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Just been dragged into the 21st century and getting HD installed next week.

Is it any good?

only if you have a hd box or a blu ray player or a ps3/xbox

You're only just getting HD now!? Where have you been?

Should you not have asked this question before you booked the installation?

For the record I find it good you notice the difference more in some content than others.  Sports in particular looks great in HD.

Its a personal thing depending on setup, viewing distance, etc.

For me its good, but not good enough to pay Sky £10 p/m

My cynical side thinks the standard sport channels quality has been reduced somewhat to make the HD channels look much better and be more desirable.
I don't have any HD sports channels (except ESPN which is free with Virgin), but the ESPN sports channel is terrible quality in standard definition and normal quality in HD.

TBH I saw an ad on the back of the Sunday Times offering a free HD Box, free installation and HD channels for 7.50 per month so signed up yesterday.

And with the Euros coming up. . .

It's worth it, trust me.

...and if you don't....

 :guns:

I think its great. Well worth the extra as the difference is big. Until you have it you don't realise really

This could be arranged. I know a gypsy mafia guy.

Definitely makes a difference, particularly for sport. As arriba says you don't realise until you see the difference but stuff like golf, tennis etc where the ball is small I find SD to be almost unwatchable by comparison when I've been watching in HD.

This

That's definitely my perception on Sky.

You can get a Freeview HD box for £27 now. BBC HD and a few others for the price of the box.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/i-Can-GBR2851T-Freeview-Digital-Receiver/dp/B00524YSYS/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1338993499&sr=1-1

Don't forget Sky+HD is only broadcast in 720p, which is not as good as a blu-ray at 1080p. Its worth it in my book, especially if you have a big TV. I think Sky HD is the only way to get 5.1 surround sound too - The standard box didn't have an optical port.

As arriba says, when you can flick between the HD and standard channels side by side, you'll really notice it.

1080i.


The standard Sky+ box did have optical/5.1 out. don't think the ordinary STB did.

This has always been my issue. Yes, flick between and you'll notice, but watch one for any longer than about 60 seconds and you'll be so engrossed in what you're watching it'll not be noticed.

It's like comparing TVs. I have a bag of shit 26" Phillips LCD in my bedroom and a decent enough 46" Panasonic Plasma in my lounge. Yes, you can see the difference in quality, but not after watching one for a few minutes, at least not in a way that makes you miss the other TV.

For balance, I have no sports in HD, so I can't really comment fully. Although I have freeview HD and care not whether I watch MOTD in HD or SD. In fact I often record it in SD out of habit.

Same as, Barry.

Plus recording in SD saves HDD space.

I have a 60" Samsung with an Onkyo upscaling receiver and at this size you definitely notice anything broadcast SD even with 1080P upscaling - at 40" or even 46" the difference is negligible.

What you also notice with HD is the sound difference - HD transmissions are in 5.1 so if you have a receiver and decent speakers there is again a noticeable difference.

The final thing to note is that not all programmes transmitted on the HD channels are recorded in HD (Soccer AM) is/was a classic example so you have to be aware that just because it says HD on the tin, it's not necessarily HD inside it...

I'm not fussed about it tbh, still watch most stuff on BBC, ITV SD rather than switching to HD channels

Why anyone would not watch in HD when they can i don't know? If you can't see the difference or appreciate it then your tv is shit or your eyes are shit.

HD is the dog's bollocks.

The Sky+ HD box is the greatest invention ever.

These two things are an indisputable FACT!

The way some folk go on about it, it's like it should be a life changing experience. It's all a bit meh to me I'm afraid, take it or leave it, I usually leave it

I agree. Sure it's noticeably better, but will it make me enjoy it more? No.

I've watched football on my phone and still enjoyed it. I've also connected my Mac to my tv at 1080p and then watched SkyGo on their highest quality setting - and that is utter gash, to the point SD looks mind blowing.

not life changing but still much better viewing in hd than sd. Why watch in sd when you have hd?

I can't speak for stfcinbmth, but I do it because I often forget to record a program on my TV's recorder, whereas the chances are it'll already be set to record on Sky+. It's not a conscious effort to avoid HD, far from it, it's a case of my indifference meaning I simply overlooked the HD when recording - and sometimes when watching.

I get that but concluded stfcinbournemouth chose sd over hd which is why i asked

A lot of the stuff I watch wouldn't be broadcast in HD. I can't even be arsed to invest in an HD satellite receiver, the one I'd be looking at would be about £450, no it's not Sky thanks. I only got the HD TV because the Sony crt went tits up, if that was still working, I'd still be using it. Aside from all that, I don't watch much TV anyhow.

My eyes must be shit and the tv must be shit, because I really don't think HD is that brilliant, certainly not enough to make me think "Ooooh that looks like a good programme, I must watch it in HD"

You are a retard. I like nice food but I think I'll stick to bread and water, it does the job.

After getting sick of paying £600 a year to sky I decided to drop out and for for a Humax Freesat PVR and to be honest haven't even missed Sky.  On top of that when you select a programme to record on the humax it automatically tells you if there is a HD version available and let's you select it.

For those occasions I want to watch F1 or a football game I use virtual season and stream the programme from my iPad through Apple TV, upscale it to 1080P and watch on the 60" plasma - not pure HD quality but good enough for £30 a year

I'm a retard because I'm not fussed about certain channels on a tv. How funny

Don't be blue stfcbmth, comparing materialistic goods to food and drink is more retarded.

 :)

We are the same, we were paying out £70 a month every month for multiroom and HD and sports and films etc.

We bought the Goodmans Freesat HD and though its not the best make in the world it does the job and for a one off payment of £120, we don't miss sky as any programs take out fancy we download them off the net and all sporting events are free online on one web site or another.......no loss.

