Knight Rider on Universal HDTV

Post by **Michael Pajaro** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:08 pm

Universal has an High-Def Channel on DirecTV and they have begun showing Knight Rider. It may also be available on digital cable, but I don't know. I have friends who caught it; they say it looked pretty good but didn't know if it was "upconverted" to HDTV or if they went back to the original film to create new HDTV masters. I'm trying to find out how it's being done. (That's the video geek in me.)

http://www.universalhd.com/Schedule/sea ... tart=today

jyd85 · Post by **jyd85** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:55 pm

Michael Pajaro wrote:Universal has an High-Def Channel on DirecTV and they have begun showing Knight Rider. It may also be available on digital cable, but I don't know. I have friends who caught it; they say it looked pretty good but didn't know if it was "upconverted" to HDTV or if they went back to the original film to create new HDTV masters. I'm trying to find out how it's being done. (That's the video geek in me.)

http://www.universalhd.com/Schedule/sea ... tart=today

It's on Adelphia Digital, but you have to order it.

Lyn · Post by **Lyn** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 12:47 am

I had at first thought that only those with Time Warner cable would get the new Universal TV channel, featuring shows from Universal's past on NBC and elsewhere, so I was surprised to see it as part of the cable lineup here.
I don't have HD Tv, per se, but I have the said channel normally, though....

Knight-Armen · Post by **Knight-Armen** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 5:37 am

Do you guy's know if I can watch this channel from Sweden? If I can then can you please give me the technical data, such as frequency etc.

March2875 · Post by **March2875** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 1:45 pm

Is UniversalHDTV the same as Sleuth. Time Warner cable debuted Sleuth. I know that was mentioned on here as a new station coming in January.

Knight Rider airs at 8am, 12 noon, and 4pm Monday-Friday. Also Saturday's at 12-2pm and Sunday's 8-10am. Only problem is its all the same episodes.

Post by **Michael Pajaro** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 4:24 pm

I was wondering the same thing, March. When I first heard about Knight Rider on HD yesterday (two friends called me), I thought they were talking about the new Sleuth network which will be carrying KR. But it sounds like this is something completely independent.

kilroy107 · Post by **kilroy107** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 5:57 pm

I had heard about the sleuth channel offering it but I did not realize that Direct TV had it as well...I guess since I don't have cable or Direct TV I'm gonna have to wait untill season 3 is released later this month

ocAdamR · Post by **ocAdamR** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 1:35 pm

Michael Pajaro wrote:I have friends who caught it; they say it looked pretty good but didn't know if it was "upconverted" to HDTV or if they went back to the original film to create new HDTV masters. I'm trying to find out how it's being done. (That's the video geek in me.)

I’m pretty certain that Universal would NOT reconvert Knight Rider to HD (or any other format) from the master film for their Universal HD station... at least not yet. Currently that would cost way too much money to produce (re-editing, re-titling, etc). If they were to spend the dough for that, they would have done it for the DVDs (and/or for true HD with Blu-Ray or HD-DVD technology (whichever format wins)).

I’m curious… Did Universal HD change the size format of Knight Rider (from 1.33:1) to fill all the space of most HD screens (to 16:9)? And, if so, did they distort the image by stretching it, or did they have to cut off the top and/or bottom?

Post by **Michael Pajaro** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 3:52 am

As it was described to me, it was kept in the 4:3 ratio, so there would be black bars on the sides of your HD screen.

MiKA- · Post by **MiKA-** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 12:16 pm

Here's a HR.HDTV -rip of Knight Rider theme: http://mbnet.fi/miikkis/knight.rider.hr.hdtv.theme.avi

It looks so awesome

EDIT: And it haves 5.1-audio and it's 16:9, and doesn't seem upconverted to me

WolfpupNX · Post by **WolfpupNX** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 1:20 am

I have UHD through DirecTV and have been watching some of this. First of all, it is NOT distorted at all - it fills the entire screen (16:9). Whether anything's cut off I can't say for certain, but it certainly seems like you're seeing more, not less, than 4:3.

Picture quality is typical for the 80's - you do see some grain (which I think is probably in the film itself), but it's still a lot better than analog signals or 480i. (UHD is 1080i).

As to the Sleuth question, I'm confused too. There are constantly advertisements that say "Sleuth", but the channel's still called UHD on the receiver, and it has the UniversalHD logo...so maybe UHD is the high-def version of Sleuth? I dunno...

Post by **Michael Pajaro** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 1:49 pm

Universal HD is a completely seperate channel from Sleuth.

