[Stuart Wright]

...is in podcast number 4 downloadable now from www.avforums.com/podcast/

[the porter]

im just listening to it now not got to the telewest bit is it good news i dont want to listen

[Tarbat]

Originally Posted by the porter

im just listening to it now not got to the telewest bit is it good news i dont want to listen

Jump to chapter 26 in iTunes.

[the porter]

ive lstened to it now it didnt really tell me anything i didnt allready know, mind you he stated that the april update would still go ahead, to fix the hdmi left shift but still no concrete news on the world cup

[KableMan]

Well he said as much as he could pre-signed deals and I think he gave some pretty heavy hints. Admittedly a definitive announcement would have been great but he seemed to be saying as much as he could.

I also thought it did confirm that Telewests approach with VOD will allow them to offer more freeview HD content sooner than say Sky as they can show individual programmes from the likes of the BBC, ITV, Channel 5, Channel 4 and their own Living TV. As he said many providers don't have enough HD content to fill an entire channel but this streaming on demand approach coupled with effectively unlimted bandwidth will allow them to build up their HD content. Also as most of this stuff will likely be freeview it won't affect the premiums.

I thought it was good that he confirmed why they'd decided to go with MPEG2 also - there have been posts about that wrongly saying it meant their HD PQ would be inferrior but as he said they are not limited by bandwidth so why risk MPEG4.

The only thing I didn't agree with was the decision not to state whether or not the programme is upscaled SD or genuine HD or the resolution. I think passing off upscaled SD as HD no matter how good the quality is misleading and surely contravenes some form of trades description? What's the big problem with a little graphic or notice briefly at the begining? It won't spoil my enjoyment or make me switch off but not doing so will always make you question the quality of what you're watching. Sky are going to do this so Telewest MUST re-consider their decison.

However, apart from that slight issue, I for one was pleased by what I heard.

Thanks to everyone at AVForums involved for bringing us the interview - I hope you'll continue to keep them on their toes

Cheers
KableMan

PS. I now have TVDrive and the SD PQ is excellent - in fact I'm amazed at the difference! although HDMI does show up the over compressed poorer quality channels but it's still much brighter, sharper and the colours are richer and more vibrant IMO. The left shift isn't too bad on my SP50L7HX and even the 4:3 bars are bearable - once you get into the show you don't notice them anymore - although watching anything letterboxed on 4:3 is a bit of a joke!!

I've only had a chance to watch a bit of Pride and those bits were on the whole excellent

[Mike_CA]

Originally Posted by KableMan

I thought it was good that he confirmed why they'd decided to go with MPEG2 also - there have been posts about that wrongly saying it meant their HD PQ would be inferrior but as he said they are not limited by bandwidth so why risk MPEG4.

I think he is correct. Actually it is debated by some that the PQ of MPEG4 is not currently quite as good as MPEG2. It has been indicated that Blue-Ray movies will initially be in MPEG2 and eventually move to MPEG4 when they believe that PQ is the same. However, we are splitting hairs as I don't think that the average person could tell the difference.

[KevinPedrick]

Mid-April update still going ahead..?

We've just passed mid-April and no update yet :-(

[Mr Cole]

Originally Posted by KevinPedrick

Mid-April update still going ahead..?

We've just passed mid-April and no update yet :-(

I was thinking just the same thing!! I've got a funny feeling we're all being fobbed off and I'm not impressed.

I'd like the left shift issue fixed and I'd like the ability to stretch 4:3 so it fills up my screen (the same as my original Telewest box done!!) At the moment I'm viewing via scart due to the issues which is crap really. The whole point of me upgrading was to view via HDMI when the HD stuff starts coming through.

Come on Telewest, sort it out!!

[meltonboy]

I chased TW yesterday and the customer technical team still dont have a date.

Whilst the left shift issue will be in the update (see various postings), i dont think that screen aspect manipulation will be included quite yet (see podcast).

And why no more films on the HD Teleport ?

Surely it must be easy enough to have a selection on there ?

Sin City came and then went before i watched it

[KevinPedrick]

Yeah, I'm very disapointed by the lack of HD films, and how the only one came and went. Why couldn't it have been left up..? Hopefully there will be more in the future.

Perhaps it was a trial to check the current market for HD. I wonder how many TVDrives are actually hooked up to HD screens..? Mine was the fourth the engineer had installed and his first onto an HD TV.

[Booger]

I'd like the ability to stretch 4:3 so it fills up my screen

Me too, and yes I read that it is a supposedly a complex issue and it probably won't be in the next fix. Well I think that's just telewest B/S, the real problem is they never thought about about it before it became an issue.

And it's not just 4/3 stuff that doesn't fill the screen, all the music channels also fail to fill the screen, and I think they started shooting music video's in 16x9 with Duran Duran's Rio, so what the hell are they doing ??

I like the picture quality in Pride (fantastic), but the other HD programs are rubbish quality, usually worse than TV, which is admittedly pretty good quality.

So I have paid 50 squid, and an extra 10 a month, for one decent hd show, and a box full of bugs. If the April (going on May) update doesn't fix things, it's going back !

O and that screen aspect ratio thing will hurt peoples plasma's, anyone not ultra carefull is going to have a bad case of screen burn !

[MilesH]

Even with a very good standards upconvertor, HD content that was originally SD is not going to look like original HD (like Pride) ... ever. I suspect that once the niggles are sorted we'll all be enjoying great HD.

Anybody know what's happening about 5.1?

[Bobrinsky]

I've had digital TV from Telewest for years now and finally, about three weeks ago, got upgraded to TV Drive and HD - which I've been gagging for since seeing a mindblowing demo two years ago. I'm connecting to a 28" Hitachi LCD via scart (for the SDTV) and HDMI lead to the TV's DVI socket for HDTV - via a QED m/f HDMI/DVI converter (£20) - with sound going from two phono plugs to a minijack on the TVs rear. I would have preferred an optical audio connection, but my set has neither that nor coaxial.

So how is it? With an eye to the future, I'm very pleased. But the HD on-demand selection is pants, and seems to be entirely upsampled from SD. I've watched six or seven different offerings and, while Pride is reasonably good, the others are all old BBC nature, science and medicine shows that were not shot in HD and don't look like they were either. The clarity and almost 3D vibrancy of a real HD picture should blow your socks off, but these shows are barely distinguishable from SDTV, an impression made all the stronger by the huge improvement TV Drive has made to my SD picture.

That's right. Since my digital box was replaced by a TV Drive box, and the installer set the colour to RGB (rather than component) my underperforming Hitachi LCD has suddenly produced fabulous SDPQ. The gap between that and the totally sub-standard HDPQ will remain minimal until they offer us some real HDTV footage. It sounds like that will pick up enormously in the coming months, and I can't wait.

The two tuners in the TV Drive box (and Sky+ style recording menu) are also a real blessing. I used only to be able to watch what I was recording via the old box. Now I can record two channels while watching a third.

In short, I'm really pleased that I upgraded, but Telewest urgently need to get some real HD programmes out there - if they want current customers to be able to demo they joy of HDTV to their friends.