Just settling down for this. Delighted that it's in HD.
I know it was advertised as HD but I had my doubts.
I know it was advertised as HD but I had my doubts.
Spearhead from Space on Watch now - and in HD!
Haven't seen it for years and am really enjoying it. Maybe upscaling tech will one day render all vintage Who as glossy as this!
I find a lot of Pertwee plodding but this had some real pace to it. Also surprised to find I like Liz Shaw a lot too. I found her a bit cold when I first watched her episodes.
I find a lot of Pertwee plodding but this had some real pace to it. Also surprised to find I like Liz Shaw a lot too. I found her a bit cold when I first watched her episodes.
Is it a proper HD remaster that takes advantage of Spearhead having been shot entirely on film, or just an upscale and clean-up job?
I do love Spearhead - the autons are genuinely freaky here. The scene with the shop window dummies is still genuinely creepy.
Interesting comparison between the Cybermen escaping from their tomb last week and the Autons smashing the shop windows this week. Both really great scenes but with striking similarities.
But it must be said Spearhead really was a great leap forward for the show.
But it must be said Spearhead really was a great leap forward for the show.
Originally Posted by shortcrust:
“Just settling down for this. Delighted that it's in HD. I know it was advertised as HD but I had my doubts.”
“Just settling down for this. Delighted that it's in HD.
I know it was advertised as HD but I had my doubts.”
I preferred last weeks when the picture wasent ruined by some crappy black borders. If they are going to do this for each weekend I may as well not bother watching and just watch the DVds instead.
Originally Posted by daveycrocket222:
“I preferred last weeks when the picture wasent ruined by some crappy black borders. If they are going to do this for each weekend I may as well not bother watching and just watch the DVds instead.”
“I preferred last weeks when the picture wasent ruined by some crappy black borders. If they are going to do this for each weekend I may as well not bother watching and just watch the DVds instead.”
It's meant to have the borders. It was filmed in a 4:3 image. All Classic Who (moreover, all TV shows of the time) is filmed in this aspect ratio. You've just got your TV set up so it's cropping the top and bottom off everything. The only reason you've noticed the bars this time is because they've been encoded onto the 16:9 image.
Originally Posted by JordanDS:
“It's a proper HD print from the original 16MM film.”
“It's a proper HD print from the original 16MM film.”
The same one they're using for the Blu-Ray.
Originally Posted by daveycrocket222:
“I preferred last weeks when the picture wasent ruined by some crappy black borders. If they are going to do this for each weekend I may as well not bother watching and just watch the DVds instead.”
“I preferred last weeks when the picture wasent ruined by some crappy black borders. If they are going to do this for each weekend I may as well not bother watching and just watch the DVds instead.”
Originally Posted by eladkse:
“It's meant to have the borders. It was filmed in a 4:3 image. All Classic Who (moreover, all TV shows of the time) is filmed in this aspect ratio. You've just got your TV set up so it's cropping the top and bottom off everything. The only reason you've noticed the bars this time is because they've been encoded onto the 16:9 image.”
“It's meant to have the borders. It was filmed in a 4:3 image. All Classic Who (moreover, all TV shows of the time) is filmed in this aspect ratio. You've just got your TV set up so it's cropping the top and bottom off everything. The only reason you've noticed the bars this time is because they've been encoded onto the 16:9 image.”
Eladkse's quite right. If you didn't see borders last week you were either missing some of the picture or the picture was distorted.
Bbc Four occasionally don't set the screen flag on it's 4:3 stuff correctly.
Mainly happens with Totp.
If I change the Sky box setting to 4:3, it still gives me a watchable picture, but if I do it for Who, how much of the picture will I lose?
I still have the original Dvd release, none of the upgrades and the bit I saw was a definite improvement but the Watch presentation is making me um & aah about keeping it.
Is anyone else in the same situation & are you going to keep both versions?
I'll keep the others so far, as I've never seen the Aztecs plus Tomb I have as a Uk Gold copy & they're both Vidfired.
Same will happen with Pyramids too.
Do we have confirmation of what's being shown in the rest of the run?
Mainly happens with Totp.
If I change the Sky box setting to 4:3, it still gives me a watchable picture, but if I do it for Who, how much of the picture will I lose?
I still have the original Dvd release, none of the upgrades and the bit I saw was a definite improvement but the Watch presentation is making me um & aah about keeping it.
Is anyone else in the same situation & are you going to keep both versions?
I'll keep the others so far, as I've never seen the Aztecs plus Tomb I have as a Uk Gold copy & they're both Vidfired.
Same will happen with Pyramids too.
Do we have confirmation of what's being shown in the rest of the run?
What was the deal with the doubled scene?
The Auton moved towards the guy who used to work in the factory and he has a look of terror on his face.
Cut to a break.
Show returns, exactly same scene plays over again but now the Auton's hand is shown as a gun.
