UPC Vs Sky Television Picture Quality Who is better

roboshatner

Please leave your comments and your picture quality you are getting with Upc and sky.

Leave your honest comments I would like to know how you feel about the picture quality you are getting from both company's.

My Thoughts myself are well I have ntl the past 3 years and I know noting else and a friend got a new tv and plugged there sky box into it and the picture quality sky off that I seen with my own eyes was unreal.

And that was coming from a normal scart lead and the picture quality was crazy good compared to ntl.

Im still in shock over it and can not believe Upc are getting away with sending out that quality.

Am I the only one ?

Kristopherus

Well I have had Sky since its analogue days. In August I got UPC. I have it in mmds mode. I can honestly say the difference, if any is minimal.I have both coming in via scart leads in sd. I have both set up in 2 rooms, 1 on a Samsung 32in Slimfit CRT and 1 on a 32in HD LCD. Sorry have not a clue how to upload photos::(

MyKeyG

Yeah for a company whose most recent advertising claims to have everything your 'current provider' supplies they do an awful lot of lying.

paddydriver

Had sky for about 10 years and moved to UPC 2 years ago in order to get the phone/TV/BB and reckon sky picture is far better - no doubt at all.

Recently get a lot of pixelation/picture breakup on UPC. UPC box/epg is a crock too; mind you I did come from sky HD when those boxes were at they're worst but sky seems to have got their software running better now as I used to always be doing reset's for my Dad, and mine at the time, but haven't done one in ages.

Have been tempted to go back to sky and regularly call their "winbacks" dept but no decent offers; I live in hope

Still use my sky HD box for the FTA HD stuff - was great during the worldcup! Free HD

- Edit: should have mentioned that I recently got UPC 100Mb and that makes all my concerns go away; can download a HD movie in minutes so honestly most of what we watch is downloaded - and kids watch Disney Playtime anytime they have TV on so all happy for now...

watty

Sky is better picture quality, more choice and possibility of "freesat" like operation with no subscription. No free TV on cable.

My Daughter has UPC for Broadband + Phone and Free To Air Satellite for TV.

in your face

I'm a UPC customer. I bought a new TV a few weeks back, Philips 37" and have noticed that the picture quality on a number of stations has improved substantially, FX, SyFy, the ITV's and even RTE 1,2 and TG4 seem much clearer in comparison to my older telly. I don't know if it's UPC upping their game, the telly or the broadcasters themselves. Between Sky and UPC my own opinion is that its much of a muchness, as they say.
Maybe the difference lies in the TV's themselves, old one was a Mirai 32" HD Ready and the new one is Full HD? Hopefully the lads here who actually know what they're talking about can put it to bed!

BostonB

Even if you had the same signal the quality of the TV's varies enormously. Any visit to a TV shop show this clearly.

That aside, I've never been impressed with the quality on UPC, in any house I've see it on yet. Maybe they've all had dire TV's though.

JDxtra

They both have their problems, Sky have the upper hand though due to higher quality boxes with good firmware and more bandwidth being available to channel operators.

Most people will not notice any difference between them though.

Just compare a show like Coronation Street on Sky on TV3 with the same show on an ITV region (ITV1 West Country). Both are broadcast in SD but TV3 will be shockingly bad in comparison - however most people consider it to be watchable and will not complain.

Some people can’t even see the difference between SD and HD. They are only interested in the content, not the quality. That’s why UPC (and Sky) get away with it. Channels are over compressed to save costs and get more from the available bandwidth (meaning more crap & less quality). But it’s what consumers are demanding.

I would love them to, but there is no advantage to channel operators and providers (Sky, UPC) putting lots of effort and money into ensuring all their SD channels are the best they can be when “just about watchable” seems to be good enough for the masses.

And for those not happy, Sky will happily take an additional €15/month off you and give you a selection of HD channels…

Minstrel27

Sky is certainly much better. I was at a friends house recently and the picture quality on UPC was really poor.

Slutmonkey57b

I was watching the godfather recently in my folks' house and the amount of picture skipping and freezing/artifacting from their UPC box was shocking. Awful.

Elmo

I have never noticed much picture skipping and freezing/artifacting on UPC at all. Should we be describing UPC MMDS V UPC CABLE V SKY?

Also does it depend on which area you are in?

