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sky hd..... cant tell the difference



clapham_gull

Legacy Fan
Aug 20, 2003
25,877
If you use proper cables, ie, not the cheep shit which they give you for free, you will notice a difference. Look at the sides of the screen too. With good cables you will get an inch more picture on you tv.

If you picture is still shit with good cables, you are sitting to close.

Sorry that's bollocks - it's a digital signal.
 




Gritt23

New member
Jul 7, 2003
14,902
Meopham, Kent.
I've had HD for ages, and I see absolutely no difference whatsoever.

Some people are colour-blind and maybe some people are HD blind. Friends I trust swear there is a massive difference, and can barely face watching regular channels once they seen HD. But me, looks exactly the same through my eyes.
 




disgruntled h blocker

Active member
Oct 16, 2003
819
Ampfield
If you are using the right leads etc, the problem of viewing distances comes into play. Check out the graph below.

To really get the best out of HD if you have a large living room, you need a very large TV, or an HD Projector.

hdtv-viewing-distance.png
 


Stoo82

GEEZUS!
Jul 8, 2008
7,530
Hove
Ok. Whatever. I must have been seeing things when I compared the two.

You should pause the TV at the same point and use a cheep cable and then a good cable and then compare.
 




gullshark

Well-known member
Dec 5, 2005
3,081
Worthing
A £10 HDMI cable will look identical to a £100 one. It's digital, it's either 100% or 0%. Some people claim there is a difference usually cause they've just shelled out on a cable or it told them on the packaging.
 


dannyboy

tfso!
Oct 20, 2003
3,651
Waikanae NZ
Why the Onkyo receiver? You may be losing the picture quality through this.

Try connecting directly through the Sky HD box.

I have a Panasonic 1080p 37" Plasma and the difference between, say, Channel 101 BBC and 143 BBC HD is massive. I just have a bog standard HDMI cable running directly from the SKY HD box to the HDMI input on the TV. Channel 405 (Sky Sports News HD) is another good one to try it on as the writing is much clearer in HD.

just easier isnt it ? it goes through the receiver for the surround sound etc. everything goes into the receiver then one hdmi lead goes into the tv
 


Stoo82

GEEZUS!
Jul 8, 2008
7,530
Hove
Actually, I think I made a boo boo.

Im thinking the difference between scart and hd cable in the inches at the side of the screen. I have seen 3 different types of hd lead set up and i have seen 'better' quallity in picture ie the colour is sharper. But admititadly its not 'overwhelmingly' better.

Much love. xxx
 




BensGrandad

New member
Jul 13, 2003
72,015
Haywards Heath
That's just upscaling, though.

Call it what you like but I have saved £47 per month by cancelling sky and buying a digital recorder box which does the same as sky +. Sky keep calling to ask why I have cancelled and I always say that I do not wish to subscribe to them to spend the money on Premiership football.
 


Jul 5, 2003
220
just easier isnt it ? it goes through the receiver for the surround sound etc. everything goes into the receiver then one hdmi lead goes into the tv

Agreed, but try going direct to your TV to eliminate the Onkyo Receiver as the source of your problem. I also push my signal into a Panasonic HDD/DVD Recorder and the loss of picture quality is quite noticeable as it only sends it back in interlaced format (1080i). It's good but not as good. I would just be concerned that the Onkyo Receiver (as good as Onkyo's are) may not be capable of sending the signal in 1080p format. (Having said all that, Sky HD is actually only 720p so it is not as good as Blue Ray - but that's another story)
 


garethlewes

New member
Nov 9, 2010
77
The cables make no difference, it's a placebo effect that because some(idiot)one has spent £100 on a cable they will want it to work better so believe it does.

HD isn't that much different not many know the difference anyway as people don't focus on the TV as much when watching. Sky HD is pointless now anyway until it gets much more advanced as anything new is going to be crap just like Sky 3D its not the best its just gimicky.

http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20091014/study-shows-people-difference-hd/
 




Acker79

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Nov 15, 2008
31,921
Brighton
SDC10462.jpg


HD on the left, SD on the right, check out the crowd, the score box. (The white patch in the bottom left is the reflection of my camera flash)
 


Fungus

Well-known member
NSC Patron
May 21, 2004
7,158
Truro
If nothing else the sound is clearer on HD channels

Yeah, even my cat can tell when I'm watching HD channels. Ordinary sound doesn't bother him, but on HD he thinks there are real people in the room, and hides upstairs!

Oh, and I can see a huge difference in the picture, even if he can't. Some programmes (especially BBC studio) ARE crap on HD, but sport and documentaries are worth every penny.
 






Dominoid

Albion fan in Devon
Jan 6, 2011
557
Plymouth, United Kingdom
There won't be any difference going through a receiver at all. I'd say leave it that way as it'll be more convenient. But as other people have said, the programme may not be in High Def. If it's not orange on the TV guide then it'll be standard def and won't look any better. Also, make sure you're watching the High Def version of the channel. If you're just watching "BBC One" it won't be high def, but there's a different channel called "BBC One HD" Also, somewhere in the settings, you should be able to change the picture between 720p, 1080i and 1080p
Check your TV instruction manual to see if it can do 1080p and if it can, make sure the picture type is set to that for the highest quality.
 






Spider

New member
Sep 15, 2007
3,614
HD is the worst invention ever. Sort of thing that should just be a case of buying a new TV - because the improvement is very minimal and once you're watching it you forget in about 5 seconds that it's "better" than normal TV. How the f*** Sky have got away with charging people monthly for something which should be a one off upgrade is ridiculous. Oh well.
 




Dominoid

Albion fan in Devon
Jan 6, 2011
557
Plymouth, United Kingdom
See, I can see a fairly big difference between the two. I think it depends on how good your eyesight is in the first place, how good the TV is, and what kind of programmes you're watching. Nature programmes and certain sports benefit a lot, but drama and comedy programmes don't really seem that different. With the right source material, there's a very big difference. I agree the monthly charge is a bit shite though. This is exactly why we're on Virgin instead!
 


TS90

New member
Jan 26, 2011
818
HD is equivalent to me watching a game wearing glasses versus SD which is obviously me not wearing them,
 


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