[Stuart]

The picture quality of that YouTube video is lovely.

I bet that the broadcast quality of the channel will be the worst possible SD resolution/bit rate they can get away with.

My 4K TV tries to upscale SD broadcast pictures to an extent, but of course it can only work with what it's given. People are used to seeing everything in HD, so I hope this new channel doesn't go down the low SD resolution/bit rate route as that would be a shame.

[James2001]

Though if the programmes are only made in SD, there's only so much you can do even with high bitrates, you can't magic HD out of nothing. People are used to HD remasters of old shows, but there's still plenty that can't due to either being shot on video or the original film no longer existing (as well as lacking the will/money to do the job even when it does). Though you can help by not messing things up by not reducing the quality further with cropping and de-interlacing, both of which happen far too often these days (the clips in that video are pillarboxed, so there won't be the former at the very least, hopefully there won't be the latter either- which will place it above UKTV in technical quality!).

[Neil Jones]

Though if the programmes are only made in SD, there's only so much you can do even with high bitrates, you can't magic HD out of nothing. People are used to HD remasters of old shows, but there's still plenty that can't due to either being shot on video or the original film no longer existing (as well as lacking the will/money to do the job even when it does). Though you can help by not messing things up by not reducing the quality further with cropping and de-interlacing, both of which happen far too often these days (the clips in that video are pillarboxed, so there won't be the former at the very least, hopefully there won't be the latter either- which will place it above UKTV in technical quality!).

If the channel ever ends up on Freeview which I hope it does, it'll be in good company looking like a mushy mess even if Rewind got hold of the original tapes that took the recordings in the first place.

Being on Sky will probably help it in terms of picture quality, but being on Freeview will increase the audience capacity at the expense of the picture... And I think it was always a shame Freeview went down the quantity rather than quality route picture wise...

Time will tell, the YouTube video doesn't really prove anything, though there are copious channels who think strechyvision is acceptable...

[JMT1985]

I have spoken with Freesat, and they have confirmed that "at the moment" Freesat has no plans to carry this channel on their EPG which is very saddening and worrying, that Freesat seems to be losing more linear channels. However, they have said they will pass on my comments to their "channel procurer" and we "may" see Rewind TV become available on Freesat by the launch date.

[WillPS]

Though if the programmes are only made in SD, there's only so much you can do even with high bitrates, you can't magic HD out of nothing. People are used to HD remasters of old shows, but there's still plenty that can't due to either being shot on video or the original film no longer existing (as well as lacking the will/money to do the job even when it does). Though you can help by not messing things up by not reducing the quality further with cropping and de-interlacing, both of which happen far too often these days (the clips in that video are pillarboxed, so there won't be the former at the very least, hopefully there won't be the latter either- which will place it above UKTV in technical quality!).

The Doctor Who Blu Ray releases prove that quite a bit can be done, for a price!

[James2001]

I've never actually seen any of them... or indeed any of the BBC's Blu-Ray releases of old shows. I'm not enough of a fan of Doctor Who to buy those, and not sure it's really worth rebuying shows I already own (though if there was ever a complete OFAH... would take up a lot less space considering the way they only had one special per disc, which was a stupid waste of space when you could get 2-3 episodes on one... not worth buying the current complete DVD boxset as it's literally the same discs in a smaller box). Some of the new special features do look interesting, and re-inserted music cuts on some shows and the uncut, laugh track free Royal Flush definitely appeal, but still not sure how much I consider it worth it. I do remember reading the original pressing of the Red Dwarf blu-rays ended up filmising series 3 and half of series 5 as well (and it took a lot of pressing for them to admit the problem and issue a recall).

The only similar thing I own with upscaled SD on blu-ray is the original Twilight Zone, where there were 6 episodes of season 2 that were made on video (and quite remarkably, for something made in 1960, the tapes all still exist rather than just telerecordings), the quality of which is even praised by the people doing the commentaries on the discs. I do have a German SD on Blu-Ray release as well... something that's been moderately sucessful there but rather unfortunately doesn't seem to have been anywhere else (bar a couple of niche labels in the US), as it means you can put loads of episodes on only a couple of discs, and at higher quality than DVD due to the higher bitrates and better codecs available- so you'd think it's something companies would take advantage of.

[MorganLamia]

A new channel called Rewind TV is to launch on Sky and FTA Satellite (which may include Freesat) on the 23rd of May 2024.

It will show older programmes from the UK. The channel's official website says it is aimed at the over 55+ demographic.

www.rewindtv.uk 

www.youtube.com 

As I am not in this age category myself; the trailer above showcases a lot of older British TV dramas and chat shows that will air on the channel after it's launch.

If people here can jog their memories and collate a list of what shows that are in the trailer because I have never seen them before.

This has most definitely been run through filters, by the way - sharpening (so many halos), smoothing, the standard upscaling generation that effectively guesses what should exist and generates it, giving it the blobby, smeary look etc.
I'm assuming it's just for this trailer. It would be a hell of a lot of work for every episode of every programme.

[Nobby]

No one seems to have mentioned the song used in that YouTube video. I assume, the lyrics at least, have been especially commissioned for the channel. That's probably a good indication of quality. The choice of clips, making it sound like the people in the programmes are talking about the channel, means someone has spent more than 5 minutes putting this together too.

I have high hopes for this channel even if I can't watch it because I don't have a Sky Digital satellite receiver.

Is it broadcasting any tests yet?

[rick]

I have high hopes for this channel even if I can't watch it because I don't have a Sky Digital satellite receiver.

You can watch it if you have ANY satellite receiver, it doesn't have to be a Sky branded one. It will be broadcast Free To Air for anyone to pick up anywhere in the satellites footprint. If you have a Freesat receiver, you can tune it in using "non-Freesat Mode".

[JMT1985]

You can watch it if you have ANY satellite receiver, it doesn't have to be a Sky branded one. It will be broadcast Free To Air for anyone to pick up anywhere in the satellites footprint. If you have a Freesat receiver, you can tune it in using "non-Freesat Mode".

I am a bit surprised that they have not bothered to launch on Freesat properly - with the loss of the Greattv channels recently, that platforms seems to be lacking decent channels.