No More HD - Confirmed By VM

[gc10360]

I don't rate Upscaling at all, maybe i've been spoiled by HDDVD and Blu Ray, no way does Upscaling come close.

I think virgin missed the boat big style with HD, especially when it should be the cable networks strength, they have the perfect delivery network, its worked in the US for years. oh wait I forgot, A traffic managed Broadband network and V.O.D where 90% of what i can watch are repeats, are the big priority on the VM agenda, not the the future of broadcasting.

Sky HD is looking sweeter by the day.......

[JethroUK]

Originally Posted by gc10360

I think virgin missed the boat big style with HD.......

It looks like that from sitting here - but if you step back a bit (and take in Joe Public) - not many people actually appreciate H/Def Quality vs Programming

lunch time today i mentioned Indiana Jones in Hi-Def TV on Sunday and all our staff without exception showed a lot of interest when they clearly thought i meant some new adventure - but after realising i meant in Hi-Def all i got was, 'Uh - wha - oh yeah' and carried on with their sandwich

for argument sake if we said it costs 4 times as much to air HD vs SD - then VM (on limited budget) can either broadcast 100 hours HD or 400 hours SD

and maybe VM just asked the same question to our staff - what they gonna do? - no brainer i think

.

---------- Post added at 19:23 ---------- Previous post was at 19:15 ----------

I'll just add - that "No more HD" sounds a bit finite when in reality VM suggest there will be no more HD 'this year' - and a murmer that they will have another look next year

[frogstamper]

Well I certainly will not be getting a V+ box just to watch a few hours of BBC and a merry-go-round of the same stuff on VOD, at present my HD TV only comes into its own for playing 360 games on. If VM fail to offer any significant HD content by the end of the year Ill reluctantly be off to Sky for my TV, how short sighted is this company.?

[foreverwar]

V+ (imho) isn't just about HD - there is also Catch-Up TV, VOD, & PVR capabilities.

I had a V+ before I had a HD TV.

[supremus]

Originally Posted by gc10360

I don't rate Upscaling at all, maybe i've been spoiled by HDDVD and Blu Ray, no way does Upscaling come close.

Yes, upscaling isn't very good at all. In fact, technically, it actually degrades the original picture, and it's only due to the limitations of LCD and Plasma displays that this can ever be seen as a good thing, although "less bad" is probably a more appropriate, albeit clumsy, term.

The marketing spiel that upscaling turns DVD into "HD Quality" is at best extremely misleading, and seems aimed at the same people who bought the nonsense about CD quality audio on DTV broadcasts.

[sherer]

Originally Posted by JethroUK

lunch time today i mentioned Indiana Jones in Hi-Def TV on Sunday and all our staff without exception showed a lot of interest when they clearly thought i meant some new adventure - but after realising i meant in Hi-Def all i got was, 'Uh - wha - oh yeah' and carried on with their sandwich

Didn't know Indy was being shown in HD. Is this on BBC HD ? I assume this is just upscaled but is this a HD print that Lucas and Spielberg have been involved in ?

[piggy]

the masses will always go for quantity rather than quality, sad but true!!

[foreverwar]

Originally Posted by piggy

the masses will always go for quantity rather than quality, sad but true!!

"Practice without theory is blind. Theory without practice is sterile. Theory becomes a material force as soon as it is absorbed by the masses."

[moroboshi]

Originally Posted by foreverwar

V+ (imho) isn't just about HD - there is also Catch-Up TV, VOD, & PVR capabilities.

I had a V+ before I had a HD TV.

To be fair you can do most of that on a regular Virgin set-top box. The V+ just adds the PVR part.

[foreverwar]

Originally Posted by moroboshi

To be fair you can do most of that on a regular Virgin set-top box. The V+ just adds the PVR part.

Which is the part I mostly use.

The HD I have on VM works for me (but I understand if others want more), as the upscaling (imho) make SD look quite good on my 40" Tosh.

Just been (re-)watching Band of Brothers, but this time in HD - love it.

