Ongoing HD/SD BBC Switching problem

[LightningMk6]

Considering that the BBC licence fee is compulsory, don't you think that they could at least get their news and local news broadcasts output in HD rather than upscaled SD ?, It is so annoying when they change from one to the other. When will this problem be resolved?

[BenMcr]

Change to HD broadcast kit isn't free, and so the BBC have had to balance doing it with the benefits. Many of their regions are now in HD e.g. North West, South etc.

Some other News regions won't go HD as they're now going to be closing - https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/speeches/2022/digital-first-bbc-director-general-tim-davie

At a local level, we think a small number of changes to our regional TV output can help strike a better balance between broadcast and freeing up money to invest online. So we are proposing to end our dedicated TV bulletins from Oxford and Cambridge – merging these services with South Today and Look East.

Other regions will be updated when funds allow - the BBC say early 2023 for it to be complete across all regions and platforms.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/questions/everything-else/when-will-my-local-english-regional-news-b...

We will ensure all regional variants of BBC One in England are available in HD by early 2023.

[Reece_MH]

Hi @LightningMk6,

As mentioned by @BenMcr, there are various reasons why BBC channels may not be in HD. Unfortunately, we (Virgin Media) do not set the broadcasting variants of our live channels (HD/SD) - this is down to the channel broadcaster themselves and the broadcast rights that have provided to Virgin Media.

We would not be able to provide any information regarding this as it isn't identified as an issue on our end, you would need to contact BBC directly for any disputes regarding their channel definition. I do agree though, it would be far more superior to have the channels in HD sometimes.

Thanks,

[newapollo · Accepted solution]

Hi @LightningMk6 

There's also more information regarding HD/SD segments  <<< here >>>  

"Regional news on BBC One HD is subject to upscaling to HD until all equipment & broadcast chains are upgraded"

You will therefore notice some outside news broadcast in SD, then the feed will switch to HD for the next segment, and then back to SD, depending upon the cameras used for capturing the segment and the studio playback facilities.

[Roger_Gooner]

Some progress is being made as for some months I've been able to watch BBC One London in HD.

[ozsat]

Here in Oxford, rather than switch the Oxford News from the current SD to HD - the BBC have decided to close BBC Oxford News.

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@LightningMk6 wrote:

Considering that the BBC licence fee is compulsory, don't you think that they could at least get their news and local news broadcasts output in HD rather than upscaled SD ?, It is so annoying when they change from one to the other. When will this problem be resolved?

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[nodrogd]

I should point out VM are the only broadcast medium to offer ANY local BBC English regions in HD. Sky, Freesat & Freeview are still currently SD only whether you like it or not. On VM therefore the content is true HD where available, & upscaled otherwise. VM is fed the content directly from the BBC via fibre & is in the format they provide. VM don’t modify it.