JagoPlasma said:
i dont see how it would be a problem, if the sky box uses HDMI and is supposed to be for hi def then i dont see why they cant transmit in 60hz. component and scart also support 60hz but at the end of the day this is about hdmi and the people buying HD will want it for HD.
It wouldn't be a problem technically if you ONLY showed 60Hz material on a channel - though it would mean that you'd have to standards convert to 50Hz SD to guarantee compatibility with all TV sets or if the channel were simulcast in SD, which is expensive to do well and would cause a quality loss in SD.
However the real problem, and the reason nobody in the world has done this, is because it is impossible (with current technology) to run a real network natively in more than one frame rate or resolution standard. Believe me It is still not easy to do it in two aspect ratios at the same resolution and frame rate.
If you were showing 50Hz football and then 60Hz basketball, you'd have to do the frame rate/field rate switch somehow - and the whole way broadcast areas are built is based around a single, frame rate. Whilst modern gear may be multi-standard - the switching between standards is not something you can do whilst the gear is on-air. You end up with all sorts of issues - mostly engineering. However you'd also have to significantly compromise the "presentation" of your channel - you wouldn't be able to do any transition between 50Hz and 60Hz material other than a fade to/from black or a cut. Not acceptable in a modern transmission environment.
Sure - receivers and displays may cope with 60Hz (though SCART doesn't guarantee 60Hz compatibility - I have at least one SCART display that is 50Hz only) that doesn't mean it is possible to broadcast a mixed 50 / 60Hz network...
i see it as a great oppertunity to bring in what id consider a "very cool" feature. if peoples displays flicker from switching 50hz to 60hz just because ad break come on im sure they wont mind. either that or during the ad's they could broadcast 60hz versions.
I don't think many broadcasters would be happy to accept a channel that jumps and flickers / freezes for a couple of seconds - and I don't think many advertisers would want to have their commercials quality reduced by standards conversion.
yes there are timing issues like a ntsc film will finish faster than a PAL film, but we are not talking about films here we are talking about live sporting events which will always last the same length of time nomatter what hz they are being broadcast in.
Yep - the issues aren't timing and duration - they are basic broadcast engineering issues. Broadcast gear is locked to a frame rate specific timing signal. When you change the frame rate, you have to change this, and most gear will take a while to re-lock, and some requires a power-down...
id imagine its a damn site easier AND cheaper to plug one socket to another than it is to add a very expensive 60 to 50hz transcoder in there, which will alter the viewing experience for the worse anyway...
A standards converter that is used for the odd 60Hz game will be a LOT cheaper than building a multi-standard transmission area, that can't actually be built using current technology. It isn't just a "plug and socket" thing believe me. Building an HD playout area for one frame rate isn't entirely trivial.
Afraid it is easier to imagine it than build it.