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.
