Bart
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Registered: 19th Aug 02
Location: Midsomer Norton, Bristol Avon
User status: Offline
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am i right in thinking, if i have a HDTV ready TV, and a digital freeview box and i watch a HDTV sky channel, it will not actually be HD because i need to buy an expensive HD decoder box? i.e similar to the Sky HD box?
didnt realise this was the case until recently, as the decoder boxes are quite expensive
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Marc
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Registered: 11th Aug 02
Location: York
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Yeah I think you're right. Are some of them intergrated in to the TV set though?
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dave17
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Registered: 3rd Sep 02
Location: Greater London
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Correct, you need a Sky HD box, will cost you £300 for the box and £15 extra a month i think.
There is no freeview HD box availiable at the moment
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dave17
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Registered: 3rd Sep 02
Location: Greater London
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quote:
Can I get HDTV any other way?
Not at the moment. The BBC is running a trial with 450 homes in London with ITV however this is now closed to new participants. Unfortunately, Freeview box owners cannot get HDTV because there isn't enough room on the spectrum for high-definition signals.
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Bart
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Registered: 19th Aug 02
Location: Midsomer Norton, Bristol Avon
User status: Offline
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con.
in order to watch HDTV video on your PC i also assume you need a HD decoding graphics card?
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Marc
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Registered: 11th Aug 02
Location: York
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Freeview is crap anyway, reception on my mates is rubbish.
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dave17
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Registered: 3rd Sep 02
Location: Greater London
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Bart - No, if you change the resolution to your HDTVs native resolution, it will be in HD if you are playing HD through it.
Marc - My picture is crisp, you need an amplified aerial to get a good reception
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Marc
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Registered: 11th Aug 02
Location: York
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Think they just have the box plugged in to the tv!!
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dave17
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Registered: 3rd Sep 02
Location: Greater London
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You need an aerial for it to work properly 
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Marc
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Registered: 11th Aug 02
Location: York
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Ah well! Not my problem, I've got Sky
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dave17
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Registered: 3rd Sep 02
Location: Greater London
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Ive got this one:
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Marc
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Registered: 11th Aug 02
Location: York
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Nope, they've definatley not got one of those They just bought an Alba box for £20 and plugged it in!!!
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dave17
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Registered: 3rd Sep 02
Location: Greater London
User status: Offline
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Fucktards 
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John
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
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To watch hdtv on your pc, unless you dl it, you will need a tuner card that can recieve hdtv.
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dave17
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Registered: 3rd Sep 02
Location: Greater London
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Are there any free broadcasted HDTV channels then?
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Marc
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Registered: 11th Aug 02
Location: York
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BBC ones will be.
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John
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
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I'm not sure if you can buy a tuner for uk hd yet.
BBC will be handing out freeview boxes to testers in London and there will be skyhd but think thats it for the moment.
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Bart
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Registered: 19th Aug 02
Location: Midsomer Norton, Bristol Avon
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by dave17
Are there any free broadcasted HDTV channels then?
right now.. no.
but i think in the short future you will be able to get HDTV freeview boxes.
you still need an aeriel tho!
I bought a cheapish one from focus, the biggest one (designed for low areas) just to be on the same side, and stuck it up in the loft with a booster in about half hour. works a treat 
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Dom
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Registered: 13th Sep 03
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BBC are broadcasting HD for FREE!!! Freeview in london and on Astra 2D sat's - you need a HD setup box like the Humax's HD CI 2000 and a decent sized dish. Point it at 28.2 degrees and you can watch the world cup in 720p HD for free Google it and you will find loads of stuff about it!
As for sky good luck, there having a few teething problems from what i have heard - plus they are going for 1080i, yet most american tv shows are broadcasting at 720p so sky will be upscalling a lot of stuff - good bye to decent image quality. Freeview/cable will be sticking to 720p until bandwidth/technology allows for anything better and 1080i is a bit of a grey area to whether its actually a better format to broadcast in (static images look better, but movinf imagery is a bit poor), as 1080p would be the ultimate goal but bandwidth would be something silly
From what i gather, you need a bloody good spec pc to handle live streaming HD as it can stutter quite badly, especially using cheapo freeview cards. From reading, best way is to get an old Sat card and use the Astra 2D sat.
[Edited on 01-06-2006 by Dom]
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dave17
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Registered: 3rd Sep 02
Location: Greater London
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£300 for that Humax box 
Any new on NTL offering HDTV Dom?
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Dom
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Registered: 13th Sep 03
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quote:
Originally posted by dave17
£300 for that Humax box
Any new on NTL offering HDTV Dom?
ntl doing HD isnt going to be around to end of the year or next year (doing trial now i think along with their pvr system) - only telewest and sky have done anything about it up to now
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dave17
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Registered: 3rd Sep 02
Location: Greater London
User status: Offline
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DOh 
I suppose it gives me a change to start saving for the box then
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Mav 3000
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Registered: 16th Aug 01
Location: Leicestershire
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The hardware is pricey as they have to make as much money as possible - this means fleecing the people keen to get HD before they have to lower their prices in order to sell the the massive amount of people who have no idea and think that anytihng over £50 is expensive.
Give it a year or two and sky will do a free (or cheap) box and no additional subscription.
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Marc
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Registered: 11th Aug 02
Location: York
User status: Offline
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^
By no additional subscription, you mean they will just make the existing subscription dearer!!!
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