TCM In HD --- When?

Re: TCM In HD --- When?

To get true HD quality, they would have to get ahold of HD transfers for all those classic films. Judging from the lack of classics/catalogue titles on HDM disk, it doesn't look like HD classics are a priority for the studios. HD DVD has a few more than Blu-Ray (and they are outstanding!!), but HD DVD is dead.

But who knows, maybe these channels could go HD and help subsidize the cost of upgrading the films to HD. Then the studios would begin releasing them on Blu-Ray and we can all be happy.

But I doubt it.

Re: TCM In HD --- When?

HDNet shows a LOT of movies in HD, many of which are the kind one would associate with TCM (in fact, I sometimes see movies airing on TCM shortly after they've been on HDNet Movies or vice versa). This tells me that many of the HD transfers are already done. I have, however, seen relatively few movies from the pre-1950s black and white era on HDNet.

Re: TCM In HD --- When?

I am certain way less than 5% of the movies TCM shows have HD transfers. You are correct a few show up on HDNet Movies and there were a few on HD DVD and a couple on Blu-ray, but TCM couldn't even start with one true HD movie a day at this point. I hope it happens but I will continue to watch TCM even if it doesn't happen. Great movies in the original aspect ratio make that the best cable channel ever in my opinion.

Chris

Re: TCM In HD --- When?

TCM plays all movies in OAR to settle one question also to answer the big question about availability of HD films.
way back in ancient times BDVD(the time of laserdisc.) Most films transferred in WS were transferred on to tape using a D1 recorder.
It's specs are superior to HD and if restoration was done, it was put back on to a D1 0r 2 machine as a new master with specs better that HD. those masters were kept and would still comprise a HD source just as they were used for DVD an dare available for BluRay transfer in full HD as would the 1080i version for TCM.
Even old B&W movies thta were restored would be mastered for D1or2

Re: TCM In HD --- When?

I suspect that HD Net 's philosophy is that if the film isn't widescreen then they are not interested.

Re: TCM In HD --- When?

Not quite since I watched Red River on HD Net Movies channel.

Re: TCM In HD --- When?

Not all of them. Most of them are shown OAR, but occasionally something will show up that isn't.

A few months back they showed Otto Preminger's SKIDOO, shot widescreen, yet the film was panned and scanned. It was one of the first TV airings ever, so you really can't blame them. It was all that was available, as Paramount isn't a fan of the film.

Re: TCM In HD --- When?

But there is the stock cost, time factor (labor) and deck rentals associated with bumping a d1/d2 to SR or D5, additionally those widescreen masters were probably done in 4x3 letterbox rather than anamorphic, so they will need to be properly unconverted to an anamorphic (the pro decks would have an upconvert card if you pay for it, such as the fit_H upconvert setting on a dvcpro 1700 deck) image, unfortunately this would result in some vertical cropping on a 1.66:1 film. Likewise all films with a native aspect ratio of 1.33:1 would need to be upconverted into a pillarboxed anamorphic tape.

So basically you're looking at making new tapes for every movie that plays on TCM. since their air masters are probably just digibetas, this would be a long and expensive process for them. If TCM does go HD I could see them doing it as a channel with a separate programming schedule with only a library of their 1000 most popular films (casablanca etc) that they keep in heavy rotation and it would probably skew towards the 70s-90s rather than the 30s-50s the current scheduling tends towards. Of course the problem with a separate programming schedule is you need an entirely new minimum staff to run it. And it's not as though TCM is selling a lot of advertising to pay for all of this.

if we do see a TCM HD channel I imagine it would have to be a pay premium, ala HBO, 10$ a month or so.

Re: TCM In HD --- When?

Slightly off-topic, but still relevant... AMC (American Movie Classics) just started an HD channel in our area. What a f---ing waste of bandwidth space! The other night they were showing "Escape from the Planet of the Apes" in a 4X3 panned-and-scanned master, stretched on the sides to fit the widescreen frame! I mean, for christ sake, if you're not going to air a true HD master, you can at least take a standard 16x9 transfer and upconvert to Hi-def. Even consumers now have DVD players that upconvert to HD.

Re: TCM In HD --- When?

I have Cablevision and I just noticed TCM-HD today. It is channel 734 for those who have this cable provider.

