HD poorly implemented in Des Moines
Since the digital TV switchover last month, it has become clear that local television stations have not fully embraced their new hi-def capabilities. Watching channel 8-1 this morning, it's obvious they still use their old standard definition video cameras in the news studio and are simply up-converting the signal to high definition; it's a blurry picture. Same story for channel 13-1. But in addition to using older SD cameras, whenever they slap in their lower third ticker, they have to drop the 16:9 image back to a 4:3 aspect ratio. So they use SD to shoot news talent, up-convert to HD for a wide-screen shot, then reduce back to SD when using a ticker. Watching this in glorious 16:9 hi-def is a train wreck! And it appears that channel 5-1 isn't even pretending to be an HD news shop. If it weren't for their low-end SD studio gear, I'd say this is better. Unfortunately, of the big 3, our local ABC affiliate's newscasts remain the most difficult to watch. So ...
