Are all Sky HD programmes broadcast in HD?

pippy100

Hope someone can help, we are having sky HD fitted on Tuesday and we can't decide which TV to have it on. We have a 40" Sony 720 and a 37" LG full HD 1080 but i have heard not all programmes are in HD and/or 1080 is this true? As it is we thought we would have it on the LG tele but this is not in our main room and is slightly smaller but is 1080 but then would we see the difference in picture quality in the 2 tv's. We are confused and need to decide by Tuesday we have also thought we could swap the tv's if it would definitely make a difference in 1080 or 720.
Just to let you know we have a playstation3 on the 1080 and we think it makes a big difference to the picture but we are no experts.
Thanks in advance.

Esqui

The HD programs from Sky are broadcast in 1080i (1080p "full" HD would require too much bandwidth). You can change the settings so the box outputs in 720p however.

ellives

Hi

Out of interest, can anyone tell me is there a big difference between HD in 720 and 1080 on Sky HD?

Phantom_Flan_Flinger

ellives wrote: »

Hi

Out of interest, can anyone tell me is there a big difference between HD in 720 and 1080 on Sky HD?

On my 40" Samsung, I can't tell the difference.

moonrakerz

The problem is that there are considerable variations in the quality of the "HD" programmes that are broadcast - not only that, but there are considerable variations within each programme. Plus, the BBC have been ******* about with the bit rate of BBC HD and have thus reduced the quality of the picture - but they say they haven't !!! THEY HAVE !

I would say your best bet is to try both TVs, as there can be considerable differences in performance between hardware when being fed with HD - and SD !
I would also recommend using HDMI for HD and a scart for SD - this can make a big difference to your SD picture.
The best, most consistent HD programme to watch to set everything up is a UK football match on Sky HD - usually very good, picture quality.

Two_Hoots_3

Just because the programme is on the HD channel its not always in HD yesterday some of the sport on HD channels was not actually in HD if you press the i button it confirms this.

almillar

If you want to test the pics between the 2 TVs, then you would be better using the BBC HD channel. Everything on it is HD (1080i, as is all broadcast HD in the UK) so you can be sure you're getting the same quality of picture. You need to balance up the better size against the pixel-for-pixel clarity (and maybe the difference in quality between the 2 sets.
All things being equal, I'd always choose the 1080 set as this mean that you will be dispaling at the broadcast resolution, meaning no scaling has to be done, which really kills clarity. And sit a bit closer!

pippy100

Thanks everyone.
Two Hoots- thanks for clarifying this, i thought this was the case.

Two_Hoots wrote: »

Just because the programme is on the HD channel its not always in HD yesterday some of the sport on HD channels was not actually in HD if you press the i button it confirms this.

almillar wrote: »

If you want to test the pics between the 2 TVs, then you would be better using the BBC HD channel. Everything on it is HD (1080i, as is all broadcast HD in the UK) so you can be sure you're getting the same quality of picture. You need to balance up the better size against the pixel-for-pixel clarity (and maybe the difference in quality between the 2 sets.
All things being equal, I'd always choose the 1080 set as this mean that you will be dispaling at the broadcast resolution, meaning no scaling has to be done, which really kills clarity. And sit a bit closer!

Thanks almillar. I think this is what i will have to do. Would it make a difference with the full HD tv being in 1080p and not 1080i, which is what sky hd is in?

Phantom_Flan_Flinger

pippy100 wrote: »

Would it make a difference with the full HD tv being in 1080p and not 1080i, which is what sky hd is in?

It won't make any difference for Sky HD.