Ecclestone: No F1 in HD before 2012

Duke said:
Even just having HD content from the track cameras and standard for the onboard ones to begin with would be good.
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I'm guessing that getting HD cameras small enough to be used on F1 cars without any increase of volume or mass on the current ones is going to take longer, and cost more, than the trackside cameras because of the complexity of reducing an HD camera to fit on an F1 car. Plus the F1 weekend uses so many frequencies that finding a frequency that isn't going to get interrupted plus the increased bandwidth required makes the onboard cameras so much harder to get up to HD. Trackside cameras are surely wired to the broadcasting centre at each track?
 
Yeah thats why I suggested to have just HD from the track side cameras which aren't going to be much different than those used in other sports and wait for the onboard ones to come along a year or two after.
 
They can fit 720p video cameras in phones now, i'm sure there is technology that would allow them to fit onto an F1 car.
 
Thinking about it, Bernie is at every race, I can't imagine he ever actually sits down and watches Races on TV like the rest of us. Then if you bare in mind that he has booked plenty of circuits where there are barely any grandstands or people watching, yet threatened to remove races like Silverstone where you have people lining the entire circuit, it's clear that the fans never seem to be his main concern, it's always about where he can get more money from.

F1 really needs HD.
I've got to admit that while I have a HDTV & Sky+, I didn't want Sky HD because of the cost and the fact that F1 wasn't in HD. F1 is such a technical sport, that most fans of it are likely to be interested in wanting to watch it in HD, it's not like trying to sell it pensioners watching Eastenders. It would certainly make me consider moving to HD if F1 was broadcast in it.

Really though, most people buying a new TV now in the UK will be buying a HD one, plus we are starting to see things like built-in free Sat HD. I think really what we need to see though is that HD really shouldn't be a premium, it needs to become closer to being a standard which doesn't require you to pay a premium for it.
 
Nexus said:
plus we are starting to see things like built-in free Sat HD.
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Starting?! Panasonic had integrated Freesat HD back in 2008.


I have to say, having watched the Grand Prix on BBC2 (102) and now switching over to BBC HD (108) I do love HD :cool:, even with the low bandwidth and low resolution that BBC HD is! :p
 
Westyfield2 said:
Starting?! Panasonic had integrated Freesat HD back in 2008.
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Just because one manufacturer launched a TV with it integrated in the final quarter of 2008, does not an industry of people with HD integrated into their TV make it.

As I said, it's only now that you are seeing more and more TVs released and advertised with such a feature built in, rather than it being a premium feature. I mean just look at 1080p resolution for example, 1080 used to be a premium, with most HDTVs being 'HD Ready' at only 720, but now 1080p has become more of a standard than a premium.

I should probably say that the integration of Freeview HD into TVs, which is a lot more recent than Free Sat HD is much more important. A lot of people won't have bothered with Free Sat due to having to have the satallite dish installed.

It's when everyone has a TV that is Freeview HD capable that it's really going to turn things, as like I said, I'm put off upgrading to Sky HD, because I don't think paying even more of a premium for channels in HD is worth it. Hopefully when everyone has Freeview HD, it will then force Sky to make HD less of a premium and more of a standard.
 
free hd webcams are given away in £300 laptops these days, and remember with clever machines/software in race control they dont even need to record every frame or even every bit of a frame until it gets to the pits , it could be really low and frame doubled or whatever once at race control.

I cant believe cost or size is an issue at all - Bernie wants to sell it (rather than give it away free) and there arent enough sets out there to make the most of it for Sky to pay (in this country at least)
 
I'm pretty sure it isn't quite so straight forward as some think to produce a reliable, compact HD camera that is going to sustain harsh vibration and g-forces that an F1 car makes without falling apart.
 
Duke said:
I'm pretty sure it isn't quite so straight forward as some think to produce a reliable, compact HD camera that is going to sustain harsh vibration and g-forces that an F1 car makes without falling apart.
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How come WTCC and Le Mans is in native HD but with F1 it's not possible :confused:

I doubt it is a technical issue and it's more an issue with money, if in-car is a problem just use upscaled HD for that and make the trackside camera's native HD, problem solved
 
I see Virgin Media are now offering HD without a fee.

Freeview HD is taking a long time to roll out, Freesat HD is more widely available.

If HD is so difficult for F1 how have so many other motorsports have already done it - Porsche Supercup for one which is an F1 support race at Valencia :confused:

Andi.
 
Somehow I don't think Porsches, WTCC etc races have quite the harsh ride that F1 cars give. Thats only my opinion though. Of course it can be done with the right money.
 
Duke said:
Somehow I don't think Porsches, WTCC etc races have quite the harsh ride that F1 cars give. Thats only my opinion though. Of course it can be done with the right money.
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I wasnt trying to imply you could put a £300 laptop webcam in a F1 car and expect it to work well :D Only that hd capable cameras are so dirt cheap now that they are given away with minimal outlay

I would be surprised though that the forces in a F1 car are that much larger than a Porsche race (not sure about WTCC, they are more "normal" cars so might not have the speed/braking abilities of F1 or Porsches for sure
 
\rant
If we can quite happily send HD cameras into space im sure we can bolt one to a car. I don't see how a HD cameras components are more fragile than an SD camera??

I want HD F1! Someone needs to stop money grabbing and give out the rights to tv companys, if F1 is the richest/most expensive sport in the world how comes I can watch touring cars, cruffs, hollyoaks etc... In HD but not F1! Bernie is probably frightened if he allowed HD broardcasts he will loose people buying over priced tickets to see the races live, tight *******!

/rant
 
Who cares if they can get one on a car, tracks would be a great start. I would be more than happy with just track coverage in HD to begin with and on board coming in a few years.
 
Indeed, the quality of in car footage is never as good as trackside cams, that's almost expected. I think it's crazy when the track has the facilities to cater for it that it's not used, especially when Eurosport coverage of support races get it or so I understand. I already made my thoughts pretty clear above.
 
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