Sky Arts. Now free to air!!!

[raleighnut]

But then you have to pay for BT TV.

Ah but the package we're on also gives us unlimited internet, free unlimited telephone calls at any time of day, a box that'll record 160 hours of programs with dual tuners (so you can watch one channel whilst recording another) and free technical support/replacement of the router/BT box if there is a problem.
The free phone calls*have been a godsend for Maz during 'lockdown' she can natter with her daughter and the 3 adult grandaughters for ages not to mention her friends and former workmates from BT, even calls to mobiles are free now. OK it's not like seeing them but the next best thing is nattering.

* Originally calls after 6pm and at weekends were free then it went to at any time of day but only for up to an hour still, now it is all calls to landlines and mobiles at any time for as long as you like.

 

[Mike_P]

And an often overlooked feature of having BT as the internet provider is the access to routers all over the country meaning little if any need to use mobile data.

 

[Drago]

Use the Freeview coverage checker... HERE.

Calder Valley, Freeview Lite = 45 channels. Centre of Manchester, Full Metal Freeview = 148 channels.


My TV is only 42" and HD looks vastly superior to SD at a distance of 8+ ft. You sound like my sisters, who bought HD TVs but then watch them in SD - it drives me potty!

Obviously, HD is only HD if broadcast in HD and shot at that kind of resolution. Old episodes of The Sweeney are going to look pretty bad on any set! All programmes made in the last 10-15 years have been shot in HD widescreen. Some channels don't broadcast in HD but all of my favourites do.

A massive set might be a good idea for UHD but a bit of a waste of time for HD unless you have a huge room and will be sitting well distant from the TV.

Not exactly a waste of time, but getting close. At normal viweing distances the fine detail of 4K UHD is just beyond that which the human eye can resolve, so 4K is close to or just beyond the limit of usefulness. At normal vieing distances the human eye can discern nothing greater than that, which makes 8K an utter waste of bandwidth - 8K is nothing more than willy wagging by TV manufacturers and gullilbe consumers.

 

[DaveReading]

My TV is only 42" and HD looks vastly superior to SD at a distance of 8+ ft. You sound like my sisters, who bought HD TVs but then watch them in SD - it drives me potty!

Yes, HD is superior - though I'm not sure that I'd have said "vastly", nor do I understand why the improvement over SD would be more apparent the further you are from the screen.

One advantage of SD is that, if you're like me and your HDR is always full, a recording takes up only about a quarter of the disk space that the same program needs in HD. So, for example, anything we record on BBC2 uses channel 968 (SD on Freesat) rather than 102.

Must get the wife to watch her 24 recorded HD episodes of Peaky Blinders.

 

[captain nemo1701]

"Channel seems to be pushing out the sort of stuff BBC4 used to supply before budgets were redirected to politically correct causes."

What 'causes' would they be?. BBC4 seems a pretty mixed bag to me, it puts out the stuff BBC2 did waaay back in the 70's.

 

[ColinJ]

Yes, HD is superior - though I'm not sure that I'd have said "vastly", nor do I understand why the improvement over SD would be more apparent the further you are from the screen.

Sorry, I meant that it looks much better to me even at a distance of over 8 ft, not that it isn't better close up! The closer you get (within reason) the more obvious it is.

The new TV interview game of 'lockdown bookshelf' works in HD but is a waste of time in SD!

 

[Mike_P]

Having both Freesat and Freeview, Freesat SD seems to be a far more defined signal than Freeview SD and at times rivals Freeview HD. Having said that my largest TV is 32" so maybe on a larger screen things might be different. Have a 4k BT box simply because it was cheaper that way to get HD channels than topping up a normal BT box.

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

Ah but the package we're on also gives us unlimited internet, free unlimited telephone calls at any time of day, a box that'll record 160 hours of programs with dual tuners (so you can watch one channel whilst recording another) and free technical support/replacement of the router/BT box if there is a problem.

Do you mind me asking how much that costs? My internet agreement is due for renewal shortly, and it may be worth investigating alternatives.

 

[ColinJ]

Having both Freesat and Freeview, Freesat SD seems to be a far more defined signal than Freeview SD and at times rivals Freeview HD.

I think that the Humax Freesat PVRs do a pretty good job at upscaling SD to HD resolution. Obviously it can't be as good as the real thing, but it could be better than the circuitry in your TV (or Freeview box).

 

[raleighnut]

Do you mind me asking how much that costs? My internet agreement is due for renewal shortly, and it may be worth investigating alternatives.

Maz still gets Employee Discount (well they pay her Pension) but very often BT have deals on for new customers, could be cheap for the first year or so.

 

[captain nemo1701]

Sorry, I meant that it looks much better to me even at a distance of over 8 ft, not that it isn't better close up! The closer you get (within reason) the more obvious it is.

The new TV interview game of 'lockdown bookshelf' works in HD but is a waste of time in SD!

'Lockdown Bookshelf...... Anyone noticed how politicians interviewed in front of a bookshelf and you just know they've not read half of the titles.....

I also heard a lecturer today say that with online learning he spends all day teaching silhouettes..... Basic video : ensure light source is not behind you.

 

[ColinJ]

'Lockdown Bookshelf...... Anyone noticed how politicians interviewed in front of a bookshelf and you just know they've not read half of the titles.....

What I have noticed (thanks to the clarity of HD!) is that some cheeky interviewees have been strategically placing books just behind their heads, those books coincidentally having been written by them!

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

Maz still gets Employee Discount (well they pay her Pension) but very often BT have deals on for new customers, could be cheap for the first year or so.

Jeez. It don't half cost an arm and a leg. And I can save over £70 on set up costs. SAVE? How much does it cost? No idea. Everything is add on at "only" £10, £15 or £20 per month extra.
From what I can see the whole package will cost IRO £60 per month. Just to watch a few crappy films and have the chance to watch West Brom v Southampton in an empty stadium. Watching paint dry will be more fun.

If you get a good discount then look after it, because it's saps like me paying for it. Only I won't be.

That's an awful lot of money in a year.
If I've got the figures wrong then apologies, but the website appears to be deliberately misleading.

 

[Mike_P]

I think that the Humax Freesat PVRs do a pretty good job at upscaling SD to HD resolution. Obviously it can't be as good as the real thing, but it could be better than the circuitry in your TV (or Freeview box).

Have Humaxs but the 32" TV is, a now extinct it seems, Freesat/Freeview combi and on that Panasonic TV Freesat SD is noticeably the better.

 

[raleighnut]

Jeez. It don't half cost an arm and a leg. And I can save over £70 on set up costs. SAVE? How much does it cost? No idea. Everything is add on at "only" £10, £15 or £20 per month extra.
From what I can see the whole package will cost IRO £60 per month. Just to watch a few crappy films and have the chance to watch West Brom v Southampton in an empty stadium. Watching paint dry will be more fun.

If you get a good discount then look after it, because it's saps like me paying for it. Only I won't be.

That's an awful lot of money in a year.
If I've got the figures wrong then apologies, but the website appears to be deliberately misleading.

without our BT package the phone bill would be over £50 a month Maz is often on for over an hour chatting to Jo or one of her Grandkids 2 of whom live down south in Wiltshire as does her Daughter but the eldest lives in Leicester mind the youngest has a flat in Marlborough now. Then there's things like ringing the Council/Doctors/Bank where they put you on 'hold' for ages (at your expense)