Sky Hd

T

Todda

Guest
I was told on Saturday that Sky are planning to output a HD signal in the future and currently have 2 pioneer 504 plasmas in their labs for testing.

Can anyone confirm whether this is true or not?

Cheers
 
Yeah but how long in the future? I wouldn't be suprised if Sky do jump on the HD bandwagon to be honest, as much as we slag em off they have been quick to introduce new technology where they've seen a market for it anyway. I'd pay for a good HD channel as I'm sure a lot of other people would, I just hope they do it properly if they do it i.e. have DD audio as well where possible.

Cheers,
Andy
 
I emailed Sky about a HD channel only a week or so ago to no avail. They said they had no plans to introduce one in the "foreseeable" future !!
If they are to start a HD channel, they really need to get their thumbs out and give it all the bitrate it needs. The SD pictures on most sky channels is quite frankly a disgrace. It would be a pity if HD gets the same treatment. :nono:
Anybody who wants a HD channel from sky, e-mail and ask and whine weekly. Once old Rupert smells money in HD it will be introduced in a shot :rotfl:
 
As Sky Movies 1 - 3 broadcast already with DD 5.1, I would expect Sky HD Movies to have it. With DVD HD and/or Blu-Ray DVD next year - there may be a push for Sky not to be left behind.

However Sky pulled their 3 DD encoders off Sky Box Office last year to put them on SM 1 to 3!

Aitch
 
SKY were saying that there was no demand from it's subscribers for 16:9 broadcasting for years and then with great acclaim annouced their support for the format a month or so before they made the switch, it's a corporate attitude to deny everything.
Probably wise as it allows them to screw up in private while testing:)

It's worth remembering that the poorest channels compression/bitrate wise are not owned or controlled by SKY, they are just within a sub package or on the EPG and thankfully they will never be in a position to consider HD broadcasting:)
 
I was told that SKY have almost been forced into making steps towards HD broadcasting because of the availability in the UK of HD through another company.

I also agree with Starburst that SKY would deny this. I think that if SKY released this information that they have a better system on the horizon, it might put people off upgrading from SKY Digital to SKY +.

Having said that, I have also been told in the past that SKY try to hold back on releasing new technology as long as possible, so to stay just ahead of competitiors. Lets hope that because a competitor already has this technology in place, SKY will release it ASAP.
 
Originally posted by Todda


Having said that, I have also been told in the past that SKY try to hold back on releasing new technology as long as possible, so to stay just ahead of competitiors. Lets hope that because a competitor already has this technology in place, SKY will release it ASAP.




Quite possible.
There was always a demand for 16:9 broadcasting but until the bean counters saw that they were losing subscribers due to the 4:3 butchering of movies in particular they held back.

SKY are totally aware that they only have a finite number of potential subscribers and even bringing in cheaper and smaller package deals to compete with TUTV and Cable will only help a little.
It's main advantage is that they have subscriber base who are willing to pay upfront for new hardware and services which means startup costs for example a HD channel could be minimised, Cable companies might find that hard to do as their customers have a mindset of being loaned hardware which of course has to be paid for in full by the cable company.

With SKY it's all down to economics and market conditions, they can push the techbnology as far as they want but there has to be a reason to do so.
Stronger cable competition, DTT improvments in terms of coverage and STB's and a levelling off of new subscribers will all force SKY's hand:)
 
fox are forcing the hd
 
"fox are forcing the hd"

AFAIK Fox in the US do not have HDTV channel but something they call enhanced digital as they claim US viewers do not require higher quality.

I hope this is not the type of HDTV service they are forcing.
 
oh my god....... a pig just flew by my window......

ad
 
Originally posted by Branxx
"fox are forcing the hd"

AFAIK Fox in the US do not have HDTV channel but something they call enhanced digital as they claim US viewers do not require higher quality.

I hope this is not the type of HDTV service they are forcing.

I believe Fox are starting true HDTV broadcasting this autumn in the US.
 
Fox's Enhanced SD is 16:9 anamorphic NTSC, similar to the 16:9 anamorphic PAL that BBC and other UK broadcasters use.

It is alleged that they claimed this was HD!

