Local Update LFs/vs. narration & mid-1997 4000 graphical curiosity

[TWCC_Travis E.]

Going through some old footage lately has made me wonder about a couple of things. First, apparently the special “local update/severe weather”-mode 4000 LFs were introduced much earlier in time than I realized,  while Dan's narration was still used. How did this work, exactly? I'm assuming it just used the narrationless audio feed for the duration of these customized flavors when they occurred.

Also, I'm wondering if anyone noticed the subtle graphical change (apparently a minor glitch) in the lower border of the big blue background box used on the text product screens. Around mid '97 (somewhere between May-June, IIRC; I'd have to check again), the gradient changed to a solid blue color for just that border. You kind of have to look carefully to see it; compare it to the top border and the lower corners and you should see that it doesn't quite match up like it did before. I'm wondering if this corresponded to a 4000 software update of some sort. Are there any other known 4000-related changes that coincided with this? Was the glitch ever repaired after this point?

[twcclassics]

I believe the local update and narration-less flavors gradually replaced the narrated ones in 1995. So that makes sense. I do remember the border in the lower-thirds going from white to dark blue. It happened about the same time the TCF background changed from a gradient of blues to a solid dark blue. I didn't care for either change.

[TWCC_Travis E.]

I remember that, and I also missed the transitions and gradient background. But what I'm referring to took place some time between Apr 13, 1997 and May 6, 1997. I've seen it on at least two STAR systems, so it wasn't just mine.
Here's a side-by-side comparison image below—note the lower edge and right corner just above the top of the LDL border.

[twcclassics]

Hmm...I never noticed that.

[Nick]

The "warning flavor" dates to 1995, somewhere around the time the local update was introduced. Was just looking at some video from March 95 and the regular flavor played with the red crawl, so it must of been in the next few months when it was introduced (red crawl dates to Sept 1993). The routine from Sept 93 til that time in 1995 was the older full screen scroll would run through once, then the local radar would loop several times, then that would disappear and the red crawl would run. The STAR would switch audio to the music only channel during the local update flavors and anything else that was not normal.

The anomaly on the blue boxes appeared everywhere it seems (see my attachment). It looks like a rectangle drawn over the other shapes.