High Definition Telly
- Thread starter domtyler
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bonj said:
I'm always interested on the opinions of others on HD. For me it's a colour thing as well as detail. Faces on films look better and one can usually make out make-up but the actual flesh tones are better as well as reds and browns. Blues, greens and whites seem to be a less common improvement but are there sometimes. Often the sound is vastly superior too.
The other thing I find about films in HD is you can get a better feel of production techniques and what whoever shot it was aiming for. You can tell what was in focus in a shot better, you can tell tell whether they have deliberately softened it or not, lighting etc. In standard these things are often difficult to spot.
My box does a pretty good job at upscaling so I'm happy with the channels.
SimonCC the benefits of HD are better picture quality, fewer compression problems common to digital tv, better colours, better sound, widescreen. In theory even standard def will improve as mixed down stuff (without upscaling back) usually looks better than bog standard def. I use HD mostly for gaming, films and a small amount of tv but I have seen the odd bit of sport. It is often said that the biggest gains in HD are in sport. I'm no rugby fan but saw some of the recent stuff out of interest. The stuff on BBC1 that had been presumably downscaled looked absolutely horrific when compared to the same source on BBC HD.
simoncc said:
Despite the moanings with channel 4 it's a commercial decision and I believe that they have made entirely the correct decision (apart from the length of the and being an encryption contract). Their other options would have been to delay the launch of the channel until substantially more content was in HD which I think is pointless. Further to that it gives them plenty of time to get used to it and slowly build it up. There is also the point that some people (including me) prefer simulcast HD channels as its much easier to follow what is on and when rather than a bizarre array of freakish filler progs completely out of step with their sister channels to get the hours up.
On the other hand it is deeply ironic that a lot of the shows the channel 4 network have access to is HD but that due to branding and contractual issues these things spend their time doing the rounds on channels that have picture quality far more dire than channel 4 HD.
I think there are people who watch HD who moan about c4HD and Sky One HD because they aren't that interested in films, sport or documentaries and just want to watch "normal stuff" in HD and there are only 2 or 3 channels satisfying this.
P.S. BBC HD could be a lot better and ITV's having a test channel 2 years ago and pulling the plug on it never to be heard of again until recently is suicidal.
Well for you the benefits are probably the improved picture quality on Sky Sports 1,2&3 due to better source material. That and Sky having realised another opportunity to beat up all other content provider and broadcast competitors with?
marinyork said:
Well, I've watched Sky HDTV. It's not markedly different from normal TV. I want to know why HDTV is supposed to be so good. Are the text services super fast or something?
The problem I've got with HDTV is that it doesn't offer anything more but it costs more. Yes, the picture quality is a bit better but I wouldn't be prepared to pay for that improvement as I'm OK with what I've got now.
TV's problem is not picture quality. It's the quality of the programmes it shows.
Are we talking full HD? (1080p)
And do you need a HDMI cable to get full HD? or can you get it via SCART?
I only ask because we'll be moving back into our house in a few weeks and the deposit we left for the temporary accommodation will be put towards a HD ready TV for the family.
Not that I've got any HD devices to use with it (unless a WII is HD?), but I'm curious because I've seen it advised that you don't really need to worry about getting full HD on your TV just yet as it'll be years before you can take advantage of it?
Cheers,
Shaun
And do you need a HDMI cable to get full HD? or can you get it via SCART?
I only ask because we'll be moving back into our house in a few weeks and the deposit we left for the temporary accommodation will be put towards a HD ready TV for the family.
Not that I've got any HD devices to use with it (unless a WII is HD?), but I'm curious because I've seen it advised that you don't really need to worry about getting full HD on your TV just yet as it'll be years before you can take advantage of it?
Cheers,
Shaun
No we're not talking HD ready 1080p/full HD in all circumstances. I'm talking 720p which my tv is or 1080i which is what these channels are broadcast in. You can get 1080p stuff in some formats if you want it.
You can get FullHD via vga or component in some circumstances. Sky HD (I think) and Virgin HD are both provided in either component or HDMI (you need HDMI for ppv and vod I think but that's a different matter). These are 1080i btw. There are differences between 720p and 1080i but bearing in mind some people are questioning any improvement at all from standard I think we'll leave that one for now. Component isn't as good as HDMI but it's still a damn sight better than standard def. It's not as much of an issue as they are making more tvs with x2 or x3 HDMI. With SCART you'll get good old fashioned SD, a mistake the numpty virgin meeja "engineer" made.
