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[I_want_an_Omega]

I've got Freesat HD and Freeview HD and the picture quality is very even between them. Freeview HD gives you more HD channels than Freesat HD.

My lads got Sky HD, but I object to paying Sky prices and find that Freeview gives me more than enough channels. I can remember the launch of the third channel (BBC2) in the mid '60s and frankly think that there are too many channels available now.

Just my views of course.

[Dishevelled Den]

Yes I was toying with the idea of sticking a dual lnb on the old sky dish and fitting a sat card, or just wait till the new crop of dtv cards are with us and go freeview HD.

Blackgold 6-in-1's are back, and I believe they are DVB-T2, so could have best of both.

Unsure of driver/firmware stability though. Not used them.

Would the PSU in my Artisan case drive that card?

(E7500 Core Duo, 3 Gig ram, Intel DG45 & Win 7)

[Chris_H]

I've got Freesat HD and Freeview HD and the picture quality is very even between them. Freeview HD gives you more HD channels than Freesat HD.

My lads got Sky HD, but I object to paying Sky prices and find that Freeview gives me more than enough channels. I can remember the launch of the third channel (BBC2) in the mid '60s and frankly think that there are too many channels available now.

Just my views of course.

You are not alone....  scary.

[Dishevelled Den]

Yes,  the leap from 405 lines to 625 lines was traumatic enough.

[TheBoy]

Yes I was toying with the idea of sticking a dual lnb on the old sky dish and fitting a sat card, or just wait till the new crop of dtv cards are with us and go freeview HD.

Blackgold 6-in-1's are back, and I believe they are DVB-T2, so could have best of both.

Unsure of driver/firmware stability though. Not used them.

Would the PSU in my Artisan case drive that card?

(E7500 Core Duo, 3 Gig ram, Intel DG45 & Win 7)

Given the integrated graphics (assuming you use X4500HD) and the modest chip (65W), the Artisan PSU should be fine.

I was looking at getting one to set alongside the HVR2200 I have and to replace the troublesome Nova DT500, but don't think I'll bother with Freesat.

My Artisan (LX) PSU seems to cope well with my DG45ID, 2G, C2D Quad (95W iirc), HVR2200, DT500, 1.5Tb Spinpoint and a PITA Optiarc DVD drive.  Occasionally has a couple of USB HDD's plugged in as well.


Can't imagine the BlackGold being that juicy for power?

[Mr Skrunts]

My question is .... Is HD worth having as I object to paying Sky an extra tenner a month for it if there is little difference to your veiwing

The cynic in me would suggest Sky degraded the quality of their SD to make HD seem much better.

Sky HD is significantly better than Sky SD. Sky HD is noticibly better than Freeview SD. Not sure how Sky HD compares to Freeview HD, as not seen the 2 side by side...

An interesting point here.

When I got my HD subscription I also bought a 24" Dell PC Monitor that has HDMI in.  I set the Dell up on the HDMI out lead and my 24" Toshiba CRT on the old coax and straight away I was totally disapointed in the picture out to the Dell on both HD and SD. 

So yes I tend to agree with there Jamie.  Allthough I havent compaiered pic quality from a 42" plasma or LCD with the 24" PC monitor which is 1920 x 1080 res but going on the undersatnding sky expect all HD customers to have an LCD/Plasma of a decent size then yes, I think the poorer screen image is allowing them to manipulate the end results. :-/

[I_want_an_Omega]

I forgot to mention that the Govt is expecting to issue the 1000th TV broadcasting licence in this country early this year 

Now, if Sky would give me Nat Geographic and Discovery for a fiver a month then I'd go for it - but I don't see that happening somehow. Hey ho, I think I'll go out this evening & interact with real people - he said sitting on an on-line forum 

[aaronjb]

Soz, when Zok said old film, I immediately got Charlie Chaplin type films in my head

Fair point actually, I didn't consider films that old..  Anything pre 'modern' 35mm stock won't be HD (though I'm not sure when 'modern' really begins - 1960s, maybe? Sounds like Chris_H probably knows ) whatever way you cut it

I've been meaning to kill off my Sky contract for a while now - I just don't switch the box on - but the HD picture does look pretty good on my set (50" LG 1080p Plasma), though it's still not as good as a native BluRay of course - it never could be, for a start it's only 720p/1080i and the bitrate is never going to be anything like BR.

In fact the only time the Sky box has been on since June/July was over Christmas when the 'rents came to stay..

[Dishevelled Den]

Given the integrated graphics (assuming you use X4500HD) and the modest chip (65W), the Artisan PSU should be fine.

