Review: General Hospital in HD
General Hospital's much anticipated HD debut took place today, April 23, 2009. When General Hospital debuted the new hospital set last week fans noticed that the lighting had improved, but many of the actors appeared much more orange than before. Because I'm a bit of a technophile I thought I'd write up a review of General Hospital's HD premiere.
Plasma vs. LCD: I am watching today's episode in two forms. I'm typing this on my laptop, which has an LCD monitor and a HD TV tuner card installed. The screencaps used in this post are from my laptop and its HD TV tuner card. At the same time, I am watching the show on my HD Panasonic plasma so that I can compare the two formats.
On my LCD laptop General Hospital did not have the orange tints that appear on my plasma or when watching General Hospital on a normal TV. The picture is beautiful and it definitely adds to my enjoyment, from a visual standpoint.
On my plasma, General Hospital actors appeared much more orange then it did before General Hospital was filmed in HD (though not broadcast in HD) and soft premiered when the "new" sets of the actual hospital debuted last week. In order to compensate I had to adjust my TV's Brightness settings. I added +20 to the Brightness in order for it to appear the exact same way it does on my LCD laptop monitor. However, in the end I set the plasma at +10 instead of +20.
General Hospital vs. Other HD programming: The reason I set my TV at +10 instead of +20 is because prior to General Hospital's debut in HD I had never noticed actors appearing orange on other HD programming such as Gossip Girl, LOST, Castle or The Young and the Restless.
I love watching The Young and the Restless in HD. It makes the show lush, beautiful and only adds to the pleasure of watching such a well written show. When I tested today's episode of The Young and the Restless with the +20 setting it made the actors and sets appear washed out and a bit unnatural. I also tested the +20 setting against ABC's primetime series Castle. Like The Young and the Restless, Castle appeared washed out.
I do not profess to be an expert in filming or the lighting of TV shows. This review is from a consumer standpoint. As a consumer, when comparing General Hospital to these other HD shows I wonder if the actors and sets appear more orange because of General Hospital's choice in color palettes, or possibly a different configuration in lighting.
The Young and the Restless and Castle both use darker color palettes and do not use as many shades of orange, tan and yellow on their sets. General Hospital's Metro Court, Sonny's mansion, the hospital and other sets such as Jax and Carly's house all rely heavily on those three colors, in some form. Other sets, such as the docks or the parking garage where Jerry's car exploded, do not have the same color palette. While the actors still appeared orange it wasn't as noticeable as when at the hospital, Jax and Carly's house or Sonny's mansion.
Summary: All in all I'm glad that General Hospital did the upgrade to HD. It is possible that some viewers, such as myself, will need to adjust the setting on their TVs in order to make it appear less orange. I would be very interested in learning whether or not other Daytime Confidential readers noticed those changes affecting the appearance of other HD programming, as I did with The Young and the Restless and Castle. One potential unintended benefit for Steve Burton fans is that should he ever take his shirt off again, the episode and screencaps of the scene will be in HD.
Hopefully, now that ABC has brought General Hospital into the world of HD they will focus on improving its writing.
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Comments
19 November 2007
2 hours 2 min
It does appear that GH only has primarily brown and orange sets. I thought the show looked better visually, but I'm sure there will be various tweaks in the future. It doesn't look as good as Y&R, but they've had HD for many years already to perfect.
30 October 2008
1 week 4 days
Damn Burton & Benard are lookin' old! HD ain't doin' them NO favors.
J. Elliot is looking fabulous though.
(& J.T is looking extra fine!).
1 June 2008
1 year 18 weeks
I Think Steve looks amazing!!!!!!!!!
J Eliot Looks great so does Nancy ....
29 May 2008
12 weeks 21 hours
Great summary, Luke. I don't watch GH anymore because it has just gotten too monotonous for me, but I liked your technical take just the same.
I am not the technical one in my family (that is my husband), however, I do know a few things about HD and this is just my thinking.
I know from the early 2000's when programs were beginning to be broadcast in HD that CBS had FAR superior quality than ABC and NBC. I used to watch Without a Trace and the picture was very good. And all this was coming from one of those Terk HD antennas. Y&R has always looked good in HD to me and I have never had to change the TV settings. I just think that CBS does a better job.
