SKY HD makes more sense

pwood

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Like many folks here I was looking forward to the new formats. However my wife and I are both of the opinion that they are in danger of going the way of SACD/ DVD AUDIO because they are launching mainly with older movies and few new ones. Seems the usual excuse of launching a new format to flog old stuff has reared its ugly head yet again. This coupled with the fact that unless you have BD and HDDVD you have a limited range of films available. They never even bothered to ensure the latest surround sound formats were fully sorted and avail on all players.

SKY HD ( I cant believe I am saying this) is the bsst option for people who like new content at this time.

Off topic a bit but whilst I'm on a rant, BD players showing SWAT are hardly going to make the public rush to purchase.
 
SKY HD ( I cant believe I am saying this) is the bsst option for people who like new content at this time.

Can't say i've seen many new films on sky recently.... Unless you mean 1-2 year old films. At the end of the day they are both new formats and HD-DVD for example has officially been available in the UK for just over 1 week with BR a month or so. So i very early days :)
 
In my opinion you are so wrong in all departments I must say. On PQ, SQ and cost SkyHD is a joke.

I've seen HD-DVD and SkyHD Movies on 3 different displays. My Sony HS50, a Sony HS60 and a 46" Sony X-series LCD. The difference in PQ is quite dramatic. HD-DVD blows Sky out of the window. I don't consider sky much better than upscaled SD DVD.

As for sound, how cant you compare standard DD on sky to DD+ or Dolby True HD on HD-DVD. The only sound format currently missing from HD-DVD players is lossless DTS Master Audio. However I'm not aware of any titles that use DTS-MA yet and if they did, the HD-DVD players still take the 1.5Mbps DTS core which is so much better than DD.

Blu-ray are the ones who have missed a trick with audio (unless the title contains a PCM track)

I don't understand how you can say SkyHD for new content :rotfl: Last nights premiere was Zorro and the week before was Into the Blue. Where's Superman Returns, King Kong, HPGOF, MI:III etc.

Cost: Sky is £300 pounds for a box and £10 a month. I paid about £400 for my HD-DVD player and got 7 free films. If HD-DVD wasn't around and you only had the choice between SkyHD and Blu-ray then I see your point.

HD-DVD is around to stay and will be the eventual replacement for DVD in my opinion. HD-DVD has the big studios on board, Disney and the like will follow soon.

If you only have a humble 27/32" LCD and mediocre sound system then SkyHD is adequate but at a too high cost in my opinion. If you have a good HT set-up you need HD-DVD. :thumbsup:
 
Can't say i've seen many new films on sky recently.... Unless you mean 1-2 year old films. At the end of the day they are both new formats and HD-DVD for example has officially been available in the UK for just over 1 week with BR a month or so. So i very early days :)

HD-DVD standalone players are NOT officially available in the UK yet, while BLU-RAY is. If you currently want HD-DVD you have to import a player, until the Tosh E1 launches (probably early next year now!). You can buy a Samsung or Panasonic BR player now, and probably the Sony too. Pioneer will be launching in the new year.
 
Andythescientis is correct when he says that HD DVD has been officially available in this country fior the past week. The X Box 380 HD DVD drive has been available for a week and appears to be delighting all that use it.
 
HD-DVD standalone players are NOT officially available in the UK yet, while BLU-RAY is. If you currently want HD-DVD you have to import a player, until the Tosh E1 launches (probably early next year now!). You can buy a Samsung or Panasonic BR player now, and probably the Sony too. Pioneer will be launching in the new year.

Just to clarify, i was talking about the xbox addon, as the first official HD-DVD player in the UK (which it was and is) and has been out about a week :)
 
Sky HD is what Sky SD should have been if you get me.

I have watched German Premiere SD channels and they are much better than Sky SD and even the French TPS are better.

Don't know why Sky got such low quality on their movie channels.
 
HD-DVD standalone players are NOT officially available in the UK yet, while BLU-RAY is. If you currently want HD-DVD you have to import a player, until the Tosh E1 launches (probably early next year now!). You can buy a Samsung or Panasonic BR player now, and probably the Sony too. Pioneer will be launching in the new year.

As far as I'm aware the two BD players UK launched and available to buy are the Samsung and Panasonic. Many are still opting to import these models from the US anyway due to BD region restrictions/available BD titles and lower cost. Also the Samsung has limited audio format support and no network connectivity. Thus leaving the £1295 Panasonic :eek:

I don't think you will see a UK Sony or Pioneer until at least March and the Pioneer will probably cost even more than the Panasonic.


