BBC/ITV Midlands News - Printable Version

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+--- Thread: BBC/ITV Midlands News (/showthread.php?tid=176)

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RE: BBC/ITV Midlands News - damian - 16-02-2023

(16-01-2023, 09:32 PM)Josh Wrote:  https://i.imgur.com/rYCbctC.png 

Am I the only one who finds these new sets rather flat, dull, cartoonish and a poor imitation of nationals set? There’s no depth they just feel lifeless and cheap like sky news’

I know there’s limitations space wise for each studio, and limited funds but I still find a few of the circular desk, plasmas screens and catwalk sets far superior to these.

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RE: BBC/ITV Midlands News - AaronLancs - 16-02-2023

(16-02-2023, 10:38 AM)Mike Wrote:  However it downscales to PAL/SD 25fps from 1080p50, it doesn’t anti-alias well when downscaled.

Sorry to ask a really stupid question but it has been bugging me since seeing this.

Is this "anti-alias-ing" similar to when in fonts and typefaces there is a character - for example an A in this particular instance - that needs to have the same characteristics and 'moldings' (in old school lingo) whether it is the smaller standard 11 or 12pt, the larger 28pt or the even larger 46pt?

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MFTJA - MFTJA - 16-02-2023

(16-02-2023, 06:38 PM)damian Wrote:  

(16-01-2023, 09:32 PM)Josh Wrote:  https://i.imgur.com/rYCbctC.png 

Am I the only one who finds these new sets rather flat, dull, cartoonish and a poor imitation of nationals set? There’s no depth they just feel lifeless and cheap like sky news’

I know there’s limitations space wise for each studio, and limited funds but I still find a few of the circular desk, plasmas screens and catwalk sets far superior to these.

I happen to really like these new sets. It’s the first time many regions are getting kitted out with “national-grade” sets and they offer far more possibilities for the regions. Some things could do with being ironed out (the awkward corner with the programme name springs to mind) but otherwise these sets are a great example of the BBC showing they’re still committed to the regions.

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RE: BBC/ITV Midlands News - oscillon - 16-02-2023

I might have missed it, but just from the technical point of view - what part of a generic new regions studio (e. g. Midlands Today) is what?

The monolith screen is real and physical, but what are the three walls surrounding the set? Are they all proper videowalls? Are they green screens for AR? If it is the former in every region then it is rather cool for regional sets to have this amount of proper videowalls.

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RE: BBC/ITV Midlands News - Steve in Pudsey - 16-02-2023

Physical screens with the exception of Newsline in Belfast (a Nation not a region) who have extended their physical set with (very conspicuous) VR

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RE: BBC/ITV Midlands News - Earlie37 - 16-02-2023

(16-02-2023, 09:23 PM)oscillon Wrote:  I might have missed it, but just from the technical point of view - what part of a generic new regions studio (e. g. Midlands Today) is what?

The monolith screen is real and physical, but what are the three walls surrounding the set? Are they all proper videowalls? Are they green screens for AR? If it is the former in every region then it is rather cool for regional sets to have this amount of proper videowalls.

All of it is there - you would see the exact same thing if you were stood in the studio. The 'monolith' and the walls of the set are high-density LED panels. If you browse the BBC Breakfast thread, you can see that they are constructed of lots of smaller, square panels which you can connect into various shapes within a metal frame. As has been mentioned elsewhere, these panels draw huge amounts of electricity. Therefore, every studio will also require considerable upgrades to give adequate power. As the camera angles in Birmingham have to be rather tight, you can sometimes see a moire effect which gives away the fact that these are LED screens. Nottingham tend to have this less as they have more breathing room in the studio so they can pull back or use wider angles to reduce any the problem on their screens. With the size of Birmingham's set, their cameras are probably almost as close to the far wall as they can physically go.

You may have noticed that the screens are also provided with a generic set of display templates so the regions can simply insert images / video feeds onto the panels that will animate and fit within the background imagery. Therefore, expect most regions to have very similar animations and templates going forward after their set is updated to this design (e.g. the date at the top of the show, video feed as they turn to the side, the red horizontal bar wipe for a wide background change etc). If you watch East Mids, then West Mids, you can see that even though the images are different, the positioning of particular images, feeds and animations are essentially the same.

This is the same LED hardware used in Studio B at Broadcasting House but on a much smaller scale. A lot of people thought that AR was being used in Studio B when they first saw it but it is also formed of LED panels with a high density resolution.

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RE: BBC/ITV Midlands News - oscillon - 16-02-2023

Early37, Steve in Pudsey, thank you for clarification and explanation!

(16-02-2023, 09:34 PM)Steve in Pudsey Wrote:  Physical screens with the exception of Newsline in Belfast (a Nation not a region) who have extended their physical set with (very conspicuous) VR

Indeed, it was Northern Ireland set with its virtual wall(s?) complaints that put me off - although many English regions are more populated than Nations, the latter are considered more senior as they cover a lot more politics, so it is weird that NI remained with a partially virtual set while most of the English regions get 3 solid video walls.

