HD content on FTA channels without HD ticket?

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mattk

255 posts

Ultimate Geek

#356621 26-Jul-2010 16:07

clevedon:
mattk:
i guess my point is this-

If you buy a new TV, its hard to find one without a freeview turner built in, i.e. freeview is now a standard option and therefore HDTV is standard.

The fact that Sky charge you extra for something which could now be considered standard is not representing value for money for me.

And I absolutely agree, once you've seen shows in HD everything else is rubbish!

A BIG $2.50 a week.
Freeview HD is only avaliable to 75% of NZ therefore HDTV is not standard.

on top of the $38 a month you're already paying for those channels?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/jul/06/analogue-television-digital-switchover
"All the major high street electronics retailers have now stopped selling analogue sets after quietly running down their stocks in recent months, in preparation for the switch to digital terrestrial television (DTT) by 2012."

"The phasing out of analogue television began in 2005 after the government announced the country would switch to digital, region by region, by 2012."

....going by the fact that most tvs are shipping with freeview we can't be far behind.

clevedon

1059 posts

Uber Geek

#356640 26-Jul-2010 16:22

mattk:
on top of the $38 a month you're already paying for those channels?

Who do you think pays for the new HD cameras that On Site Broadcasting bought for HD sporting coverage around the country that Sky buys off them? Or the increased bandwith that Sky has to purchase off the company that owns the satellites that relay the HD content we see. It is user pays.

mattk

255 posts

Ultimate Geek

#356644 26-Jul-2010 16:26

clevedon:
mattk:
on top of the $38 a month you're already paying for those channels?

Who do you think pays for the new HD cameras that On Site Broadcasting bought for HD sporting coverage around the country that Sky buys off them? Or the increased bandwith that Sky has to purchase off the company that owns the satellites that relay the HD content we see. It is user pays.

The fact that free-to-air provides me with HD content for $0 renders your comment null and void.

clevedon

1059 posts

Uber Geek

#356646 26-Jul-2010 16:35

mattk: The fact that free-to-air provides me with HD content for $0 renders your comment null and void.

Do FTA have The All Blacks live and interrupted in HD? - no, somebody has to pay, it is a business and Sky pays very large amounts to do it.

mattk

255 posts

Ultimate Geek

#356649 26-Jul-2010 16:46

clevedon:
mattk: The fact that free-to-air provides me with HD content for $0 renders your comment null and void.

Do FTA have The All Blacks live and interrupted in HD? - no, somebody has to pay, it is a business and Sky pays very large amounts to do it.

Not sure about advertising - never watched sky sports, but I imagine that your sports subscription should more than cover it - i mean seriously, the SD version is captured on the same kit and scaled down but you're not paying for the EXTRA transcoding thats required to strip it down to SD. If anything the it's costing them more to broadcast both versions rather than just the HD version.

clevedon

1059 posts

Uber Geek

#356651 26-Jul-2010 16:51

mattk:
clevedon:
mattk: The fact that free-to-air provides me with HD content for $0 renders your comment null and void.

Do FTA have The All Blacks live and interrupted in HD? - no, somebody has to pay, it is a business and Sky pays very large amounts to do it.

Not sure about advertising - never watched sky sports, but I imagine that your sports subscription should more than cover it - i mean seriously, the SD version is captured on the same kit and scaled down but you're not paying for the EXTRA transcoding thats required to strip it down to SD. If anything the it's costing them more to broadcast both versions rather than just the HD version.

Look, the HD ticket charge only came on when MySky HDi arrived on the scene two years ago. It's cost more to transmit HD content so pay up or don't, simple. Or get multiroom like us, and get it free.

mattk

255 posts

Ultimate Geek

#356659 26-Jul-2010 17:03

clevedon:
Look, the HD ticket charge only came on when MySky HDi arrived on the scene two years ago. It's cost more to transmit HD content so pay up or don't, simple. Or get multiroom like us, and get it free.

Maybe when a few more channels are HD i might bite. Sky really needs a shake up, they're still behind freeview a whopping 14:4 at the moment.

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gareth41

742 posts

Ultimate Geek

#356843 26-Jul-2010 23:54

I have heard rumors that you dont need the HD ticket to get HD content if using a non sky receiver (eg dreambox) with your blue 45xx card. Is anyone able to confirm this? A mate of mine has a small silver pace box non HD with a blue 45xx card, same cards in the mysky decoders, and he got the HD movie channels on his dreambox DM800HD only by subscribing to the movie channles, well so he says. We have multiroom so I can not test as with multiroom you get the HD ticket for free.

This leads me to believe that sky are possibly just not adding the HD channels to the channel lists in the mysky decoders of non HD ticket subscribers, hence not fully blocking them by denying the card access to decode the HD channels in the first place. It used to be the same scenario with the "Auxiliary" channel, this channel is a hidden channel used by sky as a feed channel for sports etc... It is not listed in the channel list on a sky decoder standard or hdi hence no access to it as you sinply cant select it, but after using the skycard in a dreambox this channel decoded without problems on the dreambox.

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