(How to improve) F1 TV coverage

[thedutchguy]

Much has already been said about the sound of the new F1, mostly for TV viewers who were less than impressed with the (onboard) sounds from the first race in melbourne.

After wachting FP2 and FP3, nothing seems to have changed for Malaysia. Well, not enrily true, the onscreen graphics for the onboard footage has changed. The large rev counter has been replaced for a speedometer (which was smaller and located just below the DRS indicator in Australia) and the rev counter itself has been moved to the right and has been made so small it's almost unreadable. Wouldn't be too surprised if they remove it alltoghter in the next few races

https://twitter.com/ericvanb/status/449 ... 29/photo/1


But the gear indicator still doesn't indicate 8th gear and the graphics are still about half a second out of sync with the sound and video. I can't figure out why a billion Dollar sport can't fix something like this in the weeks that have passed since Melbourne?

Also for a sport that thrives on technological innovation, very little innovation seems to be going on with the TV coverage. The most innovative thing I've seen in the last few years is the pivoting nose camera on the Williams. Sadaly it turns way too slow to follow a car during an overtake, so it's pretty useless. Strange, because these cams have been available in Indycar and Nascar for years, and are used to much greater effect. Today I also noticed a new 'line comparison' shot which superimposes images from two drivers over eachother to show differences in lines. Nice idea!

What kind of improvements in TV coverage would you like to see?

For me, true HD (not upscaled) onboard footage and more information about the energy recovery systems would be on top of the list.

[WillerZ]

I am CTO at a video-processing startup; we have the technology to process the footage from an extremely wide-angle fisheye camera in real-time to produce the shot you would have got from a narrower-angle camera pointed in any direction within the field-of-view of the original camera.

With our technology FOM could replace the tilting camera with a fisheye camera pointed straight-left relative to the car and then digitally recreate the shots they get by panning the camera. The advantage of our tech is that you can pan around as fast as you like, and in replays you can make different choices about where to look. You can also zoom in and out.

[luke!]

I think that's quite unacceptable not having any information about the hybrid systems, I'd like to know when and where the batteries are charged up and when they give extra power to the wheels.

[Moxie]

They could stream telemetry data which then could be fed into a simulator. The viewer could then ride along with his or her favorite driver for the entirety of the race. The simulator might be a bit pricey, but damn it would be cool.

[Jersey Tom]

Closer to eye level cameras and/or helmet cameras are bad ass, IMO. To me the high cameras are lame. I'd be happy with that without anything extra.

[mikeerfol]

https://twitter.com/Jamesallenonf1/stat ... 5510854656

[autogyro]

Put all the drivers in 1950's cars.

[thedutchguy]

https://twitter.com/Jamesallenonf1/stat ... 5510854656

Did anyone see information about ERS usage? We did get information about the % of fuel used, but I haven't seen anyting about the ERS. Perhaps I missed it...?

Also, on the main feed, I haven't seen any speed/rpm/gear graphics during onboard shots this weekend. Would that be because of the problem's they're having? The graphics are visible on the onboard channel, but even on sunday the timing was off and 8th gear was still not indicated.

[Kiril Varbanov]

https://twitter.com/Jamesallenonf1/stat ... 5510854656

Did anyone see information about ERS usage? We did get information about the % of fuel used, but I haven't seen anyting about the ERS. Perhaps I missed it...?

Also, on the main feed, I haven't seen any speed/rpm/gear graphics during onboard shots this weekend. Would that be because of the problem's they're having? The graphics are visible on the onboard channel, but even on sunday the timing was off and 8th gear was still not indicated.

No, you haven't missed it - it wasn't there. I have also tweeted similar thing as James Allen, since all media members were notified that there's new stuff coming. It hasn't happened, for some reason, which in my view means it's just a matter of time.

I can also confirm that there's a single unified HD stream for the entire planet, as I've seen technical details and there's no change in the graphics or camera views based on geographic location.

[adrianjordan]

Is it not just possible that they're not using 8th gear at these tracks??

I thought concensus was that 8th will probably only get used on Monza and maybe Spa which are lower downforce?

[adrianjordan]

I'd also like to add that I don't mind the new sound, but having watched the first part of Quali on Sky and the remainder on BBC....it seems like BBC has a better sound mix for the engine note etc... #weird