Lead to website with basic HD TV information

wadewade

I would appreciate some basic info on getting HD television, please

I have a Sony DVD hard disk recorder and receive my TV signals from both aerial and Virgin Cable.

If I buy an "HD Ready" LCD TV will I also need to buy an HD box - could I then watch both aerial and Virgin HD? Or do I need a FreeSat?

I've seen one Panasonic set that claims to have the HD gadgetry built in already and therefore is ready to show HD - is this likely to be any good? Not sure why there is only one on offer like this as presumably it saves another box under the TV!

A link to a useful website/forum would be much appreciated. Thanks

MX5huggy

Firtly if you get a HD ready TV it will work with your current stuff you just won't have a HD picture.

You can't get HD freeview (from the arial) yet. From Virgin you need to upgrade to a V+ box to get HD from them.

The Pansonic HD TV's have HD Freesat built in they are probably very good but other people don't make them yet as HD freesat is quite new. It will be cheeper to buy a HD TV and a HD freesat box than the Panasonic TV with it buit in.

For freesat you need a dish (same as a sky dish)

Remember there is not alot of HD content broardcast.

The clincher for me will be if the BBC broadcast F1 in HD March 27th it all starts!

Swans1912

Couple of choices:

To get HD content currently you would need one of these:

- SKY+ HD via a satellite dish.
- Virgin HD via cable.
- BT Vision via Video On Demand.
- Freesat via a satellite dish.

I 'think' that the biggest selection of HD content is currently on SKY+ HD then Virgin.

Freesat via a set-top box or from the built in Panasonic TV has a VERY limit supply of HD content - Only TWO channels BBC HD and ITV HD, both of which are not 24/7 channels.

Not sure how much VoD content BT Vision has in HD.

You would need a HDTV that supports at-least 1080i to get MAX benefit from HD content, you can buy 'full HD' TV's that support 1080p however nothing from SKY, Virgin, Freesat or BT Vision is in the 1080p format.

Anything else, just ask!

EDIT: You could buy a HD ready TV and still watch TV like your currently do, without having to pay for freesat or virgin - you just wont have anything in HD!

SteveCutler

Hopefully this may make some sense:

In order to watch things in HD, you'll need 3 things:

1) a HD TV
2) a HD compatible "box" (e.g. Sky HD box, HD DVD player...)
3) a HD "source" (e.g. Sky HD subscription, HD DVD...)

If you don't have all 3 - you won't be watching anything in HD.

There's a common misconception that "digital" is "HD". This leads people to think that things like Freeview, Sky and Virgin are HD. Therefore they think that buying a HD TV will enable them to carry on watching Freeview etc. and receive a better picture signal. This isn't the case.

A HD TV will still work perfectly with a non-HD signal (e.g. Freeview, Virgin), but you won't notice any difference compared to a non-HD TV.


That's the general theory, so in your case:

Your Sony hard drive box (if this is abbreviated to a HD box, be sure not to get it confused with High Definition box) is currently non-HD.

Your Virgin and your aerial sources are also non-HD.

If you were to buy a HD TV, you would therefore not notice any quality difference from your current TV (but obviously it will maybe be a bigger screen). However, your non-HD Sony box, Virgin and your aerial sources, will still work on a HD TV.

You mention FreeSat in your post too. A standard FreeSat box is (I believe) not HD. It is just like a freeview box. However, FreeSat also do HD boxes as well as their standard box. If you do opt for the HD box, you will need a HD TV in order to view the HD channels.

If you want your Virgin to be in HD, you'll need to 1) upgrade to a HD Virgin box, and 2) upgrade your Virgin subscription to include HD channels. You'll also need to buy a HD TV.

With regards to the TV you've seen, I'm not sure whether it actually has a HD source built in to it? Maybe you could give us a model number? If it's simply said "HD Ready", this just means it's CAPABLE of displaying HD. It does not have a HD source within itself.

Even if it does have a HD source, it will not enable HD on your virgin and aerial signals. It will simply mimic another "HD box" and "HD source" such as FreeSat. But yes, it would save another box under the TV, similar to when TVs come with Freeview built in.


Anyway I realise I've probably made this much more complicated than it ordinarily would be! Hope it's of some use though.

wadewade

Steve,

I believe the model I've seen is the Panasonic Viera 37 - TX 37LZD81 - and I've also seen whole page adverts in the Sunday magazines for such sets in a range of sizes.

Thanks everyone for this very useful info.

daveyjp

Buy HD ready TV get an upgrade to a V+ box. You'll get BBC HD and some HD on demand content. HD is free if you have XL TV package from Virgin. The 'normal' TV picture is also much better through the V+ box than teh older Virgin cable boxes.

The Virgin engineer will set it all up for you. Ask for an HD cable when you call Virgin.

Phantom_Flan_Flinger

According to the Panasonic, website their 81 series of Plasma and LCD TV's have Freesat HD built in.

wadewade

Thanks for this useful info.

Can I just clarify one point.

If I buy an "HD Ready" set and go for an upgrade on my Virgin cable to XL with Virgin + box will I still need an HD box or does the Virgin + box do this bit as well?

Marty999

wadewade wrote: »

Thanks for this useful info.

Can I just clarify one point.

If I buy an "HD Ready" set and go for an upgrade on my Virgin cable to XL with Virgin + box will I still need an HD box or does the Virgin + box do this bit as well?

If you have a Virgin+ box you will not need your Song HD recorder as the V+ box does this too.

wadewade

Thanks, that's a bonus - my son might get his hands on my DVD recorder.

But what about the HD box to activate the "HD Ready" TV that I shall be buying. Is this unnecessary too?