A TV Question.....

[OFSO]

Can I squeeze a television question in here ? Just bought an HD TV here in Spain, discovered most of the Spanish and Catalan television signals (now all digital of course, no analogue in Spain) are now in HD.

Question: are any of the HD channels on the Astra SKY satellites free or are they all subscription/pay-per-view ?

[spannersatcx]

some are free like BBC etc others are subsciption only, google will probably give you a more definative answer.

[green granite]

don't know about the Astra SKY satellites but freesat has bbc and itv hd channels on it.

[NRU74]

As well as the free HD transmissions of BBCTV and ITV Granada on Astra 2D at 28.2E it appears BBC1 starts on test from 3rd Nov
Presumably you've got an HD compatible 'box' to serve the HD TV ?
I can't tell from the sites [Kingofsat and Lyngsat are the best altho' both are quite cluttered] whether you need at least an expired Sky Card or the £25 Sky Freesat card to access these channels if you are using Sky's own box eg Skyplus as opposed to,say, the Sagem box I'm using.
Perhaps it's my eyesight, but I'd have to admit I can hardly tell the difference in HD and SD

[crewmeal]

Perhaps it's my eyesight, but I'd have to admit I can hardly tell the difference in HD and SD

A lot depends on the tv you buy. I have a Samsung 40 inch 7020 which is 1 year old now and you really can tell the difference provided the programme is in HD. I have a friend who has an older Samsung HD model and there is hardly any difference at all. We both use Sky+ boxes.

I notice HD quality more with Sky news in the studio, but a recent shot of Yemen on the news would hardly give HD pundits house room. ITV1 HD is hardly noticeable but BBC HD is sometimes excellent especially wildlife programmes.

[Bushfiva]

A lot depends on the bit rate any particular channel uses, and many programmes aren't produced end-to-end at HD quality anyway. In particular, the Beeb started at around 16 Mpbs but is down around 8 Mbps now. Discovery used to be at 11 Mbps; maybe it still is.

[tony draper]

I bought a Freeview HD settop box a while back, there are three channels broadcast on the terrestrial fee view in HD BBC ITV and Channel four,I agree the quality does seem to vary a lot,some things like wildlife documentaries football seem to benefit most from being in HD

[Mike-Bracknell]

Google "Freesat HD" for options.

[OFSO]

Thanks for opinions. There are around 40 Spanish and Catalan TV channels available here, most in both normal and HD, and the difference in quality on a brand-new LG is most marked. Doesn't sound like it's worth investing (yet) in a new satellite receiver, however.

[Wodrick]

BBC 1 should start in HD on Freesat from November 3rd, a mirror of BBC London.

[hellsbrink]

OFSO

I ain't looked online to see what is available with satellite TV across Europe, but maybe investing in the new receiver and a motorised dish and positioner would be worth it. Years ago I (yes, me, on my own with no help from any professionals) fitted a 1m Gregorian dish with a motor up it's bum when I was still in Jockistan and could get one heck of a selection of channels (a digital receiver, as well as the old Sky analogue one, just to show how long ago it was, was involved too) for free. That sort of investment MAY be worth it, since you should be able to pick up signals that you normally would not get without a bigger dish (the 1m Gregorian was the equivalent of one that was at least 2m wide) and so you MIGHT get a return that is more than just getting a new receiver.

IMO, it's worth looking at. I can't because I live in a rented apartment and I don't think the landlord would be keen on something like that appearing, and since we live on a street that runs north/south then such a thing would be useless. In the future, however............

[OFSO]

Good advice Hellsbrink, but I was an ESA staffer for 25 years at the Ops Control Centre and the rear of my house is FESTOONED with dishes, more stored in the cellar "just in case". The living room is SWATHED in satellite receivers, plus a Mrs OFSO who says "if ever anything hapened to you I don't know HOW I would run all this stuff" (which come to think of it is probably keeping me alive....)

Incidently Spanish and Catalan terrestial digital TV uses dual sound track so films are nearly always shown in original audio as an option.....new TV found over 40 terrestial digital channels to add to the thousands on the satellite. Whether any of the satellite chanels are worth watching is another matter, in fact if they WERE I wouldn't be sitting here on PPRuNe.

Pip pip !