I watched the new David Attenborough “Seven Worlds, One Planet” broadcast by BBC in UHD last evening …
… Absolutely stunning; so much detail, contrast & colour at an all new level for broadcast TV.
I have to say I was not impressed with UHD from Wimbledon as it had issues with light (sun/shadow) contrast (on my TV - YMMV), but the broadcast last evening was just perfect.
The BBC format is called Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG), it was invented by BBC R&D in partnership with NHK. HLG gives more differentiation between light & black & includes WCG (Wide Colour Gamut).
“Seven Worlds, One Planet” is the first time BBC broadcast a UHD program ‘as-it’s-broadcast’ along with the SD & HD broadcasts.
UK viewers can watch it (again) on iPlayer.
I managed to see some of it last night on the regular Freeview BBC HD. I thought it looked stunning. Sadly UHD is but a distant pipe dream here what with the slow speeds and the constant drops.
… and thats the problem, from now on all the normal HD progs look like they’re broke. I read its only be a matter of time until we get a regular all UHD channel, but suspect it might not be quick enough.
iPlayer is 2 channel. I believe ACC & a high sample rate (I read somewhere 192kHz)
Last year they said that issues with some receivers prevented multi-channel but continue to explore possible solutions
I link the TV to my NDX & get a better quality SQ vs TV sound, its pretty good. .
Thanks. So the 4k UHD is available on iPlayer - I did wonder on Sunday just as the broadcast version started but thought I could revisit in iPlayer later.
Yes, the BBC say a prompt box is shown on the SD & HD screens, I didn’t see this as I went in straight to iPlayer. I’ll try it via whatever the prompt box sez next Sunday.
Superb. And no presenter standing in front of what you are supposed to be looking at all the time, or incongruously walking into every shot, or appearing from behind some bit of scenery. Wonderful.
It’s a weird evolutionary turn that the albatross doesn’t recognise its own chick unless it’s actually on the nest. It would be interesting to swap chicks while the parents were away and see if they noticed. Presumably as they only recognise ‘chick on my nest’ they wouldn’t recognise another as not being their own. I see another animal behaviour PhD in there.
Yes indeed. There are lots of things like this in animal behaviour. The idea that animals are like some sort of automata can be inferred from this sort of thing - from processional caterpillars onwards. But in many ways what is really extraordinary is not that this sort of solution is often adopted, but that such behaviour - indeed, any behaviour - can be inherited. And generally it works. Migration, for instance, requires the accurate inheritance of quite complex behaviours. And we only have 4 nucleotides to make up DNA. It’s hard enough to see how DNA can control the morphology of an individual, but to control the behaviour as well is mind blowing. But it happens all the time.
Biology is fascinating.
My PhD was in the area of optimal foraging. It was lab based, easier than being in the Antarctic but not as much fun. It’s amazing how many new discoveries come from these ‘telly programmes’.
Very much so - some are absolutely superb, particularly Attenborough. So many nature/science programmes are whiz-bang or “isn’t this amazing”, but Attenborough relies on the facts and images (plus his inimitable style).
I did a PhD on the effects of marine pollution on the macroscopic algae of the Firth of Forth, and worked for some years studying the intertidal regions of the UK. I have seen a number of programmes on rock pools and the like, and most have not really addressed the subject very well. I hate the “let’s poke this and see what it does” type of programme - which I first noticed with Cousteau, and continued with Steve Irwin.
What foragers were you studying?