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.
