Wimbledon - TV sound quality

[Dave2002]

Currently it's raining at Wimbledon.

Could the BBC maybe put a filter in to reduce the terrific noise of the rain on the roof for the TV presentation, or does it want to present the sounds "as they are"?

It's really very noisy, distracting and unpleasant.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Currently it's raining at Wimbledon.

Could the BBC maybe put a filter in to reduce the terrific noise of the rain on the roof for the TV presentation, or does it want to present the sounds "as they are"?

It's really very noisy, distracting and unpleasant.

Yes I agree quite incredibly irritating. Difficult though to cut out the rain sound without also affecting crowd effects and the thwack of ball on racket as they lie in the same frequency range.

[pastoralguy]

I really hope it distracts from the inane wittering of Claire Balding….

[johncorrigan]

I really hope it distracts from the inane wittering of Claire Balding….

Yes indeed. She's the biggest problem in sound quality for me any day, pg.

[Serial_Apologist]

Yes I agree quite incredibly irritating. Difficult though to cut out the rain sound without also affecting crowd effects and the thwack of ball on racket as they lie in the same frequency range.

And that rain was not even particularly heavy today. Just imagine what the sound will be like if and when it really deluges!

[ardcarp]

There is a technology which, when the sound comes from, say, an interview on a hand-held mike, the background is automatically diminished. This gives a very artificial 'coming and going' of the background, so is best avoided.

[Nick Armstrong]

I really hope it distracts from the inane wittering of Claire Balding….

Absolutely. (Though she only very rarely escapes the mute or off buttons in these parts)

[smittims]

I remember when Wimbledon was just people playing tennis. Nowadays (I stopped watching it years ago but sometimes catch a glimpse of it) it seems to be people sitting round a table laughing. I expect the Proms will be like that this year.

[Dave2002]

There is a technology which, when the sound comes from, say, an interview on a hand-held mike, the background is automatically diminished. This gives a very artificial 'coming and going' of the background, so is best avoided.

Indeed, but it is possible to do very very much better than that. The BBC should have resources to tackle that - we're not talking about a guy in a shed with some old valve kit and a ZX80 to do the digital processing, or a lashed up breadboard of an analogue circuit!

[gurnemanz]

I remember when Wimbledon was just people playing tennis. Nowadays (I stopped watching it years ago but sometimes catch a glimpse of it) it seems to be people sitting round a table laughing. I expect the Proms will be like that this year.

Luckily, the banter, player profiles, trails etc can be avoided by using iPlayer. I find I can transfer it from my mobile to the TV by pressing the Chromecast button. You get a choice of all 18 courts with just with people playing tennis.

[Dave2002]

There is a technology which, when the sound comes from, say, an interview on a hand-held mike, the background is automatically diminished. This gives a very artificial 'coming and going' of the background, so is best avoided.

I suspect the technology can be adapted so that the voices can be automatically eliminated. AI rules! [not actually - most so-called AI is actually rubbish ...]

[Ein Heldenleben]

There is a technology which, when the sound comes from, say, an interview on a hand-held mike, the background is automatically diminished. This gives a very artificial 'coming and going' of the background, so is best avoided.

All microphones have what’s called a polar diagram- showing what sounds they pick up in each direction and from what distance. Some pick up sound all around . Others like sennheiser gun mikes are highly directional. .Others like the commentary mikes used at Wimbledon ( made by STC - fifty year old tech ) pick up very little ambient sound. The problem at Wimbledon is to pick up any live crowd reaction you will inevitably pick up background noises like the loud rumble of rain on roof. The way to stop it would be create an absorbent layer of grass or foam on the roof or even to sound insulate the underside of the roof but that would no doubt throw up weight problems.

[subcontrabass]

Luckily, the banter, player profiles, trails etc can be avoided by using iPlayer. I find I can transfer it from my mobile to the TV by pressing the Chromecast button. You get a choice of all 18 courts with just with people playing tennis.

Unfortunately the streams from the "show" courts (and occasionally from others) include the totally unnecessary commentary.

[Dave2002]

All microphones have what’s called a polar diagram- showing what sounds they pick up in each direction and from what distance. Some pick up sound all around . Others like sennheiser gun mikes are highly directional. .Others like the commentary mikes used at Wimbledon ( made by STC - fifty year old tech ) pick up very little ambient sound. The problem at Wimbledon is to pick up any live crowd reaction you will inevitably pick up background noises like the loud rumble of rain on roof. The way to stop it would be create an absorbent layer of grass or foam on the roof or even to sound insulate the underside of the roof but that would no doubt throw up weight problems.

I agree with most of this, but it is amazing what modern filters which may work with spectral analysis can achieve. As noted, any form of pumping - on/off behaviour - may be perceived as worse than the original problem, but better algorithms are now available which may be able to tame that. Also, since virtually no broadcasts are now immediate - always with a short delay between picking up sounds and transmission, there should be enough time to process the signals with digital [or analogue - but most are now digital] filters - something which was not possible 20-30 years ago.

Another "solution" to this problem would be for Wimbledon to put active sound cancellation into the courts which have roof enclosures.