HD Highlights: ESPN debuts popular shows in HD

It’s about time, we say: ESPN finally debuted popular shows Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption in HD formats today. While it’s been way too long for these shows to make the jump, they look pretty good, according to many reports. Details to follow:

After an all-too-long wait, two of ESPN’s most popular sports shows finally made the jump to high definition today and we couldn’t help but grab a few snaps to see what they look like in 720p. One interesting note is that the network is simply letterboxing the same 16:9 feed for SD viewers, which probably explains the large font on Pardon The Interruption’s upcoming stories ticker. Naturally, Woody decided to work in an HD reference nearly every time he was up on Around the Horn today, but once the jokes and the background messages fade, we’ll still be appreciating the much, much better looking highlights.

Hopefully, more stations currently airing shows in SD will follow ESPN’s lead on this.

More 3D Joy: AT&T U-Verse to offer ESPN 3D right away, for a small fee

We’re just 2 short days away from the launch of the first full-on 3D HDTV channel in the US, and U-verse will be ready to rock and roll, if early reports are to be believed. The third broadcaster to announce it will carry ESPN 3D after DirecTV and Comcast already jumped into the party, it did stand out from the crowd by also announcing it will charge an extra fee to people requiring the 3D mojo on their systems, the only one to do so.

$10 per month adds the “3D Technology Package” to your U-verse viewing package — similar to Comcast and different from DirecTV’s approach, it will work with existing boxes but will require a switch to “3d” mode on the box, which is an interesting compromise without needing to replace existing boxes, which we like.

Color us a bit skeptical even so about the future of 3D TV in the mainstream, even if others think differently, including ESPN. Here’s to hoping this HD 3D trend doesn’t fade into the sunset in the near future, wasting millions of dollars in the process.

Channels In Three Dimensions: ESPN HD 3D to launch in June

Yes, even channels are jumping into the 3D trend, ESPN 3D in HD scheduled to launch on DirecTV in mid-June or so.

DIRECTV also said it would launch three dedicated channels for 3D programming in June as well. So much for our prediction about 3D being a short-lived trend; it appears in one form or another, its here to stay.

The company stated: “The three channels will include a 24-hour 3-D channel which will feature movies and documentaries. Another 3-D channel will provide Video on Demand programming while a third 3-D channel will be a ‘sampler demo channel’ that will feature a variety of content. The sampler channel will be free.”

Sounds interesting; we’ll see how long these channels actually last. Yes, we’re still skeptical, we hope we’re proven wrong, though. Because HD 3D is very cool. And with Wal-Mart carrying them they’ll get coverage, no doubt.

ESPN HD News: 2 Talk Shows to debut in HD next fall

Two of ESPN’s most prominent daily talk shows, which up until now have been aired in SD sadly, will now have that rectified in the Fall of 2010, as the show will move to a new studio to accomodate the HD format.

Around The Horn and Pardon the Interruption have both been staples of ESPN’s afternoon sports talk show lineup since 2001-2002, and the lack of HD has been a bit of a sore spot, since most of the other networks show are now HD. As an avid watcher of the shows, we’re personally excited about the transition.

No news about exactly when the transition will happen date wise, but sometime in the Fall should be a happy occasion for sports/HD lovers who follow sports proceedings rabidly.

Impact: Baseball umps credit HDTV for changing the way games are called

HDTV has no doubt changed the way many sports do their business on TV, but even baseball is admitting that the way games are called has changed because of the high resolution of HDTV.

Now that viewers at home (not to mention in the stands) have high res screens to study calls over and over again, not to mention DVRs to shuttle back and forth at their leisure, and near constant replays on ESPN SportsCenter it’s changed the way they call close plays on the base paths.

Of course, making sure the calls are right and the game is being called the way it should be isn’t a bad thing, but we can imagine some long-time umps getting their feathers ruffled by all the technology showing up in America’s favorite pastime. We see it as nothing but good for the sport. No more missed calls, no more umpires with God complexes that have caused so many debates over the years.

HDTV TV Listings Info

It’s a fact: HDTV is slowly taking over the airwaves of the many major cable networks. It’s proven tonight with a pretty fine lineup of TV shows for all tastes.

Want sports? Baseball on ESPN features Dodgers vs. Angels in the freeway series. Want original network shows? NBC premieres Merlin in 1080i res tonight, or ABC has Impact debuting tonight (part 1 of 2).

HBO’s True Blood airs a new episode tonight, and Law & Order: CI is doing the same, followed by In Plain Sight, a popular well made crime series with a different perspective.

It’s a feast of fine television, all in HDTV. Read more listings here.

Saturday Joy: All WNBA basketball games to be broadcast in HD

We know there are some WNBA fans out here somewhere. Well, those fans will be treated to even more visual splendor than before, as all future WNBA games broadcast on ABC and ESPN2 will be in full HD glory all summer long.

Not near an HD TV when the games are on? No biggie; the games will be broadcast on ESPN360.com, ESPN Australia HD and ESPN Brazil HD too.

Things already got kicked off with the HD WNBA draft and while there won’t be much in the way of dunking, and a player with double-digit rebounds in a game is cause for celebration, we know there are fans out there who watch every game religiously.  Every game. I guess the league wouldn’t be around otherwise, right?

Confirmed: 1080p/60 fps production for ESPN and new L.A. studio

And in other television HD firsts: ESPN has confirmed that their new LA studio would be the first capable of “full HD” 1080p production, and now ESPN has confirmed that indeed is the case.

They’re still waiting for additional production equipment coming over the next few months, and current bandwidth wouldn’t be ready for that type of data flow, but its nice to know that studios and stations are taking the HD leap very seriously, and investing big bucks into it.

Here’s some of what ESPN had to say about the setup:

The entire LAPC has been designed to support a full 1080 60P production workflow. Our existing 1080P infrastructure is complete and ready to accept these signals as soon as more production equipment is available from the vendors. Our present timeline for delivery of 1080P equipment will be over the next few months. At that time we plan on completing 1 production control room, supporting facilities (edit, server playout, converters, etc.) and studio cameras. All remaining signals that are not capable for a 1080P output will be upconverted to integrate into the production.