TORONTO – Televising a combination of native HD programming and content converted with active pan-and-scan technology, the Score HD will broadcast in 720p widescreen 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the sports channel announced today.
It’s the first Canadian HD sports channel with a constant widescreen image. News of the move was first reported here in December.
The Score HD is now available to Rogers Digital Cable HDTV customers on channel 507. Negotiations with other carriers are ongoing.
"This is the first phase of our long-term HD vision," said David Errington, senior vice-president and general manager. "The next step will be the development of The Score’s HD studio in 2007, which will give us the ability to produce many of our own shows in native HD."
The Score HD will feature the same programming as the standard channel, but viewers will now be able to experience the channel in a more vibrant, 16:9 aspect ratio all the time. Leading-edge software from Teranex resizes the 4:3 image found on standard definition television.
With standard definition feeds, The Score HD will use a sophisticated process of noise reduction and image enhancement prior to the upconversion process. Upconversion will use a combination of active pan and scan and real time pixel motion interpolation. The results will be a clearer, more vibrant picture that will fill the entire frame of a widescreen television.
"The image will be a noticeable improvement over our standard definition image, " added Brad Keay, vice-president operations and engineering. "Our upconversion process will virtually eliminate common morphing issues when converting 4:3 to 16:9. Utilizing an active pan-and-scan technology results in an image far closer to native HD than current technology being deployed in Canada today."
The Score’s first native HD telecasts will be during the NBA playoffs in May and will be confirmed when the schedule is released. The Score will convert its current line-up of in-house programs while it converts its studio to HD over the next year.
"It certainly would have been easy to window-box the standard definition content like other HD channels, but… we pushed ourselves to come up with a solution that would give Canada’s hardcore sports fans a high quality, widescreen image all the time," added Anthony Cicione, vice-president programming and production,
The Score HD will be available as part of the Rogers Digital Cable HDTV channel line-up, meaning that every HD subscriber will have access to the channel at no additional charge.
