Options for Sky on New LCD

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mrhaboobi

195 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 9

#44407 27-Oct-2009 11:38

HI, ive done a few search's so i hope ive not missed an obvious post. We have a new LCD tv and a previous installation of Sky Digital. The box used to connect to CRT tv via rg6 or composite out of the Scart connection.

With the LCD we want to take advantage of a better picture source, we also have an existing HDD recorder which id like to take avantage of.. Our options i believe are

1. MySky HDI - Pretty expensive, gets rid of the HDD due to the built in tools.

2. Sky Digital + HDD - Im wondering if there is a digital box with HDMI or Component options, component seems to be available as an output for the scart, but selecting it doesnt really do anything ( note i didnt have a component cable plugged in, just the composite, but iwould have expected the composite picture to crap out when selecting component as the output format.. it just kept on working )..

Unfortunately the HDD most likley wont support Freeview, so perhaps its useless to me as i cant record decent quality pictures..

Could anyone advise me on the best options for getting sky, the cheapest option to get HDMI or at least good quality pictures ( if thats possible with sky seeing as their signals seem to be crappy) would be really appreciated..

mrhaboobi

195 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 9

#267174 27-Oct-2009 11:44

Aso to add to this, im sorry i dont know what box i have, its black not silver, and we have had it since 2005 when sky was installed. i could check tonight..

We are currently looking at trying to get a Mysky offer which came in the mail, but i dont know if sky will honor it as the codes in the mailer seem to be specific to new customers only

Also have just come back from the sky building, picked up a component cable, so will try that tonight, asked about better decoders or at least more suitable ones than the one i might have and was told they are all the same..

davidcole

6099 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1465

Trusted

#267266 27-Oct-2009 14:20

For Sky via a big screen your only option is the MySkyHDI.

I currently have one of the newer pace 230 boxes hooked to a 46" LCD via component, and I cannnot see any benefit over the Composite/S-Video connections. Once mitegating featire that I do have it that I run it all through a PC (Sky Digital > analoge tuner > LCD TV) and the PC's upscaling while not great, is better than the TV natively upscaling the 576i component signal to 1080p

I've not seen how good the MySky is however for the non HD channels (E!, Discovery etc) hopefully the upscaling is ok. But certainly the HD channels look good.

You can record off a MySky using the composite connections etc, but it's not in HD, but that does give you the option to archive some stuff to disk (of which there is some debate as the legallity of that - as in it's not).

I've asked about HD decoders but have been told its very unlikely that this will ever come out, as most providers these days are doing a recording device.

Hope that helps.

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mrhaboobi

195 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 9

#267485 27-Oct-2009 21:44

davidcole: For Sky via a big screen your only option is the MySkyHDI.

I currently have one of the newer pace 230 boxes hooked to a 46" LCD via component, and I cannnot see any benefit over the Composite/S-Video connections. Once mitegating featire that I do have it that I run it all through a PC (Sky Digital > analoge tuner > LCD TV) and the PC's upscaling while not great, is better than the TV natively upscaling the 576i component signal to 1080p

I've not seen how good the MySky is however for the non HD channels (E!, Discovery etc) hopefully the upscaling is ok. But certainly the HD channels look good.

SO tonight i hooked up component to the sky box and yes its slightly better, not alot but at least its better. So my questions are now..

1. does myskyhi do anything with the non hd chanels? does it upscale them or have a better/different output than im getting via the std digital box with component ( just trying to see if its worth upgrading to mysky for discovery and other changes which we watch a bit of ).

2. Can you pipe mysky to the rest of the house? i will have a tv in the bedrooom and right now i have sky set up in both rooms ( yes i can only watch one chanel at a time, but the point i have sky on all tvs ) can the same be done wiith mysky, does it have rg6 output? or something else i could use to pipe sky through the house?

i rang sky tonight to get an ansswer to my upgrade questions to which i was told you have to wait 72 hours.. is this normal?