Comedy Central HD by January 2009

[HDRoberts]

Hard to say when Dish will actually pick up the HD version, maybe "by the end of the year"?

Er, and to get on topic, I am looking forward to Daily Show/ Colbert Report in HD. Also, it would be nice to have Comedy Central Presents and other stand-up specials in HD, i.e. Dane Cook's Vicious Circle. :up

BBC America is operated by Discovery, one of the few providers Dish has seems to have decent relations with. They just added Planet Green, which was not too long after its launch. They carry all their HDs, and are only missing FitTV and Investigation Discovery in SD (not the most popular of their channels)

Also, while I do say that I don't care if Comedy Central wants to show HD (although I still want the channel), that is not to say there would be no HD potentially available. A few new cameras, some new production equipment (maybe shared with sister networks), and some new graphics, and Stewart/Colbert both could be in HD. Same story with stand up specials (though I'm not looking foward to Dane Cook any format). Heck, most of the ones coming form HBO are probably already mastered in HD for broadcast there. And I believe South Park is being produced in HD.

 

[kb7oeb]

Daily Show and Colbert Report are both available on hulu.com for free so I have no need for comedy central anymore. I used to miss South Park but after seeing some recent episodes I don't miss it anymore.

 

[HDRoberts]

Daily Show and Colbert Report are both available on hulu.com for free so I have no need for comedy central anymore. I used to miss South Park but after seeing some recent episodes I don't miss it anymore.

Just because something is on the internet doesn't mean I don't wan to see it on my TV. Yeah I could use my LCD TV as a glorified monitor, but it would be a pain for me to hook it up, and not look as good as just having it come straight onto my 622.

 

[hdtvtechno]

Um
Forum Thread Subject title is misleading..

People searching through threads will find that Comedy Central Hd will launch on dishnetwork by january 2009

which is not the case..

 

[HDRoberts]

I saw someone report that Cox in Omaha is launching "Comedy HD" on October 15. Could this indicate that Comedy Central HD will soon be made available from Viacom? IT would be awsome to get The Daily Show and The Colbert Report back on my TV before the election.

 

[Bobby H]

I have a feeling it may be at least a month or two (or several months) after Comedy Central starts broadcasting in HD before E* provides it to Dish Network customers.

Some people make the argument that there's no need for HD with Comedy Central. I completely disagree with that.

Comedy Central often airs stand-up comedy specials that originally aired on other networks such as HBO or Shotime. Just about any of those concerts that have been produced within the last couple or so years were videotaped (not "filmed") in HD.

Just about all the comedy movies that Comedy Central airs have HD masters available for them. There's lots of HD telecine masters originally made for DVD authoring. Most movies produced within about the last 4 years have 2K digital intermediates perfect for Blu-ray.

TV series like Reno 911 and South Park are moving to HD production. Regarding shows like The Colbert Report and The Daily Show, they just need to bring in new video cameras and swap out certain pieces of posting gear. I don't think they need to change the prodution sets, lighting rigs and all that hoopla. Considering just how often both The Daily Show and Colbert Report take week long breaks (it seems like they're on hiatus once every 6-8 weeks) there's plenty of opportunity for equipment changes.

Not that I'm a big fan of CNN, but it seems like nearly all their in-studio programming is now in HD. Obviously the 2 weeks of convention coverage in Denver and St. Paul gave them enough time to change studio equipment.

I'll also add that it is quite pathetic for a popular major network like Comedy Central to still be only SD. It should be pretty embarrasing for a network like that to be stuck in SD when others like the freaking Weather Channel have HD.

 

[HDRoberts]

Just an update...

Well, it looks like from the Cox Oklahoma site that Comedy Central HD is not launching with the 5 other Viacom HD networks. They have gone from trumpeting 9 new HDs to 8 with Comedy Central HD conspicuously absent. I'm guessing Comedy Central isn't ready? Too bad, this is top on my list.

 

[bretc]

I'm with HDRoberts (although admittedly belatedly)-- I love my Absolute package, for as long as it lasts, and the only thing I miss are the Daily Show and the Soup. Although I wouldn't mind the game show network--gotta love classic game shows.

And a little off-topic note:

Strechovision shouldn't be a problem -- press * -- you can either add bars on the right and left or stretch to fill the screen and cut off the top or bottom. Am I wrong about this?

 

[HDRoberts]

I'm with HDRoberts (although admittedly belatedly)-- I love my Absolute package, for as long as it lasts, and the only thing I miss are the Daily Show and the Soup. Although I wouldn't mind the game show network--gotta love classic game shows.

And a little off-topic note:

Strechovision shouldn't be a problem -- press * -- you can either add bars on the right and left or stretch to fill the screen and cut off the top or bottom. Am I wrong about this?

Agreed, I miss The Soup as well. Plus, while Stewart and Colbert are on Hulu, The Soup is not on the net except for 1 clip a week. At least we have a confirmed date for E! HD: Dec 8th 2008.

As far as stretchovision, adding the grey bars do not undo the stretch. You can streatch or zoom on an unstreched channel to you convience, but you can't undo it when the network does it with Dish equipment. However, setting my TV to an aspect ratio of 4:3 tunes the 4:3 streatched to 16:9 back to 4:3.

 

[kvnfl]

Sorry, Doctor Who was not filmed in HD.

Was Dr. Who shot on 35mm? VOOM HD contained a lot of HD programming that was not shot in HD, but re-mastered from the original 35mm reels. Seinfeld on TBS HD is re-mastered from 35mm and not stretch-o-vision.

 

[toto]

Was Dr. Who shot on 35mm? VOOM HD contained a lot of HD programming that was not shot in HD, but re-mastered from the original 35mm reels. Seinfeld on TBS HD is re-mastered from 35mm and not stretch-o-vision.

Most episodal tv programs and most national sports programs have been shot in 35MM. Since the advent of HD most episodal programs continue to be shot in 35mm. Many sports and reality shows have moved to HD. Local news is moving toward HD, HDV and maybe in the future AVCHD.

 

[KAB]

Most episodal tv programs and most national sports programs have been shot in 35MM.

Not sports. Mostly all video.

 

[Sammy033]

Was Dr. Who shot on 35mm? .

IIRC Dr Who was not done in HD, according to the producers, because of the extra costs involved. Perhaps they meant using digital photography.