HD - on the way!

Chong

Is there a non sky reciever I can buy in order to watch BBC HD?

kanepb1

On my normal sky box i took out the card and restarted it. it came up with the english epg free to air channels. and one of them was c145 bbc hd.
I'll be getting sky hd on may 29th and will check to see if it works but if anyone else can try before that date, i would like to know if it will work. As bbc hd is free to air it should work??

L1011

Its almost guaranteed that it won't. Because the Sky HD box won't give you HD without a card in on any channels the same way a Sky+ won't record any channels without a card in - even free ones.

kanepb1

but bbc do say you don't need a subscription though?
Just looked up on a website that says supposed to be able to pick up bbc hd on sky hd as its free.
So hopefully (fingers crossed) that it will work

watty

Only the Pace 810 HD receiver. You also need a decent HD TV set or it is a waste of effort.

salty48

Thank you for your email regarding BBC/HD

If you have an HD compatible TV and HD digibox you can receive BBC/HD in the Republic of Ireland.

I trust this information will be helpful. If you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us on the above email address.


Kind Regards

Marj Farrell

Customer Care Department

---

Sent: 16 May 2006 18:48
To: skydigital@sky.com
Subject: bbc hdtv


Will BBC hdtv be available in republic of ireland

---

Leprachaun

salty48 wrote:

If you have an HD compatible TV and HD digibox you can receive BBC/HD in the Republic of Ireland.

No mention of having to have a subscription

cast_iron

Leprachaun wrote:

No mention of having to have a subscription

True, but also no mention of needing a satellite dish - which you obviously do!
I'm guessing that if you can get your hands on the (scarce) equipment, they will have no problem in sorting you out with a subscription, and hence BBC HD.

Maybe a more specific follow up email could clarify this.

L1011

Sky have arse/elbow inversion, just to warn you, as goes anything their customer care says...

I'm still sure an Irish SkyHD setup won't be able to get BBC HD unless adding it via Other Channels works.

swoofer

theres a humax receiver out that will get hd as well

gb--

Headshot

GBCULLEN wrote:

theres a humax receiver out that will get hd as well

gb--

not exactly right

the humax needs an update for it to get bbc hd but im unsure when is the update coming

i heard within 2 weeks but still cant be sure

im hoping to go for the humax box because the pace is costing to much

watty

You don't need a subscription to record BBC ordinary Satellite TV ... Except if you use a Sky+ box.

With a "NOT SKY" BBC HD compatible FTA HD satellite receiver you can watch BBC HD in Ireland. With a Sky HD box you need a Sky HD sub to watch ANY HD, otherwise it is downsampled to ordinary SD TV. Similarly on a SkyHD or Sky+ box you need a subscription to record ANY channel, even FTA, and it won't work with "Other Channels".

So MYOB is correct. We suspect "Other Channels" won't work and BBC HD only on UK EPG, which does not appear with ROI Sky+ or ROISkyHD sub.

kanepb1

Hi there. i contacted sky to see what they would say and this is the reply

Thank you for your email about BBC HD.

I can advise that yes you would receive BBC HD without a card as it is broadcast free to air.

I hope this helps.

Thank you for your interest in Sky.

Kind regards

Audrey McCann
Viewer Relations

Also on the sky hd website under bbc hd it says bbc hd is available without subscriptions.

Whether there right, who knows?

watty

Yes, with a Sky HD box it will receive it, but the Sky HD box downsamples EVERYTHING to ordinary TV resolution without a SkyHD sub. Sky call centre usually do not get details about ROI correct.

BBC HD is only available in HD without subscription on a "NON sky" compatible HD box.

