Sky HD going downhill?

[AEJim]

Having just flicked through some of the Sky HD movie channels this morning I couldn't help but think the quality of the HD seemed to be lacking. Is it just me?

BBC and ITV HD looked ok when I had them on last night but Sky's own channels seem poor in comparison, it could have been the content I had on (some older films like Back to the Future 3 were playing) but stood close to the TV everything was a little on the soft side, not much better than SD to be honest. Signal strength and quality were fine.

I did have this concern with bandwidth when they started introducing 3D channels but haven't tested it really due to work (I'm now having a tea break from writing manuals!) Has anyone else noticed similar or indeed was it just my perception?

 

[Anonymous]

I have noticed that some progams on BBC HD are far better than Sky HD movies.

I really feel they have went downhill, not much, but it was not like what it was.

I did hear that Sky reduced the bandwidth as well. but no proof of this.

 

[Clare Newsome]

As ever, a lot depends on the source - whether they're playing an HD master or an upscaled 'HD' movie. I've seen some excellent examples of both modern and classic movies on Sky HD recently, but also some poorer, obviously upscaled examples, too.

Mind you, for movies, ITV HD seems worse offender on that score (especially on its new ITV 2/3/4 HD channels), and you don't get 5.1 sound, either. Annoying, because the quality of its sport/drama pictures on ITV HD can be excellent.

 

[AEJim]

You could be right about the original content - I noticed it mainly because the other half had been watching the GMTV replacement programme (can't remember the name!) on ITV HD and I remember thinking the picture looked fantastic, I'd switched to the Sky Movie channels to get rid of the logo (the old plasma IR issue) from that programme and the contrast in quality was very evident. BBC HD always looks decent but again it's usually far more recent material which had been recorded on HD cameras.

I had been thinking for a while that the Sky channels had looked "soft" though, I'll find a proper HD film when I'm home and see if it's better...