HDTV Broadcast in India

[IndianEars]

NO Indian DTH Platform offers the Nat Geo HD channel - YET.

SUN DTH will probably be the first, since it offers the special HD STBs ( priced approx Rs 10,000 ) for its 2 HD Movie channels.

No other Indian DTH platform has rolled out HD STBs.

 

[adder]

Does anyone know which DTH player is providing Nat Geo HD ?
Apprantly Nat Geo HD has got the Govt. nod to telecast in India.

I&B Ministry gives permission to launch 22 new channels | Televisionpoint.com News

at presently none of the DTH providers are providing NG HD,but u can expect it be shown first in SUN DTH HD.
since none of the other DTH have launched HD STBs.

 

[Dushie]

Well HD still has a very long way to go in India,
Most of the local content is not produced in HD, only few international channels and tv series are being produced in HD,

Even if the DTH providers start providing HD service, what content will they be able to show and how many channels that is something to think about.

BBC is one of the providers that has lot of stuff in HD content and has few channels running,

So personally i feel it will take a long time for it to actually kick off in India .

Some providers may provide few channels and content, but that is just a start towards the right direction, another factor to look at is costing for the same

 

[BLASTO]

Can a TV with integrated digital tuner be used with digital/HD broadcasts in india? These TVs are supposed to eliminate the need for a set top box. How far are thse useful india?

These will be highly useful for bedroom wallmount TVs where space for STB will be a concern. Anybody has any details?

 

[venkatcr]

Can a TV with integrated digital tuner be used with digital/HD broadcasts in india? These TVs are supposed to eliminate the need for a set top box. How far are thse useful india?

DTH broadcasts are paid channels. Thus the broadcaster will need some way of controlling the distribution. Though technically a digital tuner may be able to receive the signals, it may need some form of viewing/controller cards that are distributed by the companies along with your subscription.

Free to air channels are a different matter.

Cheers

 

[santhosh]

Does anyone have SunDirect-HD in Bangalore?

I tried contacting SunDirect on several numbers including their call center, dealers etc in Bangalore. But nobody seems to know anything about HD. When I called their Chennai call-center, the staff knew about HD but nothing about HD services in Bangalore.

When all my attempts to contact Sun-HD failed, I opted for Tata Sky Plus (with DVR) as their offer was ending October 31st.

Like Dushie mentioned BBC has several channels in HD. I saw a downloaded episode of BBC Top Gear in HD and it was truly amazing which made be go after Sun-HD even thought only three HD channels are on offer currently.

 

[spirovious]

new Big has spdf out?
BIG TV Latest Set Top Box Review | DTH Services

 

[Dushie]

The only question that comes to my mind is that they can keep introducing new boxes with component and spdif out but, if there is no content broadcasting to view and enjoy the same, in the end its all a gimmick to make money and get rid of faulty old boxes and hardware.

Like tatasky has the + offer running till the end of the month. Only advantage they are offering is video recording, rest as long as the feed is SD the output will be SD and you can't do much with it.

I know lot of people would question on the same and many are up scaling the SD feed through amp's and decoder to HD, but the up scaling can only improve the content to certain extent you can't compare it to a HD broadcast.

I agree with Santhol, if you watch a downloaded episode of BBC HD and compare it with the SD broadcast or up scaled SD broadcast on a Full HD set you can make the difference out.

So in the end it all depends on what you can afford and what technology has currently to offer.

I still say HD has a long way to go in India to become as popular as SD.

Even if people buy HD boxes and decoders it won't make a difference. As until we don't start producing local content in HD , we won't have anything to view in HD apart from few international channels if and when they come to India

 

[spirovious]

A settop box with SPDF is better as we can use AVR DAC to do conversion(better than settop box)
Same way if anyone launches SB with HDMI,There wont be link of conversions from SB to LCD with minimal vid noice.

Secondly if settopbox upscales like DVDp,still better than component depending on upscaler chip.

 

[jbgude]

Sun HD direct is supposedly started National Geo in HD - however I am unable to get a reply from them.
Anyone seen their HD service ?