Page 1 of HD Question

What is the difference between HD Ready and Full HD. I`m living in Germany and only have normal Sky+, what would be the best for picture quality at SD. Plasma or LCD, I`m looking at 42" size

HD ready means it will accept a 720P/1080i signal (which is what SKY HD is)
Full HD means it will accept a 1080P signal (which is what HD/Bluray DVD is)
Regardless of which one you go for, you won`t get a great picture feeding it a SKY+ signal.
This is because you can only connect SKY+ via scart.
Scart = analogue = crap.
If you`re spending that much money on a big LCD/Plasma, you really need to buy a SKY HD box.
You needn`t go for the HD subscription though, if you don`t want to.
The HD box alone, even without the HD subscription, will give you a better picture.
This is because you will be able to connect via HDMI, which is digital.
So ALL your channels look better.
You also get double the recording capacity with a SKY HD box.

This item was edited on Monday, 17th December 2007, 13:00

bowfer, is it possible to buy a Sky HD box without taking a subs then?

Quote:
bowfer, is it possible to buy a Sky HD box without taking a subs then?

Yeah, no problem at all.
If you have SKY+ already, you just change the cables over yourself,
Straight swap.
Then you just call SKY and ask them to match the viewing card to the box.
There are loads of places will sell you the box alone.
I got mine from a company called Pennine Plus, for £199.00.
That was 8 months ago, maybe cheaper now.

Or do a callback on the box, sometimes that matches the card for ya.
(It did with my new Sky+ the other week when the guy dropped it off)

Now I`m getting the new telly it`s got me thinking what Bowfer`s saying here too...buy a box from somewhere and self-install it with no HD subscription...

Jimbo : oÞ

"Making Teenagers depressed is like shooting fish inna barrel"

Quote:
Now I`m getting the new telly it`s got me thinking what Bowfer`s saying here too...buy a box from somewhere and self-install it with no HD subscription...

Go for it.
The box is a great piece of kit, given that it improves your SD picture greatly and it`s got double the recording capacity.
I can`t blame anyone for sticking two fingers up to the HD sub though.
The choice of channels is still pretty shocking, even though CH4 HD started this month.
Without HD football, I`d probably ditch the HD sub too.

Or do a callback on the box, sometimes that matches the card for ya.
(It did with my new Sky+ the other week when the guy dropped it off)

Callback? tell me more

One of the options in the engineer`s menu.
Definitely there on Sky+ so I assume it`s there on a SkyHD box.
You`ll find it under...erm..."callback" ;)

Jimbo : oÞ

"Making Teenagers depressed is like shooting fish inna barrel"

Quote:
HD ready means it will accept a 720P/1080i signal (which is what SKY HD is)
Full HD means it will accept a 1080P signal (which is what HD/Bluray DVD is)
Regardless of which one you go for, you won`t get a great picture feeding it a SKY+ signal.
This is because you can only connect SKY+ via scart.
Scart = analogue = crap.
If you`re spending that much money on a big LCD/Plasma, you really need to buy a SKY HD box.
You needn`t go for the HD subscription though, if you don`t want to.
The HD box alone, even without the HD subscription, will give you a better picture.
This is because you will be able to connect via HDMI, which is digital.
So ALL your channels look better.
You also get double the recording capacity with a SKY HD box.

Not entirely correct: BOTH HD Ready and Full HD TVs will ACCEPT a 1080p signal (of course there are some which dont, but in general most do) via HDMI. HOWEVER, only a FULL HD Screen will show the full 1920x1080 signal. HD Ready screens will simply downscale it and show 1365x768 (or lower sometimes).

Also - Disagree: while it is true that to take full advantage of Sky`s capabilities, you need to buy a Sky HD Box, a good SCART Lead fed into a halfway decent TV will show you a nice picture. In fact more than half the SD channels through a Sky HD box worse than through a Sky+ box. In most pro installations, a dual connection is used - analogue SCART to watch SD and HDMI to watch the HD Stuff (or so I have seen).

T¦M3CH4S3R

"I am worst at what I do the best, for this gift I feel blessed. I found it hard... it was hard to find. Oh well, Whatever! NEVERMIND"

This item was edited on Tuesday, 18th December 2007, 09:28

Quote:
In fact more than half the SD channels through a Sky HD box worse than through a Sky+ box.

Not my experience at all.