TataSky goes HD

[vktyagi]

I think it pays to be a bit patient when these come in.

I know of friends in UK who took the Sky HD when it was launched paid a premium for the very few channels, only for the same boxes to be sold real cheap now as they now want volume sales.

I guess Tata Sky and others would try and do the same, fleece from the early birds and when everyone offers become rational about the pricing.

But in terms of upgrades, I dont think Sky or Tata Sky will do a box upgrade, they didnt do it in the normal STB to sky +; they only waive off the installation part. Probably would do the same for the HD box.

Every thing you wanted to know is here on the official website of Tatasky. DTH India - Tata Sky Cost
The sad part is currently HD is not available in a STB with recording features. It will be introduced later on as per the web site. Are they considering current TS+ STB to be upgraded so as to serve as HD STB ??

 

[srikarkav]

Hi,

Paid for the HD Box today.Will be delivered in a few hours.But the instalation is promised only on Saturday.

cheers,
sri

 

[partymonger]

^DO post pics of the stb especially the ports...

 

[deba]

What is the bitrate of Tata Sky at 1080i........will it equal 1080i Blu Ray.....

 

[sanjay0864]

We already get Nat Geo and Discovery Channel - Is it the same channel that is transmitted in 1080i resolution or is it a different channel.
In the SD Broadcast of Discovery and Nat Geo we find lots of commercial break and continious graphic display at the bottom of the screen.

'Discovery HD World' & 'National Geographic HD' are totally different channels from the SD channels.
Currently there are no commercials on these 'two' HD channels, except for promos for their own programming. I'm afraid this will only be temporary until they have a higher viewership and thus be able to get advertisers to advertise. But for now we can enjoy ad free viewing.

What is the bitrate of Tata Sky at 1080i........will it equal 1080i Blu Ray.....

Blu-ray discs are normally 1080p whereas HD channels worldwide are either 720p or 1080i. Except for a few pay per view movie channels in the US, all HD broadcasting in the world so far is limited to 1080i. As for the 'bitrate', I am afraid there is no comarison between Blu-ray and broadcast HD. The bandwith is just too limited and expensive for DTH to compete with the 'bitrates' possible on Blu-ray. But nevertheless, the quality of these HD channels is very good and I personally would not worry too much about the specs.

 

[adder]

Tata sky will also soon launch ESPN HD The Global Leader in News Distribution and in the same link looks like airtel will also start rolling out their HD service.

 

[sam9s]

What is the bitrate of Tata Sky at 1080i........will it equal 1080i Blu Ray.....

HD TV Broadcast is usually in MPEG-4 AVC encoaded in h.264 format (loads of other formats as well), with bitrate ranging from 8 to 19 mbps. Usually Individual TV stations are free to do what they want with bitrate, there is no standard as such. It depends on how much channels are being sent in a given spectrum, say for example the entire bandwidth can be used for one HD channel or the broadcasters can decide to use the same bandwith for an HD channel an SD channel and some data as well, in that scenario the option is usually to lower the bitrate......

There are more technicalities involved but basically this is how it happenes...

Hope this helps.......

 

[rahuljonline]

The Tata Sky HD FAQ page states:
"Is there any exchange offer?
No."

Also no additional dish is required if I'm an existing customer. So, I'm assuming, if I'm an existing customer, they won't take away the STB, but I'll still be eligible for 1 year Gold pack.

 

[sanjay0864]

Would appreciate it if someone could confirm whether the HD channels on TataSky HD have Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. Also, does TataSky have their horrendously large LOGO on the HD channels also?

PS: SunDirect HD has DD5.1 sound on all their REAL HD channels. Dish Tru HD on the other hand does not have support for DD5.1 on any channel.

 

[captrajesh]

no additional dish is required if I'm an existing customer. So, I'm assuming, if I'm an existing customer, they won't take away the STB, but I'll still be eligible for 1 year Gold pack.

That is true (for existing customers) But you will not get these free for two months:-

HD Gold pack : Rs. 30 x 2 = Rs. 60
Super Value English special pack : Rs. 225 x 2 = Rs. 450
Lifestyle Gold Pack : Rs. 45 x 2 = Rs. 90
ESPN & Star Sports pack : Rs. 40 x 2 = Rs. 80
TOTAL = Rs. 680

So cost for existing customers is 2599 - 600 = 1999
Cost for new customers is 2599 - 680 = 1919

 

[halflife]

exciting news...hope its announced in other cities soon..

 

[mohan_r]

Any news on when it will be available in Hyderabad!!

 

[blwetorch]

Waiting for Pune!

 

[Funkatronic]

Waiting for Pune!

Its out in Pune, man.

 

[bhuvanmisra]

if one has a tata sky connection already, is it just a matter of plug and play or does one need to change the wiring (dish to stb) or dish as well?

 

[ethanhunt123]

Just change the box. And call up CC to activate the new box. ( and wait )

 

[fulcrum]

Most of the questions on this thread are answered in the other TataSky HD thread. For example, the TataSky HD box is available in Pune and probably other cities too. All you need to do is call up a local TataSky dealer and find out. I am in Pune and got it installed the first day it was released in Pune (19th).

Admin, please merge the thread with: http://www.hifivision.com/digital-cable-dth/10571-tata-sky-hd.html

Thanks

 

[rahuljonline]

Admin, please merge the thread with: http://www.hifivision.com/digital-cable-dth/10571-tata-sky-hd.html

[/QUOTE]

Yeah, Please do merge the 2 threads...

 

[blwetorch]

Thanks for the info....I am on the hunt now. Hopefully shall get the box by tomorrow( already out of stock).

btw.....officially, if you call up the TATA-Sky special call-center( thru the normal IVRS only.....and established exclusively for the HD customers, I guess).......they still have no clue. Most probably, they have offcially not launched in Pune as yet.................................but as Fulcrum suggested, it is a good advice to call up the Franchisees ( Shivaji Khopade in this case) and get it installed.
Thanks Fulcrum, for the info.

 

[vktyagi]

if one has a tata sky connection already, is it just a matter of plug and play or does one need to change the wiring (dish to stb) or dish as well?

No need of changing dish and cable. It is just the Set Top Box that has to be changed and activated.