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Seattle Fireworks in HDTV

B

Bryant

Guest
So I was sitting at home yesterday evening, avoiding the hordes at Myrtle Edwards and Lake Union, watching the fireworks on HD off-air. I switched back and forth a couple times between KOMO and KING. Boy, there was a big difference in quality of the two pictures. KING was really sharp, with good contrast between the bright sparkly bits and the black sky background. KOMO by contrast was kind of fuzzy, sort of like it was just a widescreen standard-definition picture. Not very impressive at all.

I had also earlier watched the Capitol Fourth broadcast on KCTS's Ch9-5, and again KING looked a lot better by comparison. On the Capitol Fourth, the bright fireworks tended to light up the area immediately around the bursts, killing the contrast.

Why was KING so much better than KOMO? Did anybody else notice this?
 
Yup - noticed it too. It could be because Belo invested a ton into its HD plant (including remote gear) while Fisher is still using old technology. But that's for the TV guys to hash out.
 
I do have some insight on the HD thing, but can't really share it in good consicence! But I agree...Belo tends to do some seriously decent homework when it comes to implementing a technology plan; and KING has always had outstanding engineers who did that long before Belo.

But the comment I did want to make is how torn I feel watching the two fireworks shows. Lake Union show (OneReel) is, in my opinion, outpacing themeselves every year and an amazing show to watch both live and on TV. On the other hand, old Seattle-ites HAVE to "root" for the Ivar's show; but I suspect (without any knowledge here) that it's mostly funded by some kind of trust and probably can't afford to be as competitive as the OneReel show tries to be. I'm just extremely grateful that Ivar LEFT us a show every year and since no one has to pay for either one, it's hard to be much of a picky beggar. Just a "guilty" one!!!
 
komo still broadcasts at 720x486. while king as mentioned is in real hd. king has all new gear to drive it including cameras, decks, graphics and lasst nigth king had rented a few hd trucks to feed the signal. while komo is still working with the older gear.
 
The difference is that the Lake Union show is put on by One Reel Productions and carried on KING. One reel pays for all the production truck with HD capabilities. Other than providing talent, direction, and a signal, KING goes along for the ride. How do I know this?? Because I used to work on the Lake Union production on the HD truck.

KOMO supplies of all the production and talent for free, so a $35-50K investment in an HD truck rental and crew would go on them. In fact, I've heard that both stations actually break even on the deal, and just do it mainly as a public service.
 
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