The Spectacular Spider-Man in HD

[lumpmoose]

This is a thread for anyone interested in getting The Spectacular Spider-Man series to air in its true form: widescreen and high definition. At Comic-Con in August 2007, producer Victor Cook was asked if The Spectacular Spider-Man will be shot full-frame or in widescreen. He replied ‘HD’. You can see it about 80% of the way through the panel: http://enewsi.com/news.php?catid=261&itemid=11507 Toon Zone also wrote an article back then that it’s being made in 16x9 and HD, but doesn’t know how it’ll air: http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=18289

Leading up to the release, it seemed more and more likely that the show would air in high definition. Every publicity screenshot released before the premiere was in widescreen: http://media.tv.ign.com/media/890/890171/imgs_1.html Toon Zone even acquired one at 1920x1080 resolution: http://marvel.toonzone.net/specspide...gallery/04.jpg That’s a full-HD/1080i/1080p resolution—something you’d stick on a Blu-ray disc or in The CW’s 1080i broadcast stream. All of this evidence is to prove that Sony does have their hands on an HD version of this show. The only question was if they were going to actually air the series in HD, making it the first animated series to do so.

Unfortunately, they didn’t. We’ve already discussed this at length in the comments section of Engadget HD, a place where they take their HD seriously: http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/03/07...r-march-7-2008

One interesting thing Andy noticed there is that while both episodes were framed in 4:3 in a pillar boxed format, the 2nd episode was actually a 16x9 image squished into 4:3. So if you were wondering why it some of the scenes yesterday seemed squished, it’s because the first episode was just cropped, but the 2nd episode had a larger 16x9 image squished into 4:3.

I’ve taken screenshots from the intros of both episodes one and two to prove this. Here’s episode one:



And here’s episode two of the same shot:



Look squished? Here’s the same shot with the black bars removed and the screen stretched horizontally 33%--which is how much wider 16:9 is than 4:3:



Don’t believe me? Compare this publicity shot from episode one:



with the recorded shot from episode one:



And a publicity shot from episode two:



And a recorded shot from episode two, this time with the same 33% horizontal stretch:



So what can we do about it? Probably not much. I emailed CW and my local affiliate early last week when I noticed the TV schedules weren’t flagging The Spectacular Spider-Man as HD. I haven’t gotten a response. I also submitted a question to the supervising producer, Greg Weisman, about it on his question-and-answer website: http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/....php?qid=10294 I didn’t know about the squishing issue when I submitted the question, but I'm not sure if Greg would know technical details like that anyway. Hopefully he'll talk to Victor Cook or CW about it. Otherwise, does anyone have contact with anyone on the production crew or with engineers or schedulers at CW?

[lumpmoose]

Greg has responded to my question about why TSS isn't in HD:

Originally Posted by Greg Weisman

I'm really not sure what's going on. We were trying to figure out what the CW is doing with it last night, and we think they're broadcasting it both ways... on CW and CWHD. But I don't really know for sure. I do know we're making it in HD, but making sure that all key images are in the normal TV cutoff. At the mix, we listen to the sound first in 5.1. Then we listen to it again on normal stereo speakers, to make sure it works for both.

Source

So the good news is Greg is thinking about it, but it isn't clear if he believes there's a problem or if it's going to be fixed. The next two episodes still aren't flagged as HD on zap2it.com, but I don't know if that's an accurate indication or not. He did confirm that there's an HD version with a 5.1 mix though, which is cool. So hopefully there'll at least be a definitive Blu-ray version later on (Sony's the producer, after all).

[lumpmoose]

Another 4:3 cropped episode--no squish this time, but claustrophobic like episode 1. I think I'll send another note to my national and local CW branches now that the show is airing. Others can do the same, if they wish. It might ultimately be their fault rather than the production crew's.

[krazymed]

Next season, if there is one, will probably be in HD widescreen due to the FCC-mandated carryover to digital from analog. As for this season, might just have to wait for the DVD.

[lumpmoose]

I'm not sure how they're directly related since the crossover just means they'll shut off analog over-the-air broadcasts. Despite being standard definition, the Spectacular Spider-Man broadcasts on CWHD are still digital. But hopefully it'll make them pay more attention.

[Nightwing]

Ooh, this means I've got work to do. I never considered the idea that I should check my CWHD channel to see if it's in HD. If so, I wanna be recording it in HD. I usually always do that when I'm watching something that I know has an HD channel.

[livingfruitvirus]

Several Warner Bros. Animation shows over the years, like Mucha Lucha, Xiaolin Showdown, Jackie Chan Adventures (technically Sony), Johnny Test, and others, have been animated in widescreen, but Kids WB has never utilized their HD feed.

[D Dubbs]

Originally Posted by livingfruitvirus

Several Warner Bros. Animation shows over the years, like Mucha Lucha, Xiaolin Showdown, Jackie Chan Adventures (technically Sony), Johnny Test, and others, have been animated in widescreen, but Kids WB has never utilized their HD feed.

Yeah...4Kids TV is the same way, I think. Dinosaur King is produced in high definition, but the show still remains cropped on Fox's HD feed.

So, if the show moves to 4Kids, I guess we probably shouldn't expect them to air The Spectacular Spider-Man in HD. But if it moves to Cartoon Network...then I think it might be possible...

[lumpmoose]

Here's a note from the engineering department of my local CW branch.

