Believe in better (Sky HD)

Member Name: playmate

Product:	Sky HD
Date:	27/09/08 (367 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great picture quality and value

Disadvantages: None

Sky HD what a revelation. 'Believe in better' that really was a statement that describes it to a t.

I have had sky HD for about 2 years now and I think it's the best thing since sliced bread. I also have 2 Sky+ boxes in my house aswell, and my my do you notice the difference. Sky HD was really developed for the larger televisions, and I have a 42 inch LG LCD television, and you really do get a superior quality of picture. The reason? Sky+ and normal set top boxes broadcast the picture in standard definition which comes through a scart lead, and the signals are sent down every 20 seconds. But with HD the signals can still come through a scart lead but again you are viewing standard definition, but if you are using an HDMI lead or a component lead then the signals are being sent down every 5 seconds, hence why you get a much better sharper picture quality.

To receive Sky HD you need an HD ready television, A Sky HD box which at the moment costs £75.00, this used to cost £299 when it first case out so you are getting a massive saving, a Sky tv subscription, A sky HD subscription and an HDMI lead, or a component lead. ( component leads are for televisions that were made just before HD came out, you are still able to get HD though.). You can also have Sky HD through a free sat service.

Sky HD broadcasts 26 HD channels, and 25 of these are specific to Sky. These channels are as follows:

Entertainment

Discovery
Eurosport
FX
National Geographic Channel
Sky Arts
Sky 1
Sky Real Lives
Rush
The History Channel

Movies

Sky movies action and thriller
Sky movies comedy
Sky movies drama
Sky movies family
Sky movies modern greats
Sky movies premiere
Sky movies sci-fi and horror
Sky movies screen 1
Sky movies screen 2

Sports

Sky sports HD1
Sky sports HD2
Sky sports HD3

Pay per view

Sky box office HD1
Sky box office HD2

And there are also some non subscription channels:

Luxe tv
BBC HD
Channel 4 HD

Al the HD channels also come in standard definition.

For these channels listed above (apart from the non subscription channels), there is a £10 per month charge, on top of your normal subscription to sky.

Example of pricing all per month:
Full sky package (including sports and movies) £47
HD channels £10

Total price £57.00 per month

All in all I would say that Sky HD was a really good buy, I love watching the television and it is obviously made better by the immense picture quality.

Summary: Excellent product highly recommended