I have a simple CRT TV so that possible has allot to do with my view of UPC's picture.

watty

UPC have different cable networks and two incompatible MMDS networks. It's likely the quality is different in different places.

forzacalcio

I really dont think there is much of a difference unless you have a HDTV bigger than 32". Anything else is your mind playing games with you, thats just an opinion for whatever its worth!

basillarkin

Could someone help me as i was wondering is it possible to transfer data saved on the HD upc box to a flashdrive

watty

Unlikely.

Laisurg

I had ntl (now upc) in 2005 and it was pretty awful to be honest, switched to sky and its MUCH better but they may have changed since upc took them over, also upc's broadband is meant to be really good so you might be able to get a good deal if u got both with em. Otherwise go with sky i think the basic package is 20 or 25 a month and it has everything except sky sports/movies, mtv for some reason and a few random channels that don't look like much use anyway.

Minstrel27

Laisurg wrote: »

Otherwise go with sky i think the basic package is 20 or 25 a month and it has everything except sky sports/movies, mtv for some reason and a few random channels that don't look like much use anyway.

Sky don't do a basic package. They have a few base packages that you can choose from. This why MTV is not available if you only want the Variety package for Sky 1, Dave and so on.

MyKeyG

basillarkin wrote: »

Could someone help me as i was wondering is it possible to transfer data saved on the HD upc box to a flashdrive

No your best bet is to use a DVD recorder to capture any movies/programes you want to keep.

suitseir

We have UPC and live in a country town (Co. Galway) and I have noticed in the past week or perhaps two, there is a lot of picture freezing.

Is it a problem we have internally? We have checked cables etc. or could it be the aerial?

Elmo

suitseir wrote: »

We have UPC and live in a country town (Co. Galway) and I have noticed in the past week or perhaps two, there is a lot of picture freezing.

Is it a problem we have internally? We have checked cables etc. or could it be the aerial?

I have noticed on Saorview, are you with UPC MMDS? Just wondering if it has anything to do with the weather. I am in Dublin.

suitseir

Elmo wrote: »

I have noticed on Saorview, are you with UPC MMDS? Just wondering if it has anything to do with the weather. I am in Dublin.

UPC......yea, I wondered if it was the weather as well!!!

200motels

Is the UPC broadband as good as everyone is saying? As for picture quality Sky is far superior.

jimmycrackcorm

200motels wrote: »

Is the UPC broadband as good as everyone is saying? As for picture quality Sky is far superior.

Their BB is quite simply unbeatable- full speed with no contention. I don't notice any variation on picture quality between sky and UPC (watch both) only on channel to channel on both (i.e. some channels seems to have lower quality pixelation.

200motels

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Their BB is quite simply unbeatable- full speed with no contention. I don't notice any variation on picture quality between sky and UPC (watch both) only on channel to channel on both (i.e. some channels seems to have lower quality pixelation.

Good I'll have a look at their broadband and check the price.

Elmo

200motels wrote: »

Good I'll have a look at their broadband and check the price.

http://www.upc.ie/retailoffer/ (you may need to talk to the individual retailers).

I think there is also a boards.ie offer

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055831222

Cantona's Collars

I posted before that the ideal setup is Sky/Freesat for tv along with broadband from UPC.Best of both worlds.
Sky walks all over UPC for it's tv service from picture quality to content.Even the new MD of UPC admitted as much when interviewed recently.

Elmo

zerks wrote: »

I posted before that the ideal setup is Sky/Freesat for tv along with broadband from UPC.Best of both worlds.
Sky walks all over UPC for it's tv service from picture quality to content.Even the new MD of UPC admitted as much when interviewed recently.

Give us a link to the MD's interview.

Dammer

My experience with both would be as follows...

SKY - Had it about 5 years ago, right when their HD service was launching and the quality was brilliant on a Samsung 40 inch HD LCD TV I think the 2006 World Cup was on and I remember seeing Alan Hansen in HD and what a scary forehead he has!

UPC (NTL) - Had it a year ago on a Top of the range Panasonic 42 inch HD Plasma TV and it was great, no problems.

But I still feel the SKY signal was clearer, richer and had no lag.

In saying that, if you are thinking about choosing one of these providers - ask yourself just one question.

Who employs the most people in Ireland?

Cantona's Collars

Elmo wrote: »

Give us a link to the MD's interview.

