On Dec 20, 2011, at 1:32 AM, John Moore wrote:
> Usually on my SD Direct Sat. feed for NBC affiliate KNBC Ch.4 in
LA primetime is usually letterboxed, not sure about local news or
daytime programming. Tonight Rock Center is center cut but the
commercial breaks are letter boxed. How and why is Rock Center active
programming being center cut while the rest of prime time is letter
boxed for program content? Is NBC inserting AFD to cause this on
purpose? CBS is always center cut on my direct sat which I think is
wrong too. Of course things are correctly letter boxed on the DTV
converter box. Mr. Dennis the ball is in your court.
And I volley with:
Here's the complete story concerning NBC (I can't speak for CBS,
obviously). NBC's entertainment shows are generally letterboxed.
That includes most primetime programs plus Saturday Night Live,
Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Days Of Our
Lives, etc. Pretty much anything that is not sports or news.
Sports and news shows are specifically centercut. This includes
football games, Sunday Football Night In America, tennis, hockey, etc.
and the news shows, Today, Nightly News, Rock Center, and Dateline.
Specials and other programs can vary, depending on whether they are
produced by the News or Sports divisions, Entertainment division, or
by an outside source. Everything I cut for Today is created as
centercut, which is consistent with the fact that Today is produced by
NBC News.
Commercials' AFDs are determined by the advertisers. If an ad
includes a letterbox AFD, it may appear letterboxed, even when
appearing within a centercut program. The downconverter at the
receiving end will read the commercial's AFD and switch to the
appropriate mode as instructed by the AFD data. When the program
resumes, the program's AFD will cause the downconverter to switch
back, if necessary.
Local TV stations are SUPPOSED to pass AFDs through. It is possible
that a local station could simply replace the network feed's AFD with
their own. I do not know of any local affiliate that does that,
however.
Dennis Degan, Video Editor-Consultant-Knowledge Bank
NBC Today Show, New York
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