Airtel Digital HD
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shailenderb
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Adder is right. My Airtel box shows ESPN HD listed in the sports category. This was not there yesterday. Cannot play it with my current box. Waiting for their HD box. Wonder what will be their tariff plans for HD channels.
Regds / Shailender
Regds / Shailender
Airtel Digital TV HD STB Pictures And Information
All Technical, Price,Channels related queries would be available only after official Inaugural Launch of Airtel digitalTV HD by Bharti Telemedia, expected to happen by the end of the day, today.
All Technical, Price,Channels related queries would be available only after official Inaugural Launch of Airtel digitalTV HD by Bharti Telemedia, expected to happen by the end of the day, today.
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Airtel digital TV, the DTH arm of Bharti Airtel, is launching its High Definition service, with set-top boxes (STBs) priced at Rs 2,840, further fuelling the price war in the sector.
Its competitors like Tata Sky, Dish TV, Reliance BIG TV and Sun Direct have already launched their high definition (HD) services at various price points to attract new subscribers.
"Airtel digital TV HD will be available at Rs 2,250 for our existing customers choosing to upgrade and Rs 2,840 for all new customers," Bharti Airtel Director and CEO (DTH) Ajai Puri told PTI.
HD transmissions offer better picture and sound quality compared to standard definition (SD) transmission. HD set-top boxes (STB), which offer wide-angle viewing, are considered particularly suitable for watching sporting events and action movies.
"As of now, subscribers will get access to ESPN's HD feed of the FIFA World Cup for Rs 99, but we will add other HD channels over the next few months," he said.
For the new service, Airtel will also have a 360-degree marketing campaign, featuring brand ambassadors Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor.
The company will also leverage its existing bundling tie-ups with LG and Samsung.
With rising interest in global sporting events like the Indian Premier League, English Premier League and FIFA World Cup, DTH operators are confident that viewers will switch to digital high-definition broadcasts.
For DTH firms, HD set-top boxes promise a lucrative revenue stream as they will be priced a bit higher than traditional devices and carry higher monthly charges.
Sun Direct was the first operator to launch its HD service last year, priced at about Rs 10,000. Since then, other operators have also jumped on the bandwagon and launched their HD service at much cheaper rates.
Tata Sky launched its HD service last week, with HD STBs priced at Rs 2,599, while Dish TV has slashed the price to Rs 2,990 (from Rs 5,990 at the time of launch).
Source:
Airtel enters high definition arena, launches set-top boxes
Its competitors like Tata Sky, Dish TV, Reliance BIG TV and Sun Direct have already launched their high definition (HD) services at various price points to attract new subscribers.
"Airtel digital TV HD will be available at Rs 2,250 for our existing customers choosing to upgrade and Rs 2,840 for all new customers," Bharti Airtel Director and CEO (DTH) Ajai Puri told PTI.
HD transmissions offer better picture and sound quality compared to standard definition (SD) transmission. HD set-top boxes (STB), which offer wide-angle viewing, are considered particularly suitable for watching sporting events and action movies.
"As of now, subscribers will get access to ESPN's HD feed of the FIFA World Cup for Rs 99, but we will add other HD channels over the next few months," he said.
For the new service, Airtel will also have a 360-degree marketing campaign, featuring brand ambassadors Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor.
The company will also leverage its existing bundling tie-ups with LG and Samsung.
With rising interest in global sporting events like the Indian Premier League, English Premier League and FIFA World Cup, DTH operators are confident that viewers will switch to digital high-definition broadcasts.
For DTH firms, HD set-top boxes promise a lucrative revenue stream as they will be priced a bit higher than traditional devices and carry higher monthly charges.
Sun Direct was the first operator to launch its HD service last year, priced at about Rs 10,000. Since then, other operators have also jumped on the bandwagon and launched their HD service at much cheaper rates.
Tata Sky launched its HD service last week, with HD STBs priced at Rs 2,599, while Dish TV has slashed the price to Rs 2,990 (from Rs 5,990 at the time of launch).
Source:
Airtel enters high definition arena, launches set-top boxes
Sad news that u need to Rs 99 for ESPN HD
Is it out? I haven't seen any ads whatsoever!
gourav_jain
New Member
It seems Airtel was forced to launch the HD services in hurry as they have only 1 channel right now, it seems their customers were looking out for other HD options. Thats why there is no marketing yet @kwokwchoy.
@skdMrk: Good first hand information and picture... thanks for that.
I have few queries.
