I am getting a new HD TV shortly (Panasonic TX-P46G10) and am currently on Virgin Media cable. Trouble is that the VM cable has only a few HD channels, so I am thinking of going over to Sky +HD.

A few questions for those in the know:

How is Sky reception? Do you get signal dropouts in bad weather, if so, how bad does the weather have to be, is it a regular thing or a once or twice a year thing?

Sky broadband any good. I am close (<0.5 miles) to an exchange so will see relatively fast speeds I would hope. Anyone know if the 20Mb is noticeably faster than the 10Mb?

What boxes are they fitting these days?

Is it possible to plug a scart socket in to the box so I can archive stuff to my DVD recorder?

Thanks in advance for your comments.

Chris

How is Sky reception? Do you get signal dropouts in bad weather, if so, how bad does the weather have to be, is it a regular thing or a once or twice a year thing?

Not had any drop-outs...

Sky broadband any good. I am close (<0.5 miles) to an exchange so will see relatively fast speeds I would hope. Anyone know if the 20Mb is noticeably faster than the 10Mb?

The big difference between the two packages is that the 24Mbit package is unlimited. Sky give an estimated line speed when you sign up, but it may also be dependent on whether your exchange has been unbundled (SamKnows Broadband - Availability - Exchange Search )

What boxes are they fitting these days?

Current boxes are Amstrad 780-056 boxes. Sky engineer who fitted mine seemed to think these were the best of the bunch as they're the first ones developed with Sky involvement and they've had very few problems with them. I guess time will tell if he's right

Is it possible to plug a scart socket in to the box so I can archive stuff to my DVD recorder?

Yup and it even tells you in the instruction book how to do it! :eek:

Chris

I have gone back to VM, Sky do have more HD channels but this will even out over time. Last time i checked they both run at 780p (no not REAL HD)

On the broadband side, I find VM far superior.

Last time i checked they both run at 780p (no not REAL HD)

Really? Surely that would be iffy in terms of sale of goods act? HD is 1080i or 1080p as far as I know. I was under the impression that the boxes did 1080i and Blueray is 1080p?

Chris

IIRC Sky HD is 1080i ... could be wrong though. It certainly looks better than SD to my rubbish eyes

Chris

On the broadband side, I find VM far superior.

Slightly strange question, but how far from the telephone exchange are you?

Chris

How is Sky reception? Do you get signal dropouts in bad weather, if so, how bad does the weather have to be, is it a regular thing or a once or twice a year thing?

I live in Manchester and have never had even sparkling in the rain! I suspect that snow will make it happen, but how often do we have snow in Manchester

Sky broadband any good. I am close (<0.5 miles) to an exchange so will see relatively fast speeds I would hope. Anyone know if the 20Mb is noticeably faster than the 10Mb?

Sky Broadband is brilliant. I now get 6.5mb download (6mb download max on Bt my precious ISP) and 500kb upload (250kb on BT). Also SKY don’t throttle down you speed if you go on iplayer/You Tube etc unlike BT who do.

What boxes are they fitting these days?

Mine is an Amstrad and no real problems so far. Had one reset, but that could have been my impetuousness. If you have any problems you can ring a British person in Scotland to help resolve you problem.

Is it possible to plug a scart socket in to the box so I can archive stuff to my DVD recorder?

I believe so, but haven’t tried it yet. It does O/P at SD 625 though

One other nice feature is the remote record. You simple go on-line and log into the SKY site then find the telly listings, a quick click and you can set your HD box to record. The signal is sent within the hour. Proved very nice feature when I have been working on the road and suddenly realised there was something I should have set the timer for.

10/10 so far. The fitters on the other hand were pretty shoddy. Watch out if you get subcontractors, they are pretty clueless and in my case, managed to damage some of my furniture as good measure

Im pretty much the same as Lady Elanore.

Fantastic user experience, no problems with signals except in storms, broadband is good, etc.

Only difference is i have a samsung, and was told by contacts they were the boxes to get.

Archiving works perfectly via the scart lead too

Sky HD is 1080i on all HD channels.

As long as the dish is setup properly and installed correctly you should get zero dropouts in all weather conditions. Drop outs are usually the result of poor dish alignment, or obstructions (trees etc,) in the line of site. Have a look at your neighbours properties to see which way their dishes are pointing to get an idea if the line of site is clear.

Virgin do not have the capacity to carry any more HD channels on the current infrastructure, the only way they can achieve more HD channels is to either reduce the quality still further of the SD channels or lose SD channels to get the bandwidth back.

Boxes currently being installed are, Pace, Amstrad or Samsung. The Amstrad has a bit of a bad track record and currently has a software fault which means the contrast setting is currently set to high and not adjustable on the box.