Sadly the Wii is not HD, about the only flaw with it and about the only obvious upgrade path for future Wiis someday. It still looks pretty good on a hd tv though.
One of my friend's mum is into gaming and reckoned all this high def stuff was a load of cobblers and that the x-box 360 was "no better" picture wise than her PS2. They got a HD tv and she changed her mind pretty rapidly on that one.
There's a noticeable mark-up still on FullHD tvs. There's a lot of tvs with half-baked resolutions not quite fullHD to save on costs. It depends what your definition of take advantage of is really and how long you envisage your tv lasting (debatable also!). There are non-obvious technical advantages to HD ready 1080p "full HD" over less than that. It will be many years before 1080p broadcasts because the tv market and some infrastructure in the UK is so thoroughly backwards.
My tv is 720p. 720p HDMI is the best setting, then 1080i HDMI, then component hidef, then the two scart formats and so on. Some of the cut down resolutions on digital are a joke and analogue can look comedically bad. Even flicking the settings on the V+ menu makes a noticeable difference. When it's in 720p HDMI the menu is very crisp, put it in 1080i and a very tiny fuzz comes in, a bit more in component and it looks bad in standard. The menu isn't even written in HD!
Thing is, some people reckon blu-ray stand alone players will be about £100 by the end of 2009 by about which time people might actually be interested in buying the things. I'm surprised that some of the retailers don't aggressively sell some of the players at much less than the current price as a loss leader as some of the high st retailers are being extremely greedy blu-ray price wise selling many at £23,£25 or £30 and they apparently sell some!
You can get FullHD via vga or component in some circumstances. Sky HD (I think) and Virgin HD are both provided in either component or HDMI (you need HDMI for ppv and vod I think but that's a different matter). These are 1080i btw. There are differences between 720p and 1080i but bearing in mind some people are questioning any improvement at all from standard I think we'll leave that one for now. Component isn't as good as HDMI but it's still a damn sight better than standard def. It's not as much of an issue as they are making more tvs with x2 or x3 HDMI. With SCART you'll get good old fashioned SD, a mistake the numpty virgin meeja "engineer" made.
Sadly the Wii is not HD, about the only flaw with it and about the only obvious upgrade path for future Wiis someday. It still looks pretty good on a hd tv though.
One of my friend's mum is into gaming and reckoned all this high def stuff was a load of cobblers and that the x-box 360 was "no better" picture wise than her PS2. They got a HD tv and she changed her mind pretty rapidly on that one.
There's a noticeable mark-up still on FullHD tvs. There's a lot of tvs with half-baked resolutions not quite fullHD to save on costs. It depends what your definition of take advantage of is really and how long you envisage your tv lasting (debatable also!). There are non-obvious technical advantages to HD ready 1080p "full HD" over less than that. It will be many years before 1080p broadcasts because the tv market and some infrastructure in the UK is so thoroughly backwards.
My tv is 720p. 720p HDMI is the best setting, then 1080i HDMI, then component hidef, then the two scart formats and so on. Some of the cut down resolutions on digital are a joke and analogue can look comedically bad. Even flicking the settings on the V+ menu makes a noticeable difference. When it's in 720p HDMI the menu is very crisp, put it in 1080i and a very tiny fuzz comes in, a bit more in component and it looks bad in standard. The menu isn't even written in HD!
Thing is, some people reckon blu-ray stand alone players will be about £100 by the end of 2009 by about which time people might actually be interested in buying the things. I'm surprised that some of the retailers don't aggressively sell some of the players at much less than the current price as a loss leader as some of the high st retailers are being extremely greedy blu-ray price wise selling many at £23,£25 or £30 and they apparently sell some!
yorkshiregoth
Master of all he surveys
- Location
- Heathrow
I have a HD LCD TV, but I don't have a HD digi box. It is a rather old digital receiver from when Telewest was still Telewest. Will I therefore need to upgrade my box to benefit from the few HD channels that are available?
