Is it worthless to sign up for sky+HD if you have normal TV (not "HD ready" TV)

mazdaspring

I am just wondering if I can use normal TV to watch HD?
Is it still gonna be better picture if I use normal TV? or it's the same if you don't have "hd ready"


Anyone can suggest me where to get the cheapest (but good) "HD ready" TV? I want more than 22" with the price of less than £250.

gjchester

mazdaspring wrote: »

I am just wondering if I can use normal TV to watch HD?
Is it still gonna be better picture if I use normal TV? or it's the same if you don't have "hd ready"

You can but the image will need to be down converted by the box to something your TV can cope with. The image is unlikley to be better than anything else after that downscaling.

mazdaspring wrote: »

Anyone can suggest me where to get the cheapest (but good) "HD ready" TV? I want more than 22" with the price of less than £250.

Cheap and good do not go together. HD has a few different formats there is HD Ready and Full HD. HD ready usually menas 720 or greater resoluition, Full HD means 1080P resolution capable.
That extra bit of resolution costs..

Ruicher sounds have a Sharp 26;; for £259, yout local asda and Tesco have probably some at simular price, but to be honest I'd say save up a bit more, get a "good brand". Low end TV's are usually built to a budget rather than a quality level.

You also need to think about how you'll feed it signals. Freeview is unlikey to be high def for at least 2 years, so you need a Sky HD box and subscription or buy a Freesat box (or Freesat capable TV) to get any benefits from it.

roddydogs

Why would you want the HD Box if you havent got HD? just get the Sky+ box.

norbet

If you're planning on getting a HD TV then yes go for the Sky HD box. Having said that if you're not looking to a large screen tv you won't notice a huge difference in picture qaulity. Also bear in mind the additional HD subscription costs (can't see em lasting forever but it's an additional £9.75 a month). You have to ask yourself, is it worth it?
On our 37" tv HD makes a big difference - I think for smaller screen sizes the difference is less noticeable.

mazdaspring

roddydogs wrote: »

Why would you want the HD Box if you havent got HD? just get the Sky+ box.

I am new customer. I will need home landline to be able to get broadband internet(I do not like mobile broadband). After working out, "sign up for sky+HD" is the best deal and cheapest deal. So why not go for it, right? I got free phone line rental+£60 cash back from Quidco+Free month HD rental+only £49 HD box.

At the end, I am paying £26something a month for first 12 motnhs which is the same price as getting BT line+o2 broad band(without TV).

That's why I am thinking to get new HD ready TV if it's useless to view HD with normal TV

mazdaspring

Thank you all for your reply.

To gjchester >> Your suggestion is Very helpful! Which one do you recommend if I can go for more expensive one? (however I prefer not too big screen because my living room is not that big. Hope 26" or less than 32" is enough) Please suggest

gjchester wrote: »

You also need to think about how you'll feed it signals. Freeview is unlikey to be high def for at least 2 years, so you need a Sky HD box and subscription or buy a Freesat box (or Freesat capable TV) to get any benefits from it.

I am a bit confused here. Do you mean normal TV or HD ready one? Could you explain a bit more. I do not understand. I will get Sky+HD package (including box and subscription). Or you mean in case I do not have sky package, then freeview is not HD. so do not expect freeview to be HD, right?

To norbet >> as I explained above, I got a good deal and cheaper than getting normal sky+ box. I wanna get big screen too but my living room is a bit small. Is it much better for HD comepare with a normal one. I cannot wait to watch it

McKneff

We had HD for 12 months and to be honest, i never saw a great deal of difference and our telly was a new 37" Toshiba HD. I felt I had spent £120 for very little and cancelled it after 12 months. But i do think our Sky plus is brilliant.

Turkey_Machine

If you don't want to fork out for an HDTV, that's fine! You can still view Sky+HD on "normal" telly, it just won't be HD. There's a reason the boxes come with SCART outputs y'know.

The Sky+HD deal seems to be the best one for them at the moment. Trying to push adoption of it I think.

woody01

mazdaspring wrote: »

I am just wondering if I can use normal TV to watch HD?
Is it still gonna be better picture if I use normal TV? or it's the same if you don't have "hd ready"


Anyone can suggest me where to get the cheapest (but good) "HD ready" TV? I want more than 22" with the price of less than £250.

http://www.cdiscount.co.uk

Look at the 32" TV's. The cheapest one has a Samsung panel (made in Ireland), and is a great TV.

mazdaspring

What about

http://www.richersounds.com/product/lcd-tv/lg/m227wd/lg-m227wd
http://www.richersounds.com/product/lcd-tv/samsung/t240hd/sams-st240

Both are Full HD 1080P with very cheap price. Please suggest

or
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/136356
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/158933#

from Martin's recommend http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/cheap-LCD-HDTV

gjchester

mazdaspring wrote: »

Thank you all for your reply.

To gjchester >> Your suggestion is Very helpful! Which one do you recommend if I can go for more expensive one? (however I prefer not too big screen because my living room is not that big. Hope 26" or less than 32" is enough) Please suggest

Sorry Can't help in terms of Size, however you'll have this TV hopfully for 5-10 years, don't rush and buy the cheapest one. In terms of recommendations go to the library and see it they have What TV you can read. Personally I have a Panasonic and love it, but then again it's a 42'' screen.

Think what happens in a years time when you decide Sky HD is too much, or if you get a PS3 or XB360, are there enough connectors, you need at least 2 HDMI inputs, cheaper models tend to scrimp on inputs, again only you can decide, if you only going to have Sky HD and that it any will do. If you want to add on you need to plan now.

mazdaspring wrote: »

I am a bit confused here. Do you mean normal TV or HD ready one? Could you explain a bit more. I do not understand. I will get Sky+HD package (including box and subscription). Or you mean in case I do not have sky package, then freeview is not HD. so do not expect freeview to be HD, right?

Again thinking ahead. In a years time when your SkyHD goes up. Will you still want it, and will you still pap for it.
Or would you be better starting with Freesay and paying BT rental and broadband charges?