Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

I have had a VM VIP package over the past two years or so which came with a V+ box but I have only recently inherited an HD TV.

Having connected it up, using an HDMI Cable and set the V+ up to 1080 wide and Hi Def HDMI format I sat back looking at my Sony Bravia TV expecting to be amazed by the quality of the image.

I have to confess that I am barely able to tell the difference with the free HD channels compared with the SD equivalent (on say ESPN). I see the V+ box claiming that it is outputting HDTV but it looks much the same.

So is my Sony TV not really displaying HD or is the box not really outputting it? Or am I not that observant? Or is HD just a hyped up service that is not much difference? It certainly does not encourage me to pay for Sky HD!

Any suggestions?

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

Ive found very much the same in truth. In fairness I think its because the V+ box does such a good job of upscaling SD that the diffrence is negligable.

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

there a fewe factures one being as the previous poster said the v+ box does upscalign sd channels quite well, but you also have to take the vieweing distance, angle and otehr tihng into a acodutn ot make sure oyu get the most out of hd, and it also depend swhat oyu watch if you watch one of the nature programs you will see hd for it potential sports do benefits form hd but dependsin on what oyu want it for to see the players facer clearer and see sweat etc it all depend son what you watch, and hot oyur setup is

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

ESPN HD isn't that great anyway IMO, try Eurosport HD and tell me what you think.

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

How big's the screen on your new TV? 32in or smaller I can understand HD not appearing too disimilar, but any larger and the difference should be considerable.

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

Thanks for the comments.

Eurosport HD does seem to be a good picture and quite sharp but I do not have the same programme to compare it with at present.

My TV is 28" (small room). If this explains my dissatisfaction then fine although it does rather confirm my suspicions that its hype! Why sell smaller HD REady TVs if you do not get the benefit!

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

Agree with HD not being all that!!! Sky have built up all the hype!!! I have had it for over a year and can't really tell the difference!!! Sometimes the colour is sharper, but that's all!!!

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

Because unfortunately people see the HD Ready badge and think its a feature. And then they pay more for it.
The ridiculous thing is there are many people here complaining about SD picture quality because they have bought too big a screen for their viewing distance.

---------- Post added at 19:58 ---------- Previous post was at 19:56 ----------

On the right screen size, with the right viewing distance HD is awesome.

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

how can anyone say hd aint that good ive got a 42inch viera with bluray home cinema and not only is the sound far better but the picture is amaizing ufc last night looked mint cant even watch most sd when you get used to the hd picture especialy sky movies sd that sucks

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

A lot of factors to consider here, like Screen size; Viewing distance, and Screen calibration (have you altered the settings for HD content?).

Also, just because something is in HD, doesn't mean it will be great HD. I rented out the SD DVD of Mr and Mrs Smith and I couldn't tell the difference between that and the Blu Ray version.

And of course, the V+ HD does a good job of up-scaling SD content anyway.

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

No disrespect, but I just want to watch TV sitting on my comfy sofa. I don't want to be sitting in certain angles, a certain distance from the TV, etc!! I have a top of the range 52 in Sony Bravia, which has been correctly installed and currently watching a film in HD and I still can't really tell the difference!!! Personal point and think HD is over hyped, so don't feel offended if I don't think it's awesome, amazing or outstanding!!

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

I'm not offended that you're not blown away by HD.

But, IMO, to get the best out of a HDTV, those factors have to be considered.

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

Hi
Check your TV settings, colour, backlight, contrast etc, once set to best level you will see the true potential of HD.

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

You can't see the difference between SD and HD on a £3.5k TV apart from the colour?

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

I bought a 42" Panasonic Plasma a couple of weeks ago, then got a V+ box, and my first impression was that it wasn't as amazing as I thought it should be, until I saw the opening credits of Smallville on E4 HD, then saw Dexter on FX HD, and again flicking between normal and HD, it was very obvious which was which.

Certain programmes look better than others. Top Gear looks great, but Last of the Summer Wine, the One show look similar on both.

Remember channels like E4 HD show programmes like Friends, which aren't in HD so won't look as amazing as you may think they should.

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

Have you considered you might possibly need an eye test. I have a 26" Sony Bravia which is five years old and I can see the difference.

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

Went to opticians the other month and my eye sight was said to be excellent!!! Therefore, one doesn't need an eye test!!!! As I said in an earlier thread, it was just my opinion!! Not loosing any sleep...not shouting out of the window...I just don't see what all the fuss is about!!!! Even when I have gone to friends, who have HD, they even comment that they can't see the difference!!! Maybe, I should recommend an eye test to them!!!!!!!

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

Hd is of a higher quality than SD. If you don't think it is, then perhaps you need to get a better TV. Football is clearly 3 times better than its SD equilvent, escipally on larger TV's such as 50"+.

The V+HD box does a excellent job of upscalling SD. Better than Sky HD's box.

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

I agree it is a personal opinion, all I can say is sport is much crisper picture in HD and I am talking about SKY Sports not Eurosport as it's SD channel is heavily compressed.

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

I have a 32 inch flat screen tv and am currently taking the sky sports HD channels on a months trial basis to judge the difference,whilst i would say yes the picture is crisper i would also add my V+HD box does a marvellous job at upscaling,that to be honest i do not think it is going to be worth my while paying £7 a month for the small difference over skys upscaled SD picture,on larger tvs of course the difference may be more obvious but i can only speak of my personal expierience.