BBC3, 4 and ITV are "without subscription" and free to air. But an ROI Sky+ or and ROI SkyHD box won't record them.

fat-tony

Got a call from the SKY installer at 07.15 - he says he should be here by 08.30

andy1249

I gots to wait till 4:30 this afternoon , looking forward to it though

fat-tony

Engineer arrived 08.20 - stll faffing with the move of my sky + box. HD box installed but waiting on SKY to enable HD channels.

scary

Hey Tony,

Where in the country are you? I'm in Clondalkin and i'm scheduled to get it in between 11 and 2 today?

rgds
scary

just seen your location under your user name

Tony

Guys make sure the installer does a forced download to solve the software issue.

fat-tony

scary wrote:

Hey Tony,

Where in the country are you? I'm in Clondalkin and i'm scheduled to get it in between 11 and 2 today?

rgds
scary

just seen your location under your user name

Note - if you got a new card last week, make sure the engineer uses it as it's pre-enabled for the HD channels. The engineers were told to use the existing card, but that seems to be the wrong info. I was having my SKY+ moved to another room, the engineer used the new card in that and put my new card in the SKY+ box. He got that enabled for movies/sports straight away, but my HD box was not showing the HD channels. He left at about 10.00 (after 90 minutes) and HD was still not enabled on the new box. He told me it could take hours, but I rang the Sky help desk at about 10.45.

Nice helpful guy got me to swap back the cards and the HD channels came up straight away! Then he re-linked the cards to the proper boxes and enabled movies/sports etc. Moral of the story - make sure the engineer (huh!) :rolleyes: uses the new card.

As regards the important bit - the picture! I'm looking at Discovery HD - extreme engineering. Looks excellent, but not completely mindblowing - my PAnasonic TH37PV500 already has excellent pictures on SD. I'll settle down and find some genuine HD sports later - everything else on at the mo (11.30) is upscaled SD.:D

St Senan

Lads do you get a new sky card for hd or just get the existing one paired to the new Hd box. the reason why is at the moment a friend of mine has just got his install finished his existing card paired up to the hd box and he is not impressed with the picture quality

fat-tony

scaller wrote:

Lads do you get a new sky card for hd or just get the existing one paired to the new Hd box. the reason why is at the moment a friend of mine has just got his install finished his existing card paired up to the hd box and he is not impressed with the picture quality

The card won't affect the picture quality - it just has the HD channels pre-enabled. Is your mate looking at a HD channel? I'm looking at Nat Geographic HD just now (12.10) and the detail in the picture is just fantastic:D The non-HD channels are no better than they were beforehand. SKY1 is showing Buffy/Angel in upscaled video - marginal improvement over the standard channel. I'm finding HDMI just a shade better than SCART for the ordinary channels.

DigiDec

Did any of you tune in BBC HD in other channels yet?

fat-tony

watty wrote:

Yes, with a Sky HD box it will receive it, but the Sky HD box downsamples EVERYTHING to ordinary TV resolution without a SkyHD sub. Sky call centre usually do not get details about ROI correct.

BBC HD is only available in HD without subscription on a "NON sky" compatible HD box.

BBC3, 4 and ITV are "without subscription" and free to air. But an ROI Sky+ or and ROI SkyHD box won't record them.

I've just had SKY HD installed this morning. I have added BBC HD trial on "other channels" (1087 V, 22000, 5/6). It's displaying on my Panny PV500 in glorious 1080i Can't record it as it's not on the EPG, but at least it points to being able to see World Cup / Wimbledon in HD from the BBC. As you say, if you take out the card to get the default UK EPG, you won't be able to view HD channels or use the SKY+ recording facility.

fat-tony

DigiDec wrote:

Did any of you tune in BBC HD in other channels yet?

Yes - see my post elsewhere - coming in in 1080i

DigiDec

Great news, good luck with your new box.

ro2

My box has just arrived. Top notch stuff on Discovery HD. BBC HD is coming in loud and clear too.

Tony

fat-tony wrote:

I've just had SKY HD installed this morning. I have added BBC HD trial on "other channels" (1087 V, 22000, 5/6). It's displaying on my Panny PV500 in glorious 1080i Can't record it as it's not on the EPG, but at least it points to being able to see World Cup / Wimbledon in HD from the BBC. As you say, if you take out the card to get the default UK EPG, you won't be able to view HD channels or use the SKY+ recording facility.

can you re type the freq please, searching disabled it seems so cant find it elsewhere

ffocused

10847 v 22 5/6 BBC HD

watty

fat-tony wrote:

I've just had SKY HD installed this morning. I have added BBC HD trial on "other channels" (1087 V, 22000, 5/6). It's displaying on my Panny PV500 in glorious 1080i Can't record it as it's not on the EPG, but at least it points to being able to see World Cup / Wimbledon in HD from the BBC. As you say, if you take out the card to get the default UK EPG, you won't be able to view HD channels or use the SKY+ recording facility.

