Tata Sky vs. Videocon D2H

[just4kix]

Buddysin, take a chill pill. Do some research and you'll find out resolution isn't the only criteria for image clarity. Use some common sense along with the research and you'll realize why its impractical to compare a 720p download with a live broadcast. Google is your friend. If you still can't figure it out on your own, let me know. I'll help you out once I have more free time later on.

Not disagreeing with you though. Don't bother with downloaded crap much so no idea how good/bad that 720p avatar video is, but there is a pretty good chance its better than the live broadcasted dth video. Google it and you'll figure out why/how that's possible. Ofcourse, let me know if you can't.

It is no secret that DTH providers as well as cable operators use very heavy compression for their feeds - SD as well as HD. An original disc or even a download is bound to be better. My DVDs (without upscaling) look better than TS SD channels and BDs, well, are a class apart anyway. Real test is on big screen.

 

[reignofchaos]

^^Yep. One has to keep in mind that while the average video bitrate of a bluray is 30-40Mbps, that of satellite tv is 4mbps or even lower depending on compression.

 

[AshD]

A quick question here for the Videocon D2H...

Do I need to lay a double cable like the Tata Sky guys are doing (citing reasons of 2 separate satellites) for Videocon as well?

I have to lay the cable as my interior work is finish up and cant order the D2H now in advance..still 4-5 weeks before work gets done..

 

[lake1988]

1 cable for hd box..2 cable for hd dvr box..

 

[vktyagi]

A quick question here for the Videocon D2H...

Do I need to lay a double cable like the Tata Sky guys are doing (citing reasons of 2 separate satellites) for Videocon as well?

I have to lay the cable as my interior work is finish up and cant order the D2H now in advance..still 4-5 weeks before work gets done..

Two cable are not there for separating SD and HD. Recording STBs allow one channel to be viewed live while another being recorded simultaneously and this requires two tuners hence two cables.
Non PVR boxes accept only one cable.

 

[nSinghal]

A quick question here for the Videocon D2H...

Do I need to lay a double cable like the Tata Sky guys are doing (citing reasons of 2 separate satellites) for Videocon as well?

I have to lay the cable as my interior work is finish up and cant order the D2H now in advance..still 4-5 weeks before work gets done..

Just wondering, why can't you order the D2H today only? Get the dish installed and wires laid up and set up a tv temporarily to check everything is working. At worst, you'll be paying tarrif for two months while you're not using the d2h. You'll still save some money as you won't need to pay for the cables.

 

[buddyisin]

I understand there are multiple factors that are involved in a TV broadcast when compared to a bluray or dvd production so I never really compared on that front but the quality of 'so called true hd' by these companies is what really stumped me.
Anyway.

I also wanted to know if any of you experience downtime of services except rain (for whichever operator you use)? My cable goes down for almost 4-5 hours once or twice every week. Sometimes all channels would be gone and at other times about 90%. During these scenarios when I get only about 5-10 channels, I know hathway signals are working, there ought to be some problem at the cable operator's end. Cable operator is least bothered to listen. Surprisingly this happens mostly over the weekend when I get to watch TV so it gets even more frustrating when I get no signal.

Apparently, this is the only reason I'm going in for a change. Otherwise I find SD quality of Hathway fairly good. Not only that, a big plus is they don't show any hathway logo. This is a big turn off for me.

 

[nSinghal]

Can't say about others but with tatasky the max downtime I experience is 10-15 minutes during heavy rain/clouds. Even then the HD channels get affected the most and SD channels work fine. Compared to my experience with cable, which would go off for hours or even days, this is pretty much negligible. Not havin to deal with local cablewallahs is benefit enough for me to switch to DTH.

And don't worry about HD quality too much. You don't agree with the fact yet but the quality of HD channels at your home is going to be quite a bit better than what you saw at showrooms. There are too many reasons behind this to list but you'll see the difference for yourself once you get the dth installed a your place. Just don't expect the HD channels to be as good as that 720p rip of avatar. That's a 200+ million dollar production shot with ridiculously expensive cameras, millions spent on each shot and its location and more millions spent on post processing to make it look even better. Even a 480p file of that (as long as its ripped from blu ray) will look great. Try and catch something which is shot beautifully on the HD channels. Like mad men on star world HD (airing currently). That's one of the best looking shows on TV right now. And we aren't even getting a clean feed of it. India (most probably) gets compressed files of these shows which again gets compressed by the dth providers messing up the quality even more. You'll see that Indian HD channels (like sony, zee or star plus) have better video quality (compared to star world) coz of this very reason.

