Tata sky hd

[sanjay0864]

At least in the USA, "HD Ready" meant a TV that can display in HD but does not have a built in HD tuner / scaler, etc. Meaning, you cannot catch off the air HD broadcast and you'll need a STB. If this is the same terminology used in the Indian market, then why should the quality differ between HD Ready and HD TV? Since most people use STB, TV manufacturers are saving cost by reducing the hardware and that makes a lot of sense.

Your definition of 'HD Ready' is exactly what it was supposed to be. Back in the days when the first HD TVs were introduced there was no standard for digital HD broadcast TV in the US. Thus, when the ATSC HD standards were finalized and the first HDTVs with built in digital HD tuners started arriving the industry needed a term to differentiate HDTVs with built in digital HD receivers from the older HD TVs that did not have built in digital HD tuners. Thus the term 'HD Ready' was invented to define HD TVs without digital HD tuners. Then, some 'brilliant' marketing people totally distorted the meaning of the term and started using it to to define TVs that have a resolution of greater than or equal to 1280x720 but not 1920x1080. To add to the confusion, when Sony first introduced their 1920x1080i camcorders, they used the term 'Full HD' to highlight and differentiate from the earlier camcorders that were only capable of shooting 1280x720 resolution. Thus the result of all this is, that today, atleast in India and if I am not mistaken, elsewhere in the world too, the following terms came to be:

HD Ready - HDTV set capable of accepting HD signals (may not be able to display at full resolution 1920x1080)
Full HD - HDTV set capable of accepting HD signals and able to display full resolution at 1920x1080
720p HDTV - another name for HD Ready HDTV
1080p HDTV - another name for Full HD HDTV

Note:-
The ATSC HD (USA) standards define the following resolution as HD:
720i - 1280x720 interlaced
720p - 1280x720 progressive scan
1080i - 19201080 interlaced
1080p - 19201080 progressive scan

PS: LCD and Plasma are 'fixed' resolution technologies. Meaning a LCD or a Plasma can only display one fixed resolution, which is defined as the 'native' resolution of the TV. Thus irrespective of what all resolutions the LCD/Plasma TV may accept, the signal has to be either upscaled or downscaled to match the 'native' resolution of the LCD/Plasma TV. That is unless the input signal matches the 'native' resolution of the LCD/Plasma TV.

 

[yrk1969]

I disagree. 1080p50 provides 1080 field lines 50 times per second. 1080i50 provides 540 (=1080/2) lines 50 times per second (the odd 540 lines 25 times and even 540 lines 25 times). So 1080p delivers double the information than 1080i.

Also compression in blu-ray video is much lesser. Blu-rays have a maximum video bit-rate of upto 40 Mbits/sec (overall A/V bit-rate of 54 Mbits/sec). Compared to this, the best HDTV transmissions have a video bit-rate of 16 Mbits/sec with many achieving less than 10 Mbits/sec.

You can look at the following sites for some more information:
Blu-ray Disc - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bit rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Blu-ray.com - Blu-ray FAQ
Question about HDTV bitrate? - High-Def Digest Forums

- Prasad.

I mentioned of comparison of 1080i vs p on native 1080p display. Instead of putting up a bunch of links of general knowledge, you can read here:
1080i vs 1080p - Similarities and Differences Between 1080i and 1080p - What You Need To Know About 1080i , 1080p/60 , 1080p/30, and 1080p/24

About "double the information" part, blu-ray movies are 1080p/24, in my maths 1080p/24 is less information than 1080i/50 (~1080p/25 after de-interlace), assuming equivalent compression.

Also compression in blu-ray video is much lesser. Blu-rays have a maximum video bit-rate of upto 40 Mbits/sec (overall A/V bit-rate of 54 Mbits/sec). Compared to this, the best HDTV transmissions have a video bit-rate of 16 Mbits/sec with many achieving less than 10 Mbits/sec.

I did say that the difference of TS HD vs Blu-ray was in compression, so what are you disagreeing on?

 

[sparsha]

I am from Kolkata and got Tata Sky HD installed yesterday. Initially I was also told to wait for 24 hours for the HD channels to be activated. But I called the Help-desk and gave them a blast. Know what they activated the HD channels in 5 minutes.

Watching World Cup and Wimbledon in 1080i HD was some experience. Its amazing and I thing its better than the 720p BRRips (which are pretty impressive as well) that I have been downloading from the net and playing on my LG Jazz Theater.

However I have encountered one negative issue. I think the volume of the HD channels is pretty low compared to the non-HD channels. I had to turn the volume on the HD box to maximum. However the plus point is because of this low volume the irritating vuvuzela effect seems to be negated :lol:

Hopefully when I connect my home Theater using digital co-axial the scenario will be better. In the mean time if anybody else has the same low volume issue can share their thoughts as well.

Hello Ashis,
Please let me know from where in Kolkata you got the connection? I enquired at Saltlake and they know nothing about the launch!

 

[arindamcc]

Hello Ashis,
Please let me know from where in Kolkata you got the connection? I enquired at Saltlake and they know nothing about the launch!

KOLKATA city of 480p:sad:

 

[aniket1989]

Hello Ashis,
Please let me know from where in Kolkata you got the connection? I enquired at Saltlake and they know nothing about the launch!

hi sparsha,
same here.The sound seems to be lower than usual.This is probably because they've encoded it in 5.1 surround.So the sound levels are different from the SD channels.Try plugging into your home theatre.Discovery n nat geo will be an awesome experience.

