Do they chop off action safe for HD?

[Mark Raudonis]

Charlie,

This is a good question. I think you’ll find that it depends who’s doing the transferring. Most boxes will use the entire frame when doing format conversions. So, to answer your question, No.

however, there are so many different ways to display aspect ratios, that it’s hard to say what actually ends up on the screen. My plasma screen at home has seven different settings for how I want to deal with aspect ratios. And, all of them are a compromise!

Mark

[Walter Biscardi]

[Mark Raudonis] “however, there are so many different ways to display aspect ratios, that it’s hard to say what actually ends up on the screen. My plasma screen at home has seven different settings for how I want to deal with aspect ratios. And, all of them are a compromise!”

Actually, most HD channels will display SD spots in a vertical letterbox of 4:3 so how you have your plasma display set up does not affect how an SD commercial will appear off an HD channel.

In answer to the question, I would believe that Over Scan is included in the 4:3 so you need to be sure you’re clean all the way to edges of an SD spot if it may end up on an HD channel.

It’s amazing how good and crisp true HD spots look when everyone else is running an SD spot. IBM is the big advertiser I see so far that’s showing true HD spots during sports telecasts and prime time television. Apple, surprisingly, is not. All of their spots are 4:3.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com

Director, “The Rough Cut”
https://www.theroughcutmovie.com

Now Posting “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[Aaron Neitz]

It looks like SD spots on an HD channel have full, or at least 95% full raster. This was my scientific evaluation looking closely at where titles and text were placed in the spots 🙂

Also, regular SD channels are uprezed by my Motorola digital cable HD box to 1080i, and it appears it also put the 4:3 at full raster (with side letterbox).

So action safe really isn’t so safe anymore.