Star Wars/LOTR films on Sky HD again ?

zamwessell · 16-11-2009, 10:38 PM

Does anyone know if Sky plan to show the Star Wars and Lord Of The Rings films in HD again?

Most of them were on my old Sky HD box which developed a fault.

I remember the picture quality being superb.

I would really love to see the extended editions of LOTR in HD too.

Seems like we will be waiting for a few years for any Bluray releases of any of these films.

pdoherty76 · 17-11-2009, 12:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zamwessell

Does anyone know if Sky plan to show the Star Wars and Lord Of The Rings films in HD again?

Most of them were on my old Sky HD box which developed a fault.

I remember the picture quality being superb.

I would really love to see the extended editions of LOTR in HD too.

Seems like we will be waiting for a few years for any Bluray releases of any of these films.

ITV HD are currently half way through showing all 6 of the star wars films in HD, so it is unlikely sky will show them in the near future.

Coffin · 17-11-2009, 9:11 AM

Bit more info here re the ITV 'HD' broadcasts

badkarma · 17-11-2009, 4:15 PM

LOTR discussed earlier in the year here....

http://www.avforums.com/forums/hd-tv...-rings-hd.html

zamwessell · 17-11-2009, 4:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by badkarma

LOTR discussed earlier in the year here....

http://www.avforums.com/forums/hd-tv...-rings-hd.html

Ok,thanks.

pdoherty76 · 18-11-2009, 3:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coffin

Bit more info here re the ITV 'HD' broadcasts

Point?

I only posted that ITV HD were showing them to let the OP know that sky wouldn't be showing them anytime soon. That is what he asked

I watched the 3rd one on ITV and the quality was very good. Just far too many adverts

Coffin · 18-11-2009, 3:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdoherty76

Point?

I only posted that ITV HD were showing them to let the OP know that sky wouldn't be showing them anytime soon. That is what he asked

I watched the 3rd one on ITV and the quality was very good. Just far too many adverts

I don't know what you are saying. I linked the ITV thread as the OP said I remember the picture quality being superb for his SkyHD recordings, which sadly the ITV ones generally aren't.

pdoherty76 · 19-11-2009, 2:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coffin

I don't know what you are saying. I linked the ITV thread as the OP said I remember the picture quality being superb for his SkyHD recordings, which sadly the ITV ones generally aren't.

Most ITV films are very good quality. Apparently Phantom menace has looked poor every time ITV have shown it and it is the only one of the prequel trilogy not filmed on HD video. I think they must have a poor digital master.

The main complaint against ITV is the aspect ratio and lack of 5.1. Picture quality has often been better than BBC HD.

Many people, including sky users, said that King Kong on ITV HD was the best example of broadcast HD they had ever seen.

I watched Revenge of the sith on ITV HD and it was the first time I had ever seen it. The amount of adverts and the news break was extremely irritating but the quality was excellent. I don't have a surround system as most people don't so 5.1 isn't an issue.

Paul_T · 19-11-2009, 2:14 PM

Having watched the Star Wars film on Sky HD I wasn't all that impressed by the new films - the older films looked the best of the bunch, Jedi in particular in my eyes.

LOTR was on C4 HD only a few weeks ago so doubt it'll be re-screened anytime soon.

badkarma · 20-11-2009, 9:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul_T

LOTR was on C4 HD only a few weeks ago so doubt it'll be re-screened anytime soon.

Not in HD though, just up-scaled unfortunately

pdoherty76 · 21-11-2009, 4:24 PM

The original star wars film, digitally remastered, is about to start on ITV HD.

Never seen a HD or remastered version before, so looking forward to it.

Woody26 · 21-11-2009, 5:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdoherty76

The original star wars film, digitally remastered, is about to start on ITV HD.

Never seen a HD or remastered version before, so looking forward to it.

Don't look too bad, just adverts and no 5.1 to put up with!

badkarma · 21-11-2009, 9:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Woody26

Don't look too bad, just adverts and no 5.1 to put up with!

And the wrong aspect

pdoherty76 · 22-11-2009, 9:06 AM

We can't complain about adverts, it is how ITV is funded.

If you don't want to watch them then you want something for nothing.

At least ITV don't charge you a subscription PLUS adverts like most sky channels do.

Jackass · 22-11-2009, 9:20 AM

If all the movies are upscaled, whats wrong with the DVD versions?!

Just get your dvd player to upscale them to your 1080p screen

ITV HD/C4 HD = Crap!

pdoherty76 · 22-11-2009, 1:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jackass

If all the movies are upscaled, whats wrong with the DVD versions?!

Just get your dvd player to upscale them to your 1080p screen

ITV HD/C4 HD = Crap!

ITV HD shows NO upscaled content. In fact that is one of the reasons I like their red button service because you know you are getting true HD if you get the red button.

Only channel 4 HD upscale because they have a full time channel.

ozzzy189 · 22-11-2009, 6:29 PM

why was star wars shown in the wrong aspect ratio on itvhd ? it was never that ratio, it should've been shown in cinemascope surely ?

Coffin · 23-11-2009, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdoherty76

We can't complain about adverts, it is how ITV is funded.

If you don't want to watch them then you want something for nothing.

At least ITV don't charge you a subscription PLUS adverts like most sky channels do.

I've just noticed your avatar. Do you work for ITV(HD)?

johny1980 · 23-11-2009, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdoherty76

ITV HD shows NO upscaled content. In fact that is one of the reasons I like their red button service because you know you are getting true HD if you get the red button.

