Difference between Sky+ & NTL+??

[Hom3r]

I'll start saving the £10's then, it not worth £10 extra for one HD channel, and I did read that the BBC HD chnnel may be closing?

[Nikesh]

Well, the BBC HD Channel is on a trial which suggests it will end sometime...?

The V+HD box has other features too, like being able to record on its hard disk and being able to watch another channel at the same time. But if you don't need these features then I agree with you, an extra £10 a month is waste really.

I don't have a HD TV so I haven't got a V+HD box either.

[Hom3r]

I've got a Sony 160GB HDD/DVD-R so I'll wait.

So 2008 then before V+HD is worth the extra readies??

[Nikesh]

Yeah, seeing as you've got a PVR already there isn't really a benefit to getting a V+HD box yet as there's hardly any HD broadcasts. Hopefully it will be getting more HD channels later this year...

[JG3870]

Originally Posted by Nikesh

Well, the BBC HD Channel is on a trial which suggests it will end sometime...?

The V+HD box has other features too, like being able to record on its hard disk and being able to watch another channel at the same time. But if you don't need these features then I agree with you, an extra £10 a month is waste really.

I don't have a HD TV so I haven't got a V+HD box either.

I don't have an HD TV either but i couldn't be without my TV Drive as the ability to record 2 different channels at the same time while watching a 3rd channel is the biggest selling point for me aswell as the 80 hours of hard disk space recording in Standard definition and of course being able to pause Live TV.
I can even archive recorded material from the TV Drive to my DVD/HDD recorder while watching a recorded programme or Live TV.
It's definately worth the extra £10 a month for those features alone and anything else is just a bonus

[Nikesh]

Yes, I'm definitely tempted to get one as I have no way of recording from TV anymore. (VCR died after 16 years )

[Rik]

Originally Posted by Nikesh

(VCR died after 16 years )

You got your moneys worth then?

Anyone know if this NTL/Virgin+/LiveDrive is available in Hemel Hempstead yet?

Im sure some nice person will be able to tell me! like when VOD was coming

[Konrad]

I know nothing about the NTL+ -all sounds very technical on here?

Is the NTL+ reliable? Ive head reports about people missing half of a live football match due to technical problems not being resolved - true or not?? Also can you pause / rewind & record football or any programme with NTL+ as you do with Sky+ - its an amazing gadget - would have been thought impossible 10 yeas ago

[slug]

The main difference between Sky+ & NTL+ is that Sky+ has been available for 5 years and as far as I Know NTL+ still isn't available in my area.

[Konrad]

Another question - we have Sky upstairs too - if we wanted NTL upstairs would that mean having a cable leading to a box upstairs?

Originally Posted by a good help

IM SORRY! BUT THE NTL TV DRIVE STB HAS 3 TUNERS! NOT 4!!

I also work for ntl and im sorry but the tech documents state 3! the return path dont need a seperate tuner! where are you seeing this info mate, cos its wrong! the next thing you'll be saying is that the stb has 2,3 or 4 inputs for the catv? just like sky+ has 2 inputs into 2 tuners lol

so would you say then that the existing stb has 2?? cos they all have return path capabilitys.

Yes you are right. The existing boxes do have two tuners. The new boxes do have 4 tuners. You may have seen documents but they are referring to the tuners used for the in band i.e. video.

How do the boxes talk back to the CA systems then? Is it some kind of magic? Some pixies carry the data each way?
The box has two way comms via the RF network, the box has a demod and tuner to recieve the incoming data, and also contains a Modulator to send back data to the equipment in the headend/hub either Intersects for old ntl Pace boxes or UBR's for the old CWC Pace boxes and all Samsungs which then gets sent to the Central Headend.

Sky+ needs two inputs because there are two polarities of input signal with satellite. Horizontal and Vertically polarised signals are used for Sky. There are also High and Low band frequencies. Hence Sky+ needs two RF feeds from the LNB. For cable theres no polarisation of the RF feeds, one feed carries all signals, all the time. Hence cable only needs one RF feed.

You may well work for ntl, but hopefully you have nothing to do with RF.

[a good help]

i will refrain from any further comments in this post, im hitting my head hard on my wall now.... your making me feel thick

as for how do they talk back, low end frequencys around 29 Mhz carried not by pixies, but by fairys

Sky+ needs two inputs because there are two polarities of input signal with satellite. Horizontal and Vertically polarised signals are used for Sky. There are also High and Low band frequencies. Hence Sky+ needs two RF feeds from the LNB.

normal sky also use the same polarised signal H and V, sky + needs two feeds to feed 2 tuners so u can watch 1 and rec 1.

the end.

[Nikesh]

Originally Posted by Rik

You got your moneys worth then?

Anyone know if this NTL/Virgin+/LiveDrive is available in Hemel Hempstead yet?

Im sure some nice person will be able to tell me! like when VOD was coming

Yeah, lol VCR was probably the longest lasting gadget I ever bought

If you ring CS they should be able to tell you when V+HD is in your area.

Originally Posted by a good help

i will refrain from any further comments in this post, im hitting my head hard on my wall now.... your making me feel thick

as for how do they talk back, low end frequencys around 29 Mhz carried not by pixies, but by fairys


normal sky also use the same polarised signal H and V, sky + needs two feeds to feed 2 tuners so u can watch 1 and rec 1.

the end.

Appendix A
The only reason Sky+ needs two inputs is as I have said, because one tuner maybe watching one pole/band and the other tuner needs to look at another. The same cable cannot carry more than one feed at a time. If it didnt use polarised signals then the same tuner could be fed from one feed from the dish.
The cable return path is RF, so hence needs a tuner to receive, and a modulator to send.

So in summary, the PVR STB's have 4 tuners, and original boxes have 2 tuners.