Freesat or freeview hd??

[scotty_dotty]

Will the freesat picture quality be as good as freeview HD quality (in comparison to freesat HD of course )

what's the pros and cons of each?

What's the chances of freesat being scrapped?

Dunno what to do anymore.

[digsatman]

Will the freesat picture quality be as good as freeview HD quality (in comparison to freesat HD of course )

what's the pros and cons of each?

What's the chances of freesat being scrapped?

Dunno what to do anymore.

There is no reason to believe that the quality will be any different but it is up to the broadcasters to decide the datarates they will use. The BBC came under fire last year for reducing the rate of BBC-HD on satellite. Some SD channels on both satellite (DVB-S) and Terrestrial (DVB-T) are terrible with some broadcasters trying to squeeze and many channels as they can into a single multiplex.

Freeview is limited by the available bandwidth available for transponders and HD takes up more bandwidth than SD so it is unlikely that there will ever be a large number of HD channels on Freeview. Freeview HD will require a new receiver and many people will opt for a Freeview High Definition receiver with built-in PVR. A number may consider a Freesat HD receiver/PVR more attractive in terms of channels.

In my view, both Freesat and Freeview will co-exist but it is likely that the larger bandwidth available for satellite services will mean a larger number of HD channels will always make satellite more attractive - even if they are not "Freesat" channels.

The biggest minus point for Freesat is the software in the existing receivers is deliberately "hobbled" if you want to receive "non-Freesat" channels. Whilst receivers such at the Foxsat can receive non-Freesat channels, this is at the expense of a reduction on the EPG to a simple Now/Next and the accompanying hassle of setting timers.

Still, things could be worse - in Australia some PVR's are deliberately hobbled so you can't skip in fixed time blocks past adverts. Even in "high speed forward", the broadcaster can make the PVR slow to normal for the ads that have been recorded and play them! Needless to say, many Ozzies did not realise this was a "feature" of their shiny new boxes as it was not listed prominently as a feature/benefit of the box.

Who knows what may lurk in Freeview and Freesat receivers in the UK in future. Over air firmware update anyone?!?!

Of course "Free" television has to be paid for in some way and currently in the UK it is either by the licence fee for BBC channels or adverts and sponsorship for commercial channels. If people simply "skip" the adverts, then their value to advertisers is reduced and therefore the revenue available to commercial channels will be less. Sponsorship of programmes is increasingly popular and it is likely that "product placement" will be introduced in the not too distant future. Whether these will save "free" TV of any kind remains to be seen.

[scotty_dotty]

Great info there.

If mr h is out there that got the freesat box from me (comet, Falkirk) and sees this, how did it go with ur motorised dish? Sorry m8 never got your user name.

Looks a bit weird but he,ll know who he is and what I mean .

[patkins]

Will the freesat picture quality be as good as freeview HD quality (in comparison to freesat HD of course )

what's the pros and cons of each?

What's the chances of freesat being scrapped?

Dunno what to do anymore.

I have being using a HD receiver on a SD TV and I`ve noticed a slight improvement in picture quality.

[thered]

Will the freesat picture quality be as good as freeview HD quality (in comparison to freesat HD of course )

what's the pros and cons of each?

What's the chances of freesat being scrapped?

Dunno what to do anymore.

dont think free-sat will be scrapped as there are plenty of area's due to there location that rely on satellite for tv viewing

[father ted]

scotty this is for you

this is not mine i found it on another forum,

you could buy a humax foxsat hd freesat box it will work with a motorised dish you just need to access the secret menu to make it work
Secret menu on Humax Freesat box. For DiSEqC & USALS

To access the hidden menu for diseqc settings and usals

Press
Menu
Setup
Freesat tune then press
Red Button
Green Button
Yellow Button
Blue Button
Green Button
Yellow Button
Blue Button
Then the Antenna settings option should appear.

and then you can access the Antenna Settings part of the menu. to set up your diseqc.
its great for Multi sat reception.

"these are not mine i nicked them form a sat forum"


When you first set up the Foxsat it detects the DiSEqC arrangements and prompts you for some details.

Once you've completed a non-freesat scan on 28E (The only Satellite option shown at that stage being labelled "freesat"), you can then navigate, in non-freesat mode, to Setup/Manual Scan.

Do not actually select Manual Scan at this stage, but press the colour key sequence Red Green Yellow Blue Green Yellow Blue.

Ignore the fact that nothing appears to be happening, but when you have completed the sequence you can then select and a whole new series of options will present themselves where you can activate Satellites from the pre-stored list, enter USALS data etc - and, eventually, start scanning.

Sounds a mess, but it is actually quite straightforward.

If you have already "installed" your Foxsat, you may have to do a Factory Reset before getting stuck into Motorised operation - though I'm not entirely sure.

There are some shortcomings, the key ones being that you are stuck with the pre-stored Satellite list and there are one or two missing (43 and 45 W for starters), you cannot do manual PID entries, there is only network scan not blind/auto scan etc. The latter is the biggest pain as the stored TP lists (as per) are hogwash.

[scotty_dotty]

Nice one ted, think it's good info and good alternate option for the guys on the cable side looking for an easier option in the sat side of things.

Sky goes in 2mrw for us but we reckon were getting a long awaited offer of a bigger house so I may do both services and exploit the freesat side of things for the bedrooms.

Cheers for everyones input.

[cactikid]

yes get a hd box and you will pick up the start of the hd channels that may be coming soon,bbc1 hd and 1tv hd look nice on my new box.

[popi110]

hi
i would guess that freeview hd will take off first even though its not the best system (as above) the only reason for this will be the manufacturers will build tvs with intigrated hd freeview as standard along with offering aditional extra content through built in LAN conections like we are seeing with blueray ( such as press the red button to buy it during advert etc)