Sky HD pros & cons

Sualtam

Hi,

I currently have Sky+ and a Panasonic AE900 projector and am thinking of making the jump to Sky HD.

Obviously pros for Sky HD are picture quality etc but are there any cons apart from price?
Are there reasons not to upgrade at this stage?

Thanks

andy1249

Pros = HD picture quality
Sky HD box is also a + box with a 160 Gig harddrive.


Cons = you need a display with at least 1368 X 768 resolution and these are expensive.

Standard definition content looks like rubbish on these displays

There are currently very few HD channels , 2 movie channels , artsworld , national geographic , sports , and thats about it , everything else is SD

Price = 299 sterling , or about 450 euros with an extra 15 ( think its sterling) a month on to your Sky bill. ( and dont you just know that this will drop pretty soon )

It will probably be 2 years before all or most channels are HD.

Sualtam

I know it's pricey at the moment, but I didn't think there would be any significant price drops for a while.

andy1249

Whether or not there will be a price drop anytime soon will depend on the takeup initially ,
my guess is that ordinary Sky+ take up will increase as its now very cheap and that Sky HD does not offer 450 euros worth of extra content in my opinion.
I predict a very slow takeup at this introductory price .

So for SkyHD this will mean that sky will probably knock a huge percentage of the price , say about 25% and that this will happen less than 6 months after launch.

bauderline

The initial setup cost of hardware and subscription is too high at the moment. Also WAY to little HD content currently available !

I intend to wait 18 months for price drops and increased content and then revisit the issue.

Just not worth it at the moment....

ro2

andy1249 wrote:

Cons = you need a display with at least 1368 X 768 resolution and these are expensive.

He already has the projector so that's not really a con. The only con is the price.

I've got the same projector and the picture is fantastic in HD. It also looks pretty good from a Sky+ box too.

Sualtam

The projector is great, movies & games are excellent on it.

What HD content have you tried with it?

andy1249

Lads , just a quick question seeing as two of you have this projector , what is the noise like from it , is it quiet enough or is it really noticable in a room , for instance if it was being used for a HTPC would the noise be noticeable playing music ?

Sualtam

I use it mainly for watching movies. There is some noise when you turn it on but it's hardly noticeable after a few minutes, doesn't distract me at all. Money well spent tbh:)

Hopefully it will do a good job on the Sky HD.

ro2

I find gets a bit noisey if the room is very warm. Other than that it's a good projector.

The HD stuff I tried was all from a PC, you can try a few here: http://60hud.com/hdtv/

andy1249

Do any of you know the price of a replacement bulb , and are they readily available.
I have looked up the spec and the bulb is rated at 3000 hours , have either of you had to replace the bulb yet ?

Ive seen a review in home cinema choice and they pretty much raved about the unit , its in their top five , so Im borderline on buying one now , just cant find any info on the bulbs is all

Magic Pips

Guys i just rang sky to be told that Sky HD is not available in Ireland!!!!

:eek:

Mossy Monk

i guarantee it will be available here. it hasnt been launched yet but will be very soon

watty

Projector bulbs are 80 to 400 Euro depending on model. Unlike plasma screens, or most LCD panel back lights both of which fail MUCH faster than CRT, the bulbs are replaceable.

life is greatly extended by:
1) Not blocking the lens light or any air vents
2) no movement or vibration until cold
3) No power cuts / unpluging, always use the built in shut down which runs the fan after the lamp is off.
4) Limit turning on / off. Don't flick it on & off like a bathroom light!
5) Don't leave it running for hours when no one watching.

phantom_lord

watty wrote:

Projector bulbs are 80 to 400 Euro depending on model. Unlike plasma screens, or most LCD panel back lights both of which fail MUCH faster than CRT, the bulbs are replaceable.

life is greatly extended by:
1) Not blocking the lens light or any air vents
2) no movement or vibration until cold
3) No power cuts / unpluging, always use the built in shut down which runs the fan after the lamp is off.
4) Limit turning on / off. Don't flick it on & off like a bathroom light!
5) Don't leave it running for hours when no one watching.

Thanks for the advice.

andy1249

I found replacement bulbs on projectorcentral.com , they have a list of suppliers , the cheapest Ive seen so far is about £208 sterling or approx 350 euro , its not the worst price , not by a long shot , some of em are £800 sterling for certain projectors.

3000 hours , by my rough and ready calculations is for me about 3 years worth of viewing so I guess its not bad at all , the order is about to be placed I reckon , Komplett have the unit for 1559 , is that a good price ?

watty

That was trade prices 2 years ago. The place I worked in sold them and occasionally I fixed mismanaged ones. The only fault ever in four years I was there was the odd bulb broken by abuse. We sold a lot of projectors and never saw them again.

Sualtam

I ordered it last night. Installation scheduled for May 30th.
And I should still be able to afford to eat every second day;)

Magic Pips

Sualtam wrote:

I ordered it last night. Installation scheduled for May 30th.
And I should still be able to afford to eat every second day;)

GRRRRRR:mad:

That weewee's me off... they told me yesterday it isn't available in Ireland...!

How much?

im jealous

Sualtam

€449 + an additional €15 sub per month.

If you press the red button and select the Sky HD option it gives a number to call. They tried to sell me mutil room as well, gonna try for an FTA card instead.

Magic Pips

Sualtam wrote:

€449 + an additional €15 sub per month.

If you press the red button and select the Sky HD option it gives a number to call. They tried to sell me mutil room as well, gonna try for an FTA card instead.