1. Are they providing HDMI cable and Co-axial cable too with the device.
2. What is Ethernet port and 2 USB are for.
@skdMrk: Good first hand information and picture... thanks for that.
I have few queries.
1. Are they providing HDMI cable and Co-axial cable too with the device.
2. What is Ethernet port and 2 USB are for.
btw airtel website as be updated with the HD info digital TV HD- HD DTH Recorder- High Definition Services from Airtel
Some info from the link.
7.1 surround sound.
1080i picture.
Bundled HDMI cable.
btw the 7.1 is the potential future stuff.
Agreed, but when most Blurays even does not come with 7.1, talking about it in transmission when they have only "1" HD channel currently is just marketing talk.
<Rant>
First 7.1 should come in mainstream bluray and then in tranamission programming recording and then should be transmitted.. That is when the reception unit will become useful. By the time all these happens, the unit would have already gone kaput!
Nobody wants to future proof something which costs 2.5k for like 10 years..
If they gave a HD capable box when they were doing only Sd, now that is futureproofing. Now thay are taking it back for 500/- rs IF you go HD. But people will fall for this also.
BTW, With the amount of compression they make in the SD channels, I will be much doubtful how their 7.1 sounds like!
</Rant>
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sanjay0864
Well-Known Member
The number of channels is not a feature controlled by the DTH service provider or the set-top box. It is entirely a feature of the encoding done in the original software and of the decoder. Basically, all the DTH operator controls is whether they provide the original Dolby Digital feed and the role of the set-top box is to receive and pass on the original Dolby Digital feed. The number of channels decoded at the consumer end, is totally dependant on the number of channels encoded within the origianl Dolby Digital stream within the original program. This is the typically misleading marketing that Indian companies are so adept at. Specially considering that nowhere in the world are more than 5.1 channels broadcast yet, either over the air or via sattelite.7.1 surround sound.
Considering that all the DTH operators are bundling a HDMI cable, this is no big deal, specially considering that the bundled cable is of the Rs. 30 - 40 variety. (That is the bulk price cost of the cables)
The fact is, all the DTH companies have the same abilities in this regard. Not counting Dish TrueHD, for they don't even have Dolby Digital on any of their channels, atleast not yet.
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Does it feature the PVR Functionality? Only the Web page title states it however there is no mention within the features link.
Then Why does Dish HD not have 5.1 while others have? IMO, the STB plays a role on whether it supports or not.
sanjay0864
Well-Known Member
You completely missed the point of my post. Let me try once again. The number of channels, encoded in the Dolby Digital stream is not determined by the DTH operator or the set-top box, but ofcourse whether the Dolby Digital stream is passed on from the original feed to the consumers set-top box is dependent on the DTH operator and further whether the customer can decode the Dolby Digital audio stream is dependent on whether the set-top box is capable of receiving and passing on the Dolby Digital bitstream to the customers Dolby Digital decoder.
In simpler words, if a DTH operator's current set-up is providing Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, then in future they can provide Dolby Digital 7.1 audio too. Your decoder on the other hand may or may not be equiped with Dolby Digital Plus, i.e. 7.1 capabilities.
In the case of Dish TrueHD, either their control room is not equiped to pass on the Dolby Digital bitstream, which is very unlikely, or their systems are not configured properly, which is quite possible. The problem could also be with their cheapo set-top boxes. Here again there are two possibilities, either the hardware is incapable of passing on a Dolby Digital bitstream, again quite unlikely, or the set-top box software/firmware is not written properly. This last scenario or the one where their control room equipment is not configured properly, are the most likely scenarios.
Well i searched their website couldn't find any info about HD pvr,possibly a future launch.
Not all of them provide them BIG tv HD is priced at 7.5k and all one gets is the el cheapo RCA cables for composite.
Dolby Digital Plus for Airtel DTH HD
Techtree.com India > News > Consumer Electronics > Dolby Digital Plus for Airtel DTH HD
Techtree.com India > News > Consumer Electronics > Dolby Digital Plus for Airtel DTH HD
sanjay0864
Well-Known Member
This is all marketing nonsense. The DTH operator has no control over how many channels are encoded in the Dolby Digital bitstream. MOre precisely the DTH operator cannot give more thanthey receive. Thus if the original programming is in 5.1, Airtel cannot make it 7.1. For all practical purposes, atleast for the near future, 7.1 channels is just a figure and holds no real advantage for the customer. In fact 3D will arrive a before 7.1 audio becomes available. Thus all these new HD set-top boxes are already obsolete before being launched, considering that 3D has already started in the US, Europe and some Asian countries.
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