Whole thread on it. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056259409

I listened to that interview-a lot of side stepping and dodging when quizzed on UPC's tv service.
You can't argue that they have the best broadband in the country (I'd love to have it) But lag behind compared to Sky's tv service.

Elmo

Dammer wrote: »

Who employs the most people in Ireland?

And in what roles? It can't just be about call centres, though a job is a job.

Minstrel27

Dammer wrote: »

In saying that, if you are thinking about choosing one of these providers - ask yourself just one question.

Who employs the most people in Ireland?

Rubbish. If UPC offered a poor service then people should choose them because of how many Irish people are employed?

Elmo

Minstrel27 wrote: »

Rubbish. If UPC offered a poor service then people should choose them because of how many Irish people are employed?

Because people living in Ireland are employed as the poster suggested. Though I agree with you if you have a choice then you should go with the best.

What is wrong with UPC's picture (rather than channel line up)? And can it be fixed. IMO cable companies are seeking out Broadband customers.

Does the weather cause problems with MMDS and Terrestrial Digital services?

Red Alert

UPC's problems are primarily picture quality and the terrible software on their TV boxes. If they fixed them I'd be much happier. On price Select Extra on UPC is about the same price as Sky w/ 2 packs and HD. Add to that no remote record, flaky integration of TV functions in remote control. It's getting hard to justify keeping UPC with those problems.

Elmo

Red Alert wrote: »

UPC's problems are primarily picture quality and the terrible software on their TV boxes. If they fixed them I'd be much happier. On price Select Extra on UPC is about the same price as Sky w/ 2 packs and HD. Add to that no remote record, flaky integration of TV functions in remote control. It's getting hard to justify keeping UPC with those problems.

Strange about the S/W on their boxes since I heard it was developed with Sky, UPC(liberty global) having own part of Sky for a number of years. Anyone know what UPC is like in the rest of Europe?

Dammer

Here is my take on the quality side of things.

SKY provides the best quality, signal wise. No question.

UPC is not as good, it is not that far behind though.

Yes the consumer has a choice, but given the current climate with respect to employment and investment, which company is going to spend more in Ireland.

I don't see or hear about many advertisements for careers with SKY in Ireland. UPC on the other hand...

This country is in trouble it needs people to spend most of their disposable income locally in Ireland.
People are more concerned about how shiny and clear their TV picture quality is :rolleyes:

BTW I do not work for either company...

Elmo

Dammer wrote: »

I don't see or hear about many advertisements for careers with SKY in Ireland. UPC on the other hand...

They do have a call centre in Cork. If either made TV in Ireland I would be happy but they are just distributors.

JDxtra

I believe it's actually a company called Abtran who provide the call centre staff in Cork (it's all outsourced, they don't work for Sky at all).

Minstrel27

Dammer wrote: »

People are more concerned about how shiny and clear their TV picture quality is :rolleyes:

Roll your eyes all you want but that is what a lot of people look for.

BTW I am neither a Sky or UPC subscriber.

Ranicand

The reason I go with UPC is price.
In the past I had Sky for TV Eircom for phone and UPC for broadband.

UPC is the only one of the 3 the can give me all 3 services together much cheaper then having them separate.

Why do people debate these things?

Sky has a better TV service that is a fact however they are way more expensive in a number of ways.

Sky has great TV but no broadband or phone as a matter of fact you need to have a phone line from a 3rd party to get multi-room from Sky.

BostonB

UPC is cheaper but its not as good as sky for TV. Its that simple.

Sky has a better box, better software, better quality. But its more expensive. Anything else is not about the quality of the TV. UPC is a better price compromise for sure. But thats a different discussion.

Elmo

Someone tell me why UPC have such a bad picture on their service? And if it is the same across most Cable companies in Europe.

BostonB

Not enough complain or cancel it.

Red Alert

UPC aren't cheaper unless you're either on the Digital Value+HD package or want multiroom with HD. You essentially get a lot more with Sky if you compare Digital Select Extra or Digital Max to equivalently priced Sky options.

Ranicand

Red Alert wrote: »

UPC aren't cheaper unless you're either on the Digital Value+HD package or want multiroom with HD. You essentially get a lot more with Sky if you compare Digital Select Extra or Digital Max to equivalently priced Sky options.

3 rooms two with HD plus phone and broadband.
It's not just all about TV.

