TNT-HD: Worst HD channel ever?

[M Sparks]

OK, admittedly I'm not a big fan of TNT in general. But everytime I've turned on TNT-HD, I've seen a 4:3 SD program up-rezzed and STRETCHED out to 16:9 using the same method as the "panoramic" setting on some widescreen TVs. This might be OK every once in a while depending on the source. But there's no excuse for showing a widescreen theatrical film this way. Cropping off the sides and distorting the rest of the picture is just stupid. You can't even fix it by adjusting the aspect ratio on your TV. You wind up with people who look too skinny when in the center of the screen and too fat on the edges.

HBO-HD and Showtime-HD may not have as much true HD material as I would like, but at least they don't destroy the SD material. It always looks as good or better than the regular SD channels.

I realize that they have some live sports on TNT, and I would hope that it's produced in true HD. But that's no reason to waste bandwidth on it 24/7.

 

[Sarang]

OK, admittedly I'm not a big fan of TNT in general. But everytime I've turned on TNT-HD, I've seen a 4:3 SD program up-rezzed and STRETCHED out to 16:9 using the same method as the "panoramic" setting on some widescreen TVs. This might be OK every once in a while depending on the source. But there's no excuse for showing a widescreen theatrical film this way. Cropping off the sides and distorting the rest of the picture is just stupid. You can't even fix it by adjusting the aspect ratio on your TV. You wind up with people who look too skinny when in the center of the screen and too fat on the edges.

HBO-HD and Showtime-HD may not have as much true HD material as I would like, but at least they don't destroy the SD material. It always looks as good or better than the regular SD channels.

I realize that they have some live sports on TNT, and I would hope that it's produced in true HD. But that's no reason to waste bandwidth on it 24/7.

Well I'm pretty sure that Spielburg Mini-Series was presented in true HD but is probably one of the few things besides Sports that was. If it wasn't TNT should've caught heck for it.

 

[M Sparks]

Well, Law & Order is on right now, and it looks like it's in actual HD. I tried swapping back and forth between TNT & TNT-HD. Still, there's no excuse for distorting a theatrical film the way they do.

I'm going to try to record Angel, since it's about the only thing on TNT I'd be interested in, and I'll see if it's distorted.

 

[iceturkee]

the pre-season basketball games looked great the other night.

 

[mdonnelly]

Regular season basketball looks good too.

 

[BrianMis]

TNT does upconvert a lot of programming on TNT HD. But there is a lot of actual HD stuff on the channel. All of the TNT produced sports are in HD. 90% of the programming produced by TNT is in actual HD. Now Law & Order is a different story on TNT HD. If any episode was produced in HD for NBC, then it's acutal HD on TNT HD, say within the last couple of years. If the epsiode is older than a couple of years then its upconverted.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I've never seen a Law & Order on TNT HD that wasn't stretched, but I'll take your word for it that there are some real HD episodes.

As for movies, it is a hit & miss deal. Some are in real HD, some are stretched. Last night I was about to watch a movie on TNT and when I switched over to it, the shot on the screen was of two people facing each other while talking and the backs of their heads were obviously being stretched. They looked deformed. I immediately looked to see what else was on.

I don't know why anyone watches the stretched stuff. It makes my eyes twist around in my head because the aspect ratio is different all over the screen.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

Ick! "Pay it Forward" is stretched tonight. I was looking forward to seeing it in HD.

 

[JimMcC]

Tnt-hd

I agree that TNT-HD sucks. Most of their movies are not even broadcast in HD. Almost all the movies I watch are on HD-Net Movies.

 

[Cyclone]

They Definately get a "Half Assed" award.

 

[wilme2]

And I don't know why they use stretchy-vision. If the program ain't HD, just broadcast SD. Everyone hates stretchy-vision.

 

[Poke]

Well must be your TV or something. TNTHD has always worked well and I have never had any issues with it.

 

[styxfix]

Alias looks beautiful in HD too.

 

[Cornstalkk]

It is definitely not his TV, he is prolly catching some of the earlier episodes of Law and Order or a movie that is indeed upconverted from 4:3 and looks horrible.

 

[M Sparks]

Well, I took a look at Angel this morning. It was stretched, but it did not appear to be "panoramicized". At least that can be fixed by adjusting the TV. I couldn't really tell if it was in 4:3 HD or upconverted. The picture would have been fine if it wasn't S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-D.

BUT there's no reason for that to be done at all. If a program is in 4:3, they should just black-bar it, like HBO and Showtime do. Awful.

 

[mdonnelly]

...The picture would have been fine if it wasn't S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-D.

BUT there's no reason for that to be done at all. If a program is in 4:3, they should just black-bar it, like HBO and Showtime do. Awful.

Remember, Ted Turner (the "T" in TNT) is the one who wanted to colorize "Casablanca".

 

[M Sparks]

Well must be your TV or something. TNTHD has always worked well and I have never had any issues with it.

It's not my TV, and it's not the TV of the other 4 or 5 people that complained. I NEVER have to adjust the aspect ratio of my TV on ANY other channel. And the only time I adjust the aspect ratio on my 942 is if I "zoom" a letterboxed program on an SD channel.

Every other HD channel puts black-bars on 4:3 programs. ESPN puts those HD logos on the side, which I would find annoying if I watched much, but at least you can tell everything's set up right.

I'm sure they do broadcast some actual 16:9 programming...I just said I saw an actual HD Law & Order. Apparently, you are lucky enough to only tune in for actual HD programs. However, I had to go looking for them- every time I've ever tried to just watch something, it's been screwed up.

I don't care if they have a lot of uprezzed 4:3 programs- just don't distort them!

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

No, UNIVERSAL HD IS THE WORST HD CHANNEL EVER.

It cannot be shared by anyone else.


Low bitrates, 2.0 audio and the same 50 movies no one wants to see 100,000 times a year.

12 movies per year anyone cares about.

I pray DISH doesn't waste their bandwidth on this one.

 

[Sarang]

No, UNIVERSAL HD IS THE WORST HD CHANNEL EVER.

It cannot be shared by anyone else.


Low bitrates, 2.0 audio and the same 50 movies no one wants to see 100,000 times a year.

12 movies per year anyone cares about.

I pray DISH doesn't waste their bandwidth on this one.

If it's as bad as you say I'd prefer Dish grab Starz HD, Cinemax HD, TMC HD and see if Starz won't bring back Encore HD. I would also like to see Dish ask TCM if they could provide an HD feed of their channel.

 

[KKlare]

Remember, Ted Turner (the "T" in TNT) is the one who wanted to colorize "Casablanca".

I think it may have been shown a few times. The good thing was the "color" prints were made from the best negatives.

I would also like to see Dish ask TCM if they could provide an HD feed of their channel.

That would be great and vastly better than letterbox or pan and scan.
-Ken