How do you know it is HD and not glorious downsampled to 576 and outputed upsampled to 720 or 1080i?

The Sky HD box will display any HD channel without a sub, but downsampled to 576 lines, apparently even the pay channels, as long as you have the "package sub" they are in.

A lovely picture does not mean real 1080i unfortunately.

Though if you are correct HD World Cup viewers will be happy.

But I'm very sceptical.

Headshot

just got an email from humax about there update on there box
it says
'thank you for email . the update for humax hdci 2000 for the bbc will be on 29 may 06 ota or visit humax website sometimes this week for update'

the humax box is cheaper than the pace

Mthor5

Hey, guys just got hd installed
just confimrming that i got bbc hd to...programme thats on now is best picture yet (bbchd preview) betterthan disc/geographic anyway..so far:D

watty

Ah but is the BBC *REALLY* HD or very good downsampled to 576 line? You need a good 1080line screen to tell.

scary

from where i'm sitting BBC HD is stunning if its not really HD i don't really care as this is like nothing i've seen on TV before.

scary

hottstuff

Has anyone hooked up the optical , to see if any of them have a nice sounding 5.1.
glad to hear someone actually say the picture is better:D

hottstuff

scary wrote:

from where i'm sitting BBC HD is stunning if its not really HD i don't really care as this is like nothing i've seen on TV before.

scary

can you picture the world cup?
impressed?;)

scary

hottstuff wrote:

can you picture the world cup?
impressed?;)

Its going to be amazing if the preview is anything to go by

patmac

fat-tony wrote:

As regards the important bit - the picture! I'm looking at Discovery HD - extreme engineering. Looks excellent, but not completely mindblowing - my PAnasonic TH37PV500 already has excellent pictures on SD. I'll settle down and find some genuine HD sports later - everything else on at the mo (11.30) is upscaled SD.:D

Is this the best tv for this?

hottstuff

scary wrote:

Its going to be amazing if the preview is anything to go by

sweet.
How about your display settings?
Did you have to do any fiddling . like picture too sharp or too much colour.?
SD settings showing too much on HD.

Mthor5

I've got my skyhd box set to auto res output running through a lumagen scaler into my pannyhd7...all hd channels (inc bbchd)show on the lumagen as a 1080i input where as every other sky channel is 576...

Ive also set the sky box to only output 1080i on all channels and theres a difference between hd and non hd bbc

just seen a clip for the world cup...amazing:D
ooh some music show is on now fantastic picture :eek: ,c'ant wait to check out shrek 2 later:)

fat-tony

patmac wrote:

Is this the best tv for this?

Got a better option? The 42" PV500 would have been my ideal, but the size is just too big for my room. The Panny plasmas are the best IMHO. The Pioneer 43 XDE (I think that's the model) would have been easier for wall mounting as there are only two cables coming from the control box, but it way way too much money!

Don't get hung up on 720 vs 768 line resolution - it's how the set handles and displays the picture that's important. All the HD output from SKY (including BBC on the extra channels) is at 1080i. The Panny handles this excellently, no difference if I set the SKY box to 720p or 1080i.

Tony

ffocused wrote:

10847 v 22 5/6 BBC HD

Thanks

fat-tony

watty wrote:

Ah but is the BBC *REALLY* HD or very good downsampled to 576 line? You need a good 1080line screen to tell.

Ah Watty - you're hung up on this - you really want to hear that the BBC HD picture has been compromised by SKY! My Panny plasma is reporting 1080i from the HD box for BBC HD. The picture quality is magic!. I can force the HD box to downsample to 720p and the Panny is reporting that correctly and the quality goes down slightly. So real 1080i output! Does anyone have a full 1080 screen? If the scaler in your TV is good the quality will be good, even if you have only 720 lines of actual resolution.

