BBC One HD ident revealed

Want to know what those BBC One HD idents will look like? Here are some images, hot from the BBC Press Office.

BBC ONE HD - Eastenders. Thanks to the BBC for this image

BBC ONE HD - Holby City. Thanks to the BBC for this image

BBC ONE HD - The Apprentice. Thanks to the BBC for this image

BBC ONE HD - QI. Thanks to the BBC for this image

BBC One HD to launch this autumn on FreeviewHD and Freesat

The BBC has announced today that a new BBC One HD channel will launch in the autumn, offering a simulcast of BBC One. The existing BBC HD channel will remain, showcasing HD material from the Corporation’s other channels, and will extend to 12 hours a day.

Programmes including The One Show, Weakest Link, QI and The Apprentice are scheduled to move to HD production by the end of the year.

Other long-running shows such as Songs of Praise, Question of Sport and Blue Peter will also be moving to HD. According to the BBC press release:

“The Autumn launch is the first stage in delivering BBC One in HD.  The majority of programmes in the BBC One network evening schedule will be available in HD at launch, and by 2012 it is expected that the vast majority of all BBC One titles across all hours will be in HD.”

The new service will be available on all digital TV platforms that carry HD – that’s Freeview, Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media.

So, now we know what the fourth slot on the Freeview HD mux will be used for.

Update: Regional variations

From the BBC Trust website:

“the Trust also recognised that technical and financial constraints currently prevent additional variations, and asked the BBC Executive to take steps to minimise the effects of this on viewers in the nations and regions.”

So, it looks like this will probably be the main BBC One London feed. I suspect that the considerations are largely financial (eg extra capacity on satellite to deliver regional versions), because I recall at the Freeview HD technical launch, it was mentioned that the HD network had been designed to cope with regional variations.

There’s some more on this at the BBC Internet Blog.

6pm update: Want to see the ident?

Audio description on FreeviewHD

One of the less considered aspects of the Freeview HD surround sound situation is that the audio system has been designed the way it has, and decisions taken, so that Audio Description can be provided on the HD channels.

For the uninitiated, that’s the descriptions like “The Doctor takes his sonic screwdriver and uses it to open the padlock on the gate” that allow those with visual difficulties to follow what’s happening, even when there’s no dialogue to help them.

It’s a great service, and in my view well worth doing. You can find out more about it at the RNIB, and you might consider that it’s well worth helping them to campaign for more than a mere 10% of programmes on PSB channels to be described in the UK (see the current schedule here) – I was shocked when I realised how low that figure is.

Nevertheless, I fear that Audio Description may become unnecessarily entangled in the various moans and grumbles over Freeview HD’s surround sound problems. Why, some will – and have in various forums – ask, has surround sound been compromised in order to provide a service to people who won’t really benefit from an HD picture. Can’t they watch on SD, and let us have Dolby Digital Plus surround on Freeview HD?

On the face it, a reasonable enough idea, but to anyone who thinks this is a good suggestion to put forward, I say this: don’t forget that people who rely on Audio Description are people with friends, and families too. They don’t exist in a little bubble, having no contact with anyone else.

Audio Description on HD channels means a lot more than just providing a description to a few people with sight problems. It means allowing them to watch a programme with their friends and family, and for them all to watch in HD.

It means that they can enjoy programmes together – and not have to watch in SD instead, in another room, or at a different time, while everyone else is enjoying the HD version.

It is about fairness for its users, enabling them to participate more fully in one of the most common activities we do – watching TV. And I don’t think that should be sacrified.

So, by all means complain about surround sound problems on Freeview HD, and make a fuss to whomever you want. But please remember that Audio Description is not the problem, and don’t suggest taking it away it is part of a solution.

The real issue about surround sound is the lack of a mandatory transcoder, to convert the audio formats used on Freeview into formats the majority of home surround systems will understand.