Sky HD is the brand name of the HDTV service launched by BSkyB on 22 May 2006 in the UK and the Republic of Ireland to enable high definition channels on Sky Digital to be viewed. High-definition television (HDTV is a Digital television Broadcasting system with higher resolution than traditional television systems (standard-definition British Sky Broadcasting ( BSkyB — Sky Television and BSB) is a company that operates Sky Digital, a subscription television service in the Events 334 BC - The Greek army of Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of the Granicus. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe. Sky Digital is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting 's digital Satellite television service transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28 The service requires the user to have a Sky HD Digibox (costing upwards of £199/€248), and a HD ready TV. Viewing cardjpg|thumb|right|200px|A Sky Digital Viewing Card]]The Digibox is a device marketed by British Sky Broadcasting in the UK and Republic HD ready concerns the abilities of Television receivers to display high-definition pictures Customers who pre-ordered by paying a £30/€45 deposit before 6 April 2006 were the first to receive the service, with installations starting on 22 May 2006. For other meanings see Preorder (disambiguation. A pre-order is an order placed for an item which has not yet been released A deposit account is a current account at a Banking institution that allows money to be deposited and withdrawn by the account holder with the transactions and resulting balance Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato in the Battle of Thapsus Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 334 BC - The Greek army of Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of the Granicus. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
Sky have signed up 465,000 customers to their HD service by the end of March 2008. [1]
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Subscriptions
A subscription to the Sky HD service carries an extra £10/€15 per month fee on top of the standard Sky subscription. This fee allows customers to view the equivalent HD channels of their chosen channel package. To receive all HD channels, one must subscribe to the Sky Movies and Sky Sports packages. SKY Movies is one of SKY 's movie channels in New Zealand. This channel is available on both the SKY UHF and Digital services Without a subscription to Sky Movies or Sky Sports, Sky Movies HD and Sky Sports HD respectively, will not be available.
If you subscribe to any Sky Digital package, the Sky HD subscription also includes a Sky+ subscription and enables the PVR features of the box. Sky+, or Sky Plus, is a Personal video recorder (PVR service for Sky Digital, and is very similar in principle to the TiVo service (which (A Sky+ fee was previously charged at an additional £10/€15 per month, or waived if you subscribed to a premium package including sports and/or movies. ) This does not apply if you have a FreeSat agreement – Sky will charge £10 for HD and an additional £10 for Sky+ (the Sky+ £10 charge was dropped in early 2007; the Sky HD page What does it cost? has more details). Freesat from Sky is a British Satellite television service from BSkyB which gives viewers access to over 200 Free-to-air channels some
Only those who subscribe to Sky HD can watch pay-per-view Sky Box Office HD movies. The FTA BBC HD service does not require a subscription (but does require an HD capable digibox such as the Sky HD box). Free-to-air (FTA Television (TV and Radio broadcasts are sent unencrypted and may be received via any suitable receiver Free-to-view BBC HD is a High-definition television channel provided by the BBC.
Technical information
The first generation of Sky HD Digibox were produced by Thomson. Thomson SA (,) formerly known as Thomson Multimedia is an international provider of solutions for the creation management delivery and access of video for the It is a version of the Sky+ PVR with a 300 GB hard drive, 160 GB of which is for consumer use, with the other 140 GB reserved for Sky Anytime services. A gigabyte (derived from the SI prefix Giga-) is a unit of Information or Computer Sky Anytime is the brand-name of a range of services from BSkyB designed to compete with Video on demand services currently offered by cable companies such as Samsung have started a trial run of a small amount of Sky HD Boxes, and are expected to produce more by April. The Samsung Group ( Korean:, Samsung Guerup) is South Korea 's largest company or Chaebol and the world's largest conglomerate Pace Micro Technology have also announced that they have been contracted to produce Sky HD and are expected to roll out the Set Top Box in 2008. [2]
For connectivity with HD ready televisions, the box outputs via a HDMI connector (adapters to Digital Visual Interface are available). HD ready concerns the abilities of Television receivers to display high-definition pictures The High-Definition Multimedia Interface ( HDMI) is a compact audio/video connector interface for transmitting uncompressed digital streams The Digital Visual Interface ( DVI) is a Video interface standard designed to maximize the visual quality of digital Display devices such as Flat panel The box is High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) compliant. High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection ( HDCP) is a form of digital Copy protection developed by Intel Corporation to prevent copying of digital audio Sky boxes manufactured prior to Jan 2008 also had analogue component connections (YPbPr), but as the HDCP copy protection cannot be applied to this type of output it is no longer included. YPBPR is a Color space used in Video electronics in particular in reference to Component video cables Traditional standard-definition (SD) connections are available via SCART and S-Video. SCART (from Syndicat des Constructeurs d'Appareils Radiorécepteurs et Téléviseurs) Super Video or Separated Video abbreviated S-Video and also known as Y/C is an analog video signal that carries the video data as two separate All programming is currently output from both HDMI and SD connections, although individual broadcasters have the option to require HDCP (and therefore HDMI) in the future. The digibox also comes with a new slimline version of the Sky+ remote control.
