Tom Logan
Second Unit
- Joined
- May 23, 2003
- Messages
- 259
Turner Classic Movies has been upconverted to HD as long as I've had it on my HD system.
Now I think it's changed to true, non-upconverted HD, but I'd like to get some confirmation. (Google yielded nothing, and found nothing at the TCM site.)
What I'm seeing (JVC RS-1 on 122" screen):
Flipped randomly to Sweet Charity recently, and it looked like real HD. I thought for a minute I'd surfed to MGM-HD (real HD) it looked so good, but I checked: it was TCM. Hm.
Not totally convinced, I realized I had the perfect opportunity to A-B compare: Magnificent Obsession (MO) was going to be on the next day, and I had already DVR'ed it from long ago, also from TCM.
So today I did the A-B comparison (MO recorded 2/20/? "old MO" vs. MO recorded yesterday, "new MO"), and new MO is MUCH clearer, with crisp credits' lettering and much sharper image overall, especially noticeable in such details as print on fabrics. The old MO recording shows the artifacts and blurriness of being upconverted. Significant improvement.
But here's the final piece of evidence: On the old MO, at the very beginning when the Universal logo comes on, it begins letter- and pillarboxed (is there a word for both of these at once?) but then jumps a few seconds in to fill the 16:9 screen. (This is the moment of upconverting, no?)
But on the new MO recording, the Universal logo fills the screen from the beginning--and it's sharper to boot.
So: If TCM hasn't gone real HD, what am I seeing? How can I know for certain?
Now I think it's changed to true, non-upconverted HD, but I'd like to get some confirmation. (Google yielded nothing, and found nothing at the TCM site.)
What I'm seeing (JVC RS-1 on 122" screen):
Flipped randomly to Sweet Charity recently, and it looked like real HD. I thought for a minute I'd surfed to MGM-HD (real HD) it looked so good, but I checked: it was TCM. Hm.
Not totally convinced, I realized I had the perfect opportunity to A-B compare: Magnificent Obsession (MO) was going to be on the next day, and I had already DVR'ed it from long ago, also from TCM.
So today I did the A-B comparison (MO recorded 2/20/? "old MO" vs. MO recorded yesterday, "new MO"), and new MO is MUCH clearer, with crisp credits' lettering and much sharper image overall, especially noticeable in such details as print on fabrics. The old MO recording shows the artifacts and blurriness of being upconverted. Significant improvement.
But here's the final piece of evidence: On the old MO, at the very beginning when the Universal logo comes on, it begins letter- and pillarboxed (is there a word for both of these at once?) but then jumps a few seconds in to fill the 16:9 screen. (This is the moment of upconverting, no?)
But on the new MO recording, the Universal logo fills the screen from the beginning--and it's sharper to boot.
So: If TCM hasn't gone real HD, what am I seeing? How can I know for certain?