Will Virgin media channels ever go HD on saorview?

micks_address · 25-07-2020 09:39PM #1

Hi folks,
As per title. Any sign of the vm channels to go HD?
Cheers,
Mick

JDxtra · 25-07-2020 09:41PM

No. They have had every opportunity to sort this mess out over previous 10 years (almost) of Saorview and have done nothing.

micks_address · 25-07-2020 09:43PM

JDxtra wrote: »

No. They have had every opportunity to sort this mess out over previous 10 years (almost) of Saorview and have done nothing.

What's the obstacle though? Also why isn't tg4 HD or the other plus one channels?

Was tv3 in hd?

JDxtra · 25-07-2020 09:48PM

Technically, there's no reason.

However there is no interest from the broadcaster, the dept., the minister or Saorview themselves. Its as if nobody is in charge or actually cares about viewers.

They must be all happy at home with Pay TV subscriptions.

byte · 25-07-2020 09:48PM

I guess Virgin Media, and their predecessors, don't want to pay for the extra bandwidth. Personally, I think that from the start, all Saorview channels should have been HD by default and Soarsat being a full copy of Saorview, but no real odds now.

I do think TG4 HD should be on Saorview though. Who knows if it will ever be, I'd like it to be.

I'm not a fan of timeshift channels on DTT but I suppose something might as well use the unused bandwidth.

Atlantic Dawn · 25-07-2020 09:49PM

What's the position in UK? The 5 terrestrial channels have been in HD for 10 years plus, is the obstackle in Ireland the broadcasting fees that Saorview charge or is it Virgin Media wanting to keep the HD on subscription only platforms?

JDxtra · 25-07-2020 09:50PM

Watched some RTE 1 +1 on Saorview yesterday. I have 100% signal but video was jittery and audio was awful. Waste of bandwidth. This is what annoys people.

Flick over to Netflix, tons of 4K content streaming instantly.

JDxtra · 25-07-2020 09:52PM

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

What's the position in UK? The 5 terrestrial channels have been in HD for 10 years plus, is the obstackle in Ireland the broadcasting fees that Saorview charge or is it Virgin Media wanting to keep the HD on subscription only platforms?

In Ireland, he viewer is not a consideration. They could do it tomorrow if someone banged their heads together.

dxhound2005 · 25-07-2020 09:54PM

byte wrote: »

I guess Virgin Media, and their predecessors, don't want to pay for the extra bandwidth. Personally, I think that from the start, all Saorview channels should have been HD by default and Soarsat being a full copy of Saorview, but no real odds now.

I do think TG4 HD should be on Saorview though. Who knows if it will ever be, I'd like it to be.

I'm not a fan of timeshift channels on DTT but I suppose something might as well use the unused bandwidth.

This is from 3 years ago, on one of the many previous threads. So no progress unless someone knows otherwise, and the questions is about money as it often is.

A chara
Our discussions with Saorview regarding HD carriage are ongoing. You will appreciate that these are commercial negotiations and that the "availability" of any service is subject to mutually acceptable terms for the parties involved.

I cannot, at this stage surmise when our negotiations might conclude but it is our wish too that we have HD versions of our service available on all platforms, including Saorview.

Le meas

Pádhraic Ó Ciardha
TG4

Atlantic Dawn · 25-07-2020 10:00PM

How much extra per TV licence would it cost to put TG4 and Virgin Media 1 in HD? €5 or so, same price 2FM costs a year.

JDxtra · 25-07-2020 10:09PM

In real terms, it would cost nothing. There's bandwidth there to get them on the platform in HD today.

micks_address · 25-07-2020 10:11PM

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

How much extra per TV licence would it cost to put TG4 and Virgin Media 1 in HD? €5 or so, same price 2FM costs a year.

Just seems daft they not all in HD at this point. Especially when they are available off sky etc. I just cancelled my sky subscription and have a combo box running saorview and free to air UK sat channels. Its all we ever watched on sky anyway. Can record etc on box so it's pretty much the same..the nice thing is I don't have all the You don't subscribe to this service messages or channels I don't pay for on epg.

Have Amazon prime and Netflix so not to badly off for content.

micks_address · 25-07-2020 10:12PM

JDxtra wrote: »

In real terms, it would cost nothing. There's bandwidth there to get them on the platform in HD today.

Any chance we could start s petition to get them on? Maybe get Mary Lou on the case

micks_address · 25-07-2020 10:20PM

Which minister is responsible for saorview? Media or communications?

JDxtra · 25-07-2020 10:43PM

micks_address wrote: »

Which minister is responsible for saorview? Media or communications?

Eomon Ryan - the current Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment.

Atlantic Dawn · 25-07-2020 10:55PM

JDxtra wrote: »

Eomon Ryan - the current Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment.

FFS, he will probably want us to go back to B&W tv's to save electricity, he certainly won't be in favour of anything that burns 1 extra watt of power

Johnboy1951 · 26-07-2020 02:05PM

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

FFS, he will probably want us to go back to B&W tv's to save electricity, he certainly won't be in favour of anything that burns 1 extra watt of power

He must be very upset so with the blank channels on Saorview and those with test cards

lgs 4 · 28-07-2020 02:01AM

It will cost Virgin and TG4 money to be in HD on Saorview .Sky are subsidizing HD versions.To keep Irish subscribers .Sky do it for ITV 2,3,4 ,UK Gold ,Dave so on . Sky have ruined entertainment TV and sports coverage ,paying outrageous money to Premiership.Out bidding any competitors .Reselling the Premiership rights .

rodge123 · 28-07-2020 09:18AM

You have to pay for a €8 add-on to get all channels in HD ok sky. They offer a few out of the box - RTÉ, BBC and maybe few others..think it’s the ones that are already available on free to air.
Watching standard def virgin media on Sky is painfull, particularly sports..shocking picture quality for this day and age.

dxhound2005 · 28-07-2020 07:48PM

We are still very much in the age of SD on 28 East.

https://en.kingofsat.net/hdtv-28.2E.php

Hotblack Desiato · 30-07-2020 11:49AM

lgs 4 wrote: »

It will cost Virgin and TG4 money to be in HD on Saorview .