Kensington

Elmo wrote: »

Strange about the S/W on their boxes since I heard it was developed with Sky, UPC(liberty global) having own part of Sky for a number of years. Anyone know what UPC is like in the rest of Europe?

In fairness, UPC acquired a network that was a complete mess. Two different standards between Chorus and NTL, a multitude of STBmodels, middleware systems and EPG applications.

While the true UPC software may be written by Liberty Global, the Irish version seems to be a (badly) customised flavour of that used in Europe.

Elmo wrote:

Someone tell me why UPC have such a bad picture on their service? And if it is the same across most Cable companies in Europe.

Practically all of their channels are sourced off the sky or NI DTT platform.
Cascaded compression in MPEG causes a degradation in quality and quite a few of the channels on sky and DTT are already fairly heavily compressed to begin with - re-encoding them just shows up compression artifacts even more and often makes the image look "soft".

It's different elsewhere in UK/Europe - they can source the channels direct from the broadcaster via high bitrate fibre links and manage encoding themselves with a "clean" feed. That's how sky and Virgin Media source most of their channels but it's not really an option here due to all that water in the way

bk

If you are looking for external reasons to pick UPC, UPC pay Irish tax, Sky do not.

Sky only pays Irish Tax on the install, the monthly sub goes to the UK tax payer.

Red Alert wrote: »

UPC aren't cheaper unless you're either on the Digital Value+HD package or want multiroom with HD. You essentially get a lot more with Sky if you compare Digital Select Extra or Digital Max to equivalently priced Sky options.

It depends on how you look at it, UPC TV service can be much cheaper then Sky.

Lets say you are a family with a broad range of tastes (general entertainment, music, docs, kids etc.) and want TV in 4 rooms.

With UPC you can get away with paying just €23 per month for Digital Value + and then use analogue 17 channels service in the other three rooms.

With Sky you would have to pay €78 (€33 + €15 x 3). Yes in fairness, this would give you far more channels then UPC, but also much greater cost.

With UPC you can get away with Digital Value because it has at least two of each of the major TV categories (Docs, Music, News, etc.) but with Sky you have to get all packs to get the same (but obviously you then end up with far more channels).

BostonB

Officially you have to pay UPC for those extra analogue hookups in the other rooms.

Also when they switch that off, you'll need a UPC STB box in each room.

jack presley

bk wrote: »

If you are looking for external reasons to pick UPC, UPC pay Irish tax, Sky do not.

Sky only pays Irish Tax on the install, the monthly sub goes to the UK tax payer.

Can that be true? Surely some percentage of a service being provided in Ireland must be taxable?

JDxtra

It's true - I reckon well over €50 million per year goes to the UK Revenue instead of the Irish Revenue.

Solair

I think the UPC picture quality varies a lot depending on the area you're in and the state / available bandwidth on the cable network there. Freezing / pixilating can be caused by weak signals too.

There's no point in even talking about MMDS platforms as they're basically obsolete I think we all agree they don't compete with Sky or FreeSat at all in terms of technical quality or channel line-up.

However, there are variations in the cable network too i.e. some areas have less bandwidth than others and also the quality of the wiring and the quality and age of the equipment you are using to view it.

The boxes make a huge difference. If it's an old ex-Chorus or ex-NTL box the picture quality's not so great. However, the new UPC-branded gear's very good quality stuff, particularly the HD-ready boxes.

I have had loads of problems with Sky Digiboxes over the years. I think someone's looking at them through rose-tinted glasses. While they're capable of producing good picture quality, we have had several of them fail very badly with EPG / software glitches, HD failures, and other internal component failures over the years and Sky are usually totally unhelpful and will try and force you to purchase a new box at a huge price until you threaten to leave.

bk

BostonB wrote: »

Officially you have to pay UPC for those extra analogue hookups in the other rooms.

True, but even then it is €2 per month versus €15

BostonB wrote: »

Also when they switch that off, you'll need a UPC STB box in each room.

But will they, UPC themselves say they have no plans to switch off the analogue service.

While they will probably do so some day, I don't think they will do so for many years to come, it is just too big a selling point.

So in the meantime you can save thousands over Sky and then switch to Sky if they ever do switch it off.

BTW a UPC mirror sub (boxin additional rooms) is only €5 versus €15, so still much cheaper.