(16-02-2023, 09:40 PM)Earlie37 Wrote:  You may have noticed that the screens are also provided with a generic set of display templates so the regions can simply insert images / video feeds onto the panels that will animate and fit within the background imagery. Therefore, expect most regions to have very similar animations and templates going forward after their set is updated to this design

Of course, it is somewhat expected in my view for mother company to send out some nice templates for regional news uniformity, it is more of a surprise to me when this does not happen and everybody is left to do their own thing to the best of their resourses.

(16-02-2023, 09:40 PM)Earlie37 Wrote:  This is the same LED hardware used in Studio B at Broadcasting House but on a much smaller scale. A lot of people thought that AR was being used in Studio B when they first saw it but it is also formed of LED panels with a high density resolution.

A U.K. national set that has a lot of big videowalls did not surprise me, the technology was there several years ago. It is good that they took that much care of the regions and brought the tech there.

Speaking of moire, is there any info about the pixel pitch for the regional sets' and, specifically, Midlands set's video walls? Newscast says that for Studio B it is 2.5mm which is a little larger than one would expect.
https://www.newscaststudio.com/2022/06/14/bbc-news-studio-b-new-set/ 
However, for BBC Wales' new studio it might be even smaller, at 1.5 mm, which is closer to what was avaliable in 2019.
https://www.inavateonthenet.net/case-studies/article/broadcast-canvas--samsung-led-at-bbc-wales 
This source, although, is much less known to me.

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RE: BBC/ITV Midlands News - DTV - 16-02-2023

(16-02-2023, 10:45 PM)oscillon Wrote:  Speaking of moire, is there any info about the pixel pitch for the regional sets' and, specifically, Midlands set's video walls? Newscast says that for Studio B it is 2.5mm which is a little larger than one would expect.

From what I recall, there are three pitches of LEDs used in B - 1.5mm is used for the towers, catwalk screen and touchscreen; 2.5mm is used for the main section backdrop videowalls and 4mm is used for the upper 'floor' backdrop videowalls.

I suspect that the regions are a mix of 1.5 and 2.5mm - mirroring the national set-up.

For comparison, the main LED backdrop in Studio C has a pitch of 6mm - this is why it has a diffusion panel in front of it which makes is appear slightly blurred and faded. The LED wall in Studio E (behind the correspondent interview position) is an even higher pitch - around 10mm.

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RE: BBC/ITV Midlands News - alfiejmulcahy - 16-02-2023

(16-02-2023, 10:45 PM)oscillon Wrote:  Indeed, it was Northern Ireland set with its virtual wall(s?) complaints that put me off - although many English regions are more populated than Nations, the latter are considered more senior as they cover a lot more politics, so it is weird that NI remained with a partially virtual set while most of the English regions get 3 solid video walls.

Northern Ireland has three LED walls the same as an English region, but has a separate green screen AR section strapped on the side - as seen in the screenshot below.



These three walls are LED:

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RE: BBC/ITV Midlands News - Earlie37 - 16-02-2023

(16-02-2023, 10:45 PM)oscillon Wrote:  Early37, Steve in Pudsey, thank you for clarification and explanation!

(16-02-2023, 09:34 PM)Steve in Pudsey Wrote:  Physical screens with the exception of Newsline in Belfast (a Nation not a region) who have extended their physical set with (very conspicuous) VR

Indeed, it was Northern Ireland set with its virtual wall(s?) complaints that put me off - although many English regions are more populated than Nations, the latter are considered more senior as they cover a lot more politics, so it is weird that NI remained with a partially virtual set while most of the English regions get 3 solid video walls.

NI has a similar set up to the English regions in that it has a monolith panel with three LED walls. However, as their studio is quite large, essentially the cameras can be turned almost 180 degrees in the opposite direction to the physical set. This is where the green screen is located. So essentially, you could say NI almost has a full box (i.e. three sides of LED screen and the last side is CSO). I suppose it was a cost effective way of extending what they have without splashing out on more expensive LED panelling. 

Will be intriguing to see what BBC Scotland do and if they do the same as NI with a CSO or if they can stretch to using more LED wall - I would assume they will be treated to a more 'grand' version than what the English regions are receiving.

But as you've noted, it is a nice surprise that the BBC are investing to this level with the regional sets. I think there is a huge intention this will be a long term investment (i.e. you can change the look of the set instantly if there's a new look / revamp), should hopefully last a long time and it will lead to cost savings with consistency too.

I think a lot of people were surprised at how large the Midlands Today set looks on camera - having LED walls that can go against the firelanes shows how much more space can be freed up with this design in the tightest of spaces. Will be intriguing how the regions with even tighter space will adapt.

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