As an aside - the picture quality from RTE on "Home & Away" is really good! Ok - I know the programme is s**t, but the output from the HD box in 576p is still stunning! The source material is recorded in HD and downsampled to 576 by the broadcaster.

I think the decoder in the HD box is actually better than the SKY+ box - even on SCART, the PQ is better.

fat-tony

Tony wrote:

can you re type the freq please, searching disabled it seems so cant find it elsewhere

Oops, sorry. My typo - 10847V, 22000, 5/6

Tony

no problem, I should really have known it already

hottstuff

fat-tony wrote:

Ah Watty - you're hung up on this - you really want to hear that the BBC HD picture has been compromised by SKY! My Panny plasma is reporting 1080i from the HD box for BBC HD. The picture quality is magic!. I can force the HD box to downsample to 720p and the Panny is reporting that correctly and the quality goes down slightly. So real 1080i output! Does anyone have a full 1080 screen? If the scaler in your TV is good the quality will be good, even if you have only 720 lines of actual resolution.

As an aside - the picture quality from RTE on "Home & Away" is really good! Ok - I know the programme is s**t, but the output from the HD box in 576p is still stunning! The source material is recorded in HD and downsampled to 576 by the broadcaster.

I think the decoder in the HD box is actually better than the SKY+ box - even on SCART, the PQ is better.

so i take it the old sky+ was outputting 480i and this new 576p looks better?
have you tried all the channels to see if this was just HD downscaled or 576p being superior over hdmi

FunkyDa

Willstev wrote:

Is there a non sky reciever I can buy in order to watch BBC HD?

How about a Technotrend pci card(or usb box) in your comp., displayed on your 1280x1024 monitor?

fat-tony

watty wrote:

How do you know it is HD and not glorious downsampled to 576 and outputed upsampled to 720 or 1080i?

The Sky HD box will display any HD channel without a sub, but downsampled to 576 lines, apparently even the pay channels, as long as you have the "package sub" they are in.

A lovely picture does not mean real 1080i unfortunately.

Though if you are correct HD World Cup viewers will be happy.

But I'm very sceptical.

Watty, I think you have a conspiracy theory going on! The HD box does not display the subscription HD channels (Nat Geographic, etc) at all without a sub. It does display the FTA channels (including BBC HD) on the additional channels list at the proper resolution (576p or 1080i). The 1080i picture from BBC HD is visibly superior to most of the subscription stuff from Nat Geog, Discovery etc. so it's real!

fat-tony

I shut down and powered off my SKY HD box and removed the card. Like the SKY+ box, when it boots up again you get a default UK EPG, with the BBC and ITV channels coming in. The BBC HD demo is there on channel 145, so it should be viewable by anyone even without a sub. The big question is whether SKY will leave 145 on the EPG when the BBC starts transmitting for real (Wimbledon, World Cup). Maybe then, SKY will cripple the output on the box to prevent HD viewing from the beeb (eh Watty?).:rolleyes:

fat-tony

hottstuff wrote:

so i take it the old sky+ was outputting 480i and this new 576p looks better?
have you tried all the channels to see if this was just HD downscaled or 576p being superior over hdmi

No - the old sky+ was outputting 576i (analogue over SCART) - 480i is the NTSC standard. You only get progressive output over component or HDMI. The HDMI picture is better than the SCART on the HD box. The SCART output on the HD box is better than that on the old SKY+.

Some of the other SD channels which have high compression (low bandwidth) are still crap quality. The SKY1 HD, which is showing an upscaled version of Buffy, Angel etc is not much better - they are showing some of them in 14:9 ratio with black bars down the side!

Anyway - I'm off to watch Star Wars at 4pm !

Tony

Just testing the box now via the component output and it will only show the BBC HD via scart so as far as I can tell even the FTA needs a sky HD sub. I'm assuming the HDMI gets shut down as well as the component output.