@jamieva wrote:
But keep in mind the races are not broadcast in HD.

---

I don't know whether you are technically correct or not, but it is a heck of a lot better than the normal "SD on HD channel" broadcasts that many channels, including SPEED, use for some programs, and it is 16:9, not 4:3.

__________________________________
Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
IMG 1.6.2, Build 08.58
Keller, TX 76248

[jamieva]

It's a little better then a normal stretched SD picture, but it's definitely not HD.  Apparently F1 said that the HD penetration was not enough worldwide to do the broadcasts in HD.  Maybe next year.I

[Justin46]

---

@jamieva wrote:
It's a little better then a normal stretched SD picture,.....

---

Well, maybe you need to get a new TV then  It is pretty close to a real HD picture on my set, and my HD channels are very, very good. It is nowhere close to being just "a little better" than an SD picture, and it is not stretched, at least not a 4:3 stretched picture.

__________________________________
Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
IMG 1.6.2, Build 08.58
Keller, TX 76248 

[jamieva]

http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk/index.php/no-f1-hd-coverage-in-2009

It's not HD, but it says they may be upconverting it somehow.

[Justin46]

I went to the SPEED website and searched the F1 area and found a thread about this very subject, HD or SD. There are as always at least two opposing views, yes it is HD or close and no it is just SD. Several posters point out that apparently the races are actually captured in 1080i 16:9 HD format, but are then down-converted to to the PAL fomat for world distribution. Then SPEED takes that PAL signal and up-converts it to 720p for broadcast to us.

So you are correct, it is not really an HD signal we get, but it is not a normal US SD signal either. It is sort of somewhere in between, and at least it is captured in 16:9 and not stretched. For me, on my TV, it really looks pretty good, much better than any SD 4:3 signal I see on any HD channel.

Supposedly real HD for 2010 or 2011.

__________________________________
Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
IMG 1.6.2, Build 08.58
Keller, TX 76248

[Keyboards]

Even if it is a pseudo-HD, it looks a heck of a lot better than the SD broadcast on the SPEED SD channel 83.  And it is full 16:9, not a stretch-o-vision 16:9.