I was looking at getting one to set alongside the HVR2200 I have and to replace the troublesome Nova DT500, but don't think I'll bother with Freesat.

My Artisan (LX) PSU seems to cope well with my DG45ID, 2G, C2D Quad (95W iirc), HVR2200, DT500, 1.5Tb Spinpoint and a PITA Optiarc DVD drive.  Occasionally has a couple of USB HDD's plugged in as well.


Can't imagine the BlackGold being that juicy for power?

I'll probably put one in to try it, when I redid the systems I fully cabled an octo LNB so I have a bit of capacity to spare.

[Martin_1962]

I want to get Freeview HD soon. Can't quite manage on the HDR alone, and we nearly lost sat reception in the snow.

I am sure a few lost their sky as they have little dishes

[TheBoy]

Given the integrated graphics (assuming you use X4500HD) and the modest chip (65W), the Artisan PSU should be fine.

I was looking at getting one to set alongside the HVR2200 I have and to replace the troublesome Nova DT500, but don't think I'll bother with Freesat.

My Artisan (LX) PSU seems to cope well with my DG45ID, 2G, C2D Quad (95W iirc), HVR2200, DT500, 1.5Tb Spinpoint and a PITA Optiarc DVD drive.  Occasionally has a couple of USB HDD's plugged in as well.


Can't imagine the BlackGold being that juicy for power?

I'll probably put one in to try it, when I redid the systems I fully cabled an octo LNB so I have a bit of capacity to spare.

Double check its dvb-t2 before buying...

[Lizzie_Zoom]

My question is .... Is HD worth having as I object to paying Sky an extra tenner a month for it if there is little difference to your veiwing

The cynic in me would suggest Sky degraded the quality of their SD to make HD seem much better.

Sky HD is significantly better than Sky SD. Sky HD is noticibly better than Freeview SD. Not sure how Sky HD compares to Freeview HD, as not seen the 2 side by side...

I have been told by "the experts" that we will not receive Freeview HD until the anologue transmitters are turned off in each region TB.  For us down here that means 2012.

[TheBoy]

My question is .... Is HD worth having as I object to paying Sky an extra tenner a month for it if there is little difference to your veiwing

The cynic in me would suggest Sky degraded the quality of their SD to make HD seem much better.

Sky HD is significantly better than Sky SD. Sky HD is noticibly better than Freeview SD. Not sure how Sky HD compares to Freeview HD, as not seen the 2 side by side...

I have been told by "the experts" that we will not receive Freeview HD until the anologue transmitters are turned off in each region TB.  For us down here that means 2012.

That is correct, Freeview HD comes with DSO.  Oxford was due for Spring 2011, but Beckley transmitter went bang one day when they were testing the DSO stuff , hence the delay in these parts.

Be aware, *any* Freeview decoders older than 6 months will *NOT* be able to receive the HD channels. Even some decoders and TVs now cannot decode the Freeview HD transmissions. The standard you are looking for is DVB-T2.

[Martin_1962]

My question is .... Is HD worth having as I object to paying Sky an extra tenner a month for it if there is little difference to your veiwing

The cynic in me would suggest Sky degraded the quality of their SD to make HD seem much better.

Sky HD is significantly better than Sky SD. Sky HD is noticibly better than Freeview SD. Not sure how Sky HD compares to Freeview HD, as not seen the 2 side by side...

I have been told by "the experts" that we will not receive Freeview HD until the anologue transmitters are turned off in each region TB.  For us down here that means 2012.

That is correct, Freeview HD comes with DSO.  Oxford was due for Spring 2011, but Beckley transmitter went bang one day when they were testing the DSO stuff , hence the delay in these parts.

Be aware, *any* Freeview decoders older than 6 months will *NOT* be able to receive the HD channels. Even some decoders and TVs now cannot decode the Freeview HD transmissions. The standard you are looking for is DVB-T2.

It depends, currently Litchfield is broadcasting FV HD and Sutton is still doing Analogue I think.

They are a pair for an area and we get both, but no FV HD devices here.

If you are buying a receiver and not PC based as with Freesat can't go much wrong with Humax

[Kevin Wood]

I have been told by "the experts" that we will not receive Freeview HD until the anologue transmitters are turned off in each region TB.  For us down here that means 2012.

Yep, same for us.

I got a bit fired up about getting a new TV over Christmas but, after looking at loads of TVs, turning off the daft "dynamic" modes and trying to set them up to give somewhere near a realistic picture, I came to the conclusion that keeping hold of my 10 year old Sony 32" CRT (and my money) is about the best bet at the moment.

Kevin