sky and hd is it going to be any good

My local AV Specialist has been showing footage from HD1 (euro1080), the european HD satelite channel and it is very impressive. If Sky manage to maintain the same level of quality it will be well worth the extra subscription.

[Nick_UK]

Originally Posted by loz

well low quality HD seems to be a contradiction in terms.

Don't know. You can listen to Radio 1 on hi-fi speakers, can't you ?

[DanDT]

Originally Posted by 7tennyson

My local AV Specialist has been showing footage from HD1 (euro1080), the european HD satelite channel and it is very impressive. If Sky manage to maintain the same level of quality it will be well worth the extra subscription.

Yes, i went into some high street shops today and saw lots of HDTVs (LCDs, Plasmas, DLPs) all showing very very crappy aerial feeds. Not even DVDs, aerial stuff. Don't see the point to be honest. And these were big shops, like Ask, Gultronics etc...

Then went into a Sony Centre, and one (just one) of their HDTVs was showing a HD feed. Amazing.

[nobbydog]

But,

How do we, the consumer, decide that our expensive upgrades to a Sky HD box & HD ready panel have been worth the money??? By saying to ourselves when we first take a look "isn't it a much better picture than 'old' Sky". So, to my point, this reaction depends on the noticeable difference betwen SD & HD Sky. One way Sky can broaden the gap in pq would be to slowly reduce the pq of exg Sky until HD launch, slw enough so that us punters do not really notice. I now sit watching the telly thinking "thats a crap picture tonight, I wonder if 'it' has begun"!!!!!!!!!!

[StooMonster]

Originally Posted by 7tennyson

My local AV Specialist has been showing footage from HD1 (euro1080), the european HD satelite channel and it is very impressive. If Sky manage to maintain the same level of quality it will be well worth the extra subscription.

Mine has too, running into a 1280x768 50" Pioneer plasma; which is unfortunate because one can't see the 1080i, only downscaled version of it.

Futhermore, their HD1 decoder macro-blocks too often which makes me think it's not that impressive really.

StooMonster

[Timbo21]

Originally Posted by nobbydog

But,

How do we, the consumer, decide that our expensive upgrades to a Sky HD box & HD ready panel have been worth the money??? By saying to ourselves when we first take a look "isn't it a much better picture than 'old' Sky". So, to my point, this reaction depends on the noticeable difference betwen SD & HD Sky. One way Sky can broaden the gap in pq would be to slowly reduce the pq of exg Sky until HD launch, slw enough so that us punters do not really notice. I now sit watching the telly thinking "thats a crap picture tonight, I wonder if 'it' has begun"!!!!!!!!!!

Since most Sky broadcasts are way below good SD DVD, I wonder how far off
SD DVD will their HD broadcasts be. They might be the same , or only slightly better!

[Stephen Neal]

Originally Posted by Timbo21

Since most Sky broadcasts are way below good SD DVD, I wonder how far off
SD DVD will their HD broadcasts be. They might be the same , or only slightly better!

Well they will be higher resolution, so the compression blocking will at least be smaller!

[Nick_UK]

Originally Posted by DanDT

Then went into a Sony Centre, and one (just one) of their HDTVs was showing a HD feed. Amazing.

That's because you can't distribute HDTV on a daisy-chain of co-ax cables, like you can with an aerial feed. Far beyond the capabilities of even the most "tecchie" of chain-store people

[Stephen Neal]

Originally Posted by Nick_UK

That's because you can't distribute HDTV on a daisy-chain of co-ax cables, like you can with an aerial feed. Far beyond the capabilities of even the most "tecchie" of chain-store people

Indeed - though some chains are installing DVI/HDMI or analogue component distribution amps to allow them to feed multiple displays from a single source.

I think the nightmare for stores is the "source per display" scenario - where people mess around with the BluRayMk1/PC/Japanese STB+HD or Euro1080 sources for each display.

(Can you imagine what it'll be like when Sky HD launches and people re-tune the HD receivers to 4:3 SD low-data rate overcompressed channels...)

[richard plumb]

Originally Posted by Nick_UK

That's because you can't distribute HDTV on a daisy-chain of co-ax cables, like you can with an aerial feed. Far beyond the capabilities of even the most "tecchie" of chain-store people

actually, I'm very impressed with how the big chains are handling HD demos. Comet has a HD source running to 6 HD sets via a HD distribution amp in all of the 3 stores I've been to recently. And on both occasions I've asked to see HD on a nearby set that isn't connected, they've popped round the back and swapped cables. It seems head office sees 'HD Ready' as a great sales opportunity.

and currys have their LG HD wall. The 60" LG plasma with a HD feed is the single best advert for HD I've ever seen. Even though people won't pay £8k for such a crazy big set, they'll buy the smaller versions.

[loz]

Originally Posted by DanDT

Yes, i went into some high street shops today and saw lots of HDTVs (LCDs, Plasmas, DLPs) all showing very very crappy aerial feeds. Not even DVDs, aerial stuff. Don't see the point to be honest. And these were big shops, like Ask, Gultronics etc...

Best get down to comet then.
Amazingly they are usually the best place in town for a wide selection of sets fed with a true HD feed

[cerebros]

Originally Posted by richard plumb

and currys have their LG HD wall. The 60" LG plasma with a HD feed is the single best advert for HD I've ever seen. Even though people won't pay £8k for such a crazy big set, they'll buy the smaller versions.

Is that the one running with the XD engine stuff? Saw this at my local Currys the other day - 1 massive LG plasma - probably the 60" version you're referring to - a 37" LCD and two other screens which i think were both 42" plasmas.

To be honest I couldn't say if the material they were showing (which appeared to be an LG showreel for the XD processing) was HD or well encoded SD that had been "improved" by the sets processing, but it did make me think about considering an LG set when I do upgrade to a HD display

[richard plumb]

Originally Posted by cerebros

Is that the one running with the XD engine stuff? Saw this at my local Currys the other day - 1 massive LG plasma - probably the 60" version you're referring to - a 37" LCD and two other screens which i think were both 42" plasmas.

To be honest I couldn't say if the material they were showing (which appeared to be an LG showreel for the XD processing) was HD or well encoded SD that had been "improved" by the sets processing, but it did make me think about considering an LG set when I do upgrade to a HD display

has to be HD. The 60" was almost pinsharp from a few feet away. No matter how good the SD footage was, it wouldn't have been *that* good.

Still, as you point out, a good advert for LG, and HD in general. Its convinced me to go 37", as HD really benefits from bigger screens.

[cerebros]

Originally Posted by richard plumb

has to be HD. The 60" was almost pinsharp from a few feet away. No matter how good the SD footage was, it wouldn't have been *that* good.

Could just have been a good scaling & detail routine that LG have developed - when I had a JVC DIST set last year I was pretty impressed with the image trickery on that that managed to fool you into thinking there was more detail there than there was.

Still, as you point out, a good advert for LG, and HD in general. Its convinced me to go 37", as HD really benefits from bigger screens.

Well i'm hoping that for the sort of viewing distance I'm likely to have to use 32" will be enough, as anything bigger will start blocking out the daylight from the windows

[Rimmer]

Let me turn around the original question and imagine a best case scenario where Sky offers UK consumers with the best looking 720p and/or 1080i in the world. How many of today's screens would be capable of showing them to their full potential?