The Big Freeview Con

[pongo]

Sometimes cheaper cables are actually better than expensive ones IMO.

 

Sometimes the expensive ones are elaborately over-shielded which makes them heavy. The unnecessary extra weight of the cables, if unsupported, can cause them to weigh-downwards at the point of connection - which potentially makes the connection less sound and may cause wear over time.

[Cambon]

I am, it's bollocks. There's no need to use any hdmi cable over 2 quid, unless you're doing something unusual like running near the distance limit. It's digital, gold contact don't matter a jot. When's the last time you saw a server with gold sata cables?

 

And when did you EVER see DIMMs that did NOT have gold contacts. The truth is that there are several different versions of HDMI and the older ones have constraints. Versin 1.3 will give you 1080p, 1.0 will not.

[Slim]

And when did you EVER see DIMMs that did NOT have gold contacts. The truth is that there are several different versions of HDMI and the older ones have constraints. Versin 1.3 will give you 1080p, 1.0 will not.

 

A gold plated hdmi 1.3 compliant cable for £1.99:

http://www.cableuniverse.co.uk/catalog/cab...-cable-18m.html

 

HDMI 1 does support 1080p by the way. HDMI 1.3 goes to 1600p and adds all sorts of stuff nobody uses like truehd audio and deepcolour. If you can afford that stuff, then yes, knock yourself out with an expensive cable, if nothing else, it'll look nice. Everyone else, use a 2 quid one and notice no difference.

[Gladys]

Are the various guises of UKTV (now renamed as Eden, Dave, Watch etc.) part of Sky as none of the channels seem to be available on Freesat? The free whatever is increasingly appealing, certainly if you can have the same recording facility as Sky+, and you get HD for nowt, but we watch Dave quite a lot and would probably miss it. If you had Freesat, could you upgrade to receive those channels, or would that entail keeping the old Sky+ box?

[Slim]

Are the various guises of UKTV (now renamed as Eden, Dave, Watch etc.) part of Sky as none of the channels seem to be available on Freesat? The free whatever is increasingly appealing, certainly if you can have the same recording facility as Sky+, and you get HD for nowt, but we watch Dave quite a lot and would probably miss it. If you had Freesat, could you upgrade to receive those channels, or would that entail keeping the old Sky+ box?

 

They're owned by the BBC and Virgin. Don't think we'll see em on freesat any time soon, as they're all subscription channels.

 

If you had a freesat pvr, you couldn't record sky sub channels, it couldn't decode them. You'd need to use a sky box.

[Cambon]

A gold plated hdmi 1.3 compliant cable for £1.99:

http://www.cableuniverse.co.uk/catalog/cab...-cable-18m.html

 

HDMI 1 does support 1080p by the way. HDMI 1.3 goes to 1600p and adds all sorts of stuff nobody uses like truehd audio and deepcolour. If you can afford that stuff, then yes, knock yourself out with an expensive cable, if nothing else, it'll look nice. Everyone else, use a 2 quid one and notice no difference.

 

Very good. With gold at nearly $1000 per troy ounce I am sure the plating on that cable will be very effective. The HDMI 1 redbook brief does not make support of 1080p/60hz mandatory so it is hit and miss as to whether or not it will work. Also, if you had read my original post properly you would have noticed that the first thing I did was question the true worth of a £60 HDMI cable.

[Slim]

Very good. With gold at nearly $1000 per troy ounce I am sure the plating on that cable will be very effective. The HDMI 1 redbook brief does not make support of 1080p/60hz mandatory so it is hit and miss as to whether or not it will work. Also, if you had read my original post properly you would have noticed that the first thing I did was question the true worth of a £60 HDMI cable.

 

That plating has to be effective, the cable is 1.3 certified. That's the point.

 

Red book? CD Audio? What are you on about?

 

1080p is optional in the 1 spec, sure, but that's at long cable lengths. I use 1080p on an old cheap cable daily, it works.

[enCrypt]

Yesterday i recieved a Switchover help scheme pack ,this morning i made an enquiry and was told that the Isle of Man transmitter will only be broadcasting 5 digital channels ,first ive heard of this,is anyone else aware?

 

That's seriously crap!! Anyone know why?! It's bad enough we can;t get it until they turn terrestrial off - now this!

 

The first UK region to switchover was the Borders in Scotland. Apparently it depends on how clear an ariel signal you get as to watch channels you receive. So if you live in a poor signal area with terrestial TV, you are unlikely to get great digital channels through your freeview box.

 

The residents of the borders found that houses even a mile apart could receive differing amount of channels! Yet Digital TV switchover team had said once the terrestial signal was switched off the digital signal would be increased to combat this problem. Obviously never worked in the borders though!

Go to teletext page 284 on each terrestrial channel. This will tell you if your existing TV antenna will be good enough for watching digital terrestrial TV after the switchover.

[Cambon]

That plating has to be effective, the cable is 1.3 certified. That's the point.

 

Red book? CD Audio? What are you on about?

 

1080p is optional in the 1 spec, sure, but that's at long cable lengths. I use 1080p on an old cheap cable daily, it works.

 

Good for you! But 1080p is not mandatory for version 1 HDMI cables.

 

No, the plating does not have to be effective, the cable simply as to work to the minimum standards of HDMI version 1.3. It can be covered in horse poo, but provided it works to spec, that is all that matters.

[Slim]

Good for you! But 1080p is not mandatory for version 1 HDMI cables.

 

In your experience, have you ever had a hdmi 1 cable that hasn't done 1080p?

 

No, the plating does not have to be effective, the cable simply as to work to the minimum standards of HDMI version 1.3. It can be covered in horse poo, but provided it works to spec, that is all that matters.

 

Yes, you've got my point, well done!

[P.K.]

Go to teletext page 284 on each terrestrial channel. This will tell you if your existing TV antenna will be good enough for watching digital terrestrial TV after the switchover.

Don't bother. On ITV1 terrestrial the test looks fine. Switch to digital and it freezes, fails and reports "poor signal".

 

If we put a dual LNB in our sky dish can we then have both Sky and Freesat with an appropriate fsat box?

[pongo]

If we put a dual LNB in our sky dish can we then have both Sky and Freesat with an appropriate fsat box?

 

yes. 2 cables.

 

dual lnb of that type is basically 2 in one plastic case.

 

ETA: only any point if you want them in different rooms (say). Since all Freesat is also on the Skybox.

[P.K.]

Thanks for the info.

 

ETA: only any point if you want them in different rooms (say). Since all Freesat is also on the Skybox.

Interesting. Because Sky Sports News is subscription on Sky but fta on digital. I wonder if you receive the signal via Murdoch is it free or not?

[Cambon]

In your experience, have you ever had a hdmi 1 cable that hasn't done 1080p?

 

No but that is not to say it cannot happen. Read Ballaughbikers original post. This is a probable reason for his perceived improvment.

 

No Slim, your point is wrong.

[Cambon]

If we put a dual LNB in our sky dish can we then have both Sky and Freesat with an appropriate fsat box?

 

A said above, yes you can. However, don't use a dual, use a quad and run 4 cables. Two to your main box and the other two to bedrooms or wherever. This will allow for future expansion or the addition of Sky+ without having to go through the issues of having more cables put in at a later date.