 

[manzb]

TS downtime is near negligible, only during heavy rains when the visibility is somewhat 30-50mtrs, the signal breaks down. So even in Mumbai, where it rains quite a bit for 3-4 months during monsoon, the downtime is very low so far to make any complaint about it. In fact I had earlier used DISH TV, which used to breakdown, even if it rains lightly (anything more than drizzle), basically breaks out for the entire period. It was frustrating then. But TS is 100 times better. The tolerance of the dish angle for the signal capture by the DISH was very bad, even a minor dis-alignment will result in loss of signals for many channels to break down if not all. But again with TS, such tolerance is better w.r.t. the dish alignment. Hope it helps.

 

[AshD]

Just wondering, why can't you order the D2H today only? Get the dish installed and wires laid up and set up a tv temporarily to check everything is working. At worst, you'll be paying tarriff for two months while you're not using the d2h. You'll still save some money as you won't need to pay for the cables.

The main concern is the no. of cables. I spoke to the D2H guy and he also confirmed that in case I need to subscribe for recording facility, I should better install/ lay 2 cables from Dish to STB.

So lets see.. my interior guy is pissed, that he may have to make changes to the concealed wiring..

 

[nSinghal]

The main concern is the no. of cables. I spoke to the D2H guy and he also confirmed that in case I need to subscribe for recording facility, I should better install/ lay 2 cables from Dish to STB.

So lets see.. my interior guy is pissed, that he may have to make changes to the concealed wiring..

You will need two cables. One will work too (using a splitter) but tata sky people are strictly against it. Claims it won't work once the new satellite gets up and running. Right now I'm using single cables with splitters on all 4 TS HD+ connections. Working fine so far. I don't really understand how two cables will be better than a single cable with a splitter as both the cables are transmitting same data. A better solution would have been to use more amplification and/or better cable. But no point in taking that chance if you can avoid it.

 

[just4kix]

The main concern is the no. of cables. I spoke to the D2H guy and he also confirmed that in case I need to subscribe for recording facility, I should better install/ lay 2 cables from Dish to STB.

So lets see.. my interior guy is pissed, that he may have to make changes to the concealed wiring..

I have often wondered about DVRs. Does one really need a DVR? Yes, occasionally they may be very useful. To record a cricket or tennis or football match for example. There may be a few who may be recording many programs daily. But till date, I have never ever found that I miss the facility.

You will need two cables. One will work too (using a splitter) but tata sky people are strictly against it. Claims it won't work once the new satellite gets up and running. Right now I'm using single cables with splitters on all 4 TS HD+ connections. Working fine so far. I don't really understand how two cables will be better than a single cable with a splitter as both the cables are transmitting same data. A better solution would have been to use more amplification and/or better cable. But no point in taking that chance if you can avoid it.

Only if the dish has dual LNBs, will it matter. In that case, each cable has independent strength signal. Otherwise what they are essentially doing is splitting the signal at the source and running twin cables from the dish. This is no different that splitting the cable at the termination. Tatasky and others give only a limited length of cable with the box (15m I think). This is one way of making the customer pay extra for the cable and their cable rate per meter is way higher than the market.

 

[buddyisin]

Does anyone from Delhi (or NCR) know how long does D2H guys take to install after making payment online? I spoke to them and they don't offer any Cash On Delivery service. I'm reluctant to pay online but guess I've no other option. There are plenty of bad stories on their FB page about customer care not responding to complaints. I guess it wouldn't be any different for most of providers in India. Thinking about paying Rs 5800 and running into a problem scares me.

Also, do they install on Sat/Sun? I plan to get it done this weekend.

 

[nSinghal]

I have often wondered about DVRs. Does one really need a DVR? Yes, occasionally they may be very useful. To record a cricket or tennis or football match for example. There may be a few who may be recording many programs daily. But till date, I have never ever found that I miss the facility.

