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Satsearching
08-07-2008, 02:38 AM
Not sure the best place to ask this this, but as HD feeds are still limited in the UK (and not wanting to pay sky's prices) I thought this was the best section to ask.

Going back some years, I had a Ferguson bmac srb1 converted to dmac2. The picture quality was VERY impressive but not HD. Still very impressive though!

I guess there are a lot of peeps like me that have a tv capable of HD but don't have a HD feed to put in it.

Is current HD really that good? is there really a noticable difference? Should we all rush out and get a HD sat box?

SS

little_pob
08-07-2008, 08:41 AM
Best way of telling if you'll appreciate HD content is to connect your PC to your HD ready TV. VGA/D-Sub is the most common, but some people find it a bit washed out and prefer DVI/HDMI.

Grab some HD content and watch it on your TV. If you want legal content but cannot find any, try the HD trailers over at Apple - Movie Trailers (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. and 1080p available).

NB do not use S-video or composite to connect, they are only able to carry resolutions upto 576p.

DessertDog
08-07-2008, 08:49 PM
From what i have seen on BBC HD Preview i would say yes it is worth it but there still is very little HD content that i can find on the freesat.I have also scanned in none freesat mode loads of channels but again a few only in HD.
Itv dont show the HD logo like BBC do i dont know why.
I already had a sky sat that was removed from next door when they moved in so i only had to buy a HD Box and i went for the Humax seems to be one of the better boxes around so far.
Hope this helps you m8

Animemike
08-07-2008, 09:29 PM
better in everyway than the old Res

so yes ofc

question is ,is it worth it too you

lincsat
09-07-2008, 03:00 AM
Luxe HD is the best PQ of the FTA HD Channels, some of the BBC content is a little disappointing.

sega
14-07-2008, 10:56 PM
the bigest let down for far is itvhd or should i say lack of it (now the euro footballs over), anyway i would say freesat will be big well worth getting into and there will be alot more HD channels soon

TopGun
15-07-2008, 02:04 PM
I had HD for around a year and never felt it was worth having only when more channel switch to HD.

aldo2332
15-07-2008, 04:02 PM
if you want to wait a bit longer which is what I intend on doing rumour is that by the end of this year there will be at least 11 fta HD channels. Im looking into it at the mo but not rushing into buying a HD box.

Rat
14-09-2008, 07:13 PM
HD is well worth it :)
I havent read anywhere on the net that there is an expected 11 HD channels on freesat by the end of the year

next HD channel that is expected is 4HD early next year

thelostone
15-09-2008, 12:26 PM
From the little bit of hd programing that there is at the mo i would say yes, it makes a big difference on my panny.But as for weather or not you should go out and by a hd box to be honest i would say no not yet mate.The main reason i brought my box was for the recording functions in it,the fact that i can watch bbc1 hd is a plus.There have been a few films/programs that were good in hd not forgeting the 5.1 sound but nothing that i would say is worth going out and buying a hd box not untill there is more hd programs hope this helps

rigga
21-09-2008, 03:39 PM
in ym opinion its worth nothing as the channels on offer are shambles

jassian
24-09-2008, 12:41 AM
As a test, go to John Lewis and watch a HD channel running at 1080p for 5 minutes on a decent HD TV e.g. Sony KDL40W4000. Then on the same TV watch Freeview which is not HiDef at the moment. You will notice a huge difference. Your eyes and mind will feel rested after watching the HD channel because it has to do less to process the image than standard res. Try it and see...

southernpimp
09-10-2008, 07:17 PM
yes hd is worth it. I wish every channel was in hd.

gotyisbest
02-07-2009, 07:52 AM
I think HD TV is for you if you got an xbox 360 or PS3, since the game is hd compatible, it will be more realistic for the game play

dx100-uk
02-07-2009, 01:15 PM
what annoys me the most on freesat etc is the bitrate of the HD content is not HD anyhow,
the prog was never filmed that way.
TBH: i find it a big letdown.

luckly got it for free when my tv went down & the replacemet had HD freesat built in.

dx

DessertDog
02-07-2009, 01:34 PM
Just noticed on freesat horse and country has gone scrambaled Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr i used to watch that as for HD still the same HD content as was there 9 months ago No Increase as yet

krazylegz
02-07-2009, 02:10 PM
yes i think HD is superb.

i have sky HD and its quality, i can see the difference when i watch a football match on sky sports 1 then flick it to sky sports HD, its a few seconds behind but quality is amazing, see the edge of each player very clear, vibrant green grass.....much much better

dx100-uk
02-07-2009, 04:01 PM
Just noticed on freesat horse and country has gone scrambaled Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr i used to watch that as for HD still the same HD content as was there 9 months ago No Increase as yet


no it hasnt
we though that.