Yes. Is it one of the Pace ones? That was the first cable digibox I had, they were awful. The bad news is currently there is only 1 HD channel on cable. If you believe the rumours there will be another 5 by the end of the summer/autumn.
You might be doing it about the right time if you believe all the rumours (I don't). BBC HD is free. On VOD there's also quite a bit of subscribed content i.e. Blue Planet, Planet Earth (eps 1-5), Band of Brothers, Ghost Whisperer, etc etc all of which did until recently total about 100hrs.
You might be doing it about the right time if you believe all the rumours (I don't). BBC HD is free. On VOD there's also quite a bit of subscribed content i.e. Blue Planet, Planet Earth (eps 1-5), Band of Brothers, Ghost Whisperer, etc etc all of which did until recently total about 100hrs.
simoncc said:
If you don't like HDTV then fair enough, there are plenty of others in a small minority who say they little little difference/benefit. Sky's idea is that it's a premium service to make money out of ontop of normal digital tv so it won't affect you but will slowly come in over the next decade. Other broadcasters have different ideas about availability and pricing. HD utilises technologies that may benefit you other users in future e.g. DVB-S2 if Sky ever get rid of the legacy boxes knocking around - unlikely.
I watch tv primarily for the content. I won't be watching Eastenders in HD as I've said before. There are however a few things I have watched in the past that has soured the experience, watching european football on ITV for example where the picture quality was so bad to be almost unwatchable. If a good film is on tv I will enjoy it regardless but HD is an added bonus that will enhance some films further. Some see this as a similar thing to multichannel sound that is a specialism for a small minority. I'd prefer it was available to the mainstream for them to decide.
PrettyboyTim
New Member
- Location
- Brighton
domtyler said:Just splashed out on a new HD telly, 40 inch LCD Sony Bravia, Sky HD and a PS3 for games and Blu-Ray films. Been flicking through the available channels and there doesn't really seam to be that much on offer yet. Have I done the right thing at the right time or not?
PS, if anyone wants a 28 inch Bush Widescreen Silver colour CRT telly in more or less perfect working order for the price of P&P or collect from E. London, PM me and it is yours.
What games have you got?
OP
OP
domtyler
Über Member
PrettyboyTim said:
Well none of the kit has arrived yet, but I have ordered:
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon
Call of Duty 4
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Earth [Blu-ray] [2007]
Beowulf [Blu-ray] [2007]
The TV if anyone's interested is a Sony Bravia KDL-40V3000 which was highly recommended to me by some colleagues of mine, research seemed to bear up the fact that it is one of the best value machines out there are the moment. Mine was £715 including delivery.
Dom I'm not a sony man but I think you'll notice the gigantic jump in res and better AA on the PS3 for games. GTA IV is out soon 
Planet Earth is generally considered to be the best HD title available to buy. It is so worth the money. As you will no doubt have discovered high st blu-ray retailers are selling blu-rays at £23-30 whereas play and other retailers sell things for £13.99 on budget blu-ray films, £17.99 normally and £23.99 for expensive films, there are buy two get one free offers etc too.
Planet Earth is generally considered to be the best HD title available to buy. It is so worth the money. As you will no doubt have discovered high st blu-ray retailers are selling blu-rays at £23-30 whereas play and other retailers sell things for £13.99 on budget blu-ray films, £17.99 normally and £23.99 for expensive films, there are buy two get one free offers etc too.
Sh4rkyBloke
Jaffa Cake monster
- Location
- Manchester, UK
Aaaah, got my PS3 last week... I'm sure play.com will be my friend for a few more years! 
Not got any blurays yet, just a couple of games that came with the console (Rainbow 6: Vegas 2 and GT5 prologue)... excellent stuff though! Really enjoying being a marksman on R6V2... single headshot from distance and they're down and out.... oh, if only we could apply the same technique to some forum members (metaphorically speaking of course!)
Not got any blurays yet, just a couple of games that came with the console (Rainbow 6: Vegas 2 and GT5 prologue)... excellent stuff though! Really enjoying being a marksman on R6V2... single headshot from distance and they're down and out.... oh, if only we could apply the same technique to some forum members (metaphorically speaking of course!)
