[ShinyWarHorse]

Just a quick question please? I'm about to switch to TvDrive from Sky and i'm just wanting peoples opinions on the picture quality via HDMI! I realise the TvDrive upscales and i'm wanting to know if there's a marked improvement in picture? ie nearer to CRT Quality?
Any input appreciated.......Thanks!

[jpow112]

it entirely depends on your TV. I've got a philips 37pf9830.

The upscaled SD tv does look very good. I have a basic Sky+ as well, and the picture on that is much softer, with less detail. They may however be different bit-rates.

So basically, yes, it is a better picture, IF your TV shows it.


John

[meltonboy]

SD from TV Drive/HDMI is much better than SD from Scart from the old cable box, especially newer SD shows.....

[ShinyWarHorse]

Thanks for input......

[Budfox88]

Hi there - just a word of advice - make sure you identify which input your Philips TV takes. if it is HDMI, then make sure you inform Telewest to bring one. If not make sure you have the HDMI/DVI cable, and an audio cable to accept the sound. A two phone to 3.5mm jack will do the job.

Cheers

[D@Z]

Ive just switched over from sky and I have to say it is the worst mistake ive made in a long time. The picture quality of my TV Drive connected via hdmi to my HD plasma is garbage compared to my mage old sky box through a scart. I have both still active so can switch between them and the sky is infinitly better. Even the colours appear very washed out from telewest. I'm cancelling tomorrow and going back to sky. Its a shame too because I do really like the telewest tvdrive and all its functions but Im not willing to sacrifice pictue quality to such a vast extent.

[monkeytastic]

Originally Posted by D@Z

Ive just switched over from sky and I have to say it is the worst mistake ive made in a long time. The picture quality of my TV Drive connected via hdmi to my HD plasma is garbage compared to my mage old sky box through a scart. I have both still active so can switch between them and the sky is infinitly better. Even the colours appear very washed out from telewest. I'm cancelling tomorrow and going back to sky. Its a shame too because I do really like the telewest tvdrive and all its functions but Im not willing to sacrifice pictue quality to such a vast extent.

You're kidding, surely? You're saying the upscaled images (ie the ones which are mostly in 4:3) are worse than SD Sky? Nonsense.
I actually logged on to say how infuriated I am with the TV Drive and its slow, temperamental ways, but that is ridiculous. The picture quality is brilliant, but just be aware that it's in 4:3 which takes some getting used to.

[Saldawop]

Watching on my SD Plasma ,TVDrive through HDMI looks great compared to the old Sky Box through RGB Scart.

[proux]

Can I just emphasise the point about 4:3- it means that, whatever settings your TV may have, you will end up watching lots of channels with vertical black panels on both sides of the picture! Not exactly what I expected... Someone in another thread says a fix might be coming, wouldn't mind that at all!

[D@Z]

Originally Posted by monkeytastic

You're kidding, surely? You're saying the upscaled images (ie the ones which are mostly in 4:3) are worse than SD Sky? Nonsense.
I actually logged on to say how infuriated I am with the TV Drive and its slow, temperamental ways, but that is ridiculous. The picture quality is brilliant, but just be aware that it's in 4:3 which takes some getting used to.

Thats EXACTLY what I'm saying, yes. How you can tell me its nonsense from there is completely beyond me. Believe me I have tried for 2 days solid to get a picture out of the tvdrive that even gets close to my old sky box and never once have I managed it with SD. I just watched the footy in HD on my tvdrive because in HD it was very slightly better than sky SD but there wasnt a lot in it. I'm in the process of cancelling this and moving back to standard sky. Everyone told me I was mad to switch and I didnt listen, I guess ive learned the hard way.

Edit: Your also telling me that in this day and age tw are broadcasting channels in 4:3 through a 'HD' box??? What the hell is the point in that, I dont think you can even buy a 4:3 HD tv can you???

[Ambient Fish]

Daz, no offense but there must be something set up not quite correctly, the TV Drive outputs SD in a quality which rivals DVD through component prog scan, before you get rid of the box you could try getting some help, there is no way in a well set up system that the scart output from a Sky plus box is better quality PQ that the TV Drive output through HDMI.

[D@Z]

Originally Posted by Ambient Fish

Daz, no offense but there must be something set up not quite correctly, the TV Drive outputs SD in a quality which rivals DVD through component prog scan, before you get rid of the box you could try getting some help, there is no way in a well set up system that the scart output from a Sky plus box is better quality PQ that the TV Drive output through HDMI.

I've calmed down a bit now lol, I had spent many hours of frustration with it when I posted before.

I know what your saying and it would be my opinion too. I phoned TW to cancel and after 3 loooong sessions on hold and speaking to 4 different people I ended up with a lady who talked me through rebooting and a few other things but nothing improved the PQ through hdmi to anything near as good as the PQ through scart with my old sky box. She then put me on hold again and eventually returned to tell me 'the problem is because I have a plasma screen. TVdrive cant keep up with my screen and so the picture is poor. What I need to do is buy a signal booster and fit it in line between TVdrive and plasma'.

I'm sure I dont need to post my thoughts on this lol.

It pains me because I really like the functions of the TVdrive but I see no alternative but to cancel it a spend a small fotune getting Sky+ or Sky HD fitted.

