CSI, The Grid, and other shows

[Dvlos]

How do you know what format these shows are taped and produced in?

Comparing The Grid and CSI Miami today it seemed that CSI is real grainy lately, and this is after I adjusted my TV. It almost seemed like the show was being upconverted to 1080i, the Grid was looking damn sharp again, but CBS's sitcoms are "meh"...

Are the prime time shows listed as "HD" necessarily produced at 1080i? Or are they produced in other formats like 480p or whatever then upconverted?

PS - This is the third night I turn on Jay Leno and it's in 4:3 SD... piece of crap.

 

[Tvlman]

CSI has a tendency to get "documentary" looking at times and can look grainy. They must shoot in high contrast film for this effect. As far as I know it is shot in 35mm Panavision with a lot of amber filters to make it look "sunny" even though many of the exteriors with actors are shot here in Marina Del Rey in California. NBC many times will air Leno re-runs in 4:3 but it could be the fault of your local station. Some of them reduce power after 11pm.

 

[Dvlos]

The last time this happened, midway through Leno's show it went to 16x9. I think the night shift people at the station must be tools.

 

[barth2k]

CSI looks good to me, in fact, one of the best looking dramas on TV. They do like to tint it yellow/orange, which some people find distracting. In the "flashback" or "re-creation" scenes they deliberately make it look washed out and grainy.

 

[vinnyv07]

I think that CBS has the best quality HD when it comes to OTA. CSI has a grainy affect on purpose many times during the show. I also like COLD Case ...really looks good lately. CBS is on the mark with their HD. They are the leader.

 

[Dvlos]

I know in the flashback scenes they always make it grainy, they do use lots of filters throughout the show, wide angle shots of Miami and the outdoors area look crystal clear. This particular episode had plenty of indoor shots and lots of grain throughout various scenes, but I guess it was all intentional since I could see no grain what at all on wide outdoor shots.

However I was just curious if this was filmed in HD or I guess it's 35mm film (which is technically analog still) or if this and the Grid were pure HD, mainly because those are the two best shows usually every week that I see. Then my question is for their sitcoms like Everybody Loves Raymond, what is that shot in? I remember watching one episode of King of Queens they were canooing on some lake and it looked awesome, was just curious if networks and shows were using some nice equipment for TNT and CBS or just upconverted stuff like Fox and NBC do at times for stuff like NASCAR or whatever.

 

[vinnyv07]

Very good question....that I dont have the answer to. But I agree that some shows look way better than others. Im sure that all of the shows arent true HD...that a good percentage is up converted. And maybe certain parts of the show are up convert and other parts of the same show are true HD. Maybe it depends on where they are and what equipment is assessable to them in that location.

 

[DarrellP]

I think CSI is film based. Go to AVSForum's programming section and do a search and you can find the answer, those guys know everything.

 

[voomvoom]

How do you know what format these shows are taped and produced in??

On OTA, at least on my Mits, if it's HD, I can't change it, but if it's SD, I can narrow it, stretch it, zoom it or whatever, but that being said, they can still upconvert programs themselves, so who knows... However, with Voom, the STB can upconvert programs to 1080, so it's a bit more technical... Bottom line... Good Question...

Are the prime time shows listed as "HD" necessarily produced at 1080i? Or are they produced in other formats like 480p or whatever then upconverted?

I'm sure their are cheap productions produced on tape easily converted to 480 and now I'm just as sure they can produce 1080 tapes as well at a bit more cost, but that being said, I read somewhere a couple of years ago that in Europe most programs were produced on tape, which could cause a problem for material to convert to HD in their future, while here in America virtually all programs have been and still are produced on film, so there is an endless supply of material to convert to HD... Now, all we need is for somebody to do it... And that will probably happen when enough people are able to recieve HD programming... the more the better... Long Live HDTV...