Originally Posted by Chris (Post 35856729)

Final thought, I don't know what it's like on Freeview but Freesat carries a national variant of bbc2 in HD, so anyone watching BBC parliament at 4am on bbc2, on satellite at least, will be able to see it in HD.

Originally Posted by Chris James (Post 35856740)

For the second time, Parliament is not transmitted in HD.

Originally Posted by Chris (Post 35856729)

Because I never said it was unaffordable - I simply pointed out that there was a cost that most people don't appreciate (repeat fees) whereas simulcasting current affairs content does not have that cost. The cost issue is nothing to do with breaking the bank. It's simply a matter of priorities. They choose not to spend money on repeating entertainment shows overnight in order to have more money for content at times of day when viewing figures will be higher. If the decision was cost neutral, and they thought they would serve more viewers, and they thought it would pass a public service value test, then they might decide to repeat their entertainment content overnight. But they haven't done that.

Your problem, as always, is that you find it hard to process the fact that different businesses, just like different people, have different priorities. Just because 5USA's business priority means funds are available to run repeats of its entertainment content overnight, it does not follow that the BBC's priorities are the same and their business decisions will be similar. Just because 5USA's business model aligns with your idea of what a broadcaster should be doing overnight, it does not follow that all of them must.

Final thought, I don't know what it's like on Freeview but Freesat carries a national variant of bbc2 in HD, so anyone watching BBC parliament at 4am on bbc2, on satellite at least, will be able to see it in HD.

Originally Posted by Chris James (Post 35856740)

For the second time, Parliament is not transmitted in HD.

Originally Posted by Chris James (Post 35856740)

For the second time, Parliament is not transmitted in HD.

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter (Post 35856211)

Starting 5/9/16, BBC2 will be carrying BBC Parliament programming overnight.

Not sure if this is a simulcast, a selection of their programmes or whilst the US Presidential elections are on.

This will also give them the opportunity to show material in HD.

Thoughts?

Originally Posted by tweetiepooh (Post 35856939)

Never see the point of getting all content in HD. Partly because our 28" CRT TV doesn't do HD but much content isn't improved anyway. And HD fills the Tivo too much.

Our parliament doesn't warrant HD (some parliamentarians shouldn't be seen in that much detail), the Thai one does as it can have much more action :P

Originally Posted by Horizon (Post 35857012)

...yep, I used to have the same view as "tweetie" (change of username?) until I got a larger HD tv. Basically you need HD content, otherwise it looks awful.

It's a great shame that all our old tv shows were not filmed on 35mm film, unlike American shows.

Originally Posted by Chris (Post 35857371)

Once the BBC started archiving on videotape (as opposed to wiping tapes for re use and archiving only select episodes on film), their future was secured. You'll never see Fawlty Towers in HD, but it can at least be replayed whenever required without the recoding medium going off.

Originally Posted by heero_yuy (Post 35857419)

Unfortunately videotape is also subject to deterioration with time especially if badly stored*. Re-recording to new tape is subject to reduction of quality too. Only storing digitally with minimum compression on HDDs or SSDs is the secure media and even then duplicate copies are a must.

* Variations of temperature and humidity cause the tape pack to move against itself on the reels which results in magnetic "Print through" which can eventually render the tape unplayable. Same applies to video cassettes. including domestic formats.