I've been Living life in HD since May with my £285 A1 and very happy with it.

AVI
 
I was talking HD content in general ie LOST forthcoming new series of BSG and 24. BBC Planet Earth. New stuff !!

I never stated SKY HD PQ was better. Given the fact that a lot of forums members have SKY suscriptions anyway, SKYHD is the most sensible first step into HD.

Unless the HD DVD and BD camps start releasing titles at the same time as normal DVD releases the GP will not view either format worth paying a premium for.
 
However I'm not aware of any titles that use DTS-MA yet and if they did, the HD-DVD players still take the 1.5Mbps DTS core which is so much better than DD.

A lot of european HD-DVD has the DTS-HD Master Audio
Here is some of the titles that uses it:

The Pianist
Basic Instinct
King Kong (1976)
La Haine
Rambo 1 - 3
Running Scared
Total Recall
The Elephant Man
The Fog

I think all Studio Canal HD-DVD's has the DTS-HD MA track.
 
If your really after 720p content then skyHD is a good option but not the best option.
The best option is a HTPC and access to bittorent.
I currently watch in 720p every week:
heroes
My name is earl
Stargate atlantis
Prison break
The unit
LOST
and I will be watching 24 in january

There are a few other shows available in 720p that arent my cup of tea but are freely available.
I can also watch numerous movies in 1080i and 720p.

I agree with the point made about hd-dvd, compared to what skyhd and is available on the net the quality is definately better on hd-dvd.
I cant comment on the audio but I suspect that to really get the most out of the new hd audio formats you need some really good speakers but as most people with a hd-dvd player have the sense to own high end audio kit then perhaps the hd audio formats are worth nentioning as a factor.

I think skyhd is a move in the right dorection but if you have a 1080p lcd then hd-dvd is definately a big step up in quality.
 
Having had both since launch i would go for hddvd everytime and if i culd get a refun on my skyhd box i would without blinking an eye. Theres only a few films that look good on skyhd and even then they aint anywhere near the hddvd level, also sky is covered in macro blocking which makes me want to just watch it on sd as some of there hd channels are riddled with it. The only good thing is the footy and tbh that can be hit and miss its only ever been up there with the wc on bbchd maybes three times all season. Bbc hd doesnt really have anything on it anymore bar planet earth.
 
For me, it is the cost of Sky HD that is prohibitive. £300 for the box and then a further £120 in subscription fees. For the same price I could have a 360 HD-DVD player and 15 HD-DVD's!
 
Generally films on Sky Movies HD resemble SD-DVD, when it's at it's best it isn't as good as an average HD-DVD.
I like having SkyHD, the SD picture is better, it has HDMI and Component, and watching a film is like having it on DVD.

If I was wanting HD and had a 37" and smaller screen SkyHD would be fine much bigger and it's HD-DVD all the way.

A lot of the new films that Sky show aren't even in HD like King Kong and Batman Begins but they are available on HD-DVD.

Even if HD-DVD doesn't "win the war" supporters will still have the player and all the films they've bought to watch on it. It's not like if they lose some Sony rep comes calling and removes the player.
 
SkyoneHD is pretty good value for me at the moment. I'm not a big fan of TV box sets on disc so any HD disc format would be movies only.

So I tend to watch SkyHD for skyone (lost, stargate etc) and the odd movie if something comes up I'm interested in.

I use HDDVD/bluray for movies that I know I want to watch, just like I did when I was buying DVDs
 
Some of the BBC stuff is very good on Sky HD, but films on sky movies are generally poor quality (sound and picture)
 
I look at getting this and watched quite a bit at friends. I liked the limited BBC service but decided I was much happier with HD DVD and BD discs of which I could buy quite a few for the same money. I was non too impressed with SkyHD movies choice / quality however.
 
I completely disagree that the difference between Sky HD and HD-DVD is 'quite dramatic'. The picture I get on my 42" plasma is breathtaking whether I am watching Sky HD or HD-DVD. I get absolutely no visible blocking or other digital artifacts on my 42" plasma panel. If there is a difference it is very subtle. I have very high standards when it comes to HiFi, home cinema and similar technology and I am certainly not unable to perceive issues where they exist.

I wonder if those reporting such dramatic differences have other problems. Are they connecting their screens with digital connections? I use good quality component interconnects. If they feel the quality differences are dramatic, what adjective would they use to describe the difference, say, between VHS and HD? What about LP VHS?

