SciFi-HD...

[BillyT]

Will we ever see SciFi-HD? I wonder if we'll see it when all of the MPEG4/Ka, new satellite matters sort themselves out. It is frankly the one channel I most want to see converted to HD beyond the broadcast networks.

Bill T.

 

[dfergie]

The Channel does not exist yet..But we can hope...

 

[riffjim4069]

My girls were watching something called Bloodsuckers this weekend and I can see where SciFi-HD would be a welcome addition. Other than The Twilight Zone, I personally didn't see anything worth watching (not a Sci-Fi fan), however more HD channels are always welcome.

 

[LonghornXP]

The last I have heard is that NBCU does have plans to broadcast both USA and SciFi in HDTV (their own HD channels not show the content on Univeral HD) but I haven't had any type of timeframe on this but its on their list of things todo when NBCU got control of them.

 

[JeffreyDJ]

Personally, I'd welcome it. I'd like to see the first-run shows (like Battlestar Galactica) the friday they are out, and not waiting for re-runs on UHD. Same goes for Monk on USA (and Dead Zone in HD, which is USA right now).

I'm really surprised by the HD content offered to this point. Saturday/Sunday HDNET showed international basketball, no doubt because it was in Dallas, hosted in the arena controlled by Mark Cuban.

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to be patient.

 

[CWS_kahuna]

Although I rarely watch the Scifi channel that may very well change after seeing the 1st 4 episodes of Battlestar Galactica (season 1) on DVD. I really am liking this show quite a bit. Does the Scifi channel show their shows in the 16:9 or 4:3 format? The more I think about the waiting game for more HD from D* it would certainly be nice to see more SD shows being aired in at least widescreen, while the quality would not be the same as the HD version it would be great to not have to watch so much stretched 4:3 material. Scifi HD would be a welcome addition IMO if they were showing the same schedule as the regular Scifi channel. What are some other shows worth checking out on Scifi?

 

[JeffreyDJ]

As far as I remember, the LB Battlestar Galactica when displayed in SD.

 

[billbillw]

Battlestar Galactica is broadcast on SciFi in letterbox. It looks decent when you use the zoom function on your TV. Lots of noise and artifacts though. It looks very poor compared to the HD version that airs on Universal HD. I managed to hold off watching season 1 until they aired it in HD, but I can't wait on Season 2.

 

[robrient@kc.rr.com]

Oh yes I agree, I would love to see a HD Sci-Fi! The other great shows that I watch in Sci-fi are Star Gate and Star Gate Atlantis, but yea battle Star is the bomb! Please DirecTV and Sci-fi, give us HD on Sci-Fi!

 

[Paradox-SJ]

If you goggle this topic you will see that NBCU has NO PLANS WHAT-SO-EVER for a SciFi-HD channel anytime in the near future. In fact they go as far as to scoff at HD all together.

We have to remember that we are in the minority and broadcaster are only switching to digital becasue they are being forced to. So spending the money on HD has no merit in their eyes are there is no ROI in their opinion.

 

[fkostyn]

What amazes me though, is that, HDTV's are fast starting to become popular (I was at Wal-Mart last night... (needed some things at 1am) and I saw that they had a 51" widescreen HDTV for $899. At that price, people are buying them, and more people are getting HD service. A friend of mine, is now putting an HD reciever in his KIDS playroom, I think broadcasters need to start looking at the fact that people are buying HDTV's, and and the general masses are starting to want content.

 

[jdcolombo]

If you goggle this topic you will see that NBCU has NO PLANS WHAT-SO-EVER for a SciFi-HD channel anytime in the near future. In fact they go as far as to scoff at HD all together.

We have to remember that we are in the minority and broadcaster are only switching to digital becasue they are being forced to. So spending the money on HD has no merit in their eyes are there is no ROI in their opinion.

What is odd about this is that Sci-Fi actually already has a good deal of compelling content in HD and they are ALREADY "spending the money" on HD-ready content. Though this thread has focused on Battlestar Galactica, Stargate Atlantis is also done in HD (and is available in HD in Canada via the Canadian premium movie services on Bell ExpressVu and StarChoice). I'm not sure about SG-1 (also on Friday night), but I know that recent SG-1 DVD's have been anamorphic widescreen, so it wouldn't surprise me if that show is also "filmed" in HDTV. Add the movies that can be easily converted to HD (some already have been for network viewing), and Sci-Fi channel probably has more HD content available than several of the "HD" cable networks already on the air (ESPN2? TNT?). If the HD content is already being produced, why not broadcast it? All you're talking about is the incremental investment in HD encoding equipment and possibly an additional satellite transponder rental to get the content to the cable companies and satellite providers (I say "possibly" on this one because if Sci-Fi went to digital delivery for its SD offering, as many cable services have already done, you could multiplex the HD and SD feeds onto a single transponder, which is what they already rent for the analog delivery).

So this case is really perplexing; I can understand a cable service that doesn't want to pay for HD content avoiding HD, but Sci-Fi is already paying for the content. They just aren't uplinking that content in HD. Weird.

John C.