Dont have any experience of Sky BB myself, but my sister has just had hers installed and in the process had a big bust up with Sky and nearly cancelled everything because they kept delaying the install. She waited several months before sky finally got her connected, it was one headache after another. Had they have given her quiet good compensation for the delays then she would have gone elsewhere.

One other nice feature is the remote record. You simple go on-line and log into the SKY site then find the telly listings, a quick click and you can set your HD box to record. The signal is sent within the hour. Proved very nice feature when I have been working on the road and suddenly realised there was something I should have set the timer for.

You can also do remote record by text or applications for various phones including the iphone and also the ipod touch.

Sky.com - My Sky>Remote Record

Boxes currently being installed are, Pace, Amstrad or Samsung. The Amstrad has a bit of a bad track record and currently has a software fault which means the contrast setting is currently set to high and not adjustable on the box.

Dont have any experience of Sky BB myself, but my sister has just had hers installed and in the process had a big bust up with Sky and nearly cancelled everything because they kept delaying the install. She waited several months before sky finally got her connected, it was one headache after another. Had they have given her quiet good compensation for the delays then she would have gone elsewhere.

Currently I have done back to back testing between BluRay and SKY HD using the same movie and the contrast ratio looks OK. Not as good as disc obviously, but pretty good. it certainly isn’t as high as the SD HDMI O/P of my Humax PVR which is shocking (the upscaler isn’t very good though). I have had an update of some sort and the Contrast is adjustable on the menu, but seems to do bugger all on the HDMI O/P, it may well alter the Scart O/P though.

The only drawback I have experienced with the Amstrad (all the different manufactures boxes seem to have some quirk or other) is there is no EPG update for it yet. Certainly not in my region. This isn’t a major problem as I have read many horror stories about problems with Pace and Samsung once the boxes have updated. But once you have the new EPG menu you can access ITV HD with your box (it won’t appear on your EPG though)

The only problem I had with SKY BB was the salesman who sold the package was pushing to meet his sales target and put an early date for the BB instillation/hand over. This turned out to be very inconvenient, but SKY sorted this out for me without to much heart ache.

Sky HD is more heavily compressed than bluray, so even though both are the same resolution the sky image may tend to look slightly softer with perhaps minor jpeg artifacts in darker areas. It is not possible due to the required bandwidth to transmit at the same bitrate offered by blurary.

Sky HD is more heavily compressed than bluray, so even though both are the same resolution the sky image may tend to look slightly softer with perhaps minor jpeg artifacts in darker areas. It is not possible due to the required bandwidth to transmit at the same bitrate offered by blurary.

I understand the limitations of the bandwidth issue but I tried to guesstimate the inherit compromises of the SKY Tx system (if you can imagine it) but even then I don’t have a contrast issue with my Plasma TV. Perhaps the Kuro’s processing engine can compensate better than other models? Certainly it makes a good fist with a lot of SD sources and of course has a great contrast ratio of its own.

Bandwidth is becoming such an issue in broadcasting I don't know why some channels bother. I watched Ghost Rider yesterday on Channel 5 and the artifacting was so bad you couldn't even read the Ch5 logo at several points. Presumably the Mux was carrying a lot of other active content but even so it was like watching You Tube. Even BBC1 (a fixed bandwidth channel) doesn't look too hot these days.

Sky HD is more heavily compressed than bluray, so even though both are the same resolution the sky image may tend to look slightly softer with perhaps minor jpeg artifacts in darker areas. It is not possible due to the required bandwidth to transmit at the same bitrate offered by blurary.

To be honest, HD isn't really a problem on Sky. Get a proper HD programme, and it looks stunning. You have to compare it back to back with Bluray to really notice.

That said, the worst problem with Sky HD, is how rubbish SD looks in comparison.

Im noticing more often that the minor channels are getting worse and worse quality. I watch a lot of E4 and Dave, and the Macroblocking on them is ridiculous!

To be honest, HD isn't really a problem on Sky. Get a proper HD programme, and it looks stunning. You have to compare it back to back with Bluray to really notice.

That said, the worst problem with Sky HD, is how rubbish SD looks in comparison.

Im noticing more often that the minor channels are getting worse and worse quality. I watch a lot of E4 and Dave, and the Macroblocking on them is ridiculous!

It still seems to be better than the truly awful Freeview. I wish we could go back to PAL for most shows.

The only really poor mainstream channel on sky, is would you believe it ITV1. The Freeview picture for ITV1 is transmitted at a higher resolution and bitrate than on Satellite. Some of the minor channels on Sky are really poor.

we've had drop outs in really heavy rain, but it's generally not an issue. SkyHD is better than V+ for "live" HD stuff because of the far greater channel selection but on Virgin's on demand choice seems a lot better than what you get on Anytime.