As for other things I notice about HD. I have NEVER seen another DVD look as good as the Blu-ray versions of any of the last two Bond flicks (Casino Royale; Quantum of Solace). There is just something about the way they are filmed that makes them so. You can tell the difference when you compare them with other Blu-ray discs of the same era.
In summary, I think it has to do with the way something is originally filmed rather than the way it is broadcast and certain things just seem to be shot better than others. I thought there was a place online where you could find out what degree of HD each network was broadcasting in because I remember that is how my thoughts of CBS were confirmed, but that was quite a few years ago.
EDIT: I just read that Y&R has been broadcasting in 1080i since 2001 and GH only began broadcasting 720p (which is far inferior to 1080i) today. So this kind of proves my theory.
16 August 2007
53 min 59 sec
Chrystie that would totally make sense. My plasma is 1080i so it would explain why the shows colors may blend together more with a 720p than have the clarity and nuance of a 1080i. Why does it not surprise me that GH would go HD but not do it as good as they could.
I don't have Blueray, going to wait on that until prices come down, but I've seen the demos at Best Buy and the stuff looks amazing.
16 August 2007
53 min 59 sec
Jane Elliot does look amazing. I also thought that NLG looked amazing too. Laura Wright also did well in this lighting. MB doesn't do quite as well imo.
29 May 2008
12 weeks 21 hours
Luke, I should also mention that since posting my first comment, I have learned that ESPN (ABC affiliate) broadcasts in 720p which I have learned is the preferred format for sports and live action. However, I don't think it is the best for soap operas unless they are shot with the hand-held cameras. Even then, it's not like people are running around, so I still think that ABC and GH are being a bit cheap in only doing 720p instead of 1080i. And I should have said the other 720p was Fox, not NBC. I believe NBC uses 1080i like CBS, but I am not certain. As for choosing which format, I think the networks were forced into HD so they had to go with something. Some chose higher quality and others chose lesser quality. It kind of makes you wonder about their choice in programming too.
I don't understand enough about the down-converting and all that jazz to understand why things are in 720p, 1080i or 1080p, but I can judge with my own eyes and tell which program is broadcast better than another. Maybe I will check out GH tomorrow (just to see for myself if it is comparable to Y&R's broadcast). But if it is like Desperate Housewives or some other primetime HD broadcast, I doubt it will look different. I still think CBS does the better job.
You are probably wise to wait until prices come down before buying because the technology is only going to get better. My husband is a game developer and player so we have both an XBox and HD DVD player and, of course, the Sony PS3. We haven't bothered to get a Blu-ray player because the PS3 has so many features and was not all that astronomical in price compared to the players (at the time).
I mention the Bond movies because they were big revenue for Sony and are MGM's bread-and-butter and so I know that they were shot as best as possible than some other Blu-ray movies. I remember watching Casino Royale and commenting at how you could see the details in M's gold ring - it was just that clear.
2 January 2008
21 weeks 4 days
The money frons is pouring into this hd crap.He could've saved guiding light and aired it as a half hour soap.
16 August 2007
53 min 59 sec
Gush, that 3 million would only air GL for a month. Most soaps cost a million a week to produce.
25 February 2009
2 years 8 weeks
Luke thanks for mentioning this I have been thinking it was just me TV ... but yes i see orange people. I don\t know what it was but I have been watching this show for over 10 yrs now and really felt last week that i was watching sets not "outside" like they want you to believe. my firend and I were talking about this the other day, we also noticed that when their walking in the new hospital sometimes its loud, like you can hear the camera moving to get out of their way! even though I watch others GH is the one that I feel most connected to so i think i;m just picky!
3 August 2008
8 weeks 6 days
Steve B, and Jason T. are bringing the hotness in those HD pics. Me Likey.
12 February 2008
3 hours 27 min
Crap dipped in gold is still crap...
24 April 2009
31 weeks 2 days
I've been reading this site for a while and finally decided to register so I could add my two cents on this subject...
