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[HolyCount]

Is the difference in picture quality worth the subscription ?

Do Sky ever transmit HD on a free basis so that potential customers can try it on their own TV's to see?

[tunnie]

i got Sky HD, they have around 72 channels in HD, Sky Movies are great in HD. 

Sky1 HD is a mirror of Sky1 so unlike other channels everything they show is in HD, road wars and such.

HD box also upscales SD so its an improvment all round.

[Selseybill]

My mate's got Sky HD.the picture is so clear,look at your hand then seeing it on your TV.if you can understand that,it's all in the detail.he has top of the range Tv so i don't know what it looks like on a cheaper one.If you go to BBc i player and watch a program in HD you will see the difference.If that make any sense to you

[Proz]

I had it then binned it .... it certainly is clearer and sharper but is it worth the extra subs   :-/

[Martin_1962]

I went Freesat HD - it is a better box as well

[Dishevelled Den]

Is the difference in picture quality worth the subscription ?

Do Sky ever transmit HD on a free basis so that potential customers can try it on their own TV's to see?

I've had it from the start and still am of the opinion that the difference in image quality is, for my purposes, worth it. 

You will pay for the privilege however.

BBC HD and a few others are available on the Sky carrier free to air but you would need a Sky HD box and current viewing card to see it - you can view whatever HD channels are free to air on Sky without a full HD subscription but you have to use an HD box and have a current Sky subscription for their other services.

[KillerWatt]

For starters, Sky don't actually transmit in true HD.

As for the so called improvements where the upscaling feature is involved, it's all pseudo.......you can't generate high class audio & video when the original source information isn't there to start with.

[feeutfo]

Is the difference in picture quality worth the subscription ?

Do Sky ever transmit HD on a free basis so that potential customers can try it on their own TV's to see?

Vastly superior picture, no question. Provided you have a decent HD ready tv. Some aint worth a ****

 Is it worth 10 sobs a month? depends on amount of hd content available on the hd channels you want to watch.

 however i do find myself watching crap i wouldnt give a second glance in sd, just because the hd picture is so stunning.

re free trial, No! You have to have a Sky plus HD box to get HD, and the £10 a month sub is part of the new 1year contract you have to start with that box.

BUT, if you then ring up and moan, as i did, that your not happy paying the extra tenna(lack of hd content used to be a good excuse, not so these days) and tell them to come take the box out, they will just cancel the sub, leaving you with BBC HD, CH4 HD, and Lux HD for free.  And for £50 the bigger hard drive is well worth it on the HD box.



There are currently 34 channels listed in the HD menu, not all show hd all the time, and you can only view in hd what you subscribe to in sd, for instance, you cant watch sky sporst and movies in hd if you dont subscribe to those channels in standard def.

ITV HD is the only missing channel from the hd menu list, but can be viewed on other channels on some boxs without sky plus functions. There is bog all on it anyway making freeview a waste of time for HD.

Sky broadcast hd in 720p or 1080i, the highest spec available in the uk. 1080p is only available via blu ray disc. 

the sky hd box does improve the sd picture over a sd box.

For me, no point having a flat panel tv without it. 

[Martin_1962]

I am recording Doc Martin tonight on ITV HD with the Humax HDR

[richardirv]

I have it too and don't mind paying the £9 subs, would be better free but I still think its worth it. The SD picture is much better than Standard Sky+ Box mainly due to to it being HDMI not Scart. You can also manually tune the HD box so you can view ITV HD as it is aired Unencrypted, although you can't record or use the EPG with it. 

[Marks DTM Calib]

Remember, its not HD, its HDish.

And is it worth a tenner a month.....probably not!

As for upscaling, you cant polish a poo (well you can but, its still a poo)!

[Mr Skrunts]

I have it too and don't mind paying the £9 subs, would be better free but I still think its worth it. The SD picture is much better than Standard Sky+ Box mainly due to to it being HDMI not Scart. You can also manually tune the HD box so you can view ITV HD as it is aired Unencrypted, although you can't record or use the EPG with it. 

Not on the box I have you cant, it's out of range, and I dont have the new EPG that sorts it yet  :-/

[richardirv]

I have it too and don't mind paying the £9 subs, would be better free but I still think its worth it. The SD picture is much better than Standard Sky+ Box mainly due to to it being HDMI not Scart. You can also manually tune the HD box so you can view ITV HD as it is aired Unencrypted, although you can't record or use the EPG with it. 

Not on the box I have you cant, it's out of range, and I dont have the new EPG that sorts it yet  :-/

Now you say that I do remember it only works on specific boxes.

[Mr Skrunts]

Mines an Amstrad and I have to wait for the upgrade, seems the pace and Grundig models will tune in.

[richardirv]

Yeah mine is a pace i think, epg was updated quite a few months ago. Think it needs patching though can be a bit slow sometimes. Still much better than the old epg though.