SKY+ HD

[admin_exported]

Just had HD installed on your recommendation in the Awards issue. The box is actually manufactured by Samsung not Pace as you indicated. On quizzing the Sky engineer he said that they have been "having problems" with the Pace box and have opted for the Samsung. As there is no facility to choose which box you are allocated, I wondered what you views were on the subject. Maybe Sky offered the half price deal to get rid of old stock?

 

[Andy Madden]

Hi ticubak,

there are quite a few Sky+ HD box manufacturers (Pace, Samsung, Thomson). It just so happened that at the time of our awards issue we had a Pace box in for review. ÿI had a box installed a couple of weeks ago and it was a new Amstrad model that i was told had only just come to market. I've heard that boxes are in short supply, especially since Sky slashed the price. I think it's just the luck of the draw as to which one you get...

 

[d4v3pum4]

The Samsung box is the latest generation of boxes (no component output, digital co-ax output, quieter, better hard drive etc from what I remember). TBH, it's widely regarded as the best box out there!! There is a shortage of boxes at the minute, if you want to specify which box you get, you would end up waiting even longer.

 

[AlanS]

Are there any plans for a review of the various suppliers? Hows the Amstrad box comparing with the others now its part of BSkyB ?

 

[Cofnchtr]

Hi,

As I understand it, the box internals are all basically the same - all built to Sky spec. Minor differences seem to be the speed of the GUI - I remember having a very slow operating system on an AMSTRAD box (original) but I now have a Thomson which has a faster interface.

Not sure if the above is accurate but it's what an engineer told me...

Cheers,

Cofnchtr.

 

[Anonymous]

I've had first hand experience of all the Sky HD boxes, and in all fairness the Samsung box really rules the roost. We had one installed last October and it has proved to be superb. It is not whisper silent, the hard drive and running fans make sure its presence is made known, quietly, but not totally inaudible!

The chief difference is the software. it is lightning fast compared to older Sky HD and standard Sky + units, this makes it a total joy to use and navigate on a daily basis. The picture quality is absolutely first rate, films on Disney Cinemagic HD are as close as you can get to Blu Ray, (in the sense that they are mildly lower quality than what you'd get from Disney's stock BD discs). Having watched The Incredibles this evening, switching from the SD channel to HD gives a perfect demonstration of the ability of the HD box - and an even better surprise? A Bugs Life in HD, absolutely knock out visual quality. The colours and smooth motion look superb on our Sony W4500. The DVD simpky comes knowhere close to this.

Sky have obviously spent a lot of time and money getting HD right, (so they should - i work it out that they must make an easy £40 million before overheads and churn costs every month!!), and it shows.

Thats my opinion anyway, others may beg to differ. The only blot on the landscape is the lack of ITV HD. This ongoing row between BSkyB and ITV has to be sorted, as when it does Sky HD will be a truly complete viewing experience.

It has been the 2nd biggest difference to our AV home viewing since our BD player. You can't give a bigger complement than that i think!

Roll on Sky HD 3D.....

Westy

 

[Anonymous]

As I understand it all of the manufacturers of the BSkyB boxes use main chipsets from different suppliers (Broadcom, Conexant/NXP and STMicro) which means the performance of the boxes even in the same line are different and may have different characteristics. The high level specification may be the same but the chips used to implement this may be completely different - kind of like Intel and AMD based PCs. No idea how they stack up though so it would be interesting to see a head to head analysis.

Cas.

 

[Clare Newsome]

Westyboy:

The only blot on the landscape is the lack of ITV HD. This ongoing row between BSkyB and ITV has to be sorted, as when it does Sky HD will be a truly complete viewing experience.

Westy

Some of us with Thomson boxes and the new Sky HD EPG are already enjoying ITV HD - more in this thread

 

[Juzzie Wuzzie]

Speaking of SKY+ HD is anyone having issues with their box? Mine has started this habit of a) freezing when watching live; b) "interrupted recording"; or c) records the sound but freezes on the picture. I've only had the box 18 months - so it isn't that old.

Would appreciate thoughts?

 

[d4v3pum4]

There is a couple of things to try if the box freezes. Do you have a good signal? Is there anything blocking the line of sight of the dish?

Turn it off at the mains first to reset the box

Go to the Installer's menu

Services - 4 - 0 - 1 Select

Press 1 for LNB Setup

Scroll down to LNB Power Supply - Select Off

Scroll down to 22khz Command - Select Off

Save New Settings

Back up

Press 1 for LNB Setup

Change both LNB Power Supply and 22khz Command back to On

Save New Settings

There are a few other things to try but I would try that first and if you experience any further problems contact Sky.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Clare

The new EPG hasn't landed on our box yet, (i asked Sky and they said as it's a new Samsung box these are typically 'last in line'. Make of that what you will!)

However, interestingly, the nice lady also said that Sky are sending out new viewing cards and this will tie in with ITV HD when Sky finally get their arses into gear. She did say, however, that ITV do not supply many HD format programmes, and much of it is upscaled at the moment. TBH, now i think of it, there's not much good that ITV show that i'd actually want to see in HD anyway! Some of their drama's are really well made and would look excellent - and Dancing On Ice seems to have a really rich look to it which would suit HD perfectly. At the moment though, i'm not hankering for Britains Got Talent in HD!

Thanks for the info though, when my new EPG goes live i'll give it a bash

Westy

 

[D.J.KRIME]

Best thing I ever did to my HD box was as soon as the 12 month warrantry was up I took out the rather small 300gb hard drive and replaced it with a 1TB one so now I can record about 150 hours of HD programs with now worries about loosing old programs I wish to keep

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Clare Newsome:Westyboy:

The only blot on the landscape is the lack of ITV HD. This ongoing row between BSkyB and ITV has to be sorted, as when it does Sky HD will be a truly complete viewing experience.

Westy

Some of us with Thomson boxes and the new Sky HD EPG are already enjoying ITV HD - more in this thread

I have the Samsung box but now we are out of the Champions League, what else is there to watch on ITV?!