Sky Sports 2HD
 

What's this number that keeps appearing in the bottom left hand corner of the screen on the Norwich v West Ham game? It's really, really annoying.

And the commentary keeps going all distorted and dropping out... STILL!

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/...1456254#M62150

Same happens on Sky as well

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Not on my Sky+ HD box Ben?

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Thanks for the reply, Ben. However, I take umbrage to VM comments that "it will not affect your viewing experience in any way". How can they tell people what will and won't spoil their viewing experience. Everybody is different and can either tolerate or not tolerate things do varying degrees.

It wouldn't be so bad if it occurred just once, but it keeps happening regularly.

And it is not happening on Sky as my brother is watching the same game directly through Sky and he is seeing no such number and never has in the 4+ years he has been a sky customer.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Not seen it on mine yet either.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Never said it would be happening at the same time, but it has happened in the past

http://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Sky-Pict...reen/td-p/5559

and Skys reply was exactly the same:

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

If this is happening on Sky, and they put it in the top right hand corner, it probably wouldn't be so obtrusive because it would just look like part of the channel identity.

Why do VM have to put it in a big bold box in the bottom corner where it is covering a portion of the pitch and so is right in the line of sight?

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

I'd suppose they put it in a different place to show it's on a different service

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

It was on my box but to be perfectly honest it did not upset my viewing.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Passed me by,what is it's purpose ?

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

It’s for preventing pubs etc from using residential subscriptions instead of commercial subscriptions (the ones that have the pint glass icon).

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

So what's the purpose of the pint glass icon then?

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

If you go into a pub and the 'pint glass' icon is on the screen on Sky Sports - then the pub is using a card which is for commercial use (like a pub).

If a Sky rep finds a pub showing Sky Sports with the 'pink glass' icon - then that know that a private (non-commercial) card is being used.

I suspect the numbers can help them narrow the search down to find out whose card is being used.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

They Know they have hit the correct bar:erm:

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Thanks, that's what I was getting at. The pint glass clearly indicates the distinction between commercial or non-commercial, so the number must have another purpose. Identifying the actual card being used makes a lot of sense.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

According to this post on DS, it's a lot more specific than that:

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showp...7&postcount=14

So it's probably correct when they say it's not connected to your subscription

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

I've seen the number on my cousins Sky box but not on my VM box.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Wouldn't the two cards have different numbers?

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Yes, but if they were worried about the the individual subscriber, then the numbers would be the same per account. It seems they are trying to identify the boxes

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Does anyone know how long we're going to have to suffer this code in the bottom left hand corner of the screen? It's now getting beyond a joke - SS2HD yesterday and SS1HD today! Is this a permanent thing?

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

I’d guess that only Sky know the answer to that.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

I'd guess it's an anti-piracy measure to trace users who are rebroadcasting to an online stream. Just a guess though.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

You could be right if it's streamed directly from the box. But if it's from the tv then i don't see how they can tell.

No idea how streaming works though.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

I'm getting the number showing up on more than just sky sports. Sky news and a few other channels it's appeared.

It's really starting to annoy me

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

it the the Broadcast doing some tested for the nexst few weeks i got the info when i phone up the TiVo team

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

It's driving me crazy now

It's on every single channel. Do they think it won't affect viewing enjoyment? Cheers Virgin/ sky / whoever. Real classy.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

yes them numbers are so annoying grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Anti piracy measure I reckon, to identify the digibox owners where the on line streams are originating, the number is probably being generated by the digibox software and so are attributable just like finger prints.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

it will come on the Sky Sports 2HD and on Sky Sports 1HD for 5mim and go then it will come back this work not to do with virgin it to do with the Broadcast .

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Its used to identify the accounts of people who are streaming stuff online. The numbers are unique to a STB, and as Virgin know which number relates to which STB (and the card in each) then their statement "not related to your individual subscription" is a bit of a lie.

Sky have done it for a while now, but its hardly stopped people broadcasting footie for free.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Right so sky can put this number on my screen, and the ONLY way i could get rid of it was to reboot the box, happened yesterday i was watching the footy on sky sports 1 and it came on we then tried to watch a film i had recorded on the V+ and the damn number stayed , even when i was watching a recorded program??? How can sky have such access to my Virgin equipment?

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

They won't have direct access, but they will have been able to request Virgin display a number system that has previously been agreed.

---------- Post added at 17:52 ---------- Previous post was at 17:02 ----------

http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/...ls/m-p/1459790

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

so even if i change channel to a non sky channel it still stays there till they see fit to remove it, if this takes place just before i want to watch a 'recording' it will overlay the picture?? I really think this needs looking at if i tune away from the channel then it really should disapear i think.

