"Watch in HD" pop-up

D

/df

Well-Known Member
Certain Freeview SD channels with HD counterparts generate "Watch in HD" on-screen pop-ups, depending on the UI of the TV/set-top box (receiver).

Apparently this depends on a flag sent in the broadcast stream and the interpretation of those flags by the receiver.

Strangely, (in London) these channels send the flag: BBC1, BBC2, CBeebies, C5.

And these don't: CBBC, BBC News, ITV, C4, Quest.

And neither do RT, QVC, QVC Beauty, if anyone cared.

Why are children above infancy not being encouraged to use HD?

Why are news junkies not being encouraged to use HD?

Why don't ITV, Channel 4 and Quest, which all show sports programmes that would benefit from the better motion quality of HD, send the flag?

Channel 4 is a keen user of the Book Me feature on several of its channels, so they're obviously not averse to metadata.
 
I wish you could turn this annoying feature off. I hate pop ups and screen graffiti of any sort - including press red.
The really annoying one is when the BBC local news is on and the "Watch in HD" pops up. It isn't true. You can't watch the local news in HD.
Of course, as someone pointed out, sticking your Humax on pause for a few seconds and then watching with a delay gets rid of many of these "features".
 
As I pointed out elsewhere (linked above), Back and Exit each cancel the pop-up on the HD/R-Fox T2. You may be able to say whether that also works on the 5000T or 2000T.

No doubt you are already aware that many other pop-ups (eg, Press Red) are cleared with Green.
 
/df said:
You may be able to say whether that also works on the 5000T or 2000T.
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If I remember, and have the original remotes to hand, I'll have a look. Remembering is the problem at present.
/df said:
No doubt you are already aware that many other pop-ups (eg, Press Red) are cleared with Green.
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Yes. But the damned things come back again later.
 
2000T: "Back" or "Exit" seems to get rid of the "Watch in HD".
5000T: ditto - except if you're not careful "Back" takes you back to the previously watched channel instead.
Black Hole said:
My supported user simply didn't have the HiDef channels tuned. Then the flag never popped up.
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:rolling: Should have remembered that one!
 
I may be talking rubbish but would using parental control on the HD channels prevent the pop up appearing?
 
Thinking back, I didn't bother with HiDef much while I was using a 32" TV (my viewing distance is about 9'). Now I am using a 40" TV, HiDef is my go-to and I find StDef unsatisfactory.
 
Black Hole said:
My supported user simply didn't have the HiDef channels tuned. Then the flag never popped up.
Click to expand...
We don't get BBC news in HD here in sheffield, but I still get the messages, for BBC4 too.

Sheffield no longer broadcasts BBC News in HD

Sorry if this isn't news, but Sheffield removed the above and many other broadcasts because they said they couldn't be bothered to update everything regularly. We now have a much reduced service! I may be wrong, but isn't all they have to do is take the Yorkshire signal and rotate it by 90 degrees?
hummy.tv hummy.tv
 
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I guess you have to be far enough away not to be irritated by SD, but not so far that you don't appreciate the HD.

I will leave it to others to find the optimal screen size for a given distance. ppi and resolution of the eyes?
 
There may not be much difference in a static picture with a 20° viewing angle but even older eyes can tell the difference between a cricket ball skipping from point to point as it heads for the batsman, or a boot jerking towards the forward's ankle, and the corresponding apparently smooth motion with HD at a decent bitrate.
 
Hardly ever watch sports, wouldn't know. The bitrate on some channels is dreadful, though, eg, Sky News SD.

Is much of the HD content upscaled anyway?

I have the recommended settings for viewing, ie, film mode with all the gizmos turned off.
 
Scrat said:
Is much of the HD content upscaled anyway?
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Not a lot of new content, I wouldn't think, considering the extraordinary resolution available even from a Go Pro. However, the original series of All Creatures Great and Small is on BBC FOUR HD tonight, so we'll see how well that holds up!
 
/df said:
No doubt you are already aware that many other pop-ups (eg, Press Red) are cleared with Green.
Click to expand...
And yellow. But doesn't green have a functon now? Play from the beginning?
 
Black Hole said:
Not a lot of new content, I wouldn't think, considering the extraordinary resolution available even from a Go Pro. However, the original series of All Creatures Great and Small is on BBC FOUR HD tonight, so we'll see how well that holds up!
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Lucky you, still having BBC4HD.
 
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Scrat said:
And yellow. But doesn't green have a functon now? Play from the beginning?
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It does with Freeview Play, but not Freeview HD and earlier.

Even when catch-up is supported, on HD/R-Fox T2 models for BBC channels using iPlayer, I've never been able to view a programme while it is still being broadcast, despite it being offered by the UI. I suspect that this is a limitation of the iPlayer delivered to those models.
 
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