Tata sky hd

[sanjay0864]

If you have a HT receiver you have to buy a coaxial cable to get the 5.1 sound.

I presume that is the case only if you don't have a HDMI ready A/V Receiver/processor. By the way for those that may not know, a 'coaxial' cable is nothing but your regular cable used for analog audio and composite video with RCA connectors. Basically you probably don't even have to buy a cable, since any old/spare standard audio/video cable will suffice for the job.

 

[srikarkav]

I presume that is the case only if you don't have a HDMI ready A/V Receiver/processor. By the way for those that may not know, a 'coaxial' cable is nothing but your regular cable used for analog audio and composite video with RCA connectors. Basically you probably don't even have to buy a cable, since any old/spare standard audio/video cable will suffice for the job.

Hi Sanjay,

I have already clarified that the coaxial cable is required for the receivers that does not have HDMI.And i am afraid the coaxial cable is NOT your regular analogue one.Dolby Digital is digital sound and the regular analogue cable can't carry it.You need HDMI or optical or coaxial cables to carry the digital sound.In this case an HDMI or a coaxial cable is required to get the 5.1 sound.

chees,
sri

 

[BLASTO]

I presume that is the case only if you don't have a HDMI ready A/V Receiver/processor. By the way for those that may not know, a 'coaxial' cable is nothing but your regular cable used for analog audio and composite video with RCA connectors. Basically you probably don't even have to buy a cable, since any old/spare standard audio/video cable will suffice for the job.

What??
Coaxial is a whole different digital connection to carry 5.1 audio.
Not the regular RCA. Those are analog cables.

Refer below.
eBay India: Digital Coaxial Audio Cable - S/PDIF Dolby Digital 5 mt (item 360273686024 end time 21-Jun-2010 20:09:32 IST)

 

[maniac_2004]

how do the SD channel look if upscaled via the receiver to 1080p ?

 

[sanjay0864]

And i am afraid the coaxial cable is NOT your regular analogue one.Dolby Digital is digital sound and the regular analogue cable can't carry it.You need HDMI or optical or coaxial cables to carry the digital sound.In this case an HDMI or a coaxial cable is required to get the 5.1 sound.

What??
Coaxial is a whole different digital connection to carry 5.1 audio.
Not the regular RCA. Those are analog cables.

Wow! The power of marketing gobbledygook at work again. Leaving aside any arguments over the quality of analog cables and some issues with electrical and radio disturbances under certain conditions, there is absolutely no difference between a Coaxial cable and the so called Audio RCA cable. There is nothing digital about coaxial cables and it is an electrical cable, just like the audio RCA cable. The difference being, that coaxial cables are designed to carry Radio Frequencies. Whereas "audio RCA cables" are designed to carry low frequency electrical signals.

To make it simple, why don't you unplug whatever fancy "Coaxial" cable you are currently using and replace it with 'ANY' standard, 20 rupees, Audio or Video RCA cable. Guess what, you shall still have your 5.1/6.1/7.1 DTS or DD sound. Also, unless you have a very high end sound system and or a very highly tuned hearing, I seriously doubt you will even be able to hear any difference.

But still, If you want the best signal, you should consider a cable that is designed for the digital system. Specially, if long length of cables is required, ie. about 10'+, get a "digital coaxial cable". They are designed with better shielding and for long distances. "Digital transmissions contain low frequency effects which travel along the center of the conductor and high frequency signals that travel on the outer surface of the conductor due to the skin effect- for these reasons uncoated pure copper center conductors are best". In other words, for digital transmissions a solid not stranded conductor is best."

A few tidbits of information:
1. RCA = Radio Corporation of America (An american company).
2. RCA is an acronym used to describe a partiular type of connector (first used by RCA) and not the cable.
3. Coaxial cables can be found with different type of connectors, depending on the use. For the purpose of carrying Digital sound in audio equipment the S/PDIF standard requires RCA connectors.
4. Regular audio/video cables, all use RCA connectors.
5. Regular audio/video cables (RCA) are 50 Ohms use stranded wires and are Unshielded.
6. Coaxial cables (Digital Coaxial) are 75 Ohms use a Solid wire, which is Shielded.
7. Coaxial cable, or coax, is an electrical cable with an inner conductor surrounded by a flexible, tubular insulating layer, surrounded by a tubular conducting shield. The term coaxial comes from the inner conductor and the outer shield sharing the same geometric axis.
8. Some common uses of coaxial cable are: Distribution of Cable TV signals both digital and analog, Connections between antennas and Recievers (Radio, TV, Wireless Transmitters) amongst others.
9. S/PDIF = Sony/Philips Digital Interconnect Format.
10. S/PDIF specifications were designed using a video cable with 75 ohms impedance for the coaxial-digital connection.

