HDTV - a question.

magpieant

magpieant

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Hiya folks ....

About to post this on that avforums site too - so here goes.

I have just got my dad an LCD TV for his birthday. I am going to set it up for him this weekend. (Went for the Panasonic 32 LXD70 after reading very good reviews about it).

He has no Sky/Cable, will be using the SD Freeview that is included and a standard DVD Player connected via a scart lead.

My question is, is there anyway I can demonstrate what HDTV looks like using this set up ? Is it possible to download a free example of HDTV and if so, would it work without any HD cables? Also, could I get something via a laptop that I could plug in the VGA input to show him the highest quality ?

It's all new to me - so any help greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

Anth.
 
When you say you bought an LCD TV... is it HD?

I think the BBCHD preview would show him but he would need hdmi cables etc... but if you dont have sky hd (or equivalent) then he wont get it.
 
Not sure if if would work in your case but i downloaded the sample of Transformers the movie from Azarues which is quite legit i think to test out my lcd. I have a computer with a half gig grfx card and it looked and sounded truly awesome. Good luck.
 
You would need a box, and at the moment only SKY are doing one. From the Sky box you would need to run an hdmi cable, They wont work without one. You could get a
blue ray HD video recorder that would only give you video. Hope this helps.
 
Buy a PS3 for him, then sit there and play games on it all day demonstrating how good HD is :D

BTW it is also a Blue Ray HD player, but you have to buy the Blue Ray DVD disc's and they are not as cheap as normal ones.
 
StevieF8 said:
Virgin have just released the V+ box on Cable which is HD
Click to expand...
The problem with the virgin box is that they only carry BBC on HD All the others are contracted to SKY.
 
The tv will be worn out by the time he can get hdtv anyway, even if he gets sky installed it will be ages before hdtv is more than a test/novelty.
 
Steep said:
The tv will be worn out by the time he can get hdtv anyway, even if he gets sky installed it will be ages before hdtv is more than a test/novelty.
Click to expand...
Very true indeed.
 
Gerods said:
The problem with the virgin box is that they only carry BBC on HD All the others are contracted to SKY.
Click to expand...


You need a seperate contract for the SKY BOX too.

I have seen live sport on HD and it is very good but at the mo not enough to warrant an extra subscription. (My opinion)
 
alexisonfire said:
LCD's running SD are so ugly :(
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Nah they aint! Our Sony 32" LCD plays SD very nicely! Granted the HD stuff from Sky HD is more stunning, but like others have said it aint worth the extra yet :( We have had it for about a year and don't really watch it very often.
 
someone told me that when we all switch over to digital... it will all be in hd.........thats not true is it?
 
I feel sorry for you folk over in the UK for not being able to fully appreciate HDTV. We've got about 30 or so (maybe more) HD channlels over here in Canada/USA and 90% of the time it looks wonderful. It all depends on the network. I also agree that most SD content does look awful on an HDTV, even when it's up-converted to 1080i. Or I should say it looks awful when you compare it to a proper HD signal broadcast. If you hadn't seen a HD picture you would say the SD picture was great.
 
Janice said:
someone told me that when we all switch over to digital... it will all be in hd.........thats not true is it?
Click to expand...

Eventually it will be true, but for now it's just too expensive for some channels to put out full HD. Most will just up-convert or just make sure they show at least the minimum HD they can get away with. I think it's currently 10% of broadcast material has to be in HD for the networks across the Pond.
 
Thanks folks ... further questions ....

Firstly, yes - the TV is an HD one - cracking piece of kit by all accounts! Not seen it yet out of the box as dad in the toon and me in Manchester. (Also a reason why the days playing PS3 would be difficult ;) ).

Also, he has no interest (at the mo) in cable or Sky. He likes his freeview and as long as he can watch match of the day, spooks and corrie, he's a happy chappy!

As regards the download links - do i go for 720 or 1080 ? TV does both I think!!! Also, will they work direct from a laptop / VGA cable combo ? Would this also work if burnt on to DVD and played via scart ?????

Thanks again for all the help.

Anth
 
magpieant said:
Also, will they work direct from a laptop / VGA cable combo ? Would this also work if burnt on to DVD and played via scart ?????

Thanks again for all the help.

Anth
Click to expand...

Yes direct through the VGA cable, though you won't get the sound through that.

Scart does not support HD, so don't burn them onto DVD as this will reduce them down to SD and will defeat the object of the demo :(
 
I've got the virgin V+ box that shows HD. It is connected to the TV downstairs with a HDMI Cable and the one up stairs is connected with HD componet cables (cost about £100 for the cables:bang:) You need to have the HD cables to show HDTV but PS3 with blue ray show HD. Good job getting your dad a great pressie, I bet he'll get hours of joy from it :thumbs:
 
StevieF8 said:
Virgin have just released the V+ box on Cable which is HD
Click to expand...

Just released? I've had mine a year now. And there's only 1 HD channel (BBCHD) which broadcasts for around 2 hours a day. Although to be fair you can get HD films on demand which is far superior to Sky's services
 
Ally said:
I've got the virgin V+ box that shows HD. It is connected to the TV downstairs with a HDMI Cable and the one up stairs is connected with HD componet cables (cost about £100 for the cables:bang:)
Click to expand...

You've had your pants pulled down there, sorry. HDMI are pure digital cables so either they work or they don't. It's just 0's and 1's. There is no difference at all between a 2 quid hdmi lead and a £400 hdmi lead. Only analogue cables can suffer from interference and signal loss.
 
Ross said:
You've had your pants pulled down there, sorry. HDMI are pure digital cables so either they work or they don't. It's just 0's and 1's. There is no difference at all between a 2 quid hdmi lead and a £400 hdmi lead. Only analogue cables can suffer from interference and signal loss.
Click to expand...

Component cables wont be digital I wouldnt think?
 
There are HD FTA sattelite boxes available. Pace do one for less than £100 (but he'll need a dish pointed at the same sats that sky use).
That would allow him access to all BBC and ITV channels, and a collection of other crap.
www.digitalspy.co.uk forums are probably worth a look, either the freesat (28.2E) or HD forums.
 
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