All HD channels are broadcast in 1080i format (though the box can be set to scale this to 720p if the user wishes), using the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC compresion standard, from SES Astra and Eurobird 1 satellites at 28. 720p is the shorthand name for a category of HDTV video modes H264 is a standard for Video compression. It is also known as MPEG-4 Part 10, or MPEG-4 AVC (for Advanced Video Coding) SES Astra SA, is a corporate Subsidiary of SES, based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg, that owns and operates the Astra 2E and 28. 5E in a new DVB transmission standard, DVB-S2. For the chemical compound see Divinylbenzene. Digital Video Broadcasting ( DVB) is a suite of internationally accepted Digital Video Broadcasting - Satellite - Second Generation ( DVB-S2) is an enhanced specification to replace the DVB-S standard developed in 2003 and ratified BBC HD is however DVB-S. DVB-S is the original Digital Video Broadcasting forward error coding and modulation standard for Satellite television and dates from 1995
The electronic program guide is almost identical to the one found on Sky+, with the exception being that by pressing TV Guide and then number 2 on the remote control, listings for only the HD channels are shown. A remote control is an electronic device used for the remote operation of a Machine. An update was sent to the HD boxes early on March 20, 2007, which also included code for Sky Anytime. Events 1600 - The Linköping Bloodbath takes place on Maundy Thursday in Linköping, Sweden. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Sky Anytime TV is accessed by pressing "TV Guide" and then the red button.
Teething problems
Many early adopters of Sky HD have encountered numerous issues with both the hardware and software of Sky's latest offering.
Unforeseen box shortages prior to launch meant that thousands of customers who had already paid the £300 fee for the box had their installations delayed, many at the shortest of notices.
Software issues include failed recordings, unresponsive fast forwarding, the inability to fast forward at the advertised rate of x30 (although this is only on HD channels due to HD using more memory) and time delays on the clock (which can interfere with recordings). Hardware issues include overheating of the box and a slightly controversial discussion regarding possible damage to certain Pioneer panels. All of these issues are intermittent and by no means experienced by all users. Sky have continued their policy of attempting to resolve these issues via software updates. Another problem is on certain HD television sets, viewers have been unable to view Sky Anytime recordings when using HDMI. This is caused by HDCP errors, so customers are having to use component instead. High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection ( HDCP) is a form of digital Copy protection developed by Intel Corporation to prevent copying of digital audio
Sky have also been criticised for not yet allowing the use of certain interfaces, such as the Ethernet, Serial ATA and 2xUSB ports (all of which have planned future use). Ethernet is a family of frame -based Computer networking technologies for Local area networks (LANs
According to James Murdoch (Chairman of BSkyB), Sky intend to combine Sky Broadband with Sky HD to offer a true on-demand service using the ethernet socket of the Sky HD box. James Murdoch (born 13 December 1972 in United Kingdom) is the Chairman and Chief Executive of News Corporation, Europe and Asia including the British Newspapers
The other main cause for concern among those that took up the HD service during its infancy, is how few HD broadcasts are available. Many have been disappointed that of the 18 HD channels, only BBC HD, Luxe TV HD, Rush HD, the movie and documentary channels show exclusively HD footage. The others, to varying degrees, complete their coverage with upscaled standard definition programmes.
Channels
The following channels are available and can currently be found on the given channel numbers. Selecting these numbers on a non-HD digibox brings up an information banner displaying a contact telephone number.
