Yes, the actual equipment used in California for reading a photo finish is super-high resolution. Having said that, it is silly that the placing judges don't have an HD monitor up there to view the video of the races.
It doesn't surprise me, though, because there's still TONS of "low def" equipment at Santa Anita. As you all know, I was recently back at Aqueduct, and the monitors were all pretty new and beautiful and hi def-- perfect for watching the races inside.
In contrast, Santa Anita, especially on the second floor of the grandstand, still has a ton of monitors that were first installed in the 1980's. Not only are they super low def, but plenty of them either have a loose cable producing snow in the picture or have the "tint" control set all the way to "magenta". Combine this with the speakers turned down way too low to hear Michael Wrona, and what we are left with is a situation where the poor bettors up there really have no idea who is winning the race.
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