SKY HD: A definitive unequivocal qualification from WHFS&V Please?

[admin_exported]

Over the last few weeks I've read and been told so many contradications about whether or not the SKYHD box Upscales the non HD channels received through it.

1) Does the SKY HD Box Upscale SD viewed through it? YES/ NO

2) Will SD channels look better through a SKYHD Box compared through a SKY + box and/or an original normal SKY DIGIBOX?

SKY either refuse or their Customer Services/Technical Departments won't let on even if it does.

Finally Happy Christmas and New Year to one and all and don't forget to watch the Muppets Christmas Carol over the holidays.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a SkyHD box and the answer is its configurable.

There is an option in the picture settings that decides whether or not you want the sky box upscale.

If you set this option to automatic then the sky box will transmit to the TV the resolution that broadcaster is transmitting. The TV will then scale up the image accordingly.

The other option are 576p / 720p / 1080i, if any of these options are selected the the sky box will scale the output to the TV accordingly.

I know this as my TV reports on the screen the resolution that is being transmitted.

As to the quality of the scaling, i would imagine that most TV's would do a better job of scaling that the sky HD box.

SKY HD has an HDMI / Component connections so the Sky HD will have a better quality image than the other ones as they only use Scart.

Also if you plan to put the sound from the TV through a surround sound system to get DD 5.1 sound you would need either the Sky+ box or the Sky HD box as both of these have a digital audio output to connect to he AV Amp. With the original sky boxes you are limited to stereo sound.

I had a Sky+ box before i went for HD, i cant remember if the picture was better than the standard one, i would have thought that through RGB scart the picture quality would be similar

 

[Clare Newsome]

Yes, it does (if you want) upscale SD content - it'll all depend on your particular TV/projector/receiver's upscaling abilities as to whether you choose to use this or let it throughput in automatic.

And yes, thanks to its superior connectivity, even with SD channels it will look better than a standard Sky or Sky+ box - especially if you use the HDMI connection with a decent cable (ducks and runs for cover).

Just one word of caution re SD, however - as has repeatedly been said elsewhere, even the best connection and upscaling can't make the lowest bit-rate digital channels look great on a big screen.

I can guarantee that once you've got access to HD channels, you'll be watching far more of them and less of the SD ones, anyway....

 

[Andrew Everard]

Can you have an unequivocal qualification?