Speed has heard your concerns and given us an explanation of sound quality issues. Please do not start new complaint threads regarding sound quality issues. Thanks.

FM

Unfortunately, broadcast sound quality is an on-going issue. It is not one easy to remedy, because the problems arise after the signal leaves Speed TOC in LA. Our signal, as you know, is thoroughly checked and monitored as it is sent to both LA and Charlotte. The cable and satellite companies, as well as local distributors (hotels & private MATV systems etc.), are the most likely culprits, though your home systems can do many things to distort the audio and video as well. It can be as simple as a switch setting, bad system wiring, or incorrectly adjusted receivers and monitors.

Until surround-sound systems and High-Definition become more common, or a new way to distribute these signals becomes foolproof, this issue will be on-going. Just as the early days of home stereo took time to perfect, HD, 5.1 and 7.1 audio face the same issues.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

SPEED

Now, on to picture issues... v

After two rounds you'd think SPEED and whomever does the production for FOM could collaborate well enough to fit the practice clock, the Q clock, and P1 driver and timing info into the top of my screen without the top half of the text being chopped off. All I see is the bottom half, so they're unreadable. It's not my tv, as I have never had this problem until this season, and I've seen the same thing on other TVs around town this year.

Seriously. This is bush-league. Get it together, guys.

looked perfectly fine, once again, this morning on my recording.

And speed just spits out what the world feed provides them.

stowaway - 17 April 2009 06:36 PM

looked perfectly fine, once again, this morning on my recording.

And speed just spits out what the world feed provides them.

If that's the case I guess I'll retract my remarks about SPEED.

It's weird. There was a period during Q for round 1 where everything was fine, then everything went to crap again. I don't know if this is a Time Warner thing...local, regional or national...or what.

The same thing is happening here. Strange.

mx848 - 17 April 2009 06:53 PM

The same thing is happening here. Strange.

Who is your provider?

I get the same problem and Im using dish network. I just wish they would broadcast in the 16:9 format instead of cutting it down to 4:3.

If things are been cut-off the screen then its an overscan problem, most likely down to the way the provider handles the feed.

Since SPEED are taking the 16:9 feed & then cropping it down to 4:3 it could be they are cropping too much so TV's with larger Overscan now miss bits of the graphics.

BIt more info on Overscan here:
http://scanline.ca/overscan/

All the FOM Graphics are in the same position they have been for the past 2 years & the 16:9 feed with the 4:3 safezone graphics are all visible here. Timing clock is about half inch from the top of my TV picture.

stefmeister - 17 April 2009 10:37 PM

If things are been cut-off the screen then its an overscan problem, most likely down to the way the provider handles the feed.

Since SPEED are taking the 16:9 feed & then cropping it down to 4:3 it could be they are cropping too much so TV's with larger Overscan now miss bits of the graphics.

BIt more info on Overscan here:
http://scanline.ca/overscan/

All the FOM Graphics are in the same position they have been for the past 2 years & the 16:9 feed with the 4:3 safezone graphics are all visible here. Timing clock is about half inch from the top of my TV picture.

I guess I know the likely answer to this, but is there anything that can be done about this?

hairy_scotsman - 17 April 2009 10:48 PM

I guess I know the likely answer to this, but is there anything that can be done about this?

Down to the Providers sadly.

I would guess that if SPEED were to make the move to Widescreen taking the 16:9 feed & not cropping it would solve the problem. Letterboxing the 16:9 feed would also fix it.

The problem seems to be WORSE now! I can only see from P2 down on the left hand time sheet and the clock is compleatly gone. And because SPEED finds the need to not follow the qualifying session live I cant even follow timing and scoring online to keep up with what time pole is as its off the screen..

Not to mention the commentators are telling were the car they are following placed in the lineup two or three second before the car even crosses the line.