 

[aniket1989]

hey aniket, it's not really blu-ray quality, because firstly it's 1080i and not 1080p and secondly they apply compression, whereas blu-ray is uncompressed. but yes it does look lovely by any objective standard.

ya true.Obviously we can't transfer as much data as a blue ray disc over the cable line!!!I need to try on a blue ray player on my tv then!But so expensive :sad:

 

[pnredkar]

I mentioned of comparison of 1080i vs p on native 1080p display. Instead of putting up a bunch of links of general knowledge, you can read here:
1080i vs 1080p - Similarities and Differences Between 1080i and 1080p - What You Need To Know About 1080i , 1080p/60 , 1080p/30, and 1080p/24

About "double the information" part, blu-ray movies are 1080p/24, in my maths 1080p/24 is less information than 1080i/50 (~1080p/25 after de-interlace), assuming equivalent compression.

Blu-ray can also carry videos which are actually recorded at either 1080p or 1080i. Here I disagree with the part that 1080i and 1080p are similar. Again here, 1080p is slightly superior to 1080i. Whether you notice it depends upon the de-interlacing and your display.

I did say that the difference of TS HD vs Blu-ray was in compression, so what are you disagreeing on?

Good! Then we agree

PS: Lets keep this a discussion (and not turn it into an argument) and we agree to disagree

 

[Dushie]

The PQ of the HD channels is good,specially for the live Wimbledon and football matches that is what matters, i don't feel discussion compression and outputs will help much.

Just waiting for them to add more channels to the HD package so if any one has news on the same do share, i did hear that star movies HD may come, but did not hear anything conclusive on the same.

 

[SMFire]

I mentioned of comparison of 1080i vs p on native 1080p display. Instead of putting up a bunch of links of general knowledge, you can read here:
1080i vs 1080p - Similarities and Differences Between 1080i and 1080p - What You Need To Know About 1080i , 1080p/60 , 1080p/30, and 1080p/24

About "double the information" part, blu-ray movies are 1080p/24, in my maths 1080p/24 is less information than 1080i/50 (~1080p/25 after de-interlace), assuming equivalent compression.



I did say that the difference of TS HD vs Blu-ray was in compression, so what are you disagreeing on?

The reason why u have 1080p/24 is because movies are shot at 24 frames per second. If you get a Blu Ray of any sporting or live event. It will give you a 1080p 60fps video.
Am sure HD DTH can not compare to that, whatever Math you use !!!

 

[yrk1969]

Blu-ray can also carry videos which are actually recorded at either 1080p or 1080i. Here I disagree with the part that 1080i and 1080p are similar. Again here, 1080p is slightly superior to 1080i. Whether you notice it depends upon the de-interlacing and your display.



Good! Then we agree

PS: Lets keep this a discussion (and not turn it into an argument) and we agree to disagree

No need to agree to disagree, I agree that de-interlace determines the quality diff.

 

[yrk1969]

The reason why u have 1080p/24 is because movies are shot at 24 frames per second. If you get a Blu Ray of any sporting or live event. It will give you a 1080p 60fps video.
Am sure HD DTH can not compare to that, whatever Math you use !!!

Oh! The 24 in 1080p/24 means 24fps for movies? Thanks, I did not know that.

Now please find a blu-ray encoded at 1080p/60.
You may find by casual googling that blu-ray does not allow for 1080p/60 video.

 

[fulcrum]

Just waiting for them to add more channels to the HD package so if any one has news on the same do share, i did hear that star movies HD may come, but did not hear anything conclusive on the same.

What about NewsX? Its supposedly the first HD ready news channel (by which I interpret that their recording, storage, etc. is in HD, so all they need to do is start uplinking in HD).

What I am really looking forward to is cricket in HD. Would be great to see the ball seam and the dust when the ball hits the deck. Also hoping to hear more stadium like sound when the ball meets the bat!

 

[pm123]

KOLKATA city of 480p:sad:

You are wrong. I am from Kolkata and using Tata Sky HD since this sunday and watching pre-quarter finals of FIFA is a pleasure.

 

[audiodelic]

Just got got the hd box installed, cant wait to get home this weekend to check it out.HD in india a reality finally :yahoo:

 

[arnabghosh80]

You are wrong. I am from Kolkata and using Tata Sky HD since this sunday and watching pre-quarter finals of FIFA is a pleasure.

Any idea where the STBs are available in Kolkata?

 

[viveknath]

Almost a blackout/ non availability in Bangalore.....aaaaaaaaah at least all big dealers

 

[manumani]

Eagerly waiting for the installation of TS HD. Called up atleast a 100 dealers in Mumbai before finally getting hold of someone who had received fresh stock of HD STBs. The technicians are coming in today to install the box. Too bad - only 8 more WC matches to enjoy

Will update on PQ and sourround sound quality in a day or two. Cant wait to watch Brazil Vs Netherlands in HD & Surround sound on my Bose system

 

[Dushie]

Almost a blackout/ non availability in Bangalore.....aaaaaaaaah at least all big dealers

Get in touch with Pai Indranagar they were supposed to get stock of some 100 boxes on Monday.

 

[SMFire]

Oh! The 24 in 1080p/24 means 24fps for movies? Thanks, I did not know that.

Now please find a blu-ray encoded at 1080p/60.
You may find by casual googling that blu-ray does not allow for 1080p/60 video.

My bad. Seems like 1080p60 is actually part of the DVB broadcast standard using the H.264 SVC codec(future encoders, not used currently) & not part of the Blu Ray 2D spec. But it's actually part of the Blu Ray 3D spec. 30fps per eye *2 = 60fps. So was not totally wrong.

 

[manumani]

Just got Tatasky HD installed. Pic quality is AWESOME for the HD channels. If anyone is in Mumbai / Navi Mumbai area and wants STB, let me know. The dealer still has a few boxes available