I finally saw the Universal HD showing of Knight of the Phoenix. It is in widescreen format; they basically zoom in on the center of screen so the top and bottom of the original image is missing. However, in most scenes all the action is still framed beautifully.

spyhunter · Post by **spyhunter** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 3:08 am

Finally caught an episode in HD today and the most noticeable difference is the sound, the 5.1 they put it in is very enveloping, KITTs voice really echoes all around the room like never before... It's almost too expanded sounding, close to the point of distortion, but that may have just been the episode I saw, NOT A DROP TO DRINK, or the level my sound system was cranked to in celebration, heh heh...

Seriously though, it really makes you feel short changed on the DVD, there's no reason they couldn't have included this sound on the DVD, other than it probably wasn't complete at the time... What a shame...

It's great to see that they are still doing work with this show so far into the future though...

I wasn't able to tell if there were syndicuts, but since there are commercials on the network, there's a good chance that they are still cut, which is another shame, I mean what's better shows in HD glory, or fully intact, I'd go with the second... Not to mention they keep advertising that they play movies on the network commercial free, why not the TV shows? All they ever care about is $$

SH

MLAM · Post by **MLAM** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 10:23 am

Well as they were made with Commercial breaks in mind why would they cut it again?

Im from the UK and have never quite understood the whole "Syndication" term that you lot use.

5.1 Audio would be really cool on the DVD's but if they did that they probably would leave out the original mono sound which some people will complain about too...

March2875 · Post by **March2875** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 2:37 pm

Syndication just means that its not shown everywhere. That its limited to certain areas. Mostly old shows run in syndication. Baywatch was an exception it aired in syndictation. At one time however Baywatch was a Broadcast show. It got cancelled and David brought it back. Although you probably won't remember its broadcast run only the syndication one. The broadcast run only lasted one season.

MLAM · Post by **MLAM** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 10:18 pm

How does KITT's voice box look in cropped 16:9? As some shots of it is already close up enough in full frame.

I agree that most shots will look good but you are still technically ruining the framework by cropping the top and bottom off and gaining nothing on the side

spyhunter · Post by **spyhunter** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 5:10 am

Universal HD comes in on my widescreen as horizontally stretched in Full Mode, so there is no cropping. And it is amazing how natural it looks, even though it is stretched, but this is true with most content other than movies viewed on a widescreen...

If you are watching the KR DVDs and your widescreen is set to Normal Mode, you would have black bars on the right and left side of your screen. This mode is not possible on my widescreen while watching KR on Universal HD...

Using the Zoom Mode on your widescreen is the only time you'd get cropping, and I can't imagine ever watching any show where you are missing any part of the picture, which makes it hard to understand why they still produce Standard Screen DVDs for movies...

Zoom Mode comes in very handy while playing classic arcade games like Gauntlet on XBOX 360 LIVE and you want the picture to fill in the screen vertically, can't wait for Gauntlet II, and of-course Spy Hunter

SH

Ben_KNIGHT · Post by **Ben_KNIGHT** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 10:52 am

wow MiKA-!! that looks awesome! Can you rip some more clips? I love them!

Thank you!

Ben

spyhunter · Post by **spyhunter** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 7:17 am

Well, after seeing Trust Doesn't Rust, they left in the part at the end where KITT says, "Being one of a kind if a very familiar feeling", but it still seems like some parts on episodes are missing, so these could be syndicuts that I've never seen...

With the short commercials though, it should be the entire episode...

SH

MLAM · Post by **MLAM** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 7:21 am

I've just been thinking that maybe the DVD themselves are downverted from the masters which may even be HD.

Though i think its more likely to be vice versa.

darthcual · Post by **darthcual** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 1:15 pm

Was watching this last nite b4 my daughters dance recital. I have Comcast w/ the HD package. So if ur comcast, you need an hdtv to view. Awesome!

Stringfellow Hawke · Post by **Stringfellow Hawke** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 4:06 pm

MiKA- wrote:Here's a HR.HDTV -rip of Knight Rider theme: http://mbnet.fi/miikkis/knight.rider.hr.hdtv.theme.avi

It looks so awesome

EDIT: And it haves 5.1-audio and it's 16:9, and doesn't seem upconverted to me

That was awesome! How come though the the Main Theme kicks in a few seconds before the picture fades in on the desert horizon at the very beginning? Still, very, very nice!

Are there plans for further Universal shows to arrive on this HDTV channel, such as "Airwolf" and "The A-Team"? Such a great shame that neither this channel isn't available in the UK - but I suppose it's only a matter of time really.

Jenna · Post by **Jenna** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 4:36 pm

Thats cool but i just got Direct tv satellite and got Hd channells on my tv downstairs what channell is knight rider being shown so il know and when is this slueth channell coming to direct tv.

Solid Snake · Post by **Solid Snake** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 6:50 am

Hi people. The link to the video works fine, but I have no sound, most likely a codec problem. Could you people tell me what codec I would need to hear the sound? Thanks

.

pavanbadal · Post by **pavanbadal** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 12:36 pm

Very nice quality, but I also get no sound. What codec do I need?

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