[proux]

I have also realised after a couple of hours of flicking through channels that the non-HD stuff is WORSE than freeview. West Wing on More4 was so pixelated it was barely watchable- shocking but true! Not allowed dish here, so not sure what to do.

[monkeytastic]

Originally Posted by proukakis

I have also realised after a couple of hours of flicking through channels that the non-HD stuff is WORSE than freeview. West Wing on More4 was so pixelated it was barely watchable- shocking but true! Not allowed dish here, so not sure what to do.

I'm so confused by this. You two MUST have a problem with the set up. The SD picture quality is one of the reasons I am keeping faith with the TVDrive despite the glitches. It looks brilliant, and so far beyond Sky or Telewest through Scart it's unreal. I'm no Telewest fanboy either- for ease of use and speed I find Sky + to be leagues ahead of the TVDrive

[Ambient Fish]

Jeez Daz, I wish I could help here, it seems a shame that for some reason you are not getting the PQ that the TV Drive is capable of delivering. Having had a few frustrating bits of kit that I needed help to get the best from I can completely understand where you are comming from.

I have not had the pleasure of watching TV Drive through a Plasma display but I'm sure that what the TW lady says was complete and utter guff. Before you give up have TW get an engineer out to look at your set up, it's up to them to install the system to your complete satisfaction, persevere mate, the trouble is well worth the effort, I watch more TV now than I ever did and it's all down to the magic box from TW.

[proux]

Originally Posted by monkeytastic

I'm so confused by this. You two MUST have a problem with the set up. The SD picture quality is one of the reasons I am keeping faith with the TVDrive despite the glitches. It looks brilliant, and so far beyond Sky or Telewest through Scart it's unreal. I'm no Telewest fanboy either- for ease of use and speed I find Sky + to be leagues ahead of the TVDrive

I'll play with the settings and ring them monday... but I have to say that the engineer who installed it told me to expect a far WORSE picture on non-HD than their analogie service which I used to have!

[Cable Monkey]

D@z, if your Sky setup offers you better pq than the Telewest one, then go back to Sky because not all displays are equal and not all handle all resolutions equally well. What I would suggest though is comparing the scart output of TVDrive to see if it is also significantly worse than your Sky output. If it is, that would suggest a faulty box. As suggested above, get an engineer out and show him the problem and give him the opportunity to fix it. If he can't then we accept TVDrive has been an inferior experience for you and Sky is an obvious answer.

ps, have you tried the HDMI input with any other kit? It could even be your tv.

[D@Z]

Hi folks, I appreciate your constructive posts despite my earlier rant >.<

Yes m8 Ive tried it through scart. I have had sky on AV1 and TVdrive on AV2 and also the other way around. When I flick between the two the sky is a much better picture. The story is exactly the same when I switch it through hdmi too, I dont think the picture is any different at all through hdmi than scart. The HD pictue looks better but nothing that blows me away. Its also a little jerky when I watch football in HD, almost like a slow frame rate.

Yes ive also used the hdmi socket with my sony hdmi dvd player and that gives awesome results so I tend to think the hdmi socket and the tv are ok. I'm using a decent molex lead too so that should be sound. I think i'll try and get someone to come out and maybe try a different box in there but I worry that if I dont cancel it quickly I'll end up stuck with it like this for a year.

It definitely sounds to me that you have a faulty TVDrive. I am playing Sky+ (Scart), an upscaling Pio 868 DVD and a TV Drive (both DVI) through a 42" Fujitsu plasma and the differences are huge. Picture quality ranks TVDrive HD > Pio DVD = TVDrive SD upscaled > Sky +. Sky + is comfortably the worst PQ although I have not seen any screen give a better Sky+ picture than the Fujitsu. I recommend that you stick with it and try to get it fixed because if set up and working, the results really are worth it.

[Woolybully]

Just had TVdrive installed yesterday and must say PQ is fab via HDMI.I have a 42 inch plasma and to me the picture looks better than Sky's (I currently have both).Maybe a daft question but are your TVdrive settings set to either 720 or 1080p? mine was set to 720 but the resoluton on my telly works best with1080p so you might want to check that.Failing that,I think you may have a faulty box cos the picture should look great.

[Timbo21]

The vast majority of TV Drive users report much better pq than Sky.

I recently have had Sky+ & TV Drive running side by side.

1. Even my wife noticed the improvement via scart to my CRT TV with TV Drive.

2. On my HD projector upscaled SD via HDMI is way better on the TV Drive than SD via scart to component converter on Sky+. Sky movies look practically as good as my £1600 DVD player with TV Drive.

It really does sound like you may have a faulty box.

When I first got mine I got a funny pixelated picture (like low bit rates), which I found remedied itself if I put it in & out of standby. It is really worth getting them to change the box because you may end up with great results. Sky seems a bit primitive now.

[Cable Monkey]

Originally Posted by D@Z

I think i'll try and get someone to come out and maybe try a different box in there but I worry that if I dont cancel it quickly I'll end up stuck with it like this for a year.

The sooner you report it, the sooner your dissatisfaction is registered. Inform them that their response will determine if you keep the box or not and they should respond positively.

[kurt_ego]

Quality of the scart effects the comparison tho. So try the tw using the sky's scart for a good comparison. Although others disagree i feel that the HDMI i brought recently gives me a slightly better pic and genreally feels more quality. Anyway i love my tv drive.. pic is great on my 50" sammy.