Tata Sky vs. Dish TV

[lakshmant]

Does tata sky give stereo sound and on which channels. Does the STB have a provision for stereo outputs.

Laksh

 

[IndianEars]

Most channels are in stereo.

Yes, all DTH STBs and Digital Cable TV STBs deliver 2 channel Stereo.

 

[eummagic]

STB's connected (Tatasky/Dishtv) to Tv's 32" and more, we can see pixelation during fast scenes. I understand this due to resolution constraints, but can Bigtv makes a difference since it has component output for larger tv screens? Iam still unable to see a demo of Bigtv hooked to large screen sizes.

 

[Dushie]

The pixels are due to signal quality and compression used, on Big tv, the picture quality is better , less pixelization,

 

[psychotropic]

Hey Dushie, were you able to do a side-by-side comparison? I am not happy with how Tata Sky looks on my plasma....and the faults with its upscaler apart....a lot of it is very clearly compression artefacts....are these well dealt with on Big TV?

The pixels are due to signal quality and compression used, on Big tv, the picture quality is better , less pixelization,

 

[devrajofjaipur]

Saw Tata sky on flat screen at friends place and it does look much better than Dish TV at my place.

 

[IndianEars]

A friend tells me that TataSky+ Picture quality on his 48 Inch Flat Screen is worse than the ordinary tataSky.

Can anyone comment on this, based on their experience ?

 

[madbullram]

I did see the display in my friends 42 inch Plasma. He the plasma setting to 50Hz and when changed to 100 Hz it improved a bit. But still the picture was okay.

the picture quality of my SCV STB in Pv8 is amazing when compared to Dish and Tata Sky. HBO and Star Movies look really gorgeous on SCV when compared to Tata and Dish.

 

[IndianEars]

Thanks for your feedback.

I have often heard comments that the Cable TV digital STBs provide superior picture and sound compared to DTH,

Of particular interest is whether the TataSky PVR ( Built in Hard Disk Recorder ) has a poorer picture than their own Non Recording Box ?

Anyone practically compared ?

 

[sameersnu]

I had used Sky Cable in UK, therefore knew how great it was. I've been using Tata Sky for more than a year. No doubt it has better quality than any other cable service. I have few bad experiences with Tata Sky.

- I shifted from Ghaziabad to Gurgaon, initially I had asked Customer Care and they told me even if you shift same dish will work etc. I paid the transport guy 300 Rs for removing my disk and shifted to Gurgaon, now Tata Sky people say to install Tata Sky new place they'll charge 600 Rs extra, and they dont require my old dish and will replace with new dish, I told them use my old dish and charge less but they said if you want we can use your old dish but charge will be same 600 Rs. I denied and later sold the old dish to kabadi wala at 100 Rs in front of them. They could save their dish and my money but because of this stupid rule set by some management guy customer alone suffered.

- There is a spritual free to air channel Shalom Tv, which is aired by all cable services, I requested several times to customer care to make it available here too, but all time only assurance and nothing after that.

- They charge hell of 75 Rs for showcasing movies like 'Don Mutthu Swamy', someone tell them you own a DVD of 30 rs from black market for any movie they want.

- They have 7 showcase channels, and if they want they can use one for showing movies for free, but they are too business minded.

- They dont have channels like Zee Premier, Zee Action and compare to UK Sky they dont have their own movie/sky channels, so there are very less english movie options. (though do have star movies, pix, hbo, zee studio, world movies (pkg of 45 rs) )

- While in UK, when trailers are shown of any movie/serial you can set reminder clicking the remote, this feature is missing here.

- Above all, it is costly than all competitor, I'm paying 345 rs pm and still missing star sports, espn sports, ten sports, neo 2 channels, many south indian channels (exclude south package) etc.

If Tata Sky do not think on these lines I may think of getting Airtel IPV6 subscription which I think would be better/cheaper.

 

[vaibhav]

If Tata Sky do not think on these lines I may think of getting Airtel IPV6 subscription which I think would be better/cheaper.

yeah good luck with that. The airtel guys are charging INR 4K for 'subscription+ installation' - i.e. your sunk cost, vs 1500-2000 depending on how you bargain for tata sky.

Airtel is the cheapest right now (regular dish) that costs Rs 1750/- for installation + first 3 months free!

no clue about BIG tv, if they're any better. BSNL is still coming to terms with their IPTV that they've launched in 4 indian cities ... their tech team doesnt have a clue what to do with installation and stuff ....

we're years behind ... really.

 

[pradski]

Hi guys,

I have an airtel for my lcd.