[moroboshi]

Originally Posted by supremus

Yes, upscaling isn't very good at all. In fact, technically, it actually degrades the original picture, and it's only due to the limitations of LCD and Plasma displays that this can ever be seen as a good thing, although "less bad" is probably a more appropriate, albeit clumsy, term.

The marketing spiel that upscaling turns DVD into "HD Quality" is at best extremely misleading, and seems aimed at the same people who bought the nonsense about CD quality audio on DTV broadcasts.

It's not really so much a limitation of LCD and plasmas. They're just displays built for high-def, not some ancient low-res feed which is decades old.

Games consoles (well, except the Wii...) are all high-def now. Movies on discs are high-def now too with blu-ray. These all look great on high-def displays. The problem is the broadcast TV providers dragging their heels and refusing to update. In the US you could quite happily watch HD for most of your TV viewing, with most of the big US shows now available in high-def, plus of course plenty of sports coverage. Here we're miles behind.

As for upscaling, I agree it's a joke. People really seem to swallow it too, buying upscaling DVD players etc and thinking they have HD. Upscaling is a hack and not a good one. It belongs in the dustbin, along with SD broadcasting.

[supremus]

Originally Posted by moroboshi

It's not really so much a limitation of LCD and plasmas. They're just displays built for high-def, not some ancient low-res feed which is decades old.

Yes, I agree, but since 99% of UK broadcasts are still SD, it would be ideal to have a display technology that would work well with both HD and SD, and LCD and Plasma are obviously limited in that sense. No flexibility.

As for upscaling, I agree it's a joke. People really seem to swallow it too, buying upscaling DVD players etc and thinking they have HD. Upscaling is a hack and not a good one. It belongs in the dustbin, along with SD broadcasting.

It's quite amazing how gullible the masses are. When it comes to anything digital, they seem to believe the propaganda over their own eyes and ears.

[JethroUK]

Originally Posted by sherer

Didn't know Indy was being shown in HD. Is this on BBC HD ?

Yeap

Originally Posted by sherer

I assume this is just upscaled but is this a HD print that Lucas and Spielberg have been involved in ?

Common mistake that Hi-Def is some new 'height' in definition - where it's new height in broadcast quality only

The original film contains more information than even H/Def - i understand resolution would have to be nearly 8 times high definition to fully exploit the original footage - as it is/was we have only experienced single def (very poor) broadcast and now being treated double the definition/clarity

---------- Post added at 00:52 ---------- Previous post was at 00:50 ----------

Originally Posted by piggy

the masses will always go for quantity rather than quality, sad but true!!

like i said - no brainer for VM

---------- Post added at 01:18 ---------- Previous post was at 00:52 ----------

Originally Posted by moroboshi

..As for upscaling, I agree it's a joke..

Nope - Upscaling on V+ is superb - If the V+ box did nothing other I would pay the £75 just for the upscaling alone

Originally Posted by moroboshi

.. People really seem to swallow it too

This clearly suggests that it is merely a figment of peoples imagination which is at the least condescending and at most elitist

Upscaling from SD to HD ain't rocket science - it's a simple algorythm (as per mpeg encoding) and for the same reasons some algorythms are better than others (V+ is brilliant and a lot of TV's benefit from it) - it may not perform well for you but to suggest it doesn't work at all (and you do so here) is a lie

Upscaling exists (and works) whether you like it or not

.

[Matt D]

Originally Posted by sherer

Didn't know Indy was being shown in HD. Is this on BBC HD ? I assume this is just upscaled but is this a HD print that Lucas and Spielberg have been involved in ?

BBC HD, 8:05pm, Sunday.


Not upscaled - BBC HD only shows HD content, no upscaling like the other HD channels.

[JethroUK]

Originally Posted by supremus

It's quite amazing how gullible the masses are. When it comes to anything digital, they seem to believe the propaganda over their own eyes and ears.

Even funnier is how elitists don't beleive their own eyes because the specification says so - they can't possible enjoy something unless it appears in print

Ought to add that only a few people beleive digital = better (as i've already mentioned on this very thread) - but that doesn't mean digital = poorer either - only elitist are ill-informed enough to leap to that conclusion - coz it don't says so in the specification