Posted by Lee Mellows on 10/22/06 23:58

>
> I didn't see any of the above I'm afraid, but could it be a result of
> 'low-bandwidth' digital tv perhaps?
> ...too much detail onscreen can cause artifacts/blurring/etc. at
> s -also if there are subtle colours/shapes in otherwise darkened-rooms
> this too can present difficulties on Sky (for example), I've noticed
> ...mostly on 'cheaper/crap' channels it must be said.
>
Nope, not that. I'm well aware of the low bitrate problem on BBC3 in
particular. That was there in spades but I can cope with that. The Dr Who
repeats on BBC3 are almost half the size of the original broadcast on BBC1
(if you record them on a hd), but the pictures still look pretty much the
same. The motion is still the same, the colour and the contrast are still
the same.
Torchwood looks completely different. I know it's probably trying to look
different, to distance itself from DW, but this is ridiculous. You know how
those cheap 9"LCD panels that people have in their kitchens look, all soft,
smeary and lacking in contrast? Well that's how Torchwood looks on a CRT. It
might not be that obvious on an LCD tv as they can often look like that,
especially with all the 100hz image processing going full tilt.
Take it from someone who actually makes videos for a living, this wasn't a
problem with how it was broadcast, this was a problem with how it was shot.
I'm betting that the repeats on BBC might look a little less pixillated, but
they'll still look just as cheap and tacky.
It just hurts to see all that effort go to waste, that's all.

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