They're showing an older film right now so I don't know what the pic quality will be like. It is windowboxed properly though and looks better than the standard def channel. We'll see when they show Dr. Strangelove tonight how good the HD looks (if they show it in HD).

Re: TCM In HD --- When?

Have long wondered when my favorite old movie channel - TCM - might start broadcasting in HD, and just became aware yesterday that TCM HD has been available in some areas since maybe last Christmas! Which explains the windowboxed promos, bumpers, Robert Osborne bits, etc, I've been seeing for many months.

Called our local Insight Cable office today, got an operator who knew nothing about TCM HD, but promised to make my wishes known to the person "in charge of programming" here in Evansville, IN. She volunteered that if it's added, it might wind up in a small extra-cost package of HD movie channels they offer locally over-and-above the 50+ basic HD channels. "But who knows," she said.

I think I'll start holding my breath - right now!

Re: TCM In HD --- When?

doesn't appear either direct tv or dish network has it. Los Angeles' only cable provider also doesn't seem to have it.

I'm currently TV less but with an eye towards getting cable or satellite at football season, TCM HD would make that almost a certainty.

Re: TCM In HD --- When?

Here's hoping that Comcast drops the terrible AMC-HD channel and adds TCM-HD in its place.

Re: TCM In HD --- When?

Time Warner Cable of Staten Island doesn't have TCM HD yet but appears to be holding open the currently vacant channel 782 for it. IFC SD is on channel 81 and TCM SD is on channel 82. The hi-def channels usually are in the matching 700 block:

781 IFC HD
782 (not assigned)
783 MLB Network HD

I can't figure out why Cablevision got it before TWC, after all TW owns TCM.

Re: TCM In HD --- When?

I would love to have TCM-HD! (though I wish they would show more action/adventure/sci-fi/horror films and fewer love stories)

I've never seen an HD version of a black & white film so am looking forward to that!

This is a HORRIBLY confusing issue. I have a friend in Richmond who gets TCM HD. He says the channel is listed as: TCM-HD. I went nuts when he got it when no one in the NYC area has it. I went to the TCM website and wrote them and they said there is NO SUCH THING. THEY DO NOT broadcast in HD. One of the posters here said they broadcast in something called OAR, but not HD. What is OAR? I called DIRECTV. I called Comcast in Connecticut. They both said there is no such thing as TCM-HD....but WILL carry it if and when it becomes a reality.

 

I then discovered on the TCM website a statement that they DO NOT carry HD and are only THINKING that someday they might.

 

What the hell is going on? DO they carry TRUE HD or NOT? What is OAR broadcasting? Why are all the companies LYING about the broadcasting of it? Is this whole issue just another example of how American business today is sooooooo wretched that nobody knows what is going on and is helping us to plummet into the pits of third world-ism?

 

Are secret experiments with it going on? Hah! Some secret....showing it in some cities.

 

Someone should take TCM to court if all this is correct.

 

I HAD noticed a GREAT improvement in the images after the conversion to digital broadcasting a year ago. Many of the black and white films ALMOST look like HD.....though not as good as those on HDNET. And they windowbox everything now but better though it is, what we get here in the NYC area is FAR from true HD.

 

However, that is not my point. My anger is that TCM is LYING to us....and that COMCAST is LYING to us. Why the mystery? Why not just say it is temporarily available in some markets as a test to see if people like it......and then will be offered at a high premium to EVERYONE later? I don't understand the confusion and the lying by these companies. If they are NOT lying outright.....then they are exposing that we have allowed American businesses to become so large that they now behave like cholesterol clogged veins.....no one knows what is going on.

If someone FROM TCM reads these posts.....PLEASE.....clear this up!!!!

We have been getting TCM HD for quite awhile. We have Time Warner Cable. It's included in the free HD channels. Good luck!

I'm relatively sure their aren't many TimeWarner/TCM officials around the forum.

