3243 replies to this topic

[dryfry]

From what i have seen on other Nine stations you can hardly see it so i don't think it is a big problem. It's easy because when your tuning a new TV you know what channel its on.

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I have to agree with Champion R and hope STW9 stays natural (no watermark)..

[Blackcat]

I wouldnt mind so much if they were smaller, or more over in the corner.
But sometimes they are fair way over across the top or bottom.

Why does the ABC use it?

And those promos to advertise another programe during this programe.
I am not sure if they are watermarks, but they ARE getting much bigger and really annoying.

[jackjack]

Actually the yellow win watermark wasn't the first one. WIN had a solid white one earlier than that.
There is a video of it on the aus.tv.history site, it's at the bottom of this page: http://austvhistory3...l/winvideos.htm

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thanks, i'll look at that then.

The lack of a shytemark on Channel Nine Perth is the original and best. There is no such thing as a good watermark.

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if you had to put up with 1, don't you think it is the least intrusive, besides the current 1 on Prime.

I'm sure the first 24hr watermark used on aussie tv was the word "prime" in the top right hand corner on prime tv, wasn't it?

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nah, WIN won that race...

Every station in Perth except  STW 9 has a watermark...
Yep even Channel 31 has one. And I hate the things..

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Your Ch 31 has one!

I wouldnt mind so much if they were smaller, or more over in the corner.
But sometimes they are fair way over across the top or bottom.
And those promos to advertise another programe during this programe.
I am not sure if they are watermarks, but they ARE getting much bigger and really annoying.

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See the size of the Nine Sunshine Coast watermark below! :sarcastic: (My reception stops the whole watermark from being visible easily, it has the Nine logo with the words 'SUNSHINE COAST' above it.)

Attached Files

•  uvs051017_004.JPG   88.93K   142 downloads

Edited by jackjack, 17 October 2005 - 04:26 PM.

[dryfry]

Your Ch 31 has one!

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Indeed it does I'll try and get a capture of it if I can get a good signal first...

[anthonysimilion]

So quite a few of you would prefer watermarks? Why?

I think it's interesting you're all going - "no, I was first!"

[Mark.]

It's all about branding and marketing. You've got to have a brand, and you've got to make sure that your programming is branded. Remember, television isn't about a clean screen, its about profits. Afterall, each network is in it to make money, not to keep HD viewers happy.

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The commercial breaks provide ample opportunity for the stations to market and brand themselves. Bombarding the audience with watermarks on all programming is really no different to a radio station interrupting a song to play a station ID.

[Mr Q]

The commercial breaks provide ample opportunity for the stations to market and brand themselves. Bombarding the audience with watermarks on all programming is really no different to a radio station interrupting a song to play a station ID.

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Well. No - I think that's a bit disingenuous. A watermark is simply an overlay - a graphic that for the most part is easily ignored by most viewers... unless it's a particularly distracting watermark. The TV show and the channel logo exist simultaneously. That's not the case with a song being interrupted by a station ID on radio - those are two distinctly seperate events - Song > ID > Song - where the ID deliberately distracts attention from the song.

[mcp]

Well. No - I think that's a bit disingenuous. A watermark is simply an overlay - a graphic that for the most part is easily ignored by most viewers... unless it's a particularly distracting watermark. The TV show and the channel logo exist simultaneously. That's not the case with a song being interrupted by a station ID on radio - those are two distinctly seperate events - Song > ID > Song - where the ID deliberately distracts attention from the song.

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it's quite easy to neatly overlay an id into a song, if the id isnt too loud and obtrusive, you could be said to be doing the same thing. many stations do this. i know, i've done it... but rest assured i have left my production days behind

[southernguy]

:sarcastic: How come the Sunshine Coast have liked seven and prime and nine and win etc, why do they need 2 different feeds? I can understand if they got the signal from Brisbane but I do believe they have got there own transmitter for both signals now!

thanks, i'll look at that then.
if you had to put up with 1, don't you think it is the least intrusive, besides the current 1 on Prime.
nah, WIN won that race...
Your Ch 31 has one!
See the size of the Nine Sunshine Coast watermark below! :sarcastic: (My reception stops the whole watermark from being visible easily, it has the Nine logo with the words 'SUNSHINE COAST' above it.)

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[Mr Q]

it's quite easy to neatly overlay an id into a song, if the id isnt too loud and obtrusive, you could be said to be doing the same thing. many stations do this. i know, i've done it... but rest assured i have left my production days behind

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Ah... But that's different to what Mark suggested.

[mcp]

Ah... But that's different to what Mark suggested. 

