MASTERS IN MY DOMAIN

Everyone says (well, at least the other tech geeks on avsforum.com) that the Masters is the best sporting event to experience in HD, and CBS continually gets high praise for its broadcasts. Well, this year they've upped the ante and added 10 handheld HD cameras, which is the main reason why most golf tournaments are NOT in HD. Can't wait!

THE MASTERS® TOURNAMENT AND CBS SPORTS TO PRESENT 18-HOLE COVERAGE OF 2006 MASTERS ® IN HDTV WITH LARGEST HIGH DEFINITION GOLF PRODUCTION

For the fourth year, CBS’s standard analog and HDTV productions of the 2006 Masters Tournament will be unified and will provide 18-hole coverage in HDTV's highest definition format with 5.1 Channel Surround Sound.

In the largest HDTV golf production, CBS Sports will utilize 54 high definition cameras including, for the first time, 10 hand-held HDTV cameras. The unified productions will be produced in HDTV's highest definition format, 1080i, and downconverted for the CBS Television Network's analog broadcast. This production technique also produces a better quality analog picture. Whether watching in widescreen HD or traditional 4x3 analog, viewers will hear the same golf announcers and see the same camera angles, replays and graphics.

The 2000 Masters on CBS was the first golf tournament ever presented live in HDTV on network television. The 2003 Masters marked the first time that the standard and HDTV productions of the Tournament were unified.

CBS Sports will broadcast the 2006 Masters on the CBS Television HD Network on Thursday, April 6 and Friday, April 7 (4:00-7:00 PM, ET, each day) and Saturday, April 8 (3:30-7:00 PM, ET) and Sunday, April 9 (2:30-7:00 PM, ET) live from Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. The third and final rounds of the Masters will be broadcast simultaneously in standard definition by CBS Sports on the analog CBS Television Network.

Beginning in 1993 the Masters experimented with HDTV on a limited basis to discover how the new system could improve the presentation of the Tournament to the television audience. The 2006 Masters broadcast will be presented in the highest form of HDTV with 1080 lines of resolution and over two million picture elements which makes it six times sharper than standard definition television.

Two hundred and fifteen of CBS's owned and affiliated stations are currently broadcasting in digital, covering 99.99 percent of the nation.

March 14, 2006