 

Why does this always turn into some sort of corporate conspiracy when a minimum wage  phone answering rep gets stuff wrong.   Sue who for what?  Maybe somebody on-line misinterpreted your question 

 

 

OAR -- original aspect ratio.   If a film/show was originally shown 1.33/1.66/1.85/2.35 ratio that's what will be shown on broadcast instead of cutting tops/sides (the dreaded cropped or Pan/Scan) or worse yet stretching to force the image to be a certain size (used to be forced to 1.33, now it's 1.78 to placate the "I Hate Black Bar" crowd)

 

The Local TWC company lists a channel called TCM-HD, but since I don't have it I really have no idea if it broadcasts true HD or upscaled SD.   It looks like the HD channel was launched about a year ago.   I can't find anything on the TCM website that says anything about HD at all, but it could be an old press release -- can you point me in the right direction.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turner_Classic_Movies

 

DirecTV doesn't carry it though there are at least some rumors that it may be in the works.  Comcast probably wouldn't give you a lot of up-to-date information about a TimeWarner owned channel.

I've had TCM-HD for about a year now. The vast majority of films are standard-def upconverts, though there is the odd true HD title thrown into the mix.

 

Also, widescreen films are more often than not presented in 16X9, rather than letterboxed. Unfortunately, they're in the habit of windowboxing their widescreen films on all four sides, which is annoying if you have a set with no overscan.

We don't have TCM-HD here is Connecticut but I sometimes see films that were 2.35:1 at movie theatres broadcast at 1.85:1 on HD channels like TBS or TNT. That's OK if the movie was filmed in Super 35 and they are showing a bit more information on the top and bottom like they do for a film like Gladiator.

Actually, they are cropping the sides on films like Gladiator by zooming in to remove the black bars on the top and bottom. Most of the time, they do a 1.78:1 extraction from the center of the frame with no panning or scanning whatsoever. I've noticed this quite a bit on channels like F/X.
 

I have the Gladiator DVD and it looked like the top and bottom were opened up when I watched it recently on TBS or TNT HD. I'll have to do a comparison next time its on. Maybe you are right.

I've been getting TCM-HD here in southeastern Michigan on Comcast for well over a year now. As mentioned above, some of the films are actually standard definition upconverted transfers, and sometimes the transfer is both window-boxed and pillarboxed. However, they always are shown in their original aspect ratio -- at least all the films I've watched.

 

I do see 2.35:1 films cropped to 1.78:1 on other channels, but never on TCM-HD. The worst offender is probably AMC-HD, which will sometimes take a pan & scan transfer and stretch it to 16x9. That channel is completely unwatchable for me.

I have DiSH, and I get both SD and HD feeds of many channels. I did not notice that TCM had an HD channel until recently, because I usually only look at my customized grid, which eliminates the channels I never watch.

 

I don't know that I would call it TCM HD, but it is at least TCM Anamorphic OAR, which is a huge step up from standard low-def. I never see windowboxed movies on TCM HD. I see OAR with black bars at the top and bottom of the wider scope films. However, if I switch to TCM SD, a widescreen movie will appear in a windowbox.

 

I suspect that those of you who are seeing windowboxed films on TCM do not really have the HD version of the channel.

 

It's definitely HD, because I have both the HD and SD versions of the channel - the SD broadcast is letterboxed within a 4:3 frame, while the HD is 16:9. And I have seen the occasional title that was clearly true HD on the channel.

 

The windowboxing is slight enough that it can't be seen on my older RP-CRT, but it's clearly there on my LCD that has a 1:1 pixel mapping option. And it's only there on (most) widescreen films - academy ratio titles aren't windowboxed.

I confirmed with a magnolia sales rep at best buy today that the sezmi 'broadcast' of TCM is not TCM HD. I had hoped it might be the first way to get TCM HD on the west coast.

 

Alas.

 

Not the best source. Maybe it's different on the west coast, but out here I've yet to meet a Magnolia HT/BB sales rep who even knew accurate specs of the equipment he was selling.

Yes, but it is not the horrible "little picture in a big black box" type of windowboxing. I looked at the last 10 minutes or so of To Kill a Mockingbird last night. There was a black bar at the top, a smaller one on bottom, and maybe a sliver of side bars. Due to my DLP set's overscan, it was barely perceptible.

 

However, when I switched to TCM SD, there was the small picture in a big box again. Also, I checked two versions of a film I had recorded from both the TCM SD channel, and later, the HD channel. This was The Devil's Disciple. It was not shown in widescreen, but I found it interesting that the HD version was a gig larger than the SD Version.