[Automan]

However don't waste your call to the number...
It just says register on the website http://www.sky.com/hd

CHN 311 & 312 BTW

Automan.

 

[OzSat]

TiVo have the channels listed - but will not be carrying listings at present as you need an HD box and subscription to view them. Neither are available yet.

It would also seem that only Sky receivers with the very latest software will have these channels in the EPG - currently some Sky+ boxes only.

 

[Automan]

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds28621.html

From 30 January
Ch 311 - Sky Movies 9 HD
Ch 312 - Sky Movies 10 HD

From 7 February
Ch 405 - Sky Sports HD
Ch 756 - Sky Box Office HD 1
Ch 593 - National Geographic HD (changing to 543 on 28 February)

From 14 February
Ch 291 - Sky One HD (changing to 197 on 28 February)
Ch 757 - Sky Box Office HD 2
Ch 158 - Artsworld HD (changing to 268 on 28 February)
Ch 557 - Discovery HD (changing to 525 on 28 February)

Sky HD customers will be able to view listings for HD channels only via a special red-button feature on the Sky EPG.

Seems hard work if you have to press the red button for the HD EPG listing...

Automan.

 

[cleudo]

Bit of a joke having a Sky Box office HD when they can't even provide a provide a Dolby 5.1 service on the ones they've already got..

 

[Benedict]

Sky HD customers will be able to view listings for HD channels only via a special red-button feature on the Sky EPG.

Seems hard work if you have to press the red button for the HD EPG listing..

HD listings will be visible in the Sky EPG alongside listings for SD channels. Pressing the red button simply filters out all SD channels so that only HD channels are displayed.

 

[randap]

It would be nice for Sky to even hint at how much HD is going to cost.....

 

[aerialplug]

Just out of curiosity if nothing else. Why do TiVo even bother listing the HD channels when Sky have already stated that their HD recievers won't downconvert the HD pictures to standard resolution (something incidentaly that all European HD boxes I've seen so far to)?

I can understand the logic of Sky putting them in the EPG to tempt standard def viewers into getting HD but it seems daft for TiVo to list the schedules of a channel it doesn't have any hope of being able to record!

 

[OzSat]

TiVo doesn't list the schedules - it just provides a place holder.

 

[Pugwash]

I saw the HD channels appear, and was slightly amused. I've been 'obtaining' some programmes from US broadcasts on HDTV with 5.1 and have to wonder why we're so far behind?

 

[Sneals2000]

Just out of curiosity if nothing else. Why do TiVo even bother listing the HD channels when Sky have already stated that their HD recievers won't downconvert the HD pictures to standard resolution (something incidentaly that all European HD boxes I've seen so far to)?

I can understand the logic of Sky putting them in the EPG to tempt standard def viewers into getting HD but it seems daft for TiVo to list the schedules of a channel it doesn't have any hope of being able to record!

When did Sky formally announce that their boxes won't downconvert? I haven't read it reported anywhere I would trust yet.

They're going to annoy a lot of DVD Recorder owners if you can't record an HD show and archive it to DVD... (You'll have to record both the HD and SD showings if you want to do this - for say BBC One shows?)

 

[sanderton]

Which of course you can do with dual tuners.

I was told some time ago by Sky that they would not downconvert HD to SD. But that was a long time ago now, things may have changed.

 

[DeadKenny]

Just out of curiosity if nothing else. Why do TiVo even bother listing the HD channels when Sky have already stated that their HD recievers won't downconvert the HD pictures to standard resolution (something incidentaly that all European HD boxes I've seen so far to)?

What would be the point of downconverting anyway? The instant you do that it becomes non-HD and the channel is then pointless.

 

[GarySargent]

What would be the point of downconverting anyway? The instant you do that it becomes non-HD and the channel is then pointless.

Not true as the picture would look much less compressed due to the higher bandwidth.

 

[sanderton]

Indeed, you may have noticed how the highlights on Match of the Day look much sharper and more vibrant this season, beacuse they are downconverted form HD masters.

 

[DeadKenny]

That presumes Sky HD won't be heavily compressed

There's a world of difference between downconverting from an HD master and downconverting from a Sky HD source. Also on-the-fly downconverting isn't necessarily as good as the kind of downconversion that goes on when mastering a DVD from an HD source.

Still, personally I wouldn't want to fork out for an HD sub just so I could record in SD quality on my TiVo, and given you're not just looking at downconversion but digital to analogue conversion to get to TiVo as well, it's going to be only a marginal improvement over the regular SD channel, and then you might be upconverting to an HD set also to play it back! (anlogue to digital also)

 

[Milhouse]

But by preventing down conversion Sky effectively begin to lock out non-Sky PVRs (and even standard VCRs) and few will want to use a TiVo/VCR when they can't record from the HD channels so they'll buy Sky+ HD instead.

Surely it will become impossible for this government of ours to allow Sky to get away with this level of protectionism for much longer - Sky should be forced to licence the CAM.

 

[GarySargent]

There is no reason why someone couldn't make a PVR or DVD recorder that has a HDMI input is there? That would be more flexible than a Sky CAM.

 

[Craig B]

There is no reason why someone couldn't make a PVR or DVD recorder that has a HDMI input is there? That would be more flexible than a Sky CAM.

Isn't the point of HDCP that the protection decoding is done in the display? By allowing the protection decoding in a recording device you are doing exactly what they don't want you to do, ie. record the digital stream.

Feel free to tell me I'm missing the point.

 

[Ian_m]

There is absolutely no reason why a HDMI input recorder could not be made, digital in to digital on disk and digital out.

However you you would need access to HDCP keys and technology and thats where it gets difficult.

I could easily envisage a recorder that would record protected HDMI content but only allow it to be played back to the display connected to the recorder at time of recording.....

 

[sanderton]

You can make a HDMI input recorder no problem, so long as it implements HDCP and the recorders output is also HDMI and also impliments HDCP.

So long as the video satys encrypted there is no issue.

HDCP does allow a "no copy" or 2copy once" flag to be set which could limit recording.