Picture quality for Stanford-Oregon draws plenty of complaints

Stanford-Oregon is airing on ABC, and the picture quality (or lack thereof) has been a big topic of conversation.

Watching it on my laptop, it definitely gives an “off” feel; mostly observable on the main field camera, but definitely not great overall. Players just feel kind of blurry; that main angle is sort of like an old ESPN3 stream.

The field is fine (I'm here) but there's something wrong with the TV broadcast.

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) October 2, 2021

It’s probably even more noticeable on bigger screens, and some people have definitely noticed. Tim Burke weighed in with an educated guess and some comparison photos:

The entire broadcast is terrible. This is usually the telltale sign that they are broadcasting an anamorphic SD signal and upscaling it. i haven't seen a game look like this in years though https://t.co/WL4EWHSlMY

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) October 2, 2021

for comparison's sake, the ATSC3 Cincinnati-Notre Dame broadcast vs the same format for Oregon-Stanford pic.twitter.com/P8sr5BKnIn

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) October 2, 2021

if i had to guess there is for whatever reason *waves hand* there is a shortage of up-to-date broadcast equipment on the west coast. perhaps due to NFL + MLB + NHL + NBA (soon) all in action. https://t.co/mFfQYwR73I

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) October 2, 2021

That’s small comfort, though, to people watching, many of whom aren’t thrilled with a broadcast quality that makes the game hard to follow.

ESPN is using a camera from 1997 to broadcast this Oregon/Stanford game.

— Zach Mullis (@zmullis) October 2, 2021

Cool throwback look in the Oregon-Stanford game with the wide camera apparently broadcasting the game in 360p.

— The Solid Verbal College Football Podcast (@SolidVerbal) October 2, 2021

More selected complaints:

It’s unfortunate for a fairly high-profile contest, but sometimes this is just what happens, whether it’s caused by accidental malfunctions or a limit of resources.