PS: I have simplified some of the descriptions to avoid the post from becoming too long and technical.

 

[srikarkav]

Hi,

So one always live and learn.I will connect an RCA cable and try to get the Dolby sound out of my system.And see if there is no difference between a coaxial and RCA cable.And Sanjay who told you that educated people are always more informed than an average joe?:lol:

cheers,
sri

 

[Ketan]

Sanjay,

You are leaving aside the most important thing - Quality. Please continue to use the normal / regular RCA cable / connectors that you find spare with you when you use TSkya or any other HD sources with your high end equipments. We all can have fun betting when will you shift to a cable that is designed for digital audio (not trying to get into too much of specifications here, neither I have much knowledge on them).

 

[sanjay0864]

You are leaving aside the most important thing - Quality.

The original point of the post was not to debate the differences in 'quality' aspects, rather it was to simply point out the similiarity of the 'functionality' of the two cables. In any case, if you were to actually read my post more carefully and or in it's entirety, you will see that I have not ignored the 'quality' aspect. Below are the relevant quotes from my post.

Leaving aside any arguments over the quality of analog cables and some issues with electrical and radio disturbances under certain conditions, there is absolutely no difference between a Coaxial cable and the so called Audio RCA cable.

But still, If you want the best signal, you should consider a cable that is designed for the digital system. Specially, if long length of cables is required, ie. about 10'+, get a "digital coaxial cable". They are designed with better shielding and for long distances. "Digital transmissions contain low frequency effects which travel along the center of the conductor and high frequency signals that travel on the outer surface of the conductor due to the skin effect- for these reasons uncoated pure copper center conductors are best". In other words, for digital transmissions a solid not stranded conductor is best."

Please continue to use the normal / regular RCA cable / connectors that you find spare with you when you use TSkya or any other HD sources with your high end equipments. We all can have fun betting when will you shift to a cable that is designed for digital audio (not trying to get into too much of specifications here, neither I have much knowledge on them).

Personally, I already have over Rs 1 lakh interconnets and speaker cables in my system. But the fact remains, that in the case of the average users' systems and applications, such as for low end players and cheapo DTH set-top boxes, there really is not much to gain by using an expensive 'coaxial' cable over a decent quality 'standard audio' cable. I infact challenge you tell the difference in a blind test. Believe you me, I have almost 'Twenty Five' years of experience with this stuff and I have compared all sorts of brands and fancy cables over the years.

PS: Always remember, the old adage, "A chain is only as strong as the weakest link in the chain" applies to audio/video systems too. Thus, spending money on fancy cables with mediocre to low level equipment is just a waste of money.

 

[srikarkav]

Hi Sanjay,

As i have the perfect setup you are refering, a low end receiver and may be a cheapo DTH set top box, i will try to compare the Dolby sound thro RCA and coaxial and post my impressions that if i could find any diifference, here on the forum.

cheers,
sri

 

[Ketan]

I hear what you are saying. Technically, you can use that normal RCA cable to carry digital signals (assuming its one of the recent made and still has around 70Ohm - digital ones are essentially 75Ohm I guess).
However, as you are claiming that I cant make out a difference, I do claim that I have a setup at my home, I have both the cables too. With specific sources (some sample audios and videos using extremer and couple others), I can show you the difference between the normal cable and the decent quality digital cables.

When someone says you hvae to buy coax cable, he means a decent digital audio coax cable and not one by Monster or similar made that costs you around 2K-4K or more.
Lets continue to discuss what we are discussing here. I'm waiting to get back to Bangalore and get the TSky HD. I have also read that Airtel is going to announce their HD services today, really want to see what they have to offer and waiting to watch NG and Discovery in HD. I'm sure other channles will also be improved a bit with better interface being used.

 

[ckr97]

@gr_babu - I again forgot to ask. Before getting TataSky HD, did you had TataSky or TataSky+ ?

 

[anirvanbhadra]

i've got the HD box, now waiting for them to land up and set it up. When I heard that ESPN HD had been added, there was no looking back. Let's hope they come tomorrow and not day after!

Well i think i will also now try and get this - just one question guys - i have two connections but i would like to change only one to HD - how much is that going to cost me?

