World Touring Car Championship is the first FIA racing series in HD

The first FIA World Championship has scheduled its switch to high definition -- unfortunately, it isn't F1. Still, World Touring Car Championship fans can expect sweet sweet HD from track side and RF cameras (on board is still 16:9 SD) on nine of the season's twelve events, starting in the third week from Marrakech. No word on which broadcasters will air the races in HD other than that "several" plan to, but we hope this is just a test run before we get a clearer view from all the Formula One events soon -- c'mon Bernie, you're not going to let NASCAR and Indy stay ahead, are you?

[Via F1SA]

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 20th 2009 7:59AM]

Why would Bernie and Max even care about HD? Please!

Right now the blur of SD programming on an HD screen gives the illusion of speed. HD clarity will only substantiate just how boring the biweekly procession of fast cars that is F1 has become.

These two walking corpses are simply too busy changing the rules each week to contemplate improving their technology.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 20th 2009 8:19AM]

I thought HD wasn't far away. Several cinema's either last year or the year before with Digital Projectors were showing what I believe was claimed to be HD footage, and it certainly looked good, even on a massive screen. The coverage was taken from the FIA world feed too.

However I also read an article by the BBC HD team early this year saying that whilst they wanted to bring HD coverage, some local broadcast teams wern't setup to film HD and as such, it wouldn't be available this season, but hopefully next season. So who knows what the real story is.

Perhaps Bernie is waiting for RED to build a live broadcast camera? :)

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 20th 2009 9:11AM]

@Eldiablo

Although several cinama´s indeed claimed they were showing HD pictures, this was not the case. In Europe an upscaled feed was provided (720p) by a British company called ¨Formula1 in Cinema¨. A true HDTV-feed has never been provided, not to cinema´s and not to European broadcaster either.

[IRJ Posted Apr 20th 2009 10:31AM]

Nascar, Indycar etc etc etc in the US are now ALL on HD.
Watching the first 2 Indycar races this year I also note that the camera work is so much better than anything in F1. Incar shots are better and overheads are better. Strange that F1 is so far behind in the quality of it's world feed both in technical and production terms.