Ever since I first found out that GH was going to be switching to HD, I thought, "so THAT's why they've been waiting to update the intro!" Then today finally gets here, I watch the first few minutes and am enjoying the high quality, and the intro comes... and I shake my head in disappointment. We're still looking at several dead people everyday, and still numerous contract players haven't been added (Brandon Barash has been on contract for what, over 1 1/2 years?!)
About the lighting... I've actually been thoroughly enjoying it, in spite of the orange faces. The sets are colorful and vibrant, and it's actually been (mostly) daytime with wonderful, uplifting (artificial) sunlight! Compared to the past several years where its virtually always nighttime -- dark, dreary, and depressing.
But yes, I agree that visual quality will only take the show so far... the writing needs to follow suit.
1 December 2007
2 years 20 weeks
Yeah, GH goes HD. That is like 2 steps forward but they took about 7 steps back. They have nothing original on the screen.
Sonny has an unexpected child on the way.
He runs to Jason for help.
Carly is pregnant and is worried about losing the kid.
Sam is parked on Jason's couch whining about her dead baby.
What is new about any of that? Been there, done that.
Bored now.
5 December 2008
3 years 14 weeks
I couldn't agree more Sueboo!
I have Thursdays off and that is when I watch the shows now. I found One Life to Live to be the most interesting show of the three ABC shows. But I still love my General Hospital, just disappointed in the current writing.
15 July 2008
15 hours 57 min
Hypothetically speaking Best, if your option was crap or crap dipped in gold which would you prefer LOL.
Yes, the writing needs to be improved, but I am glad they fixed the visuals.
15 July 2008
15 hours 57 min
I forgot to mention - I thought yesterday the did a decent job of rotating their storylines...For their first HD show, we got to see almost all of the female leads on the show (all except for NL I think), and quite a few of the supporting tier females too. Lets hope thats a sign of better things to come?
29 May 2008
12 weeks 21 hours
So I am back after watching some of today's episode (to compare it to Y&R's HD broadcast).
Initially I did have a lot of orange-looking faces, but I changed my HD TV settings from "vivid" to "custom." The other option was "standard," which made the sets and actors look washed out. We have always had the TV set to "vivid" and this is how I watch Y&R, but I have never had an issue with other shows looking overly saturated or their actors looking orange.
That being said, I did read about how the production for GH shut down during the installation of the new sets and cameras and how the makeup artists were learning how to apply the new makeup. It IS possible that they will end up watching the broadcasts and switching up the makeup because maybe they are seeing room for change too.
Some sets are definitely drenched in color (Sonny's house), while Robin's house and Carly's houses are nice and light. I also noticed that some actors were more orange than others (Nikolas, Sonny, Ric) and it could just be their natural coloring (or suntans in some cases) plus the makeup used on them; while Natalia Livingston, Rebecca Herbst have lighter complexions and the makeup reflected that.
One thing that was pretty dramatic looking was Rebecca Herbst's hair. It was so shiny in the hospital scene. Either she recently got it colored or they added a product to give it more shine. In any event, it looked very good.
I think the current fans of GH (that have HD TVs) should be happy with the new look, but I cannot stomach the recycled storylines so I won't be back until that changes, unfortunately. I just wanted to give my view compared to Y&R's broadcast. Cheers!
17 February 2009
26 weeks 5 days
I watched live for the first time in a few weeks and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed that aspect of the show. Everything LOOKS fabulous - I'm glad the change was made.
However, with no storylines to back up the new look...I'm sure the new will be wearing off very soon. I am hoping against hope that we will be seeing more than just cosmetic changes and that this will be the first step in improving the show as a whole.
14 August 2008
2 years 19 weeks
Luke, how do you put an HDtuner on your laptop, can u watch live tv on your laptop, im interested!
16 August 2007
53 min 59 sec
Yes, you can buy a TV card for your computer from the manufacturer or though a store like Best Buy. You install it in your computer and then hook a normal TV coaxial cable up to your TV. That is what I have on my desktop.
On my laptop I have an Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick (USB Tuner w/antenna) that I just plug into a USB port and open the program. It's as simple as that.