50 replies to this topic

[MarkRaishbrook]

I generally agree with https://f1broadcasti...oming-for-2015/. Especially glad that 16:9 is now considered the norm and the classification no longer obscures the middle left of the screen. 

 

Call me a grumpy old man, but I do not like:

 

1) The almost illegible fastest lap time. OK, so we all know purple is used on the official timing screens, but against black on TV it's very hard to see. 

2) The (years-old) mid-race change to number of pit stops rather than time gap between cars along the bottom of the screen. I'd rather see whether the gap between the invisible HAM and ROS is still increasing/decreasing rather than the number of stops they've made (which is now shown as a separate graphic anyway).

 

But all things considered, I think the new graphics are pretty good and definitely an improvement.

[EthanM]

I liked it, it was sleeker and less intrusive

[chipmcdonald]

I like it, it's not distracting but there.  I think they're doing better with camera shots as well, not going crazy with deep zooms, some things in the foreground to indicate speed, "Grand Prix" style over head shots.

 

 

It's funny how it has taken this long to fix basic things but it looks like it's too late for F1...

[SirT]

They need to add something for quali so you know when a driver has crossed start/finish line for the last time that session and cannot set another time. They used to have the chequered flag image next to the names.

[itsnoe30]

They should also change the "pit" next to a driver during quali/practices, as the gray clashes against the sky/track and it's hard to see.

[superden]

Actual improvement, a rare thing.

[Nonesuch]

I was quite happy with the new graphics in the Australian Grand Prix (with the exception of the purple font), and even more so when I discovered this little overview in today's practise sessions.
 
I'm looking forward to seeing it in the races.
 

Edited by Nonesuch, 27 March 2015 - 14:05.

[jonpollak]

I generally agree with https://f1broadcasti...oming-for-2015/.

lol @ the credence given to D.M.N.

He's got as much perspective as a newborn baby hen.

(not that there is anything wrong with newborn hens)

 

I like the new graphics

 

Next thread please

Jp
 

[Stephane]

They're pretty good. The problem i have is that they are not really often on screen. Clearly they want us to pay for the app.

[noikeee]

They're pretty good. The problem i have is that they are not really often on screen. Clearly they want us to pay for the app.

 

I don't know, you can't really pile the screen with lots of info all the time, you need to let people focus on the action too. I think broadcasts have been a little too ADHD in the past...

[Stephane]

During quali, there were time when even the remaining time was not on screen. 

[ANF]

They're pretty good. The problem i have is that they are not really often on screen. Clearly they want us to pay for the app.

I honestly think it's crappy software glitches. Today the timing tower on the left was missing in Q1 (just like in FP1 in Australia). After a while all graphics disappeared for some minutes, and once it was back the timing tower worked. Looked like they had to reboot everything.

Edited by ANF, 28 March 2015 - 12:24.

[Stephane]

Yep, i now read on twittter they had problems because of the thunderstorms.

[Wingcommander]

Yep, i now read on twittter they had problems because of the thunderstorms.

 

Was it the thunderstorms in Australia aswell? 

[ANF]

Was it the thunderstorms in Australia aswell? 

There were some gusts of wind that may have thrown the source code off the circuit board...

[Scuderia312]

Why they weren't showing Q1 times today? Forcing fans to pay for an app?

Edited by Scuderia312, 28 March 2015 - 12:36.

[KTownDevil]

 

I don't like the green on grey, especially if you're not watching in HD. 

 

edit: Ericsson's gap is even less visible

Edited by KTownDevil, 28 March 2015 - 12:43.

[ANF]

 

I don't like the green on grey, especially if you're not watching in HD. 

And look at Ericsson's time...

They still have some work to do on colours and transparency.

[RedBaron]

The new graphics look great, very 2.0. A lot of data but it doesn't feel heavy on the screen or like it's blocking the action.