I'd agree that cable broadband from Virgin is generally a better option than ADSL from Sky but I can't see the logic in ditching Sky for TV in order to get broadband with Virgin

The only really poor mainstream channel on sky, is would you believe it ITV1. The Freeview picture for ITV1 is transmitted at a higher resolution and bitrate than on Satellite. Some of the minor channels on Sky are really poor.

I discussed this with a Comms engineer in BBC Manchester’s CTA and he wasn’t sure if ITV1 Freeview was fixed bandwidth or not. But his reasoning for BBC1 being so was it’s local outputs, so he figured that ITV1 would be fixed band width too. Ch5 Freeview last night was an all time low for me though. I have watched SD iplayer scaled up on my Plasma and the image was no worse (saturation wasn’t as good) than what I witnessed last night.

I discussed this with a Comms engineer in BBC Manchester’s CTA and he wasn’t sure if ITV1 Freeview was fixed bandwidth or not. But his reasoning for BBC1 being so was it’s local outputs, so he figured that ITV1 would be fixed band width too. Ch5 Freeview last night was an all time low for me though. I have watched SD iplayer scaled up on my Plasma and the image was no worse (saturation wasn’t as good) than what I witnessed last night.

On freeview, Ch5 has been incredibly poor since the re-tune debacle with the symptoms you describe. It would certainly appear that it is not an end user problem for any of the broadcast technologies.

btw, imho, anyone who happily pays the Murdoch Tax for media content is a mug.

I discussed this with a Comms engineer in BBC Manchester’s CTA and he wasn’t sure if ITV1 Freeview was fixed bandwidth or not. But his reasoning for BBC1 being so was it’s local outputs, so he figured that ITV1 would be fixed band width too. Ch5 Freeview last night was an all time low for me though. I have watched SD iplayer scaled up on my Plasma and the image was no worse (saturation wasn’t as good) than what I witnessed last night.

I got this problem watching Ghostrider (pants) last night as well. I was thinking my tele was up the creek. Its the second time I've seen the same problem the other time was on some scifi film about a guy flying into space on an island with a tree on it (no idea of the name but ok) but that was recorded on my Humax. So no excuse now to buy a new tv - b*gger:thumbdwn:

btw' date=' imho, anyone who happily pays the [i']Murdoch Tax [/i]for media content is a mug.

The interesting thing is (and I have banged on about this a few times before) we all pay for independent TV whether we like it or not. Every item you have ever bought, if it has been advertised on TV, if it belongs to a company that advertises on TV or belongs to a holding company that regularly advertises on TV will have some additional cost placed on it to fund this advertising. Saab cars had around a £250 levy on their cars in the 90s to pay for the UK advertising campaign. It is unavoidable unless you live ‘The Good Life’. Whereas you can stop paying your TV licence, bin your TV and the BBC receives nothing from you.

I have worked in Broadcasting for over 25 years and can comfortably say that the general technical standard of SD tv has never been worse than it is now. DAB radio is also poor. The good news is the sound quality of TV shows is of a higher standard than it was (if not the transmission method) and DAB+ will be with us eventually…………..Doh! That means we have to buy new stuff again

I hate Sky with a passion.

My parents have been a customer for about 15 years. Back in the days before the EPG...

Now my Mum did fancy upgrading to Sky+, not HD, just Sky+.

So I rang up for her, asking whether as a loyal customer we could get the Sky+ box for the "new customers" price of £49 and free installation.

No they said, £149 + installation. Thanks Sky.

We've now cut our package down to £29 a month and as soon as Freeview becomes availiable we are sacking it off and buying a Freeview+ box.

I was in Uni for 3 years and never missed Sky one bit, Freeview perfectly fine.

we've had drop outs in really heavy rain, but it's generally not an issue. SkyHD is better than V+ for "live" HD stuff because of the far greater channel selection but on Virgin's on demand choice seems a lot better than what you get on Anytime.

I'd agree that cable broadband from Virgin is generally a better option than ADSL from Sky but I can't see the logic in ditching Sky for TV in order to get broadband with Virgin

Get TV from sky and cable BB from Virgin .........Happy days, well until you get the bill that is:O

I hate Sky with a passion.

My parents have been a customer for about 15 years. Back in the days before the EPG...

Now my Mum did fancy upgrading to Sky+, not HD, just Sky+.

So I rang up for her, asking whether as a loyal customer we could get the Sky+ box for the "new customers" price of £49 and free installation.

No they said, £149 + installation. Thanks Sky.

We've now cut our package down to £29 a month and as soon as Freeview becomes availiable we are sacking it off and buying a Freeview+ box.

I was in Uni for 3 years and never missed Sky one bit, Freeview perfectly fine.

I just went and met a SKY saleman in the local shopping centre and haggled everything for free, including a years free landline for my phone. Although I guess as a new customer this was relatively easy to do. Get a Freesat box and use your SKY dish