 

[thevortex]

That was definitely an informative post, Sanjay! I have in the past experimented with RCA cables when coaxial was called for. I was always apprehensive of doing something wrong. Guess not!

 

[srikarkav]

I hear what you are saying. Technically, you can use that normal RCA cable to carry digital signals (assuming its one of the recent made and still has around 70Ohm - digital ones are essentially 75Ohm I guess).
However, as you are claiming that I cant make out a difference, I do claim that I have a setup at my home, I have both the cables too. With specific sources (some sample audios and videos using extremer and couple others), I can show you the difference between the normal cable and the decent quality digital cables.

When someone says you hvae to buy coax cable, he means a decent digital audio coax cable and not one by Monster or similar made that costs you around 2K-4K or more.
Lets continue to discuss what we are discussing here. I'm waiting to get back to Bangalore and get the TSky HD. I have also read that Airtel is going to announce their HD services today, really want to see what they have to offer and waiting to watch NG and Discovery in HD. I'm sure other channles will also be improved a bit with better interface being used.

Hi ketan,

Yes the normal SD channels look a little more sharper and i noticed the Star Movies channel looked a liitle different in a better way and had more refined colour combo after the STB was connected by HDMI to the Plasma.

cheers,
sri

 

[sanjay0864]

However, as you are claiming that I cant make out a difference, I do claim that I have a setup at my home, I have both the cables too.

Just to clarify, the reference to your not being able to hear the difference in a blind test, is applicable to you or anyone, including myself, but on a low end system wherein the entire chain of equipment is mediocre to low level. The reference was not, to your personal system or your personal hearing abilities.

 

[srikarkav]

Hi sanjay,

I was never in the know that normal analogue cable can carry the digital sound too.Thanks for that info.But i am afraid the subject matter of your challenge has been the reason of some royal fights in many AV forums and has been flagged to death.The hearing abilities of human beings are so subjective there can never be an end to this argument. As i said i will try to compare the sound out of both the cables and give my honest opinions here.But if i felt and say i did find the quality of sound through the coaxial, in my low end system, is better, i don't think you are going to accept that.There are some more better qualified persons like you here on the forum and let us wait for their views too.

cheers,
sri

 

[fulcrum]

Folks, don't think any of the TataSky HD channels have 5.1 output. I have a Sony receiver with HDMI in connected from TataSky HD box. In Auto Function Detect (AFD) mode the receiver shows only 2.1 channels. This is true for NG, Disc and ESPN HD channels. @srikarkav: are you sure about 5.1? Did you set the receiver to auto detect mode?

I had a similar setup in the US and I would get 5.1 dolby digital signal for HD channels. My initial guess is that the channels themselves are not broadcasting 5.1 although the hardware can handle it. Even the Dish HD folks are complaining of the same issue.

 

[srikarkav]

Folks, don't think any of the TataSky HD channels have 5.1 output. I have a Sony receiver with HDMI in connected from TataSky HD box. In Auto Function Detect (AFD) mode the receiver shows only 2.1 channels. This is true for NG, Disc and ESPN HD channels. @srikarkav: are you sure about 5.1? Did you set the receiver to auto detect mode?

I had a similar setup in the US and I would get 5.1 dolby digital signal for HD channels. My initial guess is that the channels themselves are not broadcasting 5.1 although the hardware can handle it. Even the Dish HD folks are complaining of the same issue.

Hi,

I don't know much about this AFD thingy.And why should i set my receiver to this mode i wonder.As the HD channel comes on, my receiver display immediately shows 'Dolby Digital' and i am getting sound thro all the five speakers.Can you kindly tell me if the sound from the STB is not 5.1 why should my receiver say it is so?Why you are not getting the Dolby sound is a mystery.I think you have to take it up the Tatasky engineers and resolve it.

cheers,
sri

 

[fulcrum]

Hi,
As the HD channel comes on, my receiver display immediately shows 'Dolby Digital' and i am getting sound thro all the five speakers.Can you kindly tell me if the sound from the STB is not 5.1 why should my receiver it is so?

If you move to a SD channel, does your receiver still say Dolby Digital or does it move to stereo? AFD on Sony receivers auto detects the input and displays what it is and outputs the sound accordingly.

 

[srikarkav]

Hi,

Yes as i move to the SD channels the display changes to Neo 6, a pseudo 5.1 set up,which i have set for the SD channels.For HD channels it again turns to Dolby Digital.

cheers,
sri