 

As you OP said, the purple doesn't work (and to a lesser extent the green). They should use the purple as the background colour only, not the text colour.

 

 

(Obviously it's not being used correctly here, it's just an example)

 

Edit: It's really bugging me that I didn't use the correct font or at least something a little closer.

Edited by RedBaron, 28 March 2015 - 14:11.

[ANF]

The new graphics look great, very 2.0. A lot of data but it doesn't feel heavy on the screen or like it's blocking the action.

 

As you OP said, the purple doesn't work (and to a lesser extent the green). They should use the purple as the background colour only, not the text colour.

 

 

(Obviously it's not being used correctly here, it's just an example)

 

Edit: It's really bugging me that I didn't use the correct font or at least something a little closer.

Hmm, I can't see your images.

 

(The correct font is here by the way.)

[RedBaron]

Thanks for the font name.

 

The URLs are below, not sure why the images don't display.

 

http://s16.postimg.o...42qfnic/fom.jpg

 

and

 

http://s24.postimg.o...vpji5w/fom2.jpg

[tmekt]

Thanks for the font name.

 

The URLs are below, not sure why the images don't display.

 

http://s16.postimg.o...42qfnic/fom.jpg

 

and

 

http://s24.postimg.o...vpji5w/fom2.jpg

Looks pretty good! I'm all for that.

[johnmhinds]

Thanks for the font name.

 

The URLs are below, not sure why the images don't display.

 

http://s16.postimg.o...42qfnic/fom.jpg

 

and

 

http://s24.postimg.o...vpji5w/fom2.jpg

 

Those look sooo much better.

 

BTW I'd like to congratulate the BBC for putting their ident logo in the top left so we couldn't see what qualifying session it was very clearly. 

Edited by johnmhinds, 28 March 2015 - 16:01.

[pRy]

Is the tyre heat camera real heat data or simulated? I thought it was odd that when a marshal was stood in front of Lewis Hamilton's left front tyre in FP1 the tyre heat reading was still being displayed in front of the marshal's body. Am I missing something obvious or should that not have happened?

[Gorma]

The new graphics look great, very 2.0. A lot of data but it doesn't feel heavy on the screen or like it's blocking the action.

 

As you OP said, the purple doesn't work (and to a lesser extent the green). They should use the purple as the background colour only, not the text colour.

 

 

(Obviously it's not being used correctly here, it's just an example)

 

Edit: It's really bugging me that I didn't use the correct font or at least something a little closer.

That's a great idea.

[MinT]

Nice graphics - would be even better if they could get them to work for more than one race in a row.....

[dweller23]

Btw, is the reason why Verstappen is VES is the fact that they don't want people to confuse him with Vergne from last years STR?

[SirT]

Btw, is the reason why Verstappen is VES is the fact that they don't want people to confuse him with Vergne from last years STR?

 

He was doing FP's when Vergne was still in F1 so had to have a different 3 letter code.

[steferrari]

Talking about graphic, I think the few new things that MotoGP one is offering are pretty cool!

[katmen]

I am forced to SD channel.  New GUI is terrible for SD version, sometimes is not legible. I would use more contrast.

[S3baman]

The new interface is much better than the old one, but after watching the MotoGP race FOM has so much more to improve. Front and back cameras, overlay with corner speeds on top of onboard footage, instant position update using the bike transponders, top speed charts

[dweller23]

Okay, so someone in software development department clearly has no idea what a pointer is...

 

Basically, the color bars near the names were all screwed up. I'll try to explain, but if it is too complicated, I will try to embed some screenshots when I get back from work.

 

So anyway, we had grid with HAM, VET, ROS etc., which meant that the color bars were cyan for 1st (HAM), red for 2nd (VET), cyan for 3rd (ROS) etc..

 

Now, when they showed WDC and WCC standings before the race, the color bars stayed as if it was grid again.