Only channel 4 HD upscale because they have a full time channel.

doesnt stop the picture being crap most the time and no flippin 5.1

derek500 · 23-11-2009, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johny1980

doesnt stop the picture being crap most the time and no flippin 5.1

A lot of dramas on ITV HD have been transferred from 16mm film. Which of course the BBC won't do.

Quote:

Moving on to programmes, one of my jobs before we had an HD service was to help production teams deliver their programmes in HD to some of our major co-producers. Very early on, we discovered that no-one would accept Super 16mm film as an HD format. I did a lot of work with post-production facilities to try to come up with a way to make it possible, but there was no compromise: Super 16 was just not HD.

BBC - BBC Internet Blog: How To Start An HD Channel From Scratch

pdoherty76 · 23-11-2009, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coffin

I've just noticed your avatar. Do you work for ITV(HD)?

No I do not work for ITV HD. i like ITV HD and watch most of it's output. Are we not allowed to put things we like in our avatars???

pdoherty76 · 23-11-2009, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by derek500

A lot of dramas on ITV HD have been transferred from 16mm film. Which of course the BBC won't do.

BBC - BBC Internet Blog: How To Start An HD Channel From Scratch

Well the BBC might not do 16mm but they certainly do drop bitrates by 40% and then tell license payers that they are imagining the drop in quality.

ITV HD, particularly on football, now looks vastly superior to BBC HD programmes. The picture quality is truly awful. And bizarrely ITV HD have always transmitted at 10.7Mbps, far lower than the BBC HD old bitrate.

pdoherty76 · 23-11-2009, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johny1980

doesnt stop the picture being crap most the time and no flippin 5.1

The picture is never crap. ITV HD football looks vastly superior to the BBC HD football matches we have had.....all 2 of them.

As for 5.1, hardly worth the bother for a tiny number of ITV HD viewers that have surround systems.

derek500 · 23-11-2009, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdoherty76

The picture is never crap.

Do a search for PQ on Lewis, Marple, Collision, Doc Martin etc. etc. They're all ITV dramas sourced from 16mm film.

You won't find many glowing reports!!

Mind you, for me, still better than watching SD on 103, so I'm not complaining.

pdoherty76 · 23-11-2009, 3:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by derek500

Do a search for PQ on Lewis, Marple, Collision, Doc Martin etc. etc. They're all ITV dramas sourced from 16mm film.

You won't find many glowing reports!!

Mind you, for me, still better than watching SD on 103, so I'm not complaining.

Why would I do a search when I have watched all those shows and found the HD quality perfectly acceptable? There is some grain in these shows but that is no doubt deliberate.

I assume you are watching on a sky box? There are several sky users in the sky hd forum who have been claiming that itv hd looks worse on a sky box than it does on a freesat box. I have no clue if this is the case as i watch on a freesat box and am still waiting for my new epg on the sky box. This could explain what you are saying.

Hopefully I will have the new epg this week and can tune itv hd and do a proper comparison.

johny1980 · 23-11-2009, 3:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdoherty76

The picture is never crap. ITV HD football looks vastly superior to the BBC HD football matches we have had.....all 2 of them.

As for 5.1, hardly worth the bother for a tiny number of ITV HD viewers that have surround systems.

im afraid ive seen plenty of crap picture on itv hd compared to sky etc

no point comparing it to bbc hd as we know thats got pretty crap to

ill admit some of the footie has been ok

youve got the blinkers on mate

im not even gonna argue about your 5.1 comment i cant be bothered

mossym · 23-11-2009, 3:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdoherty76

The picture is never crap. ITV HD football looks vastly superior to the BBC HD football matches we have had.....all 2 of them.

As for 5.1, hardly worth the bother for a tiny number of ITV HD viewers that have surround systems.

and vastly inferior to sky sports, who also transmit in 5.1, despite having an even smaller audience...

pdoherty76 · 23-11-2009, 6:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mossym

and vastly inferior to sky sports, who also transmit in 5.1, despite having an even smaller audience...

I also have sky sports. I will admit, sky sports cannot be faulted for picture quality or quality of coverage. But I don't think there is any significant difference between ITV HD and SKY HD football picture. Although, I do watch ITV HD through a freesat box and many people in the sky hd forum have reported that ITV HD looks much worse through a sky box.

Anyway, a comparison with sky hd isn't really relevant. ITV HD is free at point of use and is cash strapped as we all know. The fact that they give us so much free football is great to begin with. There is no free football on sky channels, that is for sure.

Coffin · 24-11-2009, 9:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdoherty76

No I do not work for ITV HD. i like ITV HD and watch most of it's output. Are we not allowed to put things we like in our avatars???

Yes we are, I was only asking in a polite manner. Chill

mossym · 24-11-2009, 9:13 AM

i have itv-hd through a sky-hd box and through a different box, if there is any difference it is very very minor, and i would argue any quality issues are down to a distinct quality difference between itv and sky. and there is a significant picture quality difference between sky hd and itv hd. i watch on a 108" screen and there is quite a noticeable difference.

the comparison with sky is valid. your point was 5.1 wasn't worth it for the small numbers of itv hd viewers with 5.1 systems. if broadcasters with smaller numbers of viewers think it worthwhile, then that would argue you're mistaken

now you're saying it's because they are cash strapped. that's a completely different argument, but a more plausible one.

i applaud itv hd for their efforts. fair play to them for releasing a hd channel given their financial woes. however to laud them as a shining example of hd is going too far. They are way behind the bbc in terms of output quanitity, but are better at times on picture quality. they are a long way behind sky in terms of both. in fact even fx hd has more hd viewing then itv i would think. these all work from different business models, but financial problems taking into account, itv hd is second best to one of it's counterparts in every field i can think of