Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


turb

863 posts

Ultimate Geek


#112444 9-Dec-2012 09:39
Send private message

The Freeview picture quality seems way better and the sound is in another league altogether. Sky seems so heavily compressed it's sometimes like watching YouTube. I know not all content is HD but I'm talking about stuff like the 6 o'clock news.

I'm watching terrestrial FV on a freeview enabled 32in TV and sky through mysky HDi & HDMI.




Interests: HTPC, Web App authoring. 


Filter this topic showing only the reply marked as answer View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic
 1 | 2
blair003
557 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #729194 9-Dec-2012 09:52
Send private message

Do you pay sky each month for the "HD ticket"?

 
 
 

Free kids accounts - trade shares and funds (NZ, US) with Sharesies (affiliate link).
cyril7
8950 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified
Trusted
Subscriber

  #729195 9-Dec-2012 09:59
Send private message

Hi, all HD channels are 1080i, I dont believe TV1/2 are compressed any more or less than on FV, the news out of Hobson St is all SD so I would not expect it to look HD, because its not.

The Sports and Movie channels are quite good from an HD perspective in my opinion.

Cyril

sbiddle
30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod
Trusted
Biddle Corp
Lifetime subscriber

  #729197 9-Dec-2012 10:02
Send private message

The news on both TV1 and TV3 is only SD. Both also tend to have terrible issues with artifacts on many cameras, particularly with low bitrate outside broadcasts.



Duffuss
113 posts

Master Geek


  #729795 10-Dec-2012 14:05
Send private message


I have Sky HD and a Full HD TV and indeed news looks like "crud vision"
Whereas my darling has freeview HD and in a very unscientific way it looks heaps better than Sky's "version"

sbiddle
30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod
Trusted
Biddle Corp
Lifetime subscriber

  #729808 10-Dec-2012 14:21
Send private message

Duffuss:
I have Sky HD and a Full HD TV and indeed news looks like "crud vision"
Whereas my darling has freeview HD and in a very unscientific way it looks heaps better than Sky's "version"


Both use the exact same upscaled 576 -> 1080i feed, the only difference in the broadcast is in the bitrate.

DjShadow
3952 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified
Trusted

  #729809 10-Dec-2012 14:22
Send private message

I upgraded to a 55" Samsung LED TV yesterday, can def notice all the compression used on Sky SD, noticed 3news (TV3 HD) was showing signs of compression too

ajobbins
5050 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #729811 10-Dec-2012 14:30
Send private message

I always found the Sky feeds of the FTA channels far worse than Freeview HD. Suspect what is coming off the satellite is heavily compressed where as the DVB-T feeds from Freeview are less so.

Sky run higher bit rates on the sports channels than on others - which is very noticeable, especially on large displays.




Twitter: ajobbins




turb

863 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #729909 10-Dec-2012 17:49
Send private message

So there's more to quality than the definition I guess. Certainly recording an All Blacks match takes up way more HDD space than anything else. I thought i was paying for maximum quality, is all.




Interests: HTPC, Web App authoring. 


Niel
3267 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #730072 11-Dec-2012 06:08
Send private message

FV and Sky use different compression formats. Ons of the significant differences, apart from compression efficiency, is that MPEG2 does not require a de-blocking filter (and I can't see it implemented on Sky) where as the compression chosen for FV requires it. This by itself makes a difference in perceived quality.




You can never have enough Volvos!


Nil Einne
459 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #730079 11-Dec-2012 06:34
Send private message

Niel: FV and Sky use different compression formats. Ons of the significant differences, apart from compression efficiency, is that MPEG2 does not require a de-blocking filter (and I can't see it implemented on Sky) where as the compression chosen for FV requires it. This by itself makes a difference in perceived quality.


Aren't we talking about HD? I'm pretty sure Sky uses AVC/H.264 for their HD 'FTA' channels as they do for their other HD channels.

steve98
1381 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #730524 11-Dec-2012 15:22
Send private message

blair003: Do you pay sky each month for the "HD ticket"?


You don't need to paying Sky for the HD ticket to receive the FTA channels in HD -- all you need is a MySky HDi box and the basic subscription.

blair003
557 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #730528 11-Dec-2012 15:25
Send private message

Yeah I saw that wording on their website - looks like you only need it for movies and sport.

That must be how they get away with calling it mysky HDi -- it is HD for some channels even if you don't pay for the ticket.

turb

863 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #730580 11-Dec-2012 16:06
Send private message

Niel: FV and Sky use different compression formats. Ons of the significant differences, apart from compression efficiency, is that MPEG2 does not require a de-blocking filter (and I can't see it implemented on Sky) where as the compression chosen for FV requires it. This by itself makes a difference in perceived quality.


I'm having trouble deciphering what you've said, sorry!

Freeview HD = mpeg2 = better perceived quality.

Do I have that right?

PS yes I am paying for the HD ticket.

PPS I'm planning to go to a FV based HTPC and I'm hoping to retain the same (perceived) better quality, but I'll post in the HTPC forum.




Interests: HTPC, Web App authoring. 


cyril7
8950 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified
Trusted
Subscriber

  #730589 11-Dec-2012 16:14
Send private message

Both FVHD (SD and HD services and SkyHD (HD serivces only) use mpeg4 AVC/H.264, as for how the two are configured either the same or differently I cannot say.

Cyril

tehconz
47 posts

Geek


  #731222 12-Dec-2012 10:55
Send private message

Freeview HD and Sky HD use the same compression and very similar bitrates for 1, 2 & 3. Both based on a statistical multiplex with bitrates hovering between 8 - 10 mbits or so. There should not be a visually perceptible quality difference between the two, if there is then it's something in your setup causing it.

 1 | 2
Filter this topic showing only the reply marked as answer View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic





News and reviews »

Samsung Announces Galaxy AI
Posted 28-Nov-2023 14:48


Epson Launches EH-LS650 Ultra Short Throw Smart Streaming Laser Projector
Posted 28-Nov-2023 14:38


Fitbit Charge 6 Review 
Posted 27-Nov-2023 16:21


Cisco Launches New Research Highlighting Gap in Preparedness for AI
Posted 23-Nov-2023 15:50


Seagate Takes Block Storage System to New Heights Reaching 2.5 PB
Posted 23-Nov-2023 15:45


Seagate Nytro 4350 NVMe SSD Delivers Consistent Application Performance and High QoS to Data Centers
Posted 23-Nov-2023 15:38


Amazon Fire TV Stick 4k Max (2nd Generation) Review
Posted 14-Nov-2023 16:17


Over half of New Zealand adults surveyed concerned about AI shopping scams
Posted 3-Nov-2023 10:42


Super Mario Bros. Wonder Launches on Nintendo Switch
Posted 24-Oct-2023 10:56


Google Releases Nest WiFi Pro in New Zealand
Posted 24-Oct-2023 10:18


Amazon Introduces All-New Echo Pop in New Zealand
Posted 23-Oct-2023 19:49


HyperX Unveils Their First Webcam and Audio Mixer Plus
Posted 20-Oct-2023 11:47


Seagate Introduces Exos 24TB Hard Drives for Hyperscalers and Enterprise Data Centres
Posted 20-Oct-2023 11:43


Dyson Zone Noise-Cancelling Headphones Comes to New Zealand
Posted 20-Oct-2023 11:33


The OPPO Find N3 Launches Globally Available in New Zealand Mid-November
Posted 20-Oct-2023 11:06









Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.







Pluralsight