 

Which means, that when they showed WCC standings Mercedes, who was first was cyan, Ferrari second was red, but Sauber, which was third at the time was cyan as well. Then when they showed WDC standings, we had Hamilton cyan, Rosberg red and Vettel cyan.

 

This is really a very simple thing from software development point of view, so I am wondering who exactly FOM hires to create their software.

 

Additionally, the current system is a DOWNGRADE to what we had previously, the places are not updated dynamically. For example when someone leaves the pit in 5th place and is passed by two more cars upon exiting the pitlane, the graphics with his name, position and pitstop time will not be updated and he will still be 5th.

 

All very, very simple stuff to achieve, I am shocked that such company as FOM cannot afford semi-decent programmers.

[Razoola]

It is clear to me what the FOM are planning here... I agree its an improvement but at the same time what they are moving towards with these changes is the increase sale of the APP to be used in connection with the TV image.

[Triple H]

The new interface is much better than the old one, but after watching the MotoGP race FOM has so much more to improve. Front and back cameras, overlay with corner speeds on top of onboard footage, instant position update using the bike transponders, top speed charts

MotoGp interface on Qualifying is way better than F1's.

 

https://f1broadcasti...3/10/motogp.png

Edited by Triple H, 30 March 2015 - 12:17.

[ANF]

MotoGp interface on Qualifying is way better than F1's.

 

https://f1broadcasti...3/10/motogp.png

I think the F1 graphics are better looking, but I love those sector indicators!

[Clrnc]

The new graphics are a good improvement, but RedBaron's idea will make it perfect. Top notch idea mate.

 

The same can't be said of their new website though. 

[SenorSjon]

MotoGp interface on Qualifying is way better than F1's.

https://f1broadcasti...3/10/motogp.png

And 4 sectors as well.

[D28]

Long having decried the F1 graphics, I have been amazed that an organization billed as the pinnacle of racing sophistication could have such poor TV presentation. On my ancient equipment, the ribbons have been unreadable, too small for clarification. I think this is because the site attempted too much information, too busy an environment.

I would gladly settle for what IndyCar or NASCAR once had, a simple ribbon running at the top with leaders and intervals; driver ID was readable, in F1 not the case.

Sun I saw no difference at all. On the BBC? package (N America broadcast)   David Coulthard was chattering on about the race nearing the end and the racing was obviously over but Vettel had a few more laps to circulate. I could not read the lap number as it was too small.

I cannot be the only one affected and I saw no difference to the graphics, still abysmal.

[nvspace126]

I think the graphics and data need a lot of work. They were all over the place yesterday and we often had erroneous or unreadable data being shown on-screen (i.e. wrong colours associated to wrong drivers, Kimi was being shown as being out of the race following his first pit stop, etc.). I agree with the sentiment above, for an enterprise that considers itself to be at the pinnacle of technology, they seemed second best when it comes to the data coverage. It’s somewhat embarrassing as well considering of how many years of experience they have in the matter.

[paipa]

Does anyone else think time gaps between lower positions in the bottom bar should be stepped through a bit quicker? Viewers on average are more interested in ongoing gap changes towards the top end of the field. That's not to say lower positions aren't interesting, but a lot fewer people find themselves immediately wanting to know how P14 is catching up to P13 than P4 to P3.

 

Currently positions 1-5, 6-10, 11-15 and 16-20 are all shown for 15 seconds each. That's a full minute per cycle, a quarter of which is spent displaying how many laps Stevens and Merhi are down, next to idle information about three retired cars. That's just wasteful. A 15 - 10 - 8 - 7 second cycle would cut down having to wait for the top five from up to 45 to 25 seconds, for 6-10th place 45 to 30 seconds, etc.

 

In summary, I find the bottom bar too damn slow.

Edited by paipa, 13 April 2015 - 15:22.