just scan again
and on our box it comes back ok.
but its at the end if the list
the old one doesn't work no>

dx

gotyisbest
03-07-2009, 10:40 PM
so do you think it is worth buying it now?

thelostone
05-07-2009, 09:45 AM
so do you think it is worth buying it now?
That depends on what you have,sky hd yes freesat maybe vm no

skiv100
05-07-2009, 01:20 PM
For me, HD is worth it but not worth lots of hassle.
just wait for a natural replacement and you will appreciate it more.

revird
09-12-2009, 06:15 PM
in the end it probably depends on the screen size.(and how close you sit,nose against screen,lol)

Sicilian
09-12-2009, 07:09 PM
I recently had Sky+HD installed as I upgraded to a HD plasma, wow what a differance, HD channels are superb!

Satsearching
10-12-2009, 09:10 PM
Since I first started this thread, I bought a coolstream HD box, I only properly hooked it up to my front room telly last week, and I have to say HD does make a huge difference!

Switching from Luxe TV normal to Luxe HD really shows a difference.

SS

pande_monium
16-12-2009, 04:43 PM
Have had a HD Telly for ages, but the only signal I watched on HD was the PS3 BlueRay movies/games & Freeview (prob not HD, but darned good nevertheless!).

TV channels were from the DM600 to the TV via a ?120 Scart cable (fairly decent signal, but not HD by far!).

Just recently went all the way and got myself a V+ box... to get the HD channels... the difference in video clarity is stunning.

rigga
09-06-2012, 11:13 PM
i would say hd in my opinon is worth it but it all down to personal preference to be honest , what would you be wanting the hd set up for exactly would it be sports purpose as in when the matches are in hd on itv and bbc channels?

sparkyh
11-06-2012, 11:53 PM
I have a Humax HD receiver, and to be honest, only really notice the difference when watching football in HD.

bantam79
12-06-2012, 12:25 AM
I think I was like many people when high definition first came on to the scene, and I was happy with the reception I was receiving. The turning point for me was watching sports for the first time in the improved format. To see every blade of grass, and every bead of sweat was a revelation for me and I would not go back now!

ascendancy
12-07-2012, 02:08 AM
If you watch HD and then flick to the normal channel.. the difference is massive. HD is worth it.. The sooner they do the digital x-over the sooner we can get more HD channels

cactikid
22-07-2012, 12:38 PM
remember even though it says hd ,is it hd ready or full hd and how many hdmi inputs does it have.pictures on hd tvs can vary from make to make and when panning from side to side stop/start not smooth.

jetset
11-10-2012, 12:27 AM
wot i dont get is...........why dont freeview put on tasters of a few mins to show people wot they're missing....it must be possible and would encourage more??

little_pob
16-10-2012, 05:25 PM
wot i dont get is...........why dont freeview put on tasters of a few mins to show people wot they're missing....it must be possible and would encourage more??It's not possible...

On freeview, the SD channels are broadcast in MPEG2 whilst HD are broadcast in MPEG4. The older, DVB-T tuners are not able to decode MPEG4, so are unable to display HD channels.

Even if you were to broadcast HD in MPEG2 at best the feed would be downscaled to SD, at worst the TV would give a blank screen, due to the lack of an HDCP connection from the tuner to the set.

cactikid
18-10-2012, 12:54 AM
that sucks only on sd lol,even ireland and their new saorview service is in mpeg4 and 1 hd channel called rte2hd,did i not hear uk maybe changing to mpeg4 later as they made a mistake on mpeg2?

little_pob
18-10-2012, 05:34 PM
that sucks only on sd lol,even ireland and their new saorview service is in mpeg4 and 1 hd channel called rte2hd,did i not hear uk maybe changing to mpeg4 later as they made a mistake on mpeg2?
Not a mistake per-se. Rather a limitation of the older DVB-T standard that we've used since 1998, with the inception of the now defunct ONditigital subscription service. (The DVB-T2 was only ratified in 2008.)

You need to bare in mind the limited space in the UK's spectrum licensed for terrestrial boradcast when I say that instead of simulcasting the same content in MPEG2 and MPEG4, SD content is broadcast in MPEG2. Fortunately DVB-T2 tuners can decode MPEG2 as well as MPEG4/H264.

Last I heard the plan to move the whole lot to MPEG4 was actually because MPEG4's better compression ratio will allow more channels. But this won't occur until the number of DVB-T2 tuners hits a certain point (though, I forget what the figure is).

congo181
21-11-2012, 01:46 AM
I know this post is quite old but I thought i'd chip in.

I have a freesat tv and this gives HD channels. HD definitely comes into its element when you're viewing nature or sport programmes. The colours are crisper and the quality of slow motion wildlife comes almost jumps out at you.

HD is definitely the way forward!