HD Sky cinema on demand HD

wildfruit · 11-08-2016, 09:40

Just trying to watch some movies on demand this morning and I notice there is a new look dashboard for sky cinema. For the life of me I can't find the HD . category. Am I being dense?

trickytree · 11-08-2016, 09:47

You are not being dense if you have the new TiVo software.
If you have that then there is no HD category.

I don't have the software myself but I have seen it and there is no category.
So now not only are there only a few films (about 200 at a guess) that are available in HD compared to the 1000+ in SD you can't actually find which ones are in HD without looking through each and every one.....

I have brought it up on the official forums and it has been mentioned in a different thread on here but they have not done anything about it.
If they had all the films available in HD (as they had last year and should have) then the sub category would not be needed as each option you went into would have the play in HD option but as it is right now there is no clue.

Useless.
All I can stress is you call up and complain as I think they have managed to hide the fact there are hardly any HD Sky Cinema options on demand quite well.

nomadking · 11-08-2016, 10:25

Isn't Sky Cinema HD and Sports HD now only available on HD boxes? Therefore only one version is needed. Where the only source is SD, it will be upscaled to HD anyway.

Barriescott · 11-08-2016, 10:39

There is hardly any HD offering with the movies considering we have to pay a premium for HD movies

trickytree · 11-08-2016, 11:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by nomadking

Isn't Sky Cinema HD and Sports HD now only available on HD boxes? Therefore only one version is needed. Where the only source is SD, it will be upscaled to HD anyway.

I'm no video or audio fanatic but I can walk into a room with Sky Movies or Sky Sports and know it is not the HD version.
I am in training with my boys to start looking at the movies from 330 not 310.

You can clearly see the difference between SD on demand and HD on demand.
I pay for HD, I have the HD channels, they used to supply all the films in HD but now behind the scenes they have dramatically cut them to only being there for 30 days from premiere.
We were told back in February it was for a temporary time.
It's like the whole Coming Soon. So they may come back but 6 months later (and it actually started end of 2015) and still not back is hardly temporary and when asked for a date when they will come back they never answer.

When I called up about it they denied all knowledge of it but they did give me a discount on my Sky add ons but I guess they could do that for anyone threatening to cancel them anyway.

nomadking · 11-08-2016, 11:28

There is no longer a choice between a SD version or the HD version. There is just one version, which may or may not be HD. A film may not be supplied by the distributor in HD. If a film is there in HD, there won't be a separate SD version as well, so no point in having a separate menu. Even on a standard channel, eg BBC1, a programme being shown on BBC1 HD may not be in HD.

11-08-2016, 11:39

All films through Sky Cinema are hd as standard after the recent changes with ultra hd coming later this month so for vm customers there will be no choice of sd or hd

andrewlutonuk · 11-08-2016, 12:34

At the Moment the Films on Sky Cinema on Demand on Virgin Media are SD with some being HD aswell

For example The Film 'Fury' is available in SD and HD on Sky Cinema on Demand but the film 'Hot Pursuit' is only avilable in SD on Sky Cinema on demand

spiderplant · 11-08-2016, 13:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by nomadking

Isn't Sky Cinema HD and Sports HD now only available on HD boxes? Therefore only one version is needed. Where the only source is SD, it will be upscaled to HD anyway.

An SD version is still needed for people who don't have an HD-capable box, or who don't subscribe to HD

Quote:

Originally Posted by nomadking

There is no longer a choice between a SD version or the HD version.

It does still give you the choice where both are available

11-08-2016, 14:01

http://www.virginmedia.com/shop/tv/c...ky-movies.html

Says here that all movies are hd as standard

trickytree · 11-08-2016, 14:12

I think that comment is just because if you are a Sky Cinema subscriber they are now giving you the HD versions for free.

As the picture kindly provided by spiderplant shows you only know if the HD version is available once you have clicked into the film itself.
With the old (my current) software you had a distinct split for HD and so could easily see what was on offer.

My guess is the premiere date of 4 minute mile was in the past 30 days so have the HD version. Look for this at this time next month and I put money on it having been removed.

japitts · 12-08-2016, 13:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by trickytree

I think that comment is just because if you are a Sky Cinema subscriber they are now giving you the HD versions for free.

As the picture kindly provided by spiderplant shows you only know if the HD version is available once you have clicked into the film itself.
With the old (my current) software you had a distinct split for HD and so could easily see what was on offer.

My guess is the premiere date of 4 minute mile was in the past 30 days so have the HD version. Look for this at this time next month and I put money on it having been removed.

Agreed with all of this so for, however.... the 30day-HD limit is not reliably happening at the moment. I've had half-an-eye on 2 films that were premiered quite a while ago (Spectre & Mission Impossible 3) and are still available in HD.

Whether this is fault or unpublished design, who knows....

trickytree · 15-08-2016, 13:34

I think there are a few exceptions as they did have (not checked in a while) the HD versions of all the Harry Potter and the Star Wars constantly there so maybe they can see they are popular and therefore get an extended run?

Spectre and MI3 I guess can be classed as big blockbusters so maybe also popular.

Barriescott · 15-08-2016, 14:51

I'm afraid I think virgins HD on demand offering is very poor and very last century ,picture is very poor in SD think I'll be going back to sky when my contract is up

OLD BOY · 15-08-2016, 15:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barriescott

I'm afraid I think virgins HD on demand offering is very poor and very last century ,picture is very poor in SD think I'll be going back to sky when my contract is up

If you've been following these threads, you will have picked up that Virgin is improving its content offering and a new 4k box will be out within a few months. It might be worth seeing what comes of that before getting locked into a new contract with Sky.