[D28]

Lost track of the pit stops during a commercial, after which the info ribbon with the abreviated names and microscopic font was totally unreadable, not just by me but anyone watching with me. After a few moments I FF'd  to the last laps to watch marshals trying to bunt a car through a too narrow pit wall hole. If this is the best F1 can do they have very serious problems IMO. Perhaps like the Rolex analogy, Bernie is uninterested in viewers with 20 year old TV equipment. 

Edited by D28, 15 April 2015 - 15:15.

[MarkRaishbrook]

Does anyone else think time gaps between lower positions in the bottom bar should be stepped through a bit quicker? Viewers on average are more interested in ongoing gap changes towards the top end of the field. That's not to say lower positions aren't interesting, but a lot fewer people find themselves immediately wanting to know how P14 is catching up to P13 than P4 to P3.

 

Currently positions 1-5, 6-10, 11-15 and 16-20 are all shown for 15 seconds each. That's a full minute per cycle, a quarter of which is spent displaying how many laps Stevens and Merhi are down, next to idle information about three retired cars. That's just wasteful. A 15 - 10 - 8 - 7 second cycle would cut down having to wait for the top five from up to 45 to 25 seconds, for 6-10th place 45 to 30 seconds, etc.

 

In summary, I find the bottom bar too damn slow.

 

Totally agree! I think they actually repeat the last position in the next group as well (1 to 5, 5 to 9, 9 to 13, 13 to 17, etc.). And it all disappears when they show replays, of course, so you might have patiently been waiting for a minute or so to find out whether Rosberg has closed the gap to Hamilton, but then Maldonado gets lost on the way into the pits, it's replayed twice, and when you're finally back live they're showing positions 9 to 13 again. Infuriating! Then halfway through the race they switch from time interval to number of stops. Totally unnecessary. The number of stops could easily be squeezed in next to the driver's name in the classification list.

 

The coverage is also inconsistent. What happened to the fuel usage graphic? I don't think it appeared once on Sunday.

[sabjit]

They could just show the stops on the top corner in a list like they used to with the fuel graphic. I think FOM fail to realize how the bottom bar is essential for people trying to keep track of the race.

[MJB5990]

Agree with everything about the bottom graphic. It's far too slow, they could cut the time in half and it would still be acceptable.

 

The fastest lap graphic needs to be changed aswell. It's very hard to read.

 

I am glad to see that the chequered flag has returned next to names at the end of qualifying sessions.

[ANF]

For the bottom bar I would prefer Indycar-style scrolling gaps. I think it's easier to follow and predict how long it will take to go from, say, P6 to P12.

 

(However, I guess the text would be even harder to read in non-HD broadcasts on small screens.)

[Risil]

Personally I hate the top scroller bar in American broadcasts. Keep as much of the screen focused on the racing as possible.

 

If the commentators and TV director are doing a good job, you shouldn't need it.

[ANF]

Personally I hate the top scroller bar in American broadcasts. Keep as much of the screen focused on the racing as possible.

 

If the commentators and TV director are doing a good job, you shouldn't need it.

I only want the scrolling. FOM could keep the current bottom bar and just let the text scroll.

[Bleu]

I think 10 seconds is good for each turn of bottom bar, without retired drivers every other time would make it a bit faster but still giving enough time for everyone to read it.

[Nathan]

I think in general the Chinese GP was well directed.

[Afterburner]

Personally I hate the top scroller bar in American broadcasts. Keep as much of the screen focused on the racing as possible.

 

If the commentators and TV director are doing a good job, you shouldn't need it.

Agreed. If it's one thing I think F1 has done right, actually, it's the graphics. They could do with being a little bigger, but other than that, they do a great job of not obstructing what's going on while still providing a lot of information, I think.

 

And please don't let them go to the constantly scrolling bar that we use here in the US. It's easier to read stationary text than it is trying to fish a driver out of a moving index and then concentrating on the numbers associated with him/her before they're whisked off the screen. Making the timing bar across the bottom cycle through the field quicker is a far better solution, in my opinion.