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Sky HD goes on sale next Wednesday (April 12)

by Bob Crabtree on 6 April 2006, 12:02

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Sky's high-definition satellite TV service Sky HD will go on sale to the general public next Wednesday, April 12, with installations due to begin in May. Installations can be booked on the net at http://www.sky.com/hd, at "selected" retail outlets or by calling Sky direct on 08702 40 40 20.

As we revealed last month, subscribers will pay £299 for a high-def-compatible set-top box plus £10 per month on top of their Sky digital subscription but installations will be free to new and existing Sky customers until May 31 or earlier if stocks run out.

The Sky HD box is a combined receiver PVR and will carry a 160GB hard disk. Sky says this will allow the recording of around 30 hours of HD programmes or 80 hours of standard definition.  The Sky HD box also offers Sky+ functionality - allowing users to pause and rewind live TV, record two channels simultaneously and automatically record every episode of a selected series. To take advantage of these features, though, requires a Sky+ subscription that's £10 per month or free to those who subscribe to two or more Sky Premium Channels.

An HD-compatible TV set is also required and is not part of the package. Some HD programmes, Sky says, will be broadcast in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound  and for best results will require a compatible decoder and amp, along with surround-sound speakers.

Check out our earlier HEXUS.headline for details on the channels and programming being offered by Sky HD and have your say over in the HEXUS.community.

HEXUS Forums :: 11 Comments

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Posted by dangel - Thu 06 Apr 2006 13:50
I'm a Sky+ user and to be absolutely honest, i've no plans to ‘upgrade’. First, with sky you can guarantee the box will be bug ridden for at least a year (perhaps more) as they NEVER release a product in anything but a half-finished state. Sky+ was a great example - as an early adopter I had my fingers burned by software ‘upgrades’.

Second, i've got a 36" TV which isn't HDTV ready, four more years of warranty on it and am perfectly happy with the picture quality. HDTV is impressive, but isn't anywhere near the jump we saw between, say, VHS and DVD quality. Many people won't care methinks.
And third, coupled to the above, I don't believe display technologies provide the ‘perfect’ flat panel HDTV yet - there's a lot going on in the market and i'm interested in future innovations coming are way that may make them a lot cheaper and a darn sight better (HDR screens for example).

Lastly, there's availability of HDTV sources - the channel range at the moment is meager at best on Sky (you can already see which channels will support it) and will take at least a year to expand to a useful level and much longer to reach saturation point.

An extra lastly ;) - more choices may open up in the not to distant future with IP TV being introduced this year..
Posted by Bob Crabtree - Thu 06 Apr 2006 15:10
dangel,

Appreciate your input and the reasons why Sky HD may not be right for you at the moment.

I also believe that people will appreciate knowing your take on the likelihood of bugs in the initial Sky HD+ box.

But none of this will be a consideration for a lot of people - especially those who've already bought large-screen HD-compatible sets.

And, it is only people with large-screen HD-compatible sets in normal-size rooms who, right off, will be find what Sky HD delivers to be completely compelling.

If you sit at the same sort of distance from an HD set that's 37in or larger that you did with a smaller SD set, you'll see the line structure on the HD set and be seriously hacked off that you've paid out all that money for a picture that may seem inferior to that which you enjoyed with SD!

And (perhaps oddly you may think) there is actually a HUGE number of people who are in that position and, thus, will be gagging for some HD content.
Posted by Nick F - Thu 06 Apr 2006 16:00
Great, lets just hope the £299 will not put too many people off buying it. I will getting it for sure when I move house.
Posted by Parm - Thu 06 Apr 2006 16:02
I have a 50" Pioneer HD Plasma screen (PDP505XDE) and have been looking forward to HD TV for over a year now.
I already have a Pioneer 868 DVD Player and can therefore watch upscaled DVD's via a HDMI cable, which looks stunning.
My XBOX360 is also connected to the Plasma and that just looks drop dead gorgeous.

Although I'd like to have Sky HD, it's not something I'm willing to pay so much for.
I already have Sky+ with Multiroom and the top Sky channel package, that means I'm paying £42 per month for the channels, and £10 per month for Multiroom. Total of £52 per month.
If I wanted to add Sky HD to my package, I'd have to pay £299 for the new box, and an extra £10 per month for the HD subscription. Taking my total to a whopping £62 per month.

That for me is too much. I was really hopefull that customers subscribing to the top package AND Multiroom would have the HD subscription waved, but alas, it is not to be.
I don't mind shelling out £299 for the box, that was expected as all new Sky boxes come at a premium.

The extra monthly subscription was the nail in the coffin for me. I'd really like to get it, but at £62 per month, I simply can't. :(
Posted by stockyvillage - Thu 06 Apr 2006 16:05
i believe that if you hd tv only has dvi input that you have to buy your own hdmi to dvi cable and that they are not that cheap,does anyone know if this is correct

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