I thought i will connect my crt to dth.

Is it better to get a different connection like tata, big or dish or get same airtel.

In airtel it is as good as a new connection except that you get same id.

There is no discount for dish or subscription in airtel connection for the second tv

any suggestions

 

[moserw]

Hathway would be the cheapest. Next would be Sun DTH. Might be better to try someone else like Tata other than the above 2. You should check out other services and maybe have/try options of different bouquet of channels though at the end of the day all are expensive and make you pay for all unwanted channels.

Hi guys,

I have an airtel for my lcd.

I thought i will connect my crt to dth.

Is it better to get a different connection like tata, big or dish or get same airtel.

In airtel it is as good as a new connection except that you get same id.

There is no discount for dish or subscription in airtel connection for the second tv

any suggestions

 

[pradski]

thanks moserw,

we don't have hathway in tv broadcast. But we have in broadband.

final verdict is have another one and can play with pricing accordingly. That is what I was thinking

Thanks

 

[Janet Nader]

hello, i am new here. I had a problem with dish in the beginning, when I shifted house from south to south west Delhi. I never called them after that. In times of storm, Dish goes on the blink. However, I like Zee T.V. at lot, HBO and wish Hallmark would start in India. We used to get it on cable long ago.

What I would like to know is the Tata recharge more expensive than DISH.

I would like to install the dish exactly where I have my previous one, but if TATA is fussy, then I would have a problem with the society as they may not want the dish on the roof or on the outer walls. This would be a big decision maker, so i would need the TATA technicians to advise me before I put down any payment.

cheers, everyone

 

[just4kix]

hello, i am new here. I had a problem with dish in the beginning, when I shifted house from south to south west Delhi. I never called them after that. In times of storm, Dish goes on the blink. However, I like Zee T.V. at lot, HBO and wish Hallmark would start in India. We used to get it on cable long ago.

What I would like to know is the Tata recharge more expensive than DISH.

I would like to install the dish exactly where I have my previous one, but if TATA is fussy, then I would have a problem with the society as they may not want the dish on the roof or on the outer walls. This would be a big decision maker, so i would need the TATA technicians to advise me before I put down any payment.

cheers, everyone

First an honest and unbiased opinion on cost/quality/service levels, etc.

TataSky used to be the most expensive of the lot - not any more. Dish TV has raised the costs recently and now both are at par. For instance, the Annual Titanium Pack on DishTV (almost all std. channels + 2 regional packs) costs Rs. 4490/-. On the other hand TataSky's Megalite Pack (almost all channels except a few South Indian channels) costs Rs. 5500/-. So DishTV is slightly cheaper up till this point.

But TS Megalite packs probably(?) includes HD channels also (I do not know).

When it comes to HD, DishTV becomes very expensive because they are charging an extra rs. 150/- (Royale HD Pack) per month for HD service. And this HD service gives pseudo/upscaled 30 HD channels and 5 real HD channels. On the contrary, TS charges Rs. 50 only for HD pack with real HD channels (6 channels + a few based on events). 2 more channels (ESPN-HD and Star-Cricket HD) are going to join the list.

The picture quality (PQ) of DishTV SD is excellent these days - used to be so-so a few months ago. In fact, I would say that now it is almost DVD quality. TataSky was always known for best quality all along. Today, when SD is compared, I would say that both are at par. Moving on to sound quality (SQ), a lot of members are complaining of dynamic range compression, simulated 5.1 sound in HD channels, and other such artifacts employed by TS that is spoiling the audio experience. Not so in case of DishTV.

Finally, service levels. I have often heard people stating that DishTV service is bad bordering on hopeless while TS is the standard. Not being a customer of TS, I cannot say much. But having been a DishTV customer since 2006, I have very little to complain. I have had to call DishTV at most 6-8 times - most times because some channel had disappeared. Complaint were always resolved in 2-6 hours. Once I complained about non availability of Neo sports channels (2 years ago) - they said that they are working on the deal, etc. But as everybody says, TS service is excellent also.

DishTV is known to have longer rain outage than TataSky. I know this for a fact.

Your other queries:
When installing a dish on rooftop, it is better to consult first. If you already have an existing dish installed, I do not see any reason why it cannot be reused. All DTH dishes point, more or less, in the same south-east direction. If you have an east facing balcony, and no interference from trees/tall buildings, you can install the dish in the balcony also. The society cannot object to dish installation as long as it does not intrude/block common areas. In our sociery all of us have installed their dishes on the perimeter wall.

It is best to deal with a dealer who will come and do a formal inspection.