Thanks dude, does the HD box include sky +?

threebeards

I haven't seen anything in HD yet. I bought a Sony Bravia 40" LCD tv last week as I needed to upgrade anyway. I think it would be a good idea if Sky had a HD Freeview day/night to give people like me an idea as to what we're missing - a "tease" I suppose you could call it. Would they be likely to do so?

Magic Pips

Bravia 40" eh...

how much and would you recommend?

watty

You would need an HD receiver. A regular Sky Digibox or Sky+ box is physically incapable of receiving OR displaying ANY HD content of any type, as is analog reception from TV aerial or ANY normal DVD even if on an upscalling player.

Only An HD Cable, HD Terrestiral Digital, HD Satellite receiver with an actual HD channel gives HD.

Only a BD (Bluray Disk) or HDVD player with appropriate HD Disk plays HD content.

I'm convinced The Sky HD box only does HD for EPG HD channels (not HD channels via Add Channels /Other channes) and only when you have an HD subscription, otherwise it appears to only output Normal resolution even on the HDMI connector.

watty

Magic Pips wrote:

Bravia 40" eh...

how much and would you recommend?

There is NO HD content for him to view, so how can he make any informed recommendation?

threebeards

Magic Pips wrote:

Bravia 40" eh...

how much and would you recommend?

It cost me *cough* €2,550 *cough*:D . I can't say to you whether or not I'd recommend it yet cos I've just moved house so I haven't watched any tv in the last 2 weeks as I'm trying to unpack things from boxes and bags . I'll let you know in the next couple of weeks what I think though

Sualtam

There is Sky+ included, 160GB I think she said.

BBC are talking about showing Wimbledon & the World Cup in HD, surely these will be on the EPG?

Magic Pips

threebeards wrote:

It cost me *cough* €2,550 *cough*:D

HOW MUCH?!?!?!? :eek:

Thats well cheap... tell me where... i'll buy one today!!!!

SouperComputer

Sualtam wrote:

There is Sky+ included, 160GB I think she said.

BBC are talking about showing Wimbledon & the World Cup in HD, surely these will be on the EPG?

surely a 160GB HD wouldnt last long with HD content?

Mossy Monk

Sualtam wrote:

BBC are talking about showing Wimbledon & the World Cup in HD, surely these will be on the EPG?

i wouldnt guarantee it, unless of course Sky and BBC come to an agreement like they did with BBC One and Two. remember at the moment only 2 BBC channels exist on the Irish EPG. this is a good reason imo to hold off getting Sky HD

threebeards

Magic Pips wrote:

HOW MUCH?!?!?!? :eek:

Thats well cheap... tell me where... i'll buy one today!!!!

I bought it in Castlebar. Admittedly I bought it at the same time time time I bought a fridge and washing machine and all the other bits needed for a new house so I got a discount. It was listed on the invoice at €2,550 (including VAT and EMC) but it was retailing at €2,700

watty

Mossy Monk wrote:

i wouldnt guarantee it, unless of course Sky and BBC come to an agreement like they did with BBC One and Two. remember at the moment only 2 BBC channels exist on the Irish EPG. this is a good reason imo to hold off getting Sky HD

UK EPG maybe, nearly certinally, but unless Sky pay BBC, not at all on the Irish EPG. So not HD on a Sky HD box in ROI, but BBC HD on a FTA HD box in ROI.

watty

SouperComputer wrote:

surely a 160GB HD wouldnt last long with HD content?

It's MPEG4. So about 5 to 6Mbps. Similar to "best" MPEG2 SD on satellite. Twice to 4 times the poorer channels. So really the recording time is similar to before, maybe 10% less


It is likely strong incentive for new DTT services and new normal resolution channels on Satellite to be MPEG4 in future. Sky may even stop supplying the existing MPEG2 only boxes. IMO this is why the HD sub is a separate element on the Sky HD box. It may become the only box supplied so that in 3 to 5 years Sky can cease MPEG2 and have 80% more capacity!

Sualtam

watty wrote:

UK EPG maybe, nearly certinally, but unless Sky pay BBC, not at all on the Irish EPG. So not HD on a Sky HD box in ROI, but BBC HD on a FTA HD box in ROI.

Damn, was looking forward to Maria Sharapova HD:(

Mossy Monk

you can add it to "Other Channels"

watty

And probabily the box will down convert it to SD

Blaster99

I was in the local Power City the other day and they were playing a HD demo on a Samsung LCD. If that's representative of what HD will look like, holy **** it's good. It's like looking through a window, the resolution is just amazing.

Magic Pips

threebeards wrote:

I bought it in Castlebar. Admittedly I bought it at the same time time time I bought a fridge and washing machine and all the other bits needed for a new house so I got a discount. It was listed on the invoice at €2,550 (including VAT and EMC) but it was retailing at €2,700

Hey man, i was down in my local power city... sony Lcd, bravia 40"... 3199€

WTF! Whats the name of your cheap tv haven?

andy1249

There would seem to be a range of Bravia 40 inch TV's , going from about 2199 right up to 4000 euros !!
I would imagine they would take some studying to decide whats the difference as well ?

http://www.komplett.ie/k/kl.asp?bn=10670

Magic Pips

You know i reckon its a sign of getting old when you don't know the differences...:(

I'm lost in the world of HD Tv's...

watty

BBC HD will definately be on UK SkyHD EPG...

threebeards

Magic Pips wrote:

Hey man, i was down in my local power city... sony Lcd, bravia 40"... 3199€

WTF! Whats the name of your cheap tv haven?

I bought it in Sheridan Electrics in Castlebar. I dealt with a very knowledgeable guy called Ken