spectrum48k

Bear with me...

If I buy a SkyHD box

How long am I locked into paying the extra tenner per month subscription ?

Borat_Drives_A_Scooby

12 month i think, personally i would wait until more channels are available as its a bit of a rip off at the min where i think only 12 HD channels are available and you have to spend £200+ on a box to get that + £10 per month.

Phil

yep 12 months

GOLDMAN 555

I have had sky HD for quite some time now and I would definitely wait until more channels or something better comes along. Most of the broadcasts are in 448 not 720.

Most worryingly the box does not support 1080P it only supports 1080I (nowhere near as good) anyway that's just semantics as hardly any of the programmes are in 720 let alone 1080 (which in my opinion is real high-definition)

For your extra £10 a month you don't get any extra channels at all. You just get the same channels Sky one and discovery etc in HD.

Geezer

I have to disagree. If you are gonna get Sky+, you may as well get Sky HD as you don't actually pay anymore. Sky+ functionality is included with HD.

As for the progs, ok, there aren't many, but more are coming on. The quality varies, of course, but it does on normal TV.

As for 1080i being rubbish, what utter tosh! Maybe it's your TV, not the signal, because some of the stuff broadcast is breathtaking. I don't think anyone is going to be broadcasting in 1080p for a long time.

At the end of the day, only you can decide if it's worth it though, but unfortunately you have to get it make that decision

Geezer

hail-hail

The SKY HD box also improves ALL channels siginificantly. I have multiroom as well with a normal Sky+ box. Comparing the same channel on the HD box and normal box is like chalk and cheese.

urban

iTrader: (1)

How come - the box itself is more expensive is it not?
Then there's the £10 per month subscription fee, or can you just tell Sky "Hello, I want a HD box but not HD fee please"


Seriously?
So how does that work then. Does the HD box do some sort of upscaling?

If I already have sky+, could I just buy an HD box of ebay and plug it in, or do I need to get sky involved?

Shaun

PeteBrant

That probably due to your TV/the HDMI connection versus scart more than anything else. SkyHD doesn't upscale.

I noticed the same when I switch to SkyHD.

PeteBrant

Yup - same connections just plug it in and sort out the subscription.

Geezer

Sorry, didn't make myself clear. If you did not have Sky+ already, althought it would be nice if you could just do that

Geezer

Phantom_Flan_Flinger

If you decide to stop paying the £10/month extra after your years subscription is up, you'll lose the HD channels.

drb5

iTrader: (4)

Biggest problem with Sky HD......the sound. I reckon on an HD channel, you need to turn the TV up 10 incriments more than a normal channel.

Occasionally the HD Movie channels go on the blink too, but you can't beat an underwater documentary programme in HD.

Geezer

I think that's because you are supposed to put it through a proper sound system.

Geezer

spectrum48k

Thanks for the comments

Really, what I was trying to say was can I just get the SkyHD box and keep going with my regular sky subscription

The reason I want the SkyHD box ? Cos it has Component and HDMI out, which I can wire all over the house (via an HDMI splitter) to my flat screen TV's and especially my HD projector.

I'm guessing picture quality will be a big improvement ?

drb5

iTrader: (4)

But i think you NEED to pay the extra £10 a month, whether you want the HD channels or not.

Geezer, i read some stuff on AV Forums about it and they did mention it being better with a sound system, but i doubt Sky built the HD box, for that use.

spectrum48k

Yeah, I want a SkyHD box purely for the digital outputs on the back. They'd be put straight into my AV amp and drive my projector and 5.1 speaker system.

Also, you can clone the HDMI signal all round the house to other flatscreen TV's

AndyLyman

iTrader: (1)

On a slightly different note....

iIam using a Pace DS810XE High Definition Satellite Receiver....

They are £99 new from www.paceshop.co.uk and there are a few on ebay...I am watching the new BBC Hd from Astra at 28 deg East - (the normal Sky satellitte) - you only get the free to air channels but it does output in 1080I on BBC HD - quality is absolutely superb via HDMI on the back of the unit..

Only a few people seem to know about www.freesat.co.uk - the new HD service that is being launched in the spring 2008 - only a few months to go now where the BBC & ITV stations will be available in full HD using special equipment like the Pace unit I have... It's also gonna be free of charge - no subscription ever!

take a look at freesat www.freesat.co.uk

Andy

spectrum48k

So the Pace box uses your existing Sky Dish ? Can you use the existing Sky cabling from the Sky Dish into the Pace box ? If that's the case you could've just saved me a lot of money

That link you gave takes you to Pace.com with no meantion of your HD box, only SD ones

AndyLyman

iTrader: (1)

Yes mate - you use your existing sky dish and cables for the Pace unit.....

but you wont receive the PAY TV SKY channels.... you will get all the free ones... sky news, shopping chanels... etc etc.. i.e the ones you get without the sky card...

Andy

spectrum48k

ah, I see

AndyLyman

iTrader: (1)

And of course.the new BBC & ITV HD chanels

dunx

iTrader: (3)

Thanks Andy, I've been trying to find out if there is anything this Pace box could "find" for free...
And I've got a quad LNB with a free output LOL

Thanks,

DunxC

AndyLyman

iTrader: (1)

No problem Dunxc...

Andy