MySky HD

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112 posts

Master Geek

#152164 28-Jul-2008 19:15

msb5:
Does anyone know if all programs on the 2 movie and 2 sport channels will be an improvement over SD or will it only be the things that are in native HD i.e. this Saturdays All Blacks test

I seriously hope so. Sky's SD MPEG2 system can and should show DVD quality pictures, I hope the higher bitrate will improve all content, not just the HD. We were early adopters of Sky digital in 1998 - maybe it was just the improvement from RF to digital back then but I'm sure the pictures were way better. I have mentioned in this thread that I have connected to a live WMV stream over the internet at 1250kbps and found it matched the equivalent Sky feed. One thing I have noticed though is that our old 29" CRT (the same one we had in 98!) seemed to hide the macro blocking much better than our new 32" & 37" LCDs. The one that really gets me is how bad the grass looks in the cricket and rugby.

Good luck with your install, we're booked for tomorrow as well. One more sleep...

AncestralGeek

91 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#152165 28-Jul-2008 19:22

After looking at tonight’s weather forecast the 64 dollar question is: do sky installers work in the rain; Big brolly needed maybe. If they do will SkyHD be more susceptible to rain fade than Sky SD. Maybe a delay before HD streams in.

So much to learn, so little time.

MikeLH

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Geek

#152168 28-Jul-2008 19:34

I should think it would be rather dangerous for Sky installers to be up on the roof in heavy rain.

Hopefully by 11th August when I get mine we'll have decent weather ...

BarTender

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#152174 28-Jul-2008 19:52

clevedon: The thing thats gets me is you are complaining that it is that bad and terrible to watch but you still watch it and now upgrading to MySky HDi, if it is sooooo bad stick to your crappy free to air and ditch Sky (470,000 households can't be wrong, 1/2 the households in NZ) if you "cringe" every time you view, Sky thinks people like you are great, really unhappy with their product but you still keep on paying, I think you are a fool if you dislike it that much and you are still paying for it, carry on and whinge, whinge, whinge ............

I think the thing you seem to be forgetting is that SKY IS A MONOPOLY, there is no competition for sky sport, period (unless you want a REALLY big dish in your back lawn!). If you are at all sports mad like much of the country is (myself not included), and like to watch the AB's, or any other mainstream sport, then you have no choice, it's sky, or go to your local pub/friend. If you have seen the TV service Foxtel give across the ditch with substantially better bitrates for almost the same lineup, for slightly less, then you would see why people are complaining. Me, I don't subscribe to sky, nor will I ever do so again. Yes I do subscribe indirectly to sky via TelstraClear Cable, but that gives me a lot more options like owning my own MySky equivalent box, and being able to access the unencrypted content once it is recorded and play it on any machine I like from a direct mpeg2 stream. Your MySky HDD blows up you have lost all your recorded content, you move from MySky 1 to MySky HD, you loose all your content, your smartcard dies, you loose all your content, even though tools like Copy+ exist, you don't own the box so you have no choice!. TCL has much better quality on TV1/2/3 due to TCL taking their TV feeds directly off TVNZ/Canwest rather than via Sky. Yes what I do is against TCL's T&C's but I have never to my knowledge caused any RF issues on the TCL cable network.

For many people subscribe to sky because "its easy", they need sports, or like outdated movies already less than $5 at the local dvd store but a too lazy to go out and rent them, and just clip the monthly ticket and only watch the FTA channels via their sky box. From memory the last stats I remember is that subscribers watch the FTA channels 80% of the time, ie they mostly watch 1/2/3. They clip the ticket just to get that monthly rugby game, or whatever. It would be interesting to see what would happen to subs if Sky offered AB's games as PPV. But that would reduce their monthly takings... Couldn't have that from #7 on the NZSE.

Most of these people get a shock when they are shown the Freeview SD over Satellite and compare the picture difference from what sky "offers" and what they get through Freeview SD DTH. Which IMHO is notable on a 14" CRT between what Sky offer, and what you get on Freeview SD. But my mother in law (quote "how do I program the VCR") is my no stretch of the imagination a AV buff, noticed a large difference between Sky TV1, and freeview TV1 SD over Satellite. Just watch the TVNZ transponders on Freeview and Sky (since they are not encrypted) and you will see what I mean. Then throw into the mix a Freeview HD DTT box, and they are blown away.

It would be great if SelectTV in Australia thought they could make in-roads into NZ... But so far the only real competitor to Sky is Orcus Media... But I don't live in Auckland.

Beltor

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#152208 28-Jul-2008 21:20

Hey Bartender

Best you keep on the right side of the Bar - its MONOPOLY!

LOL

BarTender

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#152212 28-Jul-2008 21:26

Beltor: Best you keep on the right side of the Bar - its MONOPOLY!

True true... Me and my typos.. However it does sometime feel like a bored <sik> game all this talk about MySky HDi.

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allstarnz

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#152227 28-Jul-2008 22:18

just looking through the Sky guide, it seems OSB now have two trucks up and running, one in Wellington (to service the lower North Island) and another in Auckland (to serve the upper North Island). It seems according to the Air NZ Cup schedule, that there are no games in the South Island broadcast in HD next month.

I guess this makes sense really, as the Wellington truck will get good use filming Phoenix home games too, and Auckland with the Warriors.

motogpnz

112 posts

Master Geek

#152232 28-Jul-2008 22:38

BarTender:
Most of these people get a shock when they are shown the Freeview SD over Satellite and compare the picture difference from what sky "offers" and what they get through Freeview SD DTH.