I love paying my 80 quid a month to sky, makes me feel good about myself.

Helping pay those rich players wages etc

If you think HD is no better than SD, go and watch the opening sequence to the Dark Knight or the final battle in Avatar on your SD TV, then watch it again in full HD with 5.1 surround sound and see what you're missing out on.

Absofuckinglutely.

Can i also add Casino Royale to this.

Without wishing to appear a little camp, I have to say that the best TV programme, picture quality wise, broadcast in HD is desperate housewives...

uphill gardener

You don't sound a little camp at all.

[url width=275 height=183]http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTbnvvlHv-TKWhRSbYfw7HHexhzY5FnQ5C9_g_K9X89c_zr1PUK[/url]

Just wait until you see the sunflowers as corner flags this year.

Wait til YOU see what I've got lined up for the Divoter's Den or should I say 'Forkers Boudoir'... Talking of which I need to know everyones availability for doing a DIY SOS day (now that I've done all the dirty work...)

Always preferred the term chutney ferret meself

Funny that as they dont release the box sets in Blu ray only on dvd, i only know this as i buy it every year for the Mrs  :girlgiggle: :gay:

I'd say that the internet and TV are now human rights....

So I guess we're getting the full Sky HD package in the den courtesy of STFC?

I think you might be getting a phone call from PDC later today...

I still rock the SD television.

However, if you don't have it, and are therefore not realising, theoretically you could argue you don't need it.  28 inch bog standard telly for me.  To me (and this is very much each to their own) it's a solution to a problem that doesn't exist in my life in the first place.

As am I.

Viva la resistance.

Agreed. I just dont get anyone who wouldn't view it out of choice if they have HD channels

Ah, I see.  Different issue entirely to what I was waffling on about.  Given the choice I'd watch HD - I'm just too tight to pay for anything!

Meaning me of course. I'll talk you through it arriba.

Lie on sofa, switch on tv, select tv guide(usually Freeview, my tv has both), find something not too tedious to watch(hard work), select said programme, select view, select nearest option if it has one. Sorted

So here's a direct comparison between SD and HD taken from simultaneous recording and paused at the same time - bear in mind this is about 1/6 of the total screen shot on my 60" Samsung plasma...

Definition of the sign at the bottom of the stairs is an indication of the quality difference - also zoom in on the pictures as your PC display will only show it in 72DPI so the true difference is really obvious when you do this...

Standard Definition
[url width=640 height=400]http://www.comptonbassett.com/Images/IMG_0619.jpg[/url]

High Definition
[url width=640 height=378]http://www.comptonbassett.com/Images/IMG_0621.jpg[/url]

Crikey -- all those empty seats.

Won't see any of that on Sunday eh Kerry Red??

Not in SD you won't ;)

Seeing as the country continues to be fucked up by corrupt and just downright useless 'politicians', the number of Irish fans in Poznan is amazing.

There was one fella left last Tuesday and thumbed his way to Poznan!

TBH if I was inclined to go to the Euros (which I'm not) then I would have followed Ireland not England - unpatriotic maybe, but who wants to cheer on Terry, Ashley Cole

Got my HD installed today.

Got to say I am very disappointed - looks no different to what I already had

Pissed off

Me.....though i hope Coxy scores a trademark worldy for the Irish later.

My father in  law said the same, then  I discovered he was still watching the SD channel on the HD box and didn't have the HDMI cable fitted either...

Well, as it was installed by a Sky engineer I presume it's all OK

If you are watching the football at the moment you have to be on channel 143 to get it in HD.

What TV do you have?

When we got HD we weren't very impressed. Used to compare the HD channel to the SD channel and saw little difference.

Then my mate told me about a setting change you can do on Sky which makes the TV planner highlight in yellow which HD channel tv shows are actually being shown in HD, as not all of them are.  For example this morning on Sky HD, Brainiac, Stargate SG-1 aren't in HD, however, Safebreakers, Stargate Atlantis is.

Then you could really see the difference. HD's good, worth the little extra I reckon.

This is a good point and one I alluded to earlier in the thread.  

Additionally I am a strong believer that 720p is better than 1080i, especially if you have an HD Ready TV (720 lines) rather than full HD (1080 lines) so depending on what Kerry Red has as a TV and how he has his sky box configured this will make a slight difference as the interlaced (1080i) picture can appear more blurry due to it manipulating the image to fill the gaps between 720 & 1080

 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick: - good one.

The option to highlight native HD can be found under OPTIONS->Customise->HIghlight Programs Originated in HD. The EPG will put native HD in orange.

Anything on a HD channel not in orange will be upscaled by the broadcaster. This is the process of converting SD signals to have enough line to fill a HD TV. Obviously would be done by the Sky Box/TV anyway (like it does for SD channels)  but the broadcaster should be able to do this much better using their £££ broadcast kit.

Anything on an SD channel will need to up converted to fill the HT TV resolution, this is where the SETUP->HD REsolution the McP talks about comes in to play, and the "best" setting depends on the TV you have and is subjective:
        1080i means that HD channels will be displayed as Sky broadcast, and SD channels will be upconverted by the box.
        720p means that HS channels will be downconveted to 720 lines and converted from interlaced to progressive by the box, and SD programs will be upconverted to 720p by the box.
        Automatic means HD signals and SD signals are passed to the TV as is. The TV will be responsible for upconverting the SD signals to fill the HD TV, and may downconvert the HD signal from 1080->720 if the TV is not capable of 1080 display.

It is a bit more complicated as most HD Ready sets are 768 lines, meaning the TV stil has to do some conversion from 720->768 if you set the sky box to 720p.

Also you's think the extra lines between 1080 and 720 would make a massive difference, but they don't to my eyes at about 10ft viewing distance!

In short, suck it and see