Won't cost any of them a cent if they each consume the same proportion of the used bandwidth. That's the really annoying thing. They're all paying (nominally in the case of RTE, who own 2RN, but still...) for the whole bandwidth that's being broadcast, even though much of it is doing nothing. It's crazy, and it's obvious that successive ministers don't have a clue about broadcasting and don't care either.

JDxtra · 30-07-2020 01:39PM

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Won't cost any of them a cent if they each consume the same proportion of the used bandwidth. That's the really annoying thing. They're all paying (nominally in the case of RTE, who own 2RN, but still...) for the whole bandwidth that's being broadcast, even though much of it is doing nothing. It's crazy, and it's obvious that successive ministers don't have a clue about broadcasting and don't care either.

Exactly, well said. There is nobody who stands up for the viewer and what is best for them. It's a game of pass the parcel if you ask any of them about it.

Gerry Wicklow · 30-07-2020 02:05PM

We're paying the electricity bill either way. :mad:

micks_address · 30-07-2020 02:28PM

Why don't we start a petition or something?

Capt'n Midnight · 06-08-2020 06:56PM

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

FFS, he will probably want us to go back to B&W tv's to save electricity, he certainly won't be in favour of anything that burns 1 extra watt of power

That's the whole point of Digital. It uses the same amount of power no matter what is transmitted on the two multiplexes.

It's really annoying that TG4 can't be shown in HD because TV3 fought to get charged by bandwidth in order to save a few shillings. This is the same TV3 that didn't get nationwide coverage in the old days because they couldn't be arsed to get coverage on all the transmitters because in the old analog days you could save 100% of the power on every channel not transmitted.

Get Freesat. You get most of what's on Virginmedia earlier and you don't pay extra HD.

micks_address · 07-08-2020 12:19PM

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

That's the whole point of Digital. It uses the same amount of power no matter what is transmitted on the two multiplexes.

It's really annoying that TG4 can't be shown in HD because TV3 fought to get charged by bandwidth in order to save a few shillings. This is the same TV3 that didn't get nationwide coverage in the old days because they couldn't be arsed to get coverage on all the transmitters because in the old analog days you could save 100% of the power on every channel not transmitted.

Get Freesat. You get most of what's on Virginmedia earlier and you don't pay extra HD.

We have a Vu satellite box with terrestrial tuner as well. Best of both worlds being able to record and have seven day epg with channel 4hd etc..just a pity virgin media isn't hd as we watch the odd match on it and virgin am the odd morning and the picture quality on a 55 inch TV is atrocious..

Machinehead · 14-08-2020 02:01PM

I haven't checked it for myself yet but I've seen reports that Virgin Media have now pulled their sports channels from the Eir platform. This spat goes on & on & on. First up the regulator needs to step in here & lay down a 'must carry' for HD channels if they are available on other providers. Secondly this tit for tat thing between Eir & VM for the past few years is getting a bit tiresome & withering. Can't the overpaid suited execs get their sh*t together & get the best overall product for their customers, otherwise this is how you lose business guys. Also there's plenty of other providers willing to take up the slack that you're leaving around the place due to bad service. So VM give the HD version to Eir & Saorview & they both should do what's necessary to make it so. International rugby is starting up again soon & it would be a great shame not to have it in HD, so VM give it to someone who can. Why can Eir & VM strike up cross supply deals, only for them to collapse within 12 months.

dxhound2005 · 14-08-2020 05:01PM

Machinehead wrote: »

. First up the regulator needs to step in here & lay down a 'must carry' for HD channels if they are available on other providers.

They can be made available but whoever wants them has to pay. As per the information provided by TG4 three years ago. It's all about the money.

A chara
Our discussions with Saorview regarding HD carriage are ongoing. You will appreciate that these are commercial negotiations and that the "availability" of any service is subject to mutually acceptable terms for the parties involved.

I cannot, at this stage surmise when our negotiations might conclude but it is our wish too that we have HD versions of our service available on all platforms, including Saorview.

Le meas

Pádhraic Ó Ciardha
TG4

Machinehead · 14-08-2020 05:22PM

That just re-iterates my point, we've got the Suits sitting on their fat wallets who after 3 years still can't come up with a resolution to the HD carriage problem (what in Gods name do they do all day). TV3/VM couldn't sort a deal with Saorview and I'm not sure which Eir customers are affected by no VM HD & intermittent +1 service on Eir. Perhaps it's older Eir Vision customers who are affected & maybe not the new Eir TV/AppleTV one's. Subsequent to the change Eir's mobile service went to trash. I'm still on the Eir Vision package & prior to the change the mobile service was almost a mirror of the channels included in my TV subscription, now it's just sports & TG4. VM HD channels are all gone from my subscription:mad: The only sweetener is the Amazon Prime service which runs out in a few months.

Mickey Mike · 03-01-2022 09:44PM

Most of us pay for the TV licence, I would be happy to pay another €10 or €15 pm for proper HD content on Saorview

RTE1 (1920×1080i) RTE2 (1920×1080i)

VM1 (1920×1080i) TG4 (1920×1080i)

All others upgraded to 720×576i from 544×576i, except for +1's and information channel.

micks_address · 04-01-2022 10:22AM

you'd think at some point they will almost end up being HD by default... anyone have any news in the last 2 years?

Will Virgin media channels ever go HD on saorview?

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