Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2009)
 

All SD channels are upscaled with the V+ box when using a HDMI cable. The V+ box does an excellent job of upscaling them, you'll notice a big difference in picture quality. It's not quite as good as HD, but it's not too far off.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2009)
 

ah cheers mate cant wait :D

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2009)
 

ESPN is now broadcast telling you what is coming up. (It look like an Freeview hour on Sky before launch)

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2009)
 

nook, i'm pretty sure that the old virgin box doesnt have a hdmi or dvi port so you'd be using scart which is rubbish quality, that is why the picture quality is better, lots of people assume its upscaling where in reality its because its digital instead of horrible scart analog which is even worse that VGA analog. But yeah it will be less blurred with a digital connection. Don't believe the guys saying it will look near-hd like because it just doesn't!

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2009)
 

He was asking whether there was a difference in SD quality between the V+ and standard STB, which I answered, centering around his comment about upscaling. Just because it goes through a HDMI cable does not make it HD, BBC 1 is still SD, but upscaled. You're right though, SCART doesn't upscale.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2009)
 

That old chestnut again? Oh boy.

Any HDTV will upscale an SD image, and there is nothing special about the V+'s upscaling. For good upscaling, try a PS3 or one of Toshiba's XDE DVD players, as they do proper intelligent interpolation and not just scaling/blurring but even that is a million miles away from HD.

At the end of the day, garbage in, garbage out.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2009)
 

It is upscaled - as for whether it looks 'near HD' that is a matter of opinion, I think our 32" LCD looks nearly as good on SD as HD - the larger screens show up the difference more, though.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2009)
 

Showing promo video on ESPN /HD now

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2009)
 

you must sit a long way from your tv :P

try comparing ESPN and ESPN HD tonight with some sports and sit 3m from the tv and then tell me there's very little difference :P

people think the v+ box and dvd players look amazing with hdmi whereas the v box and normal dvd players use scart which is analog. If you find a dvd player or cable box that has dvi or hdmi and doesnt upscale then the difference will be very little indeed.

EDIT: promo video is only on ESPN for me and not on ESPN HD. ESPN HD just says that the new espn channels are coming soon.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2009)
 

Considering SD through a V+ is excellent and not far off HD quality, and you saying PS3's and high end DVD players are considerably better, they must be the closest thing to HD that isn't true HD. That statement is therefore rubbish.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2009)
 

nook, he's saying that the upscale processing engines in the ps3 and toshiba's xde are far better than in regular upscaling dvd player or the V+ box which is true, the algorithms are much better and there are many reviews out there to prove this.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2009)
 

I'm not saying they're not better than the V+ box, what I'm saying is his statement about them 'being millions of miles away from HD' is a load of rubbish. If it looks great upscaled through V+, and other gear can do it even better, then they must be very close to HD.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2009)
 

I really don't understand what you're trying to say.

Personally I see nothing special about V+ upscaling. It's as bog standard as it's possible to be. Therefore that the PS3 and a few other devices can do a far better job is not surprising to me. But I repeat, they are not HD, not even close, as there is only so much you can do with a low resolution image. You can't add detail that isn't there, you can just smear what is there a little more artfully.

Toshiba, of HD DVD fame, said upscaling (with their XDE tech) was the future, and it was as good as HD. Just a few days ago, they announced their first blu-ray player. Upscaling is a stop gap, a fudge to attempt to make picture technology from decodes ago look somehow acceptable on modern HDTVs. Fortunately the days of needing such a fudge are very nearly over. SD, please die now, you have overstayed your welcome by about 15 years.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2009)
 

Does anyone know a quiet time to call faults (but sensible)? Do you think it would be any quieter between, say, 22:00 and 00:00 than it is now because I've just been waiting for 20 mins whilst listening to music and I want to ring on a quiet time.

And btw I personally think the V+ upscales very well and certain programmes such as BBC1,2,3 etc look almost as good as BBC HD.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2009)
 

I'm not claiming that upscaled SD is as good as HD, but I'm saying it isn't as far away as you're claiming. I'd love for everything to go HD, but that simply isn't going to happen, and saying SD has outstayed its welcome by about 15 years is also rubbish. To me, the V+ does a great job of upscaling for something that cost just £49, and I'm sure more expensive equipment will do a better job. The fact remains the same, upscaled SD looks fantastic, regardless of whether HD is better, it isn't THAT far behind.