Sky Digi questions

Rob100

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Hi,

1) Is the PQ of all Sky Digi boxes the same? I have an old (2yrs approx) Grundig box - would there be any improvement with a newer box?

2) Are there any boxes with 2 x RGB (on AV1 and AV2) and can any Sky boxes do RGB pass(loop) through?

3) How does the PQ of Freeview compare with Sky? I am becoming increasing annoyed by all the MPEG artifacts that Sky shows - even on BBC1, ITV etc. With some programs I am convinced an analogue aerial signal looks better than Sky.

Thanks,

Rob
 
1) More or less. All the digiboxes are based on a single reference design but over the years they have been developed by each manufacturer but I've never read of anyone being able to quantify any differences.
The connections and TV used will affect the PQ more any other factors.
2) No but all digiboxes have RGB pass through.
3) I don't have Freeview although by all accounts the terrestrial channels are broadcast at higher bitrates on DTT with the possible exception of "five", probably because it's cheaper than the equivalent satellite capacity also ITV have little interest in providing a good service on SKY D.
Every channel is responsible for it's own quality on SKY D so it's nothign to do with SKY what other channels look like and ITV and CH4 have had serious problems with broadcasting too many channels in relation to the capacity they have bought.

The best option is to test a DTT box on your own TV for comparison.
 
I think that the older boxes can be slower than the newer ones. There was a thread on here a while back about a bunch of us who have got the pace digibox which came out when sky first went digital. These boxes are dead slow compared to the new pace models. I'm considering upgrading mine just to make navigating through the menus less painful. If you don't suffer a similar problem then you might as well stick with your grundig.
 
About the picture quality.
I think there is a difference, I used to have a Panasonic box, really very fast through the menus etc, but the pic compared to the pic on my Mum's ageing Grundig box was never as good, my Panny would show more digital effects (blocky) and NO, it wasnt the dish or cable or anything else, I tried the Grundig box at my house, and was much better than the Panny!

My Panny box exploded (well not quite!) one day, and I got hold of one of the original Pace boxes really cheap (no way was I paying Sky over £200 for a new box), may be very slow, but the pic is so much better than the Panny box. Specially with RGB, I had to switch RGB off on my Panny!
 
Thanks for the replies.

It's interesting that an old Grundig box gave a better Picture than a Panasonic box. I have no problem with the speed of menu's etc.

I'll have the test RGB pass through again, but I did try it once the other day and it didn't work.

My "TV" is a Panasonic TH-42PW5B plasma and it looks great on DVD's, especially something like AOTC, Monsters Inc etc. The size of the display has really highlighted to me how naff Sky PQ really is. All cables etc I'm using are good quality, so I can't make much improvement there. Using my VCR (tuning terrestrial channels) through composite in many ways looks botter than Sky via RGB. Maybe a little softer, but no MPEG artifacts :) With the plasma it's definately a case of c**p in c**p out.

When I bought the plasma I got a Panasonic Freeview box as part of the deal, but I haven't received this yet from my dealer, but I can't wait to try it...

Rob.
 

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