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

My GF has a 42" Panasonic HD TV. Last year watching Wimbledon (on Sky) there was a huge difference between SD & HD to the point of me wanting a HDTV.
However I struggled to see much difference this year at all. The only difference is she is now with Virgin.

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

The problem I have is the HD charge, to me where possible HD is seen as a normal channel not as a premium one, at the end of the day the HD broadcast is just downconverted to SD simulcast one:erm:

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

It's weired huh! For me HD qulaity can change from channel to channel and even programme to programme on that same channel.

Europsort and EPSN HD so far is better than Sky sports HD

And some Sky Movies HD are better than others but not as good as BBC HD or Channel 4 HD

SOME BBC SD programmes look as sharp as HD.

I guess it can also be down to your TV and how it is set up but when you get a good quality HD programme the effect is stunning.

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

I think HD is heavily oversold, as with many things. The viewing set-up in most homes (and by 'most', I mean the majority of TV-viewing households in the UK, not the tiny minority who are interested enough in their set-up to join a forum like this and post about it) is such that the TV screen is too small, and the set is too far away from the sofa, for most people to easily tell the difference between a decent SD stream like BBC1 and the same programme being simulcast on BBC-HD.

We installed Freesat-HD in my in-laws holiday flat this summer and spent a fortnight being thoroughly underwhelmed with it. I mean, it did look nice, but not nice enough to make me want to rush out and buy my own kit when we got home.

I have seen HD on a mahoosive screen in a friend's front room so I'm well aware of the improvement the technology is capable of delivering. However in many cases the practical application of it is such that the experience is just a little disappointing.

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

It depends on so many factors. When I watch football if there is a slow mo close up of the ball it is hard to really get any more detail in the picture. With the normal side on angle if you look at the pitch it is mostly the same, if you look at the crowd and stuff around there is more detail there.

On Eurosport and the HD channel there is a bigger difference but I don;t have HD and my parents do. I can tell the difference but it doesn't mean I can no longer watch in SD like some people claim

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

Has anybody got an LED TV and if so does HD picture look better than on a LCD TV?

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

Wouldn't have thought that would make a difference. LED TVs are still LCD they just use LED backlights rather than CCFL.

---------- Post added at 12:43 ---------- Previous post was at 12:32 ----------

My experience with HD is that it is definitely down to the display. I used to have a 32" Bravia V2000 and was very pleased with the picture quality. I noticed a marginal improvement between SD and HD but nothing outstanding. I've recently bought a new TV, Phillips 37" pfl9604 and the HD picture on this is simply outstanding.

The difference between SD and HD movies is immediately apparent even to the missus who generally isn't that bothered. I did spend about three weeks tweaking the picture settings, getting the balance of contrast/brightness right made a huge difference and then tweaking the other settings improved matters even further.

With the correct display and with that display set up properly you should really be seeing a big improvement with HD broadcasts over SD. It's definitely more than just a gimmick IMO.

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

Interesting debate.

Not sure I can be bothered with the settings especially if they make the few HD channels better at the expense of the majority but I will have a play.

But overall, my view is that I am sitting 8 feet in front of a 28" TV and cannot see much difference, not enough to spend £7 a month of my hard earned dosh on. Clearly it makes a difference to those prepared to invest in bigger, larger screens.

I am probably too cynical but it seems to me that if VM can supply a STB that makes SD look almost as good as HD to someone like me then the fact that Sky do not means they are pulling a fast one.

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

The quality of the HD picture is better on Sky in my opinion. My parents have Sky HD, I have Virgin HD. They have a slightly smaller TV (37" as opposed to 40") and it is 'supposedly' not as good a quality TV as theirs is a year older and was several hundred pounds cheaper than mine, but their HD quality is noticably better than mine.

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

I am not sure what I tried to do really worked - but this is what I did my TV has a split screen so I put HD (?) one one half & the same channel via freeview ( it was bbc1 & bbc HD putting out the same programme) on the other could not see any worthwhile difference .
Then I switched between BBC 1 & HD again nothing to get excited about,

Emperors new clothes comes to my mind.

No way will I pay out another £7 per month :td:

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

I have a Led 3d tv and tbh i used to be with skyhd, virgin's upscale sd is much better then sky's but sadley sky's hd is alot better then virgin's.
Mind you i watched some of sundays football match in upscaled 3d it looked pretty good im hopping it wont be to long before virgin get some on demand 3d stuff.:)

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

For the viewing distance, your screen is too small. For 8 feet, you'll, IMO, need at least a 32 inch screen, better yet, 37 inch or above.

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

This viewing distance calculator is quite handy.

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

I think a 32 is about the best size with current TV. HD looks very good if you are the right distance and SD or upscaled SD as we get with the V+ Box still looks fantastic too. With bigger TVs upscaled or SD can look too blockey but the HD looks even better. With most programming being SD I think some TVs are too big.

Once we go fully HD then bigger TVs will come into their own

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

I've said this all along. As long as you can see the picture I really don't see what all the fuss is about.

Re: Is HD all its cracked up to be?
 

I think the quality is very good if not better then when i had a thomson hd box with sky which i noticed a fair amount of grain on some hd channels.

Many folk are probably just used to hd now and the wow factor has diminished.

To get the best hd experience try comparing a broadcast film with a good blu-ray disk you would certainly wish broadcast tv was as good.