The Auton moved towards the guy who used to work in the factory and he has a look of terror on his face.
Cut to a break.
Show returns, exactly same scene plays over again but now the Auton's hand is shown as a gun.
Originally Posted by shortcrust:
“Eladkse's quite right. If you didn't see borders last week you were either missing some of the picture or the picture was distorted.”
“Eladkse's quite right. If you didn't see borders last week you were either missing some of the picture or the picture was distorted.”
I was missing no picture last week. The picture was fine. They should have fixed it. Challenge TV have never had this problem before and if they have a simple email and they ll fix the situation.
Originally Posted by daveycrocket222:
“I was missing no picture last week. The picture was fine. They should have fixed it. Challenge TV have never had this problem before and if they have a simple email and they ll fix the situation.”
“I was missing no picture last week. The picture was fine. They should have fixed it. Challenge TV have never had this problem before and if they have a simple email and they ll fix the situation.”
I'm confused. Do you have a widescreen TV? If so, you should have black bars when watching classic Who. If you don't have black bars you're either watching a distorted picture that has been stretched to fill the screen, or a picture that has been cropped to fill the screen.
EDIT: We are just talking about bars on the left and right side of the picture, aren't we?
I watched it last night and I really liked the actors/actresses characterisations, their dialogue was of it's time but that just adds to it's charm.
I also liked the scene when The Brigadier asked the Doctor
"How do I know that you are not an imposter?" and The Doctor answered "How that you don't, you don't, only I know that"
Very confusing.
"How do I know that you are not an imposter?" and The Doctor answered "How that you don't, you don't, only I know that"
Very confusing.
Originally Posted by daveycrocket222:
“I was missing no picture last week. The picture was fine. They should have fixed it. Challenge TV have never had this problem before and if they have a simple email and they ll fix the situation.”
“I was missing no picture last week. The picture was fine. They should have fixed it. Challenge TV have never had this problem before and if they have a simple email and they ll fix the situation.”
Okay.. I'll try to explain this more clearly - using a diagram!
http://i.imgur.com/Hzy9ChP.png
The top-left image is how Classic Who was filmed. It's the aspect ratio of TV at the time - 4:3.
When 4:3 programmes are broadcast, your TV can display it in a number of ways.
The top-right image shows all of the original image - adding pillarboxes (black bars) to keep the aspect ratio the same.
The bottom-left image shows the TV stretching the imageto fill the screen. This distorts the picture you see.
The bottom-right image shows the image zoomed and cropped (often called 'pan and scan'). You lose the image at the top and bottom of the screen.
Preserving OAR is the correct way of watching programmes like this if you want to preserve both image and aspect ratio. From what you describe, your TV isn;t set up like this - that's okay. It's your choice.
The reason Spearhead is acting differently for you is because it's been remastered in HD. HD has no 4:3 standard. Instead, remastered 4:3 programmes are pillarboxed to 16:9. So the broadcast was in 16:9 to start with, and so your TV didn't change. There is no way to change this - this is the standard for HD broadcasting, and SD channels are downscales of HD.
Originally Posted by daveycrocket222:
“I was missing no picture last week. The picture was fine. They should have fixed it. Challenge TV have never had this problem before and if they have a simple email and they ll fix the situation.”
“I was missing no picture last week. The picture was fine. They should have fixed it. Challenge TV have never had this problem before and if they have a simple email and they ll fix the situation.”
What were you watching last week? If it was new Doctor Who (Eccleston and onwards) it was shot in widescreen.
All classic Doctor Who was shot in the square(-ish) 4:3 aspect ratio, so if you're watching on a modern widescreen TV you will see black bars either side of the image, UNLESS you EITHER s-t-r-e-t-c-h the image horizontally to fill the width (which introduces distortion (e.g. circles appear as ellipses, short wide actors etc)) OR you zoom in so the width is filled naturally (which looses part of the original image off the top and bottom edges of the display).
There are so-called "smart" screen settings which reduce the perceived effect of s-t-r-e-t-c-h by not stretching much in the centre, but increasing stretch at the edges s--t-ret-c--h.
Edit: What eladkse said about not being able to change the pillar box black bars when it's HD is quite correct.
Originally Posted by Fred E Star:
“What was the deal with the doubled scene?
The Auton moved towards the guy who used to work in the factory and he has a look of terror on his face.
Cut to a break.
Show returns, exactly same scene plays over again but now the Auton's hand is shown as a gun.”
“What was the deal with the doubled scene?
The Auton moved towards the guy who used to work in the factory and he has a look of terror on his face.
Cut to a break.
Show returns, exactly same scene plays over again but now the Auton's hand is shown as a gun.”
Classic cliffhanger. They always show the last couple of minutes of the previous episodes cliffhanger, with a different scene shoe'd in.