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i suppose

[NewsWorld]

I don't understand the fuss about watermarks.
I've lived in markets where watermarks have been standard for years.
The transparent ones are the best on offer... some markets have solid bugs while places like Indonesia have bugs that contantly animate... now that's annoying.
But a watermark that sits in the corner and is see through... I genuinely can't see why that's a problem.. how does it affect your viewing?

Having said that I acknowledge that there are people who feel really strongly about it.. in the UK there are lobby groups who go feral on the issue.

[K]

The main problem with watermarks that I have is that they are not designed well (except for Prime's), plus the fact that in this world of Digital TV and where some TV's can be programmed to display the name (of course, the average Joe wouldn't know how to program this but the feature does exist), having a permanent (except for ad breaks) reminder of what station you are on is not needed.

The copyright protection arguement can of course come up, but in the end run, they are there for branding and not to protect against copyright (mainly due to the ease of removing most watermarks).

It was nice how a few weekends ago, ABC News Canberra didn't have a watermark on. A nice clear picture is better than one with a watermark which may wreck a part of your show (eg. white watermark appearing on a darkish scene).

[NewsWorld]

The main problem with watermarks that I have is that they are not designed well (except for Prime's), plus the fact that in this world of Digital TV and where some TV's can be programmed to display the name (of course, the average Joe wouldn't know how to program this but the feature does exist), having a permanent (except for ad breaks) reminder of what station you are on is not needed.

The copyright protection arguement can of course come up, but in the end run, they are there for branding and not to protect against copyright (mainly due to the ease of removing most watermarks).

It was nice how a few weekends ago, ABC News Canberra didn't have a watermark on. A nice clear picture is better than one with a watermark which may wreck a part of your show (eg. white watermark appearing on a darkish scene).

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I do understand the reasons given for having them and why they aren't really needed... but I'm mostly curious about why some people get so upset about them.

As I said before they don't impact on the viewing experience for me.

[antzzz]

Of all the watermarks, I like Seven's sport one the best, its small and non-intrusive.

They should just make that their permanent watermark, minus the SPORT underneath it.

[Andy B]

I was on a funny comedy sketch show site in Canada called "Royal Canadian Air Farce".
A I noticed they did a sketch on annoying channel watermarks.

It's PMSL.

Low Bandwidth:
http://airfarce.com/video/030221fl.ram
Medium:
http://airfarce.com/video/030221em.ram
Broadband:
http://airfarce.com/video/030221fh.ram

Here is more sketches: www.airfarce.com (click videos page

[trompettiste]

I was on a funny comedy sketch show site in Canada called "Royal Canadian Air Farce".
A I noticed they did a sketch on annoying channel watermarks.

It's PMSL. 

Low Bandwidth:
http://airfarce.com/video/030221fl.ram
Medium:
http://airfarce.com/video/030221em.ram
Broadband:
http://airfarce.com/video/030221fh.ram

Here is more sketches: www.airfarce.com (click videos page

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LOL that is really funny!

[jackjack]

:sarcastic: How come the Sunshine Coast have liked seven and prime  and nine and win etc, why do they need 2 different feeds? I can understand if they got the signal from Brisbane but I do believe they have got there own transmitter for both signals now!

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On the Sunshine Coast we don't have Prime. It's a bit like the Gold Coast having NBN Gold Coast, Nine, Prime, Seven, Southern Cross Ten, Ten, ABC & SBS coming from both transmitters.

On the Sunshine Coast, we have 5 transmitters (Maleny, Nambour, Black Mountain, Gympie & Tewantin) Each transmitter puts out Seven Qld, WIN, Southern Cross Ten, ABC & SBS. The Maleny transmitter also puts out Seven Brisbane, Nine Sunshine Coast & Ten.

Nine Sunshine Coast was the first to use its available frequency on the Maleny transmitter for Broncos fans to be able to watch the games played on Saturday nights that they air, as WIN do not air them. Seven Brisbane & Ten have only started using their frequency in the last month.

[NewsWorld]

I absolutely loathe watermarks. I NEVER watch movies on free to air anymore because I refuse to see them corrupted by network advertising. The director intended people to see the finished product in a particular way, not to have certain parts of that vision obscured. I also got rid of pay tv, after having it for five years, when Movie Network introduced watermarks.

Watermarks serve no purpose other than to advertise the network and annoy the viewer. The only time most people don't know what station they are watching is during advertising when the stupid things don't even appear. Couldn't upset the advertisers, fuck the viewer.

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So.. no strong feelings then News4U?

[dryfry]

During commercials is where a watermark would be best placed.
Its great when 7 sometimes gets the switching wrong ,during programs the logo disappears and comes on for the ads..
As for ABC and SBS using it its probably a condition for them to have a watermark so they can be re-broadcast on Pay tv...