[mythtv-users] MythTV and the state of US HDTV

[Yeechang Lee]

Jay R. Ashworth <jra at baylink.com> says:
> Scrubs [is not avaiable in HD].
> 
> And that parents of teenagers vehicle for the redhead from Boston
> Public was so in 4:3 that cutting to 16:9 was an *effect* for them.
> 
> In fact, I'd almost go so far as to say that *no* sitcoms are shot in
> 16:9, or at least aired that way, at the moment.  Note: almost.  :-)

. . . Just as I also used the word "almost." That said, of the
30-minute sitcoms I am currently watching or trying out--"How I Met
Your Mother," "Out of Practice," "Four Kings," "Courting Alex," and
"Freddie"--I know that all except "Out of Practice" (and possibly that
one, too; I don't have an episode on my MythTV box at the moment to
check) are in HD. It's possible the fact that they are all new this
season may have something to do with it.

All my one-hour dramas and late-night talk shows are in HD as
well. Anyone with HDNet knows that every episode of "Smallville" since
its 2001 debut is available there in glorious HD, but I don't know if
the WB actually broadcast them in HD at that time or if the earlier
ones on HDNet are remakes from the film stock, the way the channel has
done with its "Charlie's Angels" and "Hogan's Heroes" episodes. I'm a
Letterman fan myself, but NBC has broadcast "The Tonight Show" in HD
since 1999, back when there couldn't have been more than a handful of
sets capable of fully depicting the quality anywhere in the country.

In sum, I see no substantial reason to amend my original statement:
Almost all first-run half-hour comedies, one-hour dramas, and
theatrical movies on the broadcast networks (CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, WB,
and UPN), with the notable exception of most reality shows, have been
shown in full widescreen HDTV for some time.

-- 
Yeechang Lee <ylee at pobox.com> | +1 650 776 7763 | San Francisco CA US