---------- Post added at 18:30 ---------- Previous post was at 18:28 ----------

p.s. anyone pirate worth their salt would just stick a piece of scotch hologramic tape over the affected area, there you go thousands of pounds worth of security measures circimvented for about 10p.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

As VM were effectively forced out of the non domestic pay TV business by Sky, they now only sell TV services to domestic users.

Hence, it shouldn't really bother VM as they are receiving the only available subscription payment. I would imagine that Sky have forced VM to do this as part of carriage contracts.

I have only ever seen the commercial sub pint glass.

I can't see the point in putting a pink one on domestic sub boxes. If Sky Sports is being shown in a bar and a glass is present, it is the correct sub, if no glass is present it's the incorrect sub!

Is the pink glass a new thing? If so, maybe it's now:

Normal glass- Sky commercial, correct sub.

Pink glass- Sky domestic, incorrect sub.

No glass- cable broadcast, incorrect sub.

I was surprised to read that they were doing it on other channels, particularly the free to air Sky News!

Incidentally, a friend was once showing football in his pub with a domestic subscription.

A Sky rep called and accused him of incorrectly using a Sky domestic sub.

When he explained that it was from his cable box, the rep said, if that was the case, it was nothing to do with him and left the premises!

Admittedly, this was a few years ago.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

I would imagine that this is less about publicans showing their customers football on a domestic subscription package, and more about domestic customers rebroadcasting matches live over the internet. The holographic tape might need to be virtual, but still easy to get around I'm sure.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

I'm glad I'm not the only one getting this number on screen.

It is very annoying, and worrying when you haven't got a clue what it is.
Thought it was some sort of error code. Was it the TV the Tivo box or what.

Surely we should be notified that this was about to happen!

Good old CF -
:rant:

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

VM very rarely notify us about this sort of thing, but they should keep their customers in the loop.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

To be honest, as it's a broadcast security measure, the whole point is that you don't know when it may appear

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

...or ruin you viewing pleasure...

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

So how do we let VM know of our displeasure of this?

I tried the call centre and all they wanted to do was send out an engineer to look at my 'faulty' box :rolleyes:

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Is this just for publicans or is everyone getting this code?

Regardless, anyone who has the knowledge & gear to rebroadcast matches can easily stick a black box over the code area, Sky know this so why bother?

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

VM don't have any commercial TV services - they are all (or are supposed to be) residential

---------- Post added at 23:17 ---------- Previous post was at 23:16 ----------

i would expect the comments on the threads over on the Community Forum have already been fed back to the TV team

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

I think 111 posts in 4 days on the Virgin Media Help & Support Forum, mostly complaints. Pretty much let Virgin know their customers feelings!

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

i would expect the comments on the threads over on the Community Forum have already been fed back to the TV team[/QUOTE]

So that can be ignored as per usual :D

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Sky have been doing it for years and it was pretty easily defeated by people streaming Sky Sports. How? Delay the broadcast by 60 seconds and when you see the numbers appear blank out that section of the stream.

Heck, the VM one is even easier to defeat, just record the program and watch it from your recordings (can even fast forward so its live) and the numbers never appear.

But most of the streams come from Europe/Ireland and even further afield. Fox Soccer is an amusing watch.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

That's probably why I've never seen what the torrent of complaints have been about!

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Sky have been doing exactly what for years?

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Putting numbers on the screen during Sports broadcasts

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

glad was no numbers on todays game

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Not on my Sky+ HD box's they havnt Ben.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

That's because they don't do it often, nor by the looks of it will they do it at the same time as when it's done on Virgin.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Been with sky for over 13 years before I foolishly moved over to VM and never once have I seen that number put in the corner of the screen

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

VM are probably just doing to pee you off....

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Sky tend to make them unobtrusive (unlike virgin), so you may have never even noticed it.

http://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Sky-Pict...reen/td-p/5559

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

i have never seen that in my life.. i have had sky most of my life..

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Why has my picture on sky sports 2 suddenly shrunk and got black lines at the side?

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Dont have that here my Sky sports 2 is still as it always is.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

I have the display set to 1080. Not wide.

But this has not happenned before. The cricket is on, even the adverts are in small screen.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

that be why they set it to 1080 wide

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Never happenned before. Hate wide as the resolution seems worse.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

I had a code for 2 hours and then it disappeard and hasn't returned.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

All 1080 wide does it stretch SD 4:3 programmes to fit a widescreen TV. Sky Sports is normally always widescreen as far as I know, so shouldn't be effected by it

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

what the number 4

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Its been mentioned a number of times. Happens on VM and Sky. Its to check to mack sure the games are not being broadcasted illegally over the internet.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Except that it doesn't work as an anti-piracy method. If you pause the broadcast for a second or two, the number isn't displayed (AFAIK). I can't test because we don't have SS in HD.

Re: Sky Sports 2HD
 

Im only posting what everyone else has stated and what VM have said on there forums. Its on Sky Sports SD as well AFAIK

Re: Sky Sports 2HD