I Want My HDTV (but not entirely for the usual reasons)

[rfunk]

The Olympic opening ceremonies were almost two weeks ago now. Normally I ignore the Olympics as much as possible, but thanks to chronarchy and 35,000 previewers, I was aware that the opening ceremonies should be impressive. So when I got tired of packing for Pennsic, I flipped on the TV to take a look.

It looked pretty cool, but I was somewhat disappointed by it for three reasons:
- This thing demanded a wide screen to get a decent view of things
- In the wider shots, all the details were lost
- Worst of all, the commentators kept babbling over the music, ruining the whole effect

So why do I bring this up now? Well, yesterday I came across this AP story about HDTV watchers being annoyed by the HDTV version of the Olympic broadcast. They had two big complaints about opening night; one was that their broadcast started late, apparently ignoring the fact that the whole thing is broadcast on tape-delay anyway, since evening in Greece is morning here.

But the complaint that got my attention was that the HDTV broadcast wasn't narrated by Bob Costas and Katie Couric. This makes people feel like they're being treated like "throwaways"? It makes me want to go buy an HDTV, solving all three problems I had with the broadcast I saw!

Of course, somehow the FCC thinks we'll all be watching HDTV by May 2006 anyway.

Update: Almost missed this gem from the story. "Gerbrandt said he's seen only one advertisement on NBC's HDTV coverage - from a maker of a high definition TV set." Great picture, no commentators, and almost no commercials? Where do I sign up?

Comments

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Sweet. I'm pleased to hear that there was a non-commentator option, even if we couldn't access it. The opening ceremonies were exactly the sort of thing I like to watch on television - giant spectacles I couldn't possibly be present for - and the commentary ruined it. (Although Bob Costas did say, regarding Oedipus Rex, something to the effect of "He killed his father to marry his mother, a sequence of events which rarely turns out well", which was something of a concession for the general obnoxiousness of the thing.)

It would be nice if it were possible to mute certain tracks on television broadcasts.

[rfunk.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have to admit I liked that Oedipus line too, but only relative the the rest of what they were saying.

I considered just hitting the mute button, but the music was part of the production. At least they quieted down a bit for a while after the initial parade.

Geek idea: I wonder if those karaoke filters that remove the vocals from stereo songs would have worked... though with two commentators they probably didn't put them both in the center of the mix, and of course it would lose the stereo mix of the music.

[chronarchy.livejournal.com]

Damn! I want one too!

(Actually, I didn't bother to watch the opening ceremony because of some lame reason or another. Glad to hear that 35,000 people weren't wrong.)

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Nah - it was fabulous. The cauldron though, it does bear an uncomfortable resemblence to a giant joint.

Overheard on chaosdruid's couch during the viewing party: "The hope of humanity will be represented by the world's biggest doobie!"