SkyHD

[Clstrphbc_donut]

Sorted getting my SkyHD last night (only went for it due to a staff offer from work), and I'm just wondering can you use HDMI from the SkyHD box to the TV as I would hate to have to keep switching componant cables between the HD box and my XBox 360?

Also, would they provide the HDMI cable as I know these can be quite costly?

And again, last question, is it true the HD box upscales non-HD channels?

Cheers.

[burble]

Yep, you can use HDMI and the box does come with a cable. From what I remember the cable is about 1m long.

I'm not sure if it upscales or not, I think not but I could be wrong.

[bigblue]

Originally Posted by Clstrphbc_donut

I'm just wondering can you use HDMI from the SkyHD box to the TV

Yup.

Also, would they provide the HDMI cable as I know these can be quite costly?

They do, and they're not really that costly, unless you buy from the high street. You can get them for pennies from Ebay, or if you're worried about the quality (needn't be really) you can get a branded one for under a tenner from Play or Amazon.

And again, last question, is it true the HD box upscales non-HD channels?

Yup, but whether or not you'll use it depends on your TV. A lot of sets on the market now upscale far better than the SkyHD box. You can either force output in 1080i, 720p, or automatic, which outputs SD without upscaling and is what many people choose.

The HD box is great for illustrating the difference between HD and SD. BBC HD has awesome picture quality. Sky Movies HD 1&2 are right next door to their SD brothers, and the SD ones even have a slight delay, so it's very handy for comparison purposes, being able to watch the same clip

[andyr300]

i want sky HD, any news of a price cut yet?

[ikonia]

nope - I'd love it, but cost of box + £10 per month for about 6 channels is not worth it.

[Sinizter]

Im going to get Sky in my new flat, but cant justify paying for the HD atm.

[andyr300]

its very annoying,i have seen it and its excellent for sports/movies...but just cant justify the extra cost.i guess its the same as sky+ which u used to have to pay extra for,hopefully HD wil go the same way soon aswel.

[ikonia]

nope HD is the buzz, no freebies for a LONG time.

I could handle the one of payment for the box, but I refuse to add another £10 per month to the pot when I'm already paying £50 per month

[bigblue]

It is a pain that you have to pay extra subs as well as shell out for the box, but I'm happy enough. Well, just now anyway, maybe won't be when the novelty wears off and all I'm watching is repeats of that mad snake-bothering fella

If you're a sports fan it's well worth it though. I've even managed to watch 10 mins of cricket on the odd occasion, just to marvel at the PQ ;D

[Lexeus]

I think you need to way up how much you watch tv against the cost.

£120 a year is what it will cost you to go HD tv. Plus another £150 to £300 for the box. But then compare that to the other option for HD of buying a Blu-ray or HD-dvd player. If you buy a standalone unit it will cost you the same as the Sky HD box, and then you will have to spend atleast something in the region of £120 a year to buy films and make it worth buying the box.

I think either way you are looking at a minimum outlay of £300-£400 just to get some limited HD to watch.

I don't think it's worth that much to me at the moment, not over my upscaling Samsung DVD player, not even for my HD 1.8m screen projector


Am tempted by a Xbox360 HD-dvd drive though, for under £100 that is definitely the best option to go HD at the moment

[ikonia]

Yes, this is all the disspointing stuff.I had Sky HD for free for 3 months when it first came out as one of the "test users", after that it went onto a paying contract for 12 months. But as there was utterly NO content other than the BBC HD test card I kicked up enough of a stink to take it away.

Now if I wanted it back I'd have to pay £200 for the box, no problem, £30 installation fee, no problem as there is work involved, £10 a month to watch the same channels I'm already paying for in better quality, surly if the better quality is available they should be transmitting it to people who subscribe to those channels and have paid for the kit for free.

eg: if you pay for say the movie channels only, and then pay for sky HD, you only get 3 HD channels the 2 movies and Sky one (I'm sure there are others) where as if I pay £50 for all the channels and then £10 per month for HD I'll get say 10 channels in HD - so the £10 is basiclly just a HD tax, not anything to do with the cost of transmitting / channel subscription / admin cost etc etc etc.

I'm happy to pay for kit, but just not £10 a month for a small selection of the same channels that I'm already paying £50 a month for

[Clstrphbc_donut]

Thanks for the replies.

It's cost me £150 for the box, and £41 per month for Sky World (6 channel mix, Sports & Movies) and multi-room.

Split between 2 thats only £20 (approx) a month so I'm happy with that, the half price subscription though stops after 12 months which is when I think I will cancel unless the price drops.

[ikonia]

thats not a bad deal when split between 2

[Ap0c666]

How many HD channels are there now? If its below 12 i just cant justify the price :\

[bigblue]

It's fair to say there aren't many channels, but there is however a decent amount of content.

In an average week there'll be enough HD shows that I want to watch that the lack of channels isn't really a major issue. I can watch one or two footy matches, a few movies, and some Beeb, Sky One and Discovery stuff. With the box recording through the night, it's very rare that I'm stumped for something HD to watch.

I am a bit of an AV geek though, so I can re-watch stuff like Aquarivision, Great British Summer, and a few others, just for drool at the PQ

There's only a few other channels that I'd really like in HD. Sci-fi, E4, Motors TV, and one or two others would be good. As would the terrestrial channels, but then that's not really Sky's issue.

[ikonia]

thats the point though, a lot of the content on the HD channels isn't HD content, its just the normal program run through some sort of upscale process.

There is only a few (BBC being a good example) TV shows displayed in native HD format.