Monday Night Football Feturns in 720p HDTV...Finally! Page 2

Déjà Vu All Over Again
I had a chance to catch parts of this game at a small press reception hosted by RCA at their corporate office, in conjunction with CEDIA Expo 2003. Alas, the HD images didn't look too impressive, and the likely culprit was a problem with the encoding of the 720p digital signal at ABC affiliate WRTV-DT. We frequently saw pixel artifacts when players were running around, and little blotchy patches would appear and disappear mysteriously on the field itself, even when no one was moving.

It remained for me to return from the CEDIA Expo and fire up my home theater (which I hadn't used in a month) to see if my local ABC station WPVI-DT could do any better with the first Monday-night MNF. To watch the game, I used my trusty Sony VPH-D50HTU front CRT projector (for which the folks at Texas Instruments have many laughs at my expense), throwing images onto a Stewart 82-inch matte screen.

Just like I did in 1999, I set up my timeworn Panasonic TU-DST51A set-top receiver and Panasonic PV-HD1000 D-VHS deck to record the game for future reference. WPVI's signal on UHF channel 64 has always been strong at my house (I easily picked it up in my bathroom with a small Silver Sensor antenna and preamp for the Super Bowl this past January), and it came booming in as usual.

One catch: My current A/V receiver suddenly developed an inability to decode Dolby Digital 5.1 sound from any source, meaning I couldn't get any sound from the surround speakers. Of course, this happened at 8:32 p.m. EDT, 28 minutes before game time. So, I dragged out my old Sony STR-DE625 receiver, made some hurried audio and speaker connections, and voilà! The surround speakers came back to life. I used five Snell Acoustics K.5mk2 bookshelf units with a Polk powered subwoofer for the 5.1 soundtrack playback, by the way.

On With the Show
Since this was to be the Eagles' first regular-season game at their new home, Lincoln Financial Field, there was quite a bit of hullabaloo and ceremony leading up to the game. Singers, musicians, and fireworks were all part of the festivities, capped off by a video clip featuring Britney Spears and Sylvester Stallone doing his Rocky bit. Fun to watch but still in boring 4:3 480i.

Things changed rather quickly as the entire screen was suddenly filled with a dramatic 720p shot of Lincoln Financial Field. Al Michaels' face quickly appeared on the screen to kick off 2003's first Monday-night game (with John Madden lurking in the background), and the two teams lined up for the kickoff. Unfortunately, all of the pyrotechnics created a huge cloud of smoke that hung over the field and took some time to disperse.

ABC's surround audio mix was just right—not too loud, but you could hear the crowd whooping it up as each of the Philly players were introduced. Michaels and Madden were mixed to the center speaker, while some of the on-field interviews and reports by Lisa Guerrero came up in a front L/R stereo mix (but they weren't as easy to hear). ABC also tossed in some audio gimmicks during the game by miking up Tampa Bay linebacker Derrick Brooks.

One of HDTV's advantages is that a single camera shot can show all 22 players at the snap of the football without sacrificing image detail. In theory, this means that fewer cameras are needed to cover the game. In reality, directors like to have lots of shots to choose from, and heaven help you if you miss a critical play! So, in addition to sideline, grandstand, and field cameras, ABC also had a SkyCam rigged to fly across the field (not on passing plays, though) and provide a rather unique perspective on the game. This camera was a standard-definition model, and its video was upconverted to 720p and stretched to fill the screen. Another SD camera was lofted with the Goodyear blimp for aerial establishing shots.

This game's graphics were a far cry from those in 1999. This year, the MNF logo spun across the screen to reveal a player with his stats and team logo against a moving background. Graphic panels twisted on and off the screen. Split-screen images showed Eagles coach Andy Reid standing transfixed on one side of the field, while Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden ran back and forth on the other sideline like a hamster on speed. We were even treated to slo-mo 720p clips of selected plays, including a doozie where Joe Jurevicius, a Tampa Bay receiver, managed to tippy-toe his way to a touchdown on a beautiful catch at the edge of the end zone. Of course, Philadelphia challenged the call and asked for a replay. I'll anticipate your question: Did the referee watch the replay in 720p? No, the NFL records the SD version for replays and challenges. At home, we could clearly see that Jurevicius had both feet inbounds when he made the catch, something we might not have seen so clearly in 480i SDTV.

Aesthetics Versus Artistry
While the game looked spectacular in 720p, the Eagles' performance was forgettable. If you were a Tampa Bay fan, you had to be pleased with how the game proceeded (ultimately ending in a 17-0 Bucs shutout), but Eagles fans soon realized that their team just wasn't up to the challenge as the game wore on. You could see the Eagles players' frustration and weariness clearly in HD.

Even those fans who came bedecked in some pretty bizarre costumes benefited from the 720p treatment. One fan actually wore a cheese-steak hat, while another painted his bald head like a green football, complete with laces. Stallone himself made a cameo appearance during the game, shouting and leading a cheer from the stands while wearing a #22 (Duce Staley) Eagles jersey. It was good theater but ultimately went for naught.

Because the Eagles couldn't sustain any long drives, there were frequent commercial breaks. These, of course, were in plain old 480i. For some reason, the audio on all of the commercials dropped by several decibels whenever they appeared. It was as if WPVI was automatically providing a partial mute, and my guests and I greatly appreciated this kind gesture.

The video part of the telecast was remarkably clean: no dropouts, no pixel errors—just smooth, clean HDTV. At times, the upconverted SkyCam and end-zone cameras were a bit coarse visually, and SkyCam is a gimmick that I can do without. I'm not sure what the point is except that sponsors love it.

Although I watched the game using a basic DTV tuner, a true football nut might find an HD PVR useful for second-guessing the referees on certain calls. My Zenith HDR230 would have come in handy for time-shifting the MNF broadcast while going back to see if a particular first down was actually made or if a receiver really did have both feet inbounds on a pass completion. That means you even get to play virtual referee during a replay time-out, and you can then zoom to catch up with the game once play restarts.

It's Good to Be Home Again
One thing is for certain: Monday Night Football simply works better in HD, and 720p is the ideal format for it. With a little work, you can set up your home theater to feel just like a stadium (put in hard plastic seats, spill some beer and food on the floor, and crank up the crowd noise on the surround speakers). Add in a big, in-your-face widescreen image, and you'll find the whole experience a lot less expensive than season tickets. Plus, you won't have to deal with traffic jams after the game.

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