Sky hd - is it worth it?

Ice_2

there's BBC HD sky one hd...channel 4 hd...sky movies hd...why say the bbc are abit behind when its been there for a while...I don't understand some people...why buy a hd tv if your not going to watch hd content...it's like buying a car to get around then use your bike....

Ice_2

as far as I have found out 1080p is for the PS3 blu-ray....no broadcasts are in 1080p just 575/720p/1080i...

BigBouncyBall

Ice wrote: »

there's BBC HD sky one hd...channel 4 hd...sky movies hd...why say the bbc are abit behind when its been there for a while...I don't understand some people...why buy a hd tv if your not going to watch hd content...it's like buying a car to get around then use your bike....

But the content broadcast on those channels is not true HD, it's upscaled at best. Trust me almost everything is being shot in digibeta still, shooting and producing in true HD is incredibly expensive. Big budget productions (sport, discovery channel documentaries) can manage it, but TV producers go white when they hear suggestions of filming in HD.

Standard definition is still a very good format - colours are better in SD than in the so-called HD being produced at the moment.

Conor_3

donnajunkie wrote: »

firstly if your tv isnt the full 1080 hd then it is certainly not worth it.

Utter tosh. Even 720p is a vast improvement over SD. Unless you've got a TV larger than 42", you'll have all hell on telling the difference between 1080i and 1080p.

PeteHerts

I believe the specialist channels like Geographic HD are filmed in HD and you can see the difference opposed to watching the films in HD.
I bought my Sky HD box brand new from a Sky dealer from eBay for £180 around 6 months ago which was £120 cheaper thank Sky wanted to charge me and if you already have Sky+ then it's easy to set up the box on your own.
If you don't then again it's easy to get a quad LNB and the extra cables and connectors to do it yourself (I did this so my mum could have my old Sky+ box).

BigBouncyBall

Conor wrote: »

Utter tosh. Even 720p is a vast improvement over SD. Unless you've got a TV larger than 42", you'll have all hell on telling the difference between 1080i and 1080p.

It's not really as simple as saying 1080p is ''better" than 1080i. They're different formats for different situations. 'p' is for the film look (sort of - there are many factors that contribute to the film look) where as 'i' allows higher frame rates and give a more 'video' feel.

you wouldn't want to watch some things in 'p'

jackieb

My husband thought there was no point in buying a big HD ready TV if you weren't going to get HD. It really is fantastic, but i'm a bit miffed Sky still charge a tenner for it. Mine is a 1080i and I can't see a problem with it.

roddydogs

turbobob wrote: »

Nothing is broadcast in 1080p (p=progressive) though. All HD broadcasts are in 1080i (i=interlaced) which any TV with the HD Ready logo can show.

No they cant, a 720p set is HD ready, but it cant show 1080i, it must be, either 1080i, or whats called "Full"HD which is 1080p, this refers to the DISPLAYED resulution, NOT what the TV can accept.
Any decent HD set (not usually the "Cheapies") will upscale the normal SD signal well and look better than a non HD set.

Conor_3

BigBouncyBall wrote: »

It's not really as simple as saying 1080p is ''better" than 1080i. They're different formats for different situations. 'p' is for the film look (sort of - there are many factors that contribute to the film look) where as 'i' allows higher frame rates and give a more 'video' feel.

You're completely wrong. It's got nothing to do with what situation it's used for and everything to do with the cost of the panel. 1080p costs a lot more because it requires far more bandwidth and VRAM due to the massive jump in the pixel count. Basically, the cheaper more widely available chips can handle 1080i fine.

Considering pretty much everything is recorded at 24FPS (Cinema) or 25FPS(Broadcast TV), having higher framerates is irrelevent.

You may want to go do some research...

BenL

If you are a sport fan it is def worth it.

Superleague, footie, guiness premiership all look great.

Daytona 500 was HD as well.

I now find myself looking at the HD channels in the EPG (there is a seperate one for Sky HD boxes) and seeing if anything is on.

None HD channels don't get that much of a look in. HD snob now.

Concerts look amazing. BBC HD channel has Glastonbury programs and Later with Jools Holland etc.

The Queen with Paul Rodgers on Sky Arts HD is a great concert in HD as well - the detail is amazing and from 2005.

Sky are now pumping money into old films e.g Zulu and original italian Job to get them upgraded to HD.

Channel 4 have at least 1 movie in HD a week, usually on a Sunday.

If you have a large TV, mine is 37 Inch so medium to large the difference is easy to see. You start to need HD to fill the screen properly at a good resolution. ITV looks appauling so I pretty much avoid the channel these days.

Looking forward to F1 (hopefully in HD next year) on BBC HD.

Discovery HD, National Geo HD and History HD all look great and the documentaries draw you in.

The HD box has Sky+ and anytime built in as well as another bonus. You also get HD programs and films downloaded to anytime as it knows your box type so you are not having to watch SD anytime when the program is in HD.

My friend came around as was v impressed when I switched between the scart output and HDMI for the same show when paused.

"It was like changing from light to dark"

I'm happy with the service and combined with my sky credit card for rebate points it works out well.

Triple play as wellif required with free sky broadband and phone stuff if you are in their area of service.