HD Telly

[throdgrain]

I seem to be a bit missed out on this. Ive got a HD-ready TV, but I dont have HD TV off Virgin. Firstly, is there any point?

Second question.

If I want to watch DVDs on HD (much more likely than the telly tbh) what do I need? Do they make many HD DVDs? And with Blu-Ray coming out, is HD just another Betamax anyway?

Cheers for the help anyone

 

[throdgrain]

Oh yes, and third question

If I finally manage to download something on HD to my computer, will my graphics card / monitor play it like it would be on the TV?


(8800 GTS and Viewsonic VX922 iirc)

 

[Jonty]

Hi Throdgrain

Virgin's HD service is, like other services, just a mix of native HD and upscaled HD. Whether it's worthwhile is your call (they had a special offer a while back, as you need normally need to pay to upgrade your set-top box).

As for DVDs, if you play them on a HDTV, they are in some respects automatically upscaled to HD (i.e. the picture fills the screen). Blu-ray is native HD, so if you have Blu-ray movies and a Blu-ray player, you'll get a better quality picture. There was another format, HD DVD, but this has now ceased development.

As for playing HD content on your PC, yes, it's the same as your TV. The only difference is the resolution (720p HD is 1368x768 pixels, 1080p is 1920x1080 pixels). Your monitor may have a higher resolution than your TV, but without knowing more it's difficult to say. Also note that HD content is resource intensive, so you need a powerful processor and a good graphics card to play things smoothly.

Kind regards

 

[throdgrain]

Cheers for that. I keep tryin to download something to watch but bittorrent at 30kbs per second just pisses me off

HD DVD is discontinued already? I suspected as much, its betamaz here we come

 

[Jonty]

Hi throdgrain

If you just want something to test in HD, there are plenty of samples on the internet, like NASA etc.

Kind regards

 

[inactionman]

HD DVD may be discontinued, but for me that's a chance to fill my boots on £8 discs!

If you just want to watch DVD's on the TV you can either use the TV's upscaler (generally poor unless you have an expensive TV), or use a DVD player with built in upscaler (there's lots, and your computer should be able to do it at a pinch).

Apple do lots of 720p/1080p trailers on their website if you connect the PC to the TV.

 

[Yaka]

Cheers for that. I keep tryin to download something to watch but bittorrent at 30kbs per second just pisses me off

HD DVD is discontinued already? I suspected as much, its betamaz here we come

well most peeps save on bandwidth and leech .mkvs which are hddvd/bluray rip or hdtv rips pic wise that arnt that far off full/proper rips but it saves you hitting the bandwidth and saves the hdd space but pic qualitys of these are preety damn good.

as for the virgin HD box it costs 70squids worth it for beebhd but theres not much else,

 

[Ch3tan]

I seem to be a bit missed out on this. Ive got a HD-ready TV, but I dont have HD TV off Virgin. Firstly, is there any point?

Second question.

If I want to watch DVDs on HD (much more likely than the telly tbh) what do I need? Do they make many HD DVDs? And with Blu-Ray coming out, is HD just another Betamax anyway?

Cheers for the help anyone

Oh yes, and third question

If I finally manage to download something on HD to my computer, will my graphics card / monitor play it like it would be on the TV?


(8800 GTS and Viewsonic VX922 iirc)

1) No, Virgins HD service has no content. £4 a pop for HD movies, and all the BBC HD content. No other HD channels, if you really want HD TV then get sky.

2) Well as the others have said, the format war is over Blu-ray is the way forward. Buy a ps3, it is a bargain as a blu-ray player even if you never use it for anything else. It will also allow you to stream content from your pc to your TV via it's built in wireless. The ps3 will also upscale your current DVD's to HD, and it does this very well. A ps3 will currently cost you £300. I recommend that this is the best choice for you, it will allow you to buy blu-ray as the prices come down and get closer to Hd quality with your current DVD library.

3) Hd content on your PC will play at the resolution of your monitor, or whatever you scale it to in the software. But it does not look as great on a 19" monitor as it does on a big widescreen TV.
What TV do you have? I have already mentioned that you can stream to your PC via the ps3, but you could also connect your TV directly to your PC. Does that graphics card have hdmi out or just 2 dvi outputs?

 

[dysfunction]

The Native resolution of Viewsonic VX922 is 1280 x 1024 pixels

 

[smurkin]

I've had sky HD for over a year. In my view, its not worth the cost. It depends on circumstances. In mine, I thought it was great at first - finally got some HD source on my telly - looked great. My screen is 40 inches and I can see the HD detail from my normal viewing distance - but I have to get quite close to be able to really appreciate it. And thats the catch.

I think if you had a 50 inch screen or bigger, with say an 10-15 foot viewing distance you would get mich more benefit from sky HD (I guess the same would be true foir virgin HD).

The other thing. I now have a pc hooked up to my tv. And I DL alot of shows before screening in the UK (mostly mkvs). So I get HD via other sources and the sky becomes less important. I plan to get a BD player for my PC and a hauppage component capture box for my sky. It might be that when I can capture HD from my sky onto my PC, I might feel a bit more enthused about broadcast HD content.

 

[old.user4556]

I've had sky HD for over a year. In my view, its not worth the cost. It depends on circumstances. In mine, I thought it was great at first - finally got some HD source on my telly - looked great. My screen is 40 inches and I can see the HD detail from my normal viewing distance - but I have to get quite close to be able to really appreciate it. And thats the catch.

I think if you had a 50 inch screen or bigger, with say an 10-15 foot viewing distance you would get mich more benefit from sky HD (I guess the same would be true foir virgin HD).

The other thing. I now have a pc hooked up to my tv. And I DL alot of shows before screening in the UK (mostly mkvs). So I get HD via other sources and the sky becomes less important. I plan to get a BD player for my PC and a hauppage component capture box for my sky. It might be that when I can capture HD from my sky onto my PC, I might feel a bit more enthused about broadcast HD content.

...and this is what Sony are really pushing.

All the magazines are of the opinion that "if you sit further away, you need a bigger TV", but now it's a variation of that theme that "if you sit closer, you want a bigger TV to appreciate 1080p".

 

[throdgrain]

1) What TV do you have? I have already mentioned that you can stream to your PC via the ps3, but you could also connect your TV directly to your PC. Does that graphics card have hdmi out or just 2 dvi outputs?

I've got a Samsung 37" R87. It looks nice, to be honest HD seems like a lot of drama at the moment, Ill continue to ignore it for a bit

 

[Yaka]

gaming is what they are ideal for, 360/ps3 and your set