Hello -,

Thank you for your inquiry. At the present time The CW Network (which delivers "Kids WB" to us VIA satellite) does not offer it in high definition. I will pass your request on to them. Feel free to contact them directly at www.cwtv.com.

We apologize for any inconveniences.

WUCW Engineering

----- Original Message -----
From: lumpmoose@-.com
To: engineering@thecwtc.com
Sent: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:13:43 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: WUCW Viewer Feedback


Name: -
Address:
City: Minneapolis
State: MN
ZIP:
Email: lumpmoose@-.com
Day Phone:
Evening Phone:
Subject of Comments: The Spectacular Spider-Man airing below high definition
Comments: Three episodes of The Spectacular Spider-Man have already aired on Saturday morning on the Kids' WB block of WUCW-DT. The producers of the show have confirmed The Spectacular Spider-Man is being created in 16:9 widescreen high definition with 5.1 digital sound, but all three shows have aired in lower quality 4:3 pan-and-scan and stereo sound. Is this something that can be fixed? It seems the CW is really missing an opportunity to court families and older viewers with more recent TVs.

Thanks,
-
WUCW-DT viewer
Minneapolis, MN

Not entirely unexpected, but at least CW got a complaint originating from within the company now.

[morphinapg]

I hope they get this fixed, I don't see why Kids WB isn't being broadcasted in HD. After looking at the HD screenshot this show would look great in HD. I don't see what would be so hard about it.

[Stu]

Hopefully the DVDs will be released in widescreen. The last Spider-Man set Sony put out was of exceptionally high quality, still the prime example of a TV on DVD disc. Hopefully they match thier efforts this time around.

[morphinapg]

Originally Posted by Stu

Hopefully the DVDs will be released in widescreen. The last Spider-Man set Sony put out was of exceptionally high quality, still the prime example of a TV on DVD disc. Hopefully they match thier efforts this time around.

Hopefully this gets released on Blu-ray

[GregX]

Originally Posted by morphinapg

Hopefully this gets released on Blu-ray

Sony is producing this show. Sony created Blu-ray. Do the math.

[morphinapg]

Originally Posted by GregX

Sony is producing this show. Sony created Blu-ray. Do the math.

True but not necessarily everything Sony makes has been going to Blu-ray, at least not yet anyway.

[Master Toon]

Originally Posted by morphinapg

True but not necessarily everything Sony makes has been going to Blu-ray, at least not yet anyway.

I'm pretty sure it'll go to Blu-ray since HD DVD isn't in the picture anymore. And most DVDs today come out for the normal and Blu-ray format anyway.

[morphinapg]

Originally Posted by Master Toon

I'm pretty sure it'll go to Blu-ray since HD DVD isn't in the picture anymore. And most DVDs today come out for the normal and Blu-ray format anyway.

Well, I know it will eventually get released on Blu-ray, just like everything eventually got on DVD, it was just a matter of time. I'm just hoping we don't have to wait forever to see it in HD.

[maczero]

Doesn't this have to do with the local station? In my area (D.C.), only primetime shows and the news are in HD on broadcast channels.

[morphinapg]

Originally Posted by maczero

Doesn't this have to do with the local station? In my area (D.C.), only primetime shows and the news are in HD on broadcast channels.

The local station decides when to switch between the SD and HD feeds, but if national isn't broadcasting an HD feed then there is no way to broadcast it in HD locally.

Also, most shows that are HD right now are primetime shows, news shows, and some talk shows, but that should start changing soon enough as everybody will be required to have a digital TV by next year. So most networks will want to get as much programming out in HD as possible for the DTV switch.

In this case, however, it seems national CW isn't broadcasting Spider-man in HD even though it was produced in HD. But I'm guessing if the show continues next year it should start airing in HD.

[lumpmoose]

Originally Posted by maczero

Doesn't this have to do with the local station? In my area (D.C.), only primetime shows and the news are in HD on broadcast channels.

My local CW station says that the national CW station is not offering an HD version of Spectacular Spider-Man or any other Kids' WB programming over their satellite feed (I posted their email above). Obviously 'Saturday morning cartoons' are low on their priority list for airing pristine quality, but I don't see why every show that's filmed in HD can't air in HD, regardless of whether it's primetime/news or not. Maybe there's satellite bandwidth costs or extra overhead for airing HD 24/7, but I don't understand the logic of hamstringing themselves and viewers when they apparently have the technology and content in place.

[morphinapg]

Originally Posted by lumpmoose

My local CW station says that the national CW station is not offering an HD version of Spectacular Spider-Man or any other Kids' WB programming over their satellite feed (I posted their email above). Obviously 'Saturday morning cartoons' are low on their priority list for airing pristine quality, but I don't see why every show that's filmed in HD can't air in HD, regardless of whether it's primetime/news or not. Maybe there's satellite bandwidth costs or extra overhead for airing HD 24/7, but I don't understand the logic of hamstringing themselves and viewers when they apparently have the technology and content in place.

There actually shouldn't be satellite bandwidth problems, as I believe the national CWHD feed broadcasts a constant 1080i picture, even if the image isn't true HD. It's either upscaled SD to HD or just those color bars or something, but I believe it's always streaming a 1080i image. So technically, there shouldn't be any problem with doing it, so I'm guessing the people in charge are just being lazy.