You don't have one? Wow, you definitely should get it if you can. Even I was skeptical about how much use I'll get out of one. But once I got it, there's no looking back. I even got the HD Dvr for the puny 19" LCD in my office even though I won't even need HD resolution as the screen is too small. Not just you can record and time shift your tv shows but most importantly, you can skip the ads. Thats worth a million bucks imo. Be at office or your home, who really has time and opportunity to schedule their lives around tv shows? Some days I watch over 6 hours of TV and somedays I don't even get the chance to turn it on. I'm not able to explain it good enough here I guess but believe me, Dvr is worth it even with the ridiculous high pricing of tatasky. You won't regret it IMHO

Only if the dish has dual LNBs, will it matter. In that case, each cable has independent strength signal. Otherwise what they are essentially doing is splitting the signal at the source and running twin cables from the dish. This is no different that splitting the cable at the termination. Tatasky and others give only a limited length of cable with the box (15m I think). This is one way of making the customer pay extra for the cable and their cable rate per meter is way higher than the market.

As far as I know, Tatasky uses dual LNBs. That limits only two connections per dish. That's the reason I insisted on splitters as otherwise I'd have to get anther dish installed (which was going to be free though) and not to mention additional wiring (no mention of additional costs from TS) on all four connections. I was moving house in a few months so didn't feel like it was worth all that trouble. And the splitters were doing a good enough job on my first connection.

About the cable cost, its been quite a while since I got my last connection wired (upgraded to HD Dvr on the same wiring) but I don't think I had to pay any extra for cables. I just paid whatever the package quoted and no extra charges for wires. Pretty sure the couple of connection on ground floor are using quite a bit more than 15m wires. No idea if they changed something now though.

 

[just4kix]

You don't have one? Wow, you definitely should get it if you can. Even I was skeptical about how much use I'll get out of one. But once I got it, there's no looking back. I even got the HD Dvr for the puny 19" LCD in my office even though I won't even need HD resolution as the screen is too small. Not just you can record and time shift your tv shows but most importantly, you can skip the ads. Thats worth a million bucks imo. Be at office or your home, who really has time and opportunity to schedule their lives around tv shows? Some days I watch over 6 hours of TV and somedays I don't even get the chance to turn it on. I'm not able to explain it good enough here I guess but believe me, Dvr is worth it even with the ridiculous high pricing of tatasky. You won't regret it IMHO

You have your points for sure. Sometimes it is nice to watch some TV programs at a stretch on a relaxed Sunday afternoon (without ad breaks). But in my case, I never felt like I have missed out on a program because I had to be some place else; other than perhaps a World Cup cricket match or any such sports event. For my "proper" entertainment, I fall back to my collection of movies.

 

[vktyagi]

I have often wondered about DVRs. Does one really need a DVR? Yes, occasionally they may be very useful. To record a cricket or tennis or football match for example. There may be a few who may be recording many programs daily. But till date, I have never ever found that I miss the facility.

For me and supposedly to lot of others, DVR is a revolution in TV viewing. The biggest benefit is you are not TV's slave, you are no more forced to strictly follow program timing to view your favorite program. Bonus benefits are you can get rid of long commercials, you can avoid interrupted by your children while viewing an interesting debate.

 

[just4kix]

For me and supposedly to lot of others, DVR is a revolution in TV viewing. The biggest benefit is you are not TV's slave, you are no more forced to strictly follow program timing to view your favorite program. Bonus benefits are you can get rid of long commercials, you can avoid interrupted by your children while viewing an interesting debate.

I appreciate your view. But I am still not convinced of any benefits, please excuse me.

What content do I wish to record? Hindi serials? Yuck! Regional serials? Pure muck!! English serials? You kidding? All those ridiculously censored content? All "objectionable" words ***'ed out. Supposedly steamy scenes cut off completely - be it in "Friends" or "Everybody Loves Raymond" or "Dexter" or "The Big Bang Theory" or "Grey's Anatomy"? I used to watch "Dexter" in USA - some important content is simply chopped off. I have the entire "Friends" and "Everybody Loves Raymond" on DVD with me. The content on Indian TV is completely regulated "fit for consumption of the Indian mind and taste". Sorry, no s*x please. We may be the people who gave the world Kamasutra, but we are more moral than the west. Our kids and families don't need this.