These would be the same people who have state-of-the-art widescreen tv's that show plump dwarves whenever they switch to a 4:3 channel and then claim that "all channels are now widescreen" just because they don't know/care how to switch to pillarbox mode on the tv, I presume? The same people who have a three year old VHS tape that's been used 100 times to record shows on their VCR when they're out*. The same people who watch DVDs via the supplied composite cable, or have had their fingers burnt by paying $100+ for super-duper component cables. The same people who just want to watch the rugby live, and commercial free (during play anyway). Oh, and have never even heard of Geekzone

.

If I wasn't interested in Sky Sports then I would have a Freeview box and go to the DVD store but I am and so I have Sky. It's not prefect but this is NZ, a very minor player in the media game. I have to work shifts and have limited time to spend watching things that are important to me so I want a PVR. One that is essentially turn-key would be nice, especially if I don't have to pay for it up-front. I only want to watch shows once so I'm not worried about losing them afterwards, and on the odd occasion that I do want to keep one then I'll move it to DVD. It would be nice if the picture quality was better than present, so the answer seems pretty obvious really...

8.30am tomorrow... no more sleeps!!! (I'm on night shift.)

*- Of course I could also mention those who have their Sky/Freeview boxes connected to the tv via RF...

NonprayingMantis

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#152368 29-Jul-2008 11:50

BarTender:
clevedon: The thing thats gets me is you are complaining that it is that bad and terrible to watch but you still watch it and now upgrading to MySky HDi, if it is sooooo bad stick to your crappy free to air and ditch Sky (470,000 households can't be wrong, 1/2 the households in NZ) if you "cringe" every time you view, Sky thinks people like you are great, really unhappy with their product but you still keep on paying, I think you are a fool if you dislike it that much and you are still paying for it, carry on and whinge, whinge, whinge ............

I think the thing you seem to be forgetting is that SKY IS A MONOPOLY, there is no competition for sky sport, period (unless you want a REALLY big dish in your back lawn!). If you are at all sports mad like much of the country is (myself not included), and like to watch the AB's, or any other mainstream sport, then you have no choice, it's sky, or go to your local pub/friend. ....

Well said Bartender. I am in that exact situation! I only retain my sky connection because there is no other way to watch live rugby without going to the pub (or to the game)

I may decide to upgrade to Mysky when, and only when, they sort out the problem with subtitles on movies.

It seems many movies that are in english, but have some sections that require subtitles, just don't have the subtitles on. (SKy forgot to add them, or bought the wrong version or something)

Case in point: Stargate (the movie) has a several fairly lengthy plot relevant sections with spoken ancient egyptian that normally has subtitles. Watching it on prime these were strangely absent. watching someone speak a dead language for 5 minutes with no idea what is being said is not my idea of great entertainment.
Second case: four weddings and a funeral has some amusing sections where a person is communicating using sign language and getting words wrong. Subtitles are supposed to show what she is saying, and getting wrong. Instead, with Prime/Sky, I got 5 minutes of two people waving their hands at each other with no idea of what was going on or being said.

I think if they ever show Schindlers List on prime and neglect to put subtitles in I will be cancelling my sky subscription altogether.

I actually called their customer service thinking it was a setting with my digibox or TV possibly that I had missed, only to be told:
(paraphrasing) "we only have one guy who checks movies for subtitle requirments for any movies we are planning to show, and because he is so short on time if he doesn't see any in the first few minutes he generally skips to the next movie"

Now he could have been making that up I suppose but the mystery of the missing subtitles still remains.

I've only noticed it on prime (owned by sky) because I ditched sky movies last year soon after I got it when they put their prices up because 'they were introducing another channel', only for that channel to show the same movies as the other channel 90 mins later. whoopdee frickin doo

anyone know if the same problems exist on the dedicated sky movies channels?

clevedon

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#152398 29-Jul-2008 13:10

You crack me up big time, at first I thought you were serious about the subtitles. Ha Ha Ha.

NonprayingMantis

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#152410 29-Jul-2008 13:41

clevedon: You crack me up big time, at first I thought you were serious about the subtitles. Ha Ha Ha.

I am being totally serious.

I first tried to ask the question via the online sky query, but the person clearly had no clue what I was talking about despite me explaining it very clearly that I was not talking about foriegn language films but rather english movies with a small amount of subtitles. she seemd to think that sky never ever shows movies that have any subtitles whatsoever

I still have the email from sky in response:

I t was aftter this that I called customer service and got the other stupid explanation,

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Balchy

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#152412 29-Jul-2008 13:46

Come on, if you cant speak ancient egyptian you shouldnt be watching stargate at all

For billions of years since the outset of time, every single one of your ancestors survived, every single person on your Mum and Dads side, successfully looked after and passed onto you life. What are the chances of that like?

mhz

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#152447 29-Jul-2008 16:12

Anyone have their HD installed yet?

hairy1

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#152450 29-Jul-2008 16:18

There is another thread running on this too. It is: http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=34&topicid=24614. I just posted a VERY short review over there.

My views (except when I am looking out their windows) are not those of my employer.

allstarnz

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#153041 31-Jul-2008 15:39

so how does one now on Sky Sports synopisis whether it's true HD? I thought it might be the HD in the top right, but it seems not. The EPG doesn't seem to say either with MySkyHDi, it did on normal Sky

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