I wonder how good some of these screens people are using really are. My son bought a Samsung panel and the Sky SD picture is shockingly bad. The HD picture, however is very good. I'm not saying that Samsung panels are particularly good, but I have noticed newer panels seem to show greater quality differences between sources than I would have expected.

I have a Hitachi 42PMA400E panel and find the picture I get is very analogue-like. It just doesn't look digital - helped by the fact that it has no digital inputs. I've had Sky HD since June 2006 and HD-DVD since not long after the HD-A1 came out in the US.

If I had to make a choice between SkyHD and HD-DVD I would choose SkyHD without a doubt. IMHO the range of films is better and BBC HD just superb. It would feel very limiting to be restricted to HD-DVDs only. I have enjoyed loads more films on SkyHD than I have on HD-DVD.
 
Sky Movies HD has got it's flaws, macro blocking can be awful sometimes, but in general, I can't believe anyone saying that SD DVD is as good as Sky HD for video. It simply isn't imho.

I still can't wait for my HD-DVD player to arrive though, roll on January :D
 
I completely disagree that the difference between Sky HD and HD-DVD is 'quite dramatic'. The picture I get on my 42" plasma is breathtaking whether I am watching Sky HD or HD-DVD. I get absolutely no visible blocking or other digital artifacts on my 42" plasma panel. If there is a difference it is very subtle. I have very high standards when it comes to HiFi, home cinema and similar technology and I am certainly not unable to perceive issues where they exist.

I wonder if those reporting such dramatic differences have other problems. Are they connecting their screens with digital connections? I use good quality component interconnects. If they feel the quality differences are dramatic, what adjective would they use to describe the difference, say, between VHS and HD? What about LP VHS?

I wonder how good some of these screens people are using really are. My son bought a Samsung panel and the Sky SD picture is shockingly bad. The HD picture, however is very good. I'm not saying that Samsung panels are particularly good, but I have noticed newer panels seem to show greater quality differences between sources than I would have expected.

I have a Hitachi 42PMA400E panel and find the picture I get is very analogue-like. It just doesn't look digital - helped by the fact that it has no digital inputs. I've had Sky HD since June 2006 and HD-DVD since not long after the HD-A1 came out in the US.

If I had to make a choice between SkyHD and HD-DVD I would choose SkyHD without a doubt. IMHO the range of films is better and BBC HD just superb. It would feel very limiting to be restricted to HD-DVDs only. I have enjoyed loads more films on SkyHD than I have on HD-DVD.

What sort of distance is there between you and your screen ?
 
The picture I get on my 42" plasma is breathtaking whether I am watching Sky HD or HD-DVD. I get absolutely no visible blocking or other digital artifacts on my 42" plasma panel. If there is a difference it is very subtle. I have very high standards when it comes to HiFi, home cinema and similar technology and I am certainly not unable to perceive issues where they exist.

I'm certainly not on the anti-Sky HD side of the fence (see my previous post), but that said, if you're watching Sky 10HD (and sometimes 9HD) and you can't see macro blocking you must be blind. It's shocking:eek:
 
For me, neither HD DVD or BluRay have issued more than one or two films I might want to see, so I'm not jumpring on either fence yet.

SkyHD is not perfect, and I would hope the the disc formats would be superior, but it defintely way better than upascaled DVd to my eyes.
 
For me, neither HD DVD or BluRay have issued more than one or two films I might want to see, so I'm not jumpring on either fence yet.

SkyHD is not perfect, and I would hope the the disc formats would be superior, but it defintely way better than upascaled DVd to my eyes.

Skyhd is far far from perfect, i have had it sinc elaunch and tbh there is hardly any content now and the macro blocking can get out of hand sometimes.
 
I recorded Zorro in HD on Saturday having not seen it before and if the 8% recording is decent HD quality then HD-DVD must be ExtraHD.
 
A lot of european HD-DVD has the DTS-HD Master Audio
Here is some of the titles that uses it:

The Pianist
Basic Instinct
King Kong (1976)
La Haine
Rambo 1 - 3
Running Scared
Total Recall
The Elephant Man
:rolleyes: The Fog

I think all Studio Canal HD-DVD's has the DTS-HD MA track.

:rolleyes: What's the best way to listen to the DTS-HD track then? Do we get it like Dolby Tru HD via 5.1 Analogue or NOT? OR Are we better off with Optical/Coax.


Definately curious especially as I've got The Pianist HD DVD under the tree:smashin:
 

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