Next what about the TV ads? You say we can skip them. Fine. But HD channels have very few ad's anyway - at least for Star World which is the only channel worth recording. Others are SD which I wouldn't care to record. Besides what about the new fad of on screen banners that appear on the middle of upper bottom? Huge banners that block nearly 10-15% of the screen? What public debates are we talking about? Those on NDTV and the likes? Anyone must surely realize that these are heavily doctored, the audience questions are planted, etc. What fun watching 60 year old political children arguing and appear fighting in public, but hand-in-glove with each other in private.

I could rant a little more. I am no slave to the TV. In the past 20 years of TV revolution in India, I have never felt, "I must rush back home now, else I will miss ...". If there is something watchable on TV at any time, I watch. Otherwise, I rely on my collection of movies. I am not asking for soft porn or completely censor-free TV. But I would rather not watch programs with bold banners, senseless censoring, irritating "anti-smoking" messages, et al.

I have never felt the need for TV recording in India. As I said, an occassional sport event may be worth recording but that's about it. When I used to live abroad in 90's, I used to own a VCR and used to record movies and programs that made a lot of sense. I still have those tapes with me and my VCR still works, though hardly used any more. Can't say that I ever felt the need to record here. Probably never will. But that's me. I am not against DVRs, but if someone asks me, I will dissuade the person against. If someone is bent still, I wiil tell him "Boss, it is your money ...".

But we are digressing from the topic. Best to carry this discussion on some other thread.

 

[nSinghal]

J4k, we get the point. Ofcourse a Dvr option is useless for you if you don't like and do not watch any cable channel/content. For the rest of us, for whom the occasional banner and censoring are nothing more than a minor annoyance, its way easier and cheaper to watch these shows on cable/dth instead. Especially wth a Dvr. There's a lot of good content on Indian cable/dth. A couple of edited scenes/words or lower resolution doesn't really take the fun out of it for me (and most others I'm sure). Sure, it'd be better if I can get it in uncompressed blu ray quality with no censoring. But when I'm watching seinfeld or psych or SNL or a simple family drama like Raymond, I don't really care about the HD resolution.

What I don't really understand is how you think you're qualified enough to dissuade anyne against Dvr considering you don't even watch cable/dth. Think you'll be better off telling them not to get cable at all. That's something I can understand as your problem is with the content itself. You dont really have any point against Dvr or its functionality.

 

[technobhatt]

Well...'just4kix' may have his own reasons for not choosing DVR for cable/DTH connections.
But here I am ...I love my Airtel HD DVR and the convenience of DVR.... I even made some efforts to increase my DVR space from 320GB to 2 TB.

First thing first, as many have said..I am no more a slave of TV.
I too don't watch English shows and movies on TV; but it still give me lot of leverage to remain free of tension as far as TV viewing is concerned.

Here are my own reasons.
- I am a great admirer of Hollywood shows and movies; but that doesn't mean I don't watch Hindi movies. I do love watching Hindi movies as well...all types of good, bad or ugly.
Now a days, lot of Hindi movies which I don't watch in Theater, appears on TV within 2-3 months and I feel a lot of convenience when I just schedule the recording in advance and watch them during times like having lunch or dinner wherein I don't need to put my efforts in dialogue listening until and unless there are unique dialogue oriented characters such as Shakti Kapoor...oh I love him Aaauuuuuuu....

- I love watching news and debates on TV; and then...What the heck he said while my friend interrupted....let's reverse it...and I don't need to put extra second to think and loose the rest o=f the stuff...

- I stay with friends; so DVR is a great facility. Nobody looses watching anything one wish to watch.

- Lot of late night EPL and Spanish League match; I can't watch till 3 am; because I have to be present in a meeting at 9'o clock. SO I just record them and watch right before going to office without any spoilers and without knowing the actual result. That's one big one !!

- I couldn't watch that extra-ordinary catch taken by Ajinkya Rahane because I had to be in office today also and I wanna watch that last over in REAL TIME when Rajasthan Royals won the match. Yo man...I love this sort of convenience.

- My friend missed watching that Beautiful Girl during the match. Wish we could have another glance. Don't worry friend, we'll reverse it, we have DVR.

- My mother is visiting me for one week and I will be in office whole day. Don't worry Ma..I have recorded lots of old Hindi movies for you and you can watch them without any break. Isn't that a world class convenience !!

And similary..there are hell lot of reasons for loving DVR.

 

[MM_Klm]

+1 to Videocon D2H Owners group. Struggled a bit to get it activated after installation. Had to wait 3 days for it. Happy with the result