The USA's FCC have indeed "forced" them to move to 720p, which they are doing from the autumn. But they have resisted this as their business model was/is same as Sky, more channels of lower quality in same bandwidth equals more money than higher resolution.

StooMonster
 
FOX were resistance from the word go to the move to HD broadcasting for the reasons indicated and for once the US authorities ignored the capitalist ethos and forced the issue by using their power to withhold future digital capacity therefore crippling FOX and any sister channels.

If only the UK government had that foresight and bottle!
 
Originally posted by Starburst
If only the UK government had that foresight and bottle!
:devil: What with Rupert Murdoch telling Bliar to jump to referendum, and Bliar saying "how high, sir"?

Don't think UK government (past or present) has bottle to tell News International anything.

StooMonster
 
Sorry but I don't buy the proposition that The Sun and The Times etc are that strong and their support are vital to a political party gaining and keeping power/influence.

News Corp are just one more multi-national corporation with interests in the UK, nothing more and nothing less.
 
Blair and even Howard seem to think Rupert Murdoch's is that strong and his support are vital to a political party gaining and keeping power/influence

One word from Murdoch and the PM panicked. That word was 'traitor' The Independent, 12 May 2004.

First Blair, now Howard: Tory leader makes pitch to Murdoch in Mexico's ritziest resort The Guardian, 20 March 2004

Edit: today's Guardian leads with the story that Gordon Brown has had two private meetings with Rupert Murdoch in the last seven days; guess he thinks the same as Blair/Howard.

:offtopic: Ooops.

StooMonster
 
Originally posted by StooMonster
Fox's Enhanced SD is 16:9 anamorphic NTSC, similar to the 16:9 anamorphic PAL that BBC and other UK broadcasters use.

It is alleged that they claimed this was HD!

It's true. The NTSC version of 24 is advertised as "Also Available in High Resolution Digital TV' even though the actual broadcast format is 480p24 (or 480p60 with pulldown). I wouldn't be surprised if their so-called 480p60 content is really 480i, de-interlaced at the source.
 
Originally posted by Rimmer
It's true. The NTSC version of 24 is advertised as "Also Available in High Resolution Digital TV' even though the actual broadcast format is 480p24 (or 480p60 with pulldown). I wouldn't be surprised if their so-called 480p60 content is really 480i, de-interlaced at the source.

FOX currently broadcasts only at 480p, 60fps. They are scheduled to go real HDTV (720p) in the fall. That being said, there are reports that some of their regional affiliates are already transmitting 720p off the air - i.e. upconverting the main feed.
Their original 16:9 programming is not much though. Least of all networks, I think. As for whether it's originally shot in 480p24, I don't know. I suspect original series are all 24fps on all networks. Sports and live broadcasts are 60fps.
 
Just a quick note on Fox. Whilst they drag their feet in some areas the film division has been quite good in its support of quality formats.

They produced some of the best Laserdiscs of the time and were one of the 1st studios to support Dolby Digital (AC3 as was then). They were a bit slow on DVD but once they got going have produced some of the best DVD's available. They are also just about the only studio from which you can buy a high definition version of most of their major films on the same day the DVD is released.

They are far from perfect but credit should be given when its due.
 
ralferoo said:
I noticed this job ad at Sky (http://www.sky.com/skycom/article/0,,91058-1171094,00.html) for the role of "Product Marketing Manager - HDTV". Looks like they might be starting to gear up for HDTV proper, although if they're only just recruiting now, it's not going to happen until probably end of the year... :(
Couple of comments:

1. This post reports to the Head of Product Marketing - HD, which suggests someone is already doing this job.

2. To quote "The plan requires a launch campaign to commence in July 05"
 
Spotted how old some of the early posts in this thread. Just confirm that Fox moved to 720/60p for their digital TV network broadcasting a while back, certainly last year. If you look at www.avsforum.com you'll see loads of posts comparing Fox 720p with ABC 720p for football etc.

The OC and 24 are both 720p this season - broadcast as 60p but presumably this is 3:2 pulldown sourced from 24p film or 24p video? The Simpsons is still 4:3 480i.
 

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