Anyone watch BBC HD ?

[RogerS]

...and noticed a deterioration in picture quality recently? I don't have HD yet but picked up that the quality has dropped to the point where it's not very good.

 

[bugbear]

http://informitv.com/news/2009/12/11/bbchdquality/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8415636.stm

 

[Argee]

Still absolutely fine here.

Ray

 

[RogerS]

Interesting link, BB.

Guess it also will depend on the programme content as well. Disappointing, all the same.

I fear that the quality on normal Freeview will take a nosedive as well. We really need many many more shopping channels and there isn't the bandwidth unless they lower the bitrate available to other channels.

Ray...have you been wtahcing any of the Life programmes? The reports seem to suggest that that is where you notice it.

 

[studders]

I fear that the quality on normal Freeview will take a nosedive as well.

Just installed one of these and the picture quality is excellent.

 

[RogerS]

I fear that the quality on normal Freeview will take a nosedive as well.

Just installed one of these and the picture quality is excellent.

That's a keen price. All I need now is an HD set!

The key thing though remains the same. Digital TV is a question of GIGO. If the bit rate in the codecs has been compromised then the picture quality will go down.

 

[llangatwgnedd]

Been viewing BBC HD for over a year, and the picture quality has been down graded from 16mb to 9mb with this new codec.

Not much difference in SD to HD, all to do with limited bandwith.

Remember that you need a HD tuner to recive HD, none on the market at the moment for Freeview, only Freesat.

HD ready tvs dont HD tuners yet.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=1093275

 

[RogerS]

.....
Not much difference in SD to HD, all to do with limited bandwith.

.....

Don't quite follow you?

Have you noticed any degradation in the picture quality?

 

[wizer]

I've got Sky HD and personally the difference is negligable. It's worth it for nature documentarys. But other than that, I don't see the point. I don't remember the last time I put on a HD channel.

 

[Argee]

Ray...have you been wtahcing any of the Life programmes? The reports seem to suggest that that is where you notice it.

Yes, I've watched the series both on-air and via Sky HD recording - both are top notch for quality.

Ray.

 

[Lord Nibbo]

If I were to give marks out of ten for HD viewing watching programmes such as BBC's "Life" transmitted by the BBC

BBC 7-8 points

using satellite (SKY) the same progamme
6 points

Watching it on a Blu-ray Disc on a Blu-ray player 10 points.

Blu-Ray blows sky HD out of the water.

 

[devonwoody]

We have got cable and Aerial TVs. Watched both programs darting from room to room and wondering what all the fuss is about. Sony Bravia tellies.

Perhaps barn owls can tell the difference. :wink:

 

[frugal]

If I were to give marks out of ten for HD viewing watching programmes such as BBC's "Life" transmitted by the BBC

BBC 7-8 points

using satellite (SKY) the same progamme
6 points

Watching it on a Blu-ray Disc on a Blu-ray player 10 points.

Blu-Ray blows sky HD out of the water.

Understandably. Blu-Ray will be full-HD at 1080 lines, HD over Sky or Freeview will be 720 lines and standard TV will be 480 lines.

Plus the Sky and Freeview will be compressed which will add extra artifacts (which is why Virgin Cable pictures always look worse than Sky's, because they compress it more).

 

[dedee]

don't you also need a TV greater than 26" to really appreciate HD?

I have a phillips cineos 32" LCD and flipping between HD and non HD does show a slightly sharper image. While watching tennis for example you can see the individual strings in the net.

I am not at all sure its worth all the hype though.

Andy

 

[erik]

hi all
our old telly blew up about a year ago so we splashed out on a big 1080 tv and sky HD
very disappointed....waste of money....wish i hadn't bothered
regards erik

 

[frugal]

don't you also need a TV greater than 26" to really appreciate HD?

Depends on how close you sit. There are certain effective ranges where you can sit depending on the screen size to get a 'good' image. If you sit too close to a large screen showing SD then you will see lots of jaggeded edges; and the opposite is that if you sit too far away from a small screen then your eyes can not pick up the extra information in the HD image.

 

[frugal]

hi all
our old telly blew up about a year ago so we splashed out on a big 1080 tv and sky HD

I bought a big HD TV last year (it was that or call the repairman out for the 5th time for our old CRT). I never even considered Sky HD as I knew that the picture was not good enough to justify it and as we only have the basic package and that would give us about 2 channels in HD

I mainly use the big screen as a bigger screen and to play Blu-ray movies on.

 

[llangatwgnedd]

.....
Not much difference in SD to HD, all to do with limited bandwith.

.....

Don't quite follow you?

Have you noticed any degradation in the picture quality?

Fourteen months ago I had my HD box and the PQ on BBC HD was breathtaking.

In that time they have lowered the bitrate where there is now not much difference in SD and HD.

My Humax box is renowned for good PQ upscaling in SD, but I don't think $ky boxes upscale, well not, to the extent as Humax does, and this is one of the reasons that there is not that much difference between SD and HD since the lowering of the birate.

I'm not alone here

Danielle Nagler has been subject to some stick here

ITV kicked off on a lower bitrate, it is now on parr with BBC HD picture quality.