HD quality: SF has further developed make-up technology
Starting Wednesday, makeup artists and set designers at Swiss Television will have to work with even greater precision than before. The SRG will then broadcast its six main channels in HD quality. Viewers will be able to spot every imperfect stroke of eyeliner.
What previously disappeared in a flattering blur will be relentlessly broadcast into living rooms from Wednesday: every pore, every little crow's foot will be visible because of the five times higher resolution. So that the truth doesn't turn out quite so harshly, television has now further developed its make-up technique.
Conventional makeup is still used, says Schweizer Fernsehen when asked. However, depending on the skin type, the presenters are also made up with airbrushes, i.e. spray mists. This technique is perceived as pleasant by those wearing makeup, at least according to official sources.
The studio builders also face challenges because of the new image quality: Whereas they were previously able to simulate a wall with a few brushstrokes, as of Wednesday it will be clearly visible that it is only painted cardboard after all. Therefore, plastic, real buildings will have to be made more often.
Feature films and series are purchased in HD
The biggest change, however, is in the technology. Since 2005, only HD-capable products have been chosen for new acquisitions, such as cameras, OB vans and editing suites, in all language regions. Equipment in any other standard is now no longer available anyway. The same applies to the purchase of feature films and series, which are now all purchased in HD quality. Live international sports broadcasts have also been produced in HD for the most part for some time.
Cell phone pictures from Syria do not come into focus even with HD
The HD channels of the six main SRG stations, i.e. SF1, SF zwei, TSR1, TSR2, RSI LA1 and RSI LA2, will be switched on Wednesday. SF info will not be broadcast in HD until 2015. SF plans to produce 50 percent of its primetime broadcasts in HD quality this year. By the end of 2015, it should be over 90 percent.
SF has stayed with the old technology the longest with its news broadcasts, such as "Tagesschau" and "10vor10". The main reason for this is that the footage of these broadcasts was usually not produced in HD. Cell phone footage from Syria is not sharp even with five times better resolution.
A second reason is the news studios, which do not yet meet HD requirements and will not be upgraded until 2014 or 2015 according to the conversion plan. Although the news broadcasts will still be produced with "old" technology until then, they will be transmitted on the new HD channels. For this purpose, the TV will upconvert the broadcasts, which will result in significantly better quality than the previous broadcast. But anyone with a large screen will probably notice a difference - compared with "real" HD quality.
Switzerland-Argentina razor sharp for the first time
The broadcaster does not want to make public what additional costs Swiss television will incur as a result of the changeover in technology and props. As a matter of principle, SRG does not disclose figures for individual projects, it says when asked. A first SF broadcast where the razor-sharp HD quality will be clearly visible is Wednesday night's Switzerland-Argentina soccer match from the Stade de Suisse in Bern. (SDA)
