When is HD not HD??

richie05

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After watching Armageddon last night on Anytime, I wonder should there be a cut off point where you can bill something as being HD. It was only transmitted at 576x and to be honest only scraped above DVD quality and it was in squashed 16:9 aspect.

What does it actually mean any more, this HD label. :confused:

Richie
 
When you have your box output set to 'auto' for resolution! ;)

I have my box set to 1080i and don't get this problem, so I don't remember the full details. It's a bug in the software, do a search and all will be revealed.

ATB

Max
 
After watching Armageddon last night on Anytime, I wonder should there be a cut off point where you can bill something as being HD. It was only transmitted at 576x and to be honest only scraped above DVD quality and it was in squashed 16:9 aspect.

What does it actually mean any more, this HD label. :confused:

Richie

HD on anytime with auto you have to go to an HD channel first, then go to the the HD on anytime.
 
HD on anytime with auto you have to go to an HD channel first, then go to the the HD on anytime.

Then how come the other HD stuff in Anytime, if it is 1080i, shows in 1080i?

Richie
 
Then how come the other HD stuff in Anytime, if it is 1080i, shows in 1080i?

Richie

Because you were watching an HD channel before you watched it on Anytime.

ATB

Max
 
Because you were watching an HD channel before you watched it on Anytime.

ATB

Max

I'm affraid that this isn't the case. I was shuffling through my Anytime list and had just looked at the HD Preview Show (1080i) before going into Armageddon. My SkyHD box is set to AUTO and my telly re-syncs everytime the resolution changes. I understand that the Sky menus stay at the previous resolution viewed but it changes fine once i pick something to watch. I'm not saying that you are wrong but that's what happens for me.

Richie
 
I'm affraid that this isn't the case. I was shuffling through my Anytime list and had just looked at the HD Preview Show (1080i) before going into Armageddon. My SkyHD box is set to AUTO and my telly re-syncs everytime the resolution changes. I understand that the Sky menus stay at the previous resolution viewed but it changes fine once i pick something to watch. I'm not saying that you are wrong but that's what happens for me.

Richie

SkyHD = Auto ..... the telling point

But your TV doesn't re sync .... because there is a software bug that causes this ... as I said earlier do a search and all will be revealed. I'd stake anything on the fact you were watching an SD source before you watched Armageddon in Anytime. You only had to 'fleetingly' be on an SD channel for this to happen. If you can remember exactly what button pushing you did prior to watching a film from Anytime, you're a better man than me! :suicide::rolleyes:

By the way it didn't look too bad in 1080i! :smashin:

ATB

Max
 
But your TV doesn't re sync .... because there is a software bug that causes this ... as I said earlier do a search and all will be revealed. I'd stake anything on the fact you were watching an SD source before you watched Armageddon in Anytime. You only had to 'fleetingly' be on an SD channel for this to happen. If you can remember exactly what button pushing you did prior to watching a film from Anytime, you're a better man than me! :suicide::rolleyes:

By the way it didn't look too bad in 1080i! :smashin:

ATB

Max

I'll check it again this evening and see if I can make it do what you say. BTW it's a new HS box witht he latest software.

Richie

Well son of a gun. I switched from a 1080 show to Anytime and it played in 1080. So now my question is wich way does the bug in the software work?
If watching a 576 and switching to anytime the movie played in 576 and after watching a 1080 broadcast and switching to Anytime it played in 1080. What res was it actually in?
 
what do you mean by "squashed 16:9 aspect"?
 
It should probably have black bars on the top and bottom then..

Well if the original was shot in 2.35:1 then the only choices are black bars top and bottom, cutting the sides off, pinching the picture or pan and scan. My preference as I have a reasonably big screen would be to stick with the original aspect and give the black bars to and bottom.

Richie

I think that strechie telly is best left as an Italian ice cream.. :)
 
So is the general consensus that resolution should be set to 1080i rather than Auto? I watch through a Sony Bravia with 1366x768 native resolution.
 
SkyHD = Auto ..... the telling point

But your TV doesn't re sync .... because there is a software bug that causes this ... as I said earlier do a search and all will be revealed. I'd stake anything on the fact you were watching an SD source before you watched Armageddon in Anytime. You only had to 'fleetingly' be on an SD channel for this to happen. If you can remember exactly what button pushing you did prior to watching a film from Anytime, you're a better man than me! :suicide::rolleyes:

By the way it didn't look too bad in 1080i! :smashin:

ATB

Max

Mine does and always has re-synched, my tv even pops up a message to say 1080i etc and I just tried as a paranoia check going from SD to anytime hd and hd to anytime hd and it makes no difference whatsoever picutre is exactly the same 1080i and my box is set to auto.

The one thing I did notice with armogedon is that it switched from 2.35:1 to 16:9 after the credits but this is not that uncommon. Try going through your dvd collection sometime and look at all your enhanced for 16:9 discs etc and see howmany are 16:9 transfers of originally 2.35:1 films. If sky used a 16:9 transfer then the aspect switch after the opening credits is quite normal, you probably don't remember but you used to see this all the time on good old 4:3 tv transmissions of films that the opening and closing credits would be letterboxed but not the film, why, well very simple the credits are to wide to fit after the image has been blown up a bit so that bits letterboxed.

Apart from the 16:9 thing the picture quality was quite good, jsut a pitty the film itself is so terrible.
 
Mine does and always has re-synched, my tv even pops up a message to say 1080i etc and I just tried as a paranoia check going from SD to anytime hd and hd to anytime hd and it makes no difference whatsoever picutre is exactly the same 1080i and my box is set to auto.

My box is set to 1080i as I have a 1920 x 1080 TV, so I have no direct experience as I stated earlier. However, lots of peeps have reported this problem when the box is set to Auto and you go from SD to HD in Anytime. I can't explain why it doesn't happen to you. Maybe someone else can?

ATB

Max
 
So is the general consensus that resolution should be set to 1080i rather than Auto? I watch through a Sony Bravia with 1366x768 native resolution.

TestCard, I have a Bravia TV with the same res as you. Ensure you have set to 1080i on the Sky box I set mine to Auto and I got some weird res and switching issues when switching from SD to HD.
 
TestCard, I have a Bravia TV with the same res as you. Ensure you have set to 1080i on the Sky box I set mine to Auto and I got some weird res and switching issues when switching from SD to HD.

Same set/resolution for me and the same problem if I left it in auto. Hard-coded the Sky box to 1080i and I've never had a problem since.
 
Thanks guys :thumbsup: Off to the Services menu now for a tweak!
 
Don't you find that if you set the SkyHD box to 1080 that it shows all the SD 4:3 stuff in full screen??
 

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