The majority of these channels, such as Sky One HD, broadcast the same programmes as the standard definition version, and only use HD for certain programmes.
The launch line-up consisted of Sky One HD, Artsworld HD, Sky Movies 9 HD, Sky Movies 10 HD, Sky Sports HD, Discovery HD, National Geographic Channel HD, Sky Box Office HD 1 and Sky Box Office HD 2. Sky Arts (Formerly known as Artsworld) is a British television channel offering 18 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts including theatrical performances movies SKY Movies is one of SKY 's movie channels in New Zealand. This channel is available on both the SKY UHF and Digital services SKY Movies is one of SKY 's movie channels in New Zealand. This channel is available on both the SKY UHF and Digital services Discovery HD is the international name of the high-definition Television channels from Discovery Communications. National Geographic Channel HD in the USA is a high definition simulcast of the National Geographic Channel.
Current HD channels
| Channel Number | Channel | Notes | Owner/parent company |
|---|---|---|---|
| 140 | Channel 4 HD | Free-to-view | Channel 4 Television Corporation |
| 143 | BBC HD | Free-to-air | BBC |
| 175 | Sky One HD | Subscription | BSkyB |
| 205 | FX HD | Subscription | Fox International Channels UK Ltd |
| 268 | Sky Arts HD | Subscription | BSkyB |
| 286 | Luxe.tv HD | Free-to-air | Twenty Four 7 TV Limited |
| 313 | Sky Premiere HD | Subscription | BSkyB |
| 314 | Sky Screen 1 HD | Subscription | BSkyB |
| 332 | Sky Screen 2 HD | Subscription | BSkyB |
| 408 | Sky Sports HD1 | Subscription | BSkyB |
| 409 | Sky Sports HD2 | Subscription | BSkyB |
| 450 | Sky Sports HD3 | Subscription | BSkyB |
| 452 | Rush HD | Subscription | Rainbow Media |
| 536 | Discovery HD | Subscription | Discovery Networks Europe |
| 543 | National Geographic Channel HD | Subscription | National Geographic Society/BSkyB |
| 545 | The History Channel HD | Subscription | A&E Television Networks/BSkyB |
| 756 | Sky Box Office HD1 | Pay-per-view | BSkyB |
| 757 | Sky Box Office HD2 | Pay-per-view | BSkyB |
Sky Anytime
On 27 March 2007, Sky launched its Sky Anytime on TV Push-Video on Demand service for owners of Sky HD set top boxes. Channel 4 is a public-service Television and Radio broadcaster in the United Kingdom centred around a television channel of the same name which began Free-to-view ( FTV) is a term used in the United Kingdom for certain television channels on the Sky Digital satellite platform which require a working Channel 4 is a public-service Television and Radio broadcaster in the United Kingdom centred around a television channel of the same name which began BBC HD is a High-definition television channel provided by the BBC. Free-to-air (FTA Television (TV and Radio broadcasts are sent unencrypted and may be received via any suitable receiver Free-to-view British Sky Broadcasting ( BSkyB — Sky Television and BSB) is a company that operates Sky Digital, a subscription television service in the FX is a TV channel in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, owned by Fox, launched in 12 January 2004 and originally Sky Arts (Formerly known as Artsworld) is a British television channel offering 18 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts including theatrical performances movies British Sky Broadcasting ( BSkyB — Sky Television and BSB) is a company that operates Sky Digital, a subscription television service in the LUXETV is a worldwide TV network broadcasting content related to and about items and services that are "luxuries" SKY Movies is one of SKY 's movie channels in New Zealand. This channel is available on both the SKY UHF and Digital services British Sky Broadcasting ( BSkyB — Sky Television and BSB) is a company that operates Sky Digital, a subscription television service in the SKY Movies is one of SKY 's movie channels in New Zealand. This channel is available on both the SKY UHF and Digital services British Sky Broadcasting ( BSkyB — Sky Television and BSB) is a company that operates Sky Digital, a subscription television service in the SKY Movies is one of SKY 's movie channels in New Zealand. This channel is available on both the SKY UHF and Digital services British Sky Broadcasting ( BSkyB — Sky Television and BSB) is a company that operates Sky Digital, a subscription television service in the British Sky Broadcasting ( BSkyB — Sky Television and BSB) is a company that operates Sky Digital, a subscription television service in the British Sky Broadcasting ( BSkyB — Sky Television and BSB) is a company that operates Sky Digital, a subscription television service in the British Sky Broadcasting ( BSkyB — Sky Television and BSB) is a company that operates Sky Digital, a subscription television service in the Rush HD is an adventure Sport -oriented Television channel that broadcasts exclusively in High definition television. Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Cablevision, is an entertainment company in the United States that owns the cable channels AMC, IFC, WE Discovery HD is the international name of the high-definition Television channels from Discovery Communications. Discovery Networks Europe is the European subsidiary of Discovery Communications Inc. National Geographic Channel HD in the USA is a high definition simulcast of the National Geographic Channel. Overview The NGS's historical mission is "to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge while promoting the conservation of the world's cultural historical and natural British Sky Broadcasting ( BSkyB — Sky Television and BSB) is a company that operates Sky Digital, a subscription television service in the The History Channel UK is a Television channel Broadcasting programmes related to historical events and persons A&E (Arts & Entertainment Television Networks is a media company that owns several TV networks on cable and satellite. British Sky Broadcasting ( BSkyB — Sky Television and BSB) is a company that operates Sky Digital, a subscription television service in the Sky Box Office is the name of BSkyB 's Pay Per View (PPV system Pay-per-view (often abbreviated PPV) is the system in which Television viewers can purchase events to be seen on TV and pay for the private telecast of that event British Sky Broadcasting ( BSkyB — Sky Television and BSB) is a company that operates Sky Digital, a subscription television service in the Sky Box Office is the name of BSkyB 's Pay Per View (PPV system British Sky Broadcasting ( BSkyB — Sky Television and BSB) is a company that operates Sky Digital, a subscription television service in the Sky Anytime is the brand-name of a range of services from BSkyB designed to compete with Video on demand services currently offered by cable companies such as Events 196 BC - Ptolemy V ascends to the throne of Egypt. 1309 - Pope Clement V excommunicates Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Video on demand ( VOD) or Audio video on demand ( AVOD) systems allow users to select and watch/listen Programmes in high definition and standard definition are recorded overnight to a reserved 140GB of disk space, to give the effect of video on demand.
This has also been used to bring viewers high definition programmes from channels that do not currently broadcast in HD. These have included Sky News (Technofile, Diana: The Last Word), The Disney Channel (High School Musical 2) and Nickelodeon (iCarly). Sky News is a rolling TV news channel providing 24 hour news coverage including the latest breaking news High School Musical 2 is the Sequel to the Disney Channel Original Movie, High School Musical. Nickelodeon UK ( Nick UK for short is a cable and satellite TV network iCarly is a popular Television show that premiered September 8 2007 on Nickelodeon.
Every Sunday The Big New HD Preview Show, presented by Jason Barlow, showcases upcoming high definition content on both Sky Anytime on TV and the linear HD channels. Jason Barlow is a journalist and broadcaster from Bangor County Down, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
Future developments
Increase in HD channels
In the two years since launch, the number of HD channels available has doubled from 9 to 18 and is expected to grow to 30 in the coming year, making Sky HD the world’s largest HD offering outside North America. [3]
However, this expansion of channels will not include ITV HD at launch, as the service will initially be exclusive to Freesat. ITV HD is a British free-to-air high-definition television channel operated by ITV plc, the company which is contracted to provide 11 ITV services in England and Wales Freesat is a British Free-to-air digital Satellite television service developed by the BBC [4]
New electronic programme guide
Since launch, the Sky HD EPG has been based upon the Sky Guide, which has changed little since the launch of Sky Digital in 1998. Sky Digital is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting 's digital Satellite television service transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28 For two years, Sky have been working on a completely new EPG exclusively for Sky HD boxes which will appear during autumn 2008.
The channel listings will now be cached on the hard drive, freeing up the tuner so that users can continue to view programmes in a small window while browsing the TV Guide. The data being stored on the hard drive also means that loading times decrease and synopsis information can be displayed for channels other than the one you are watching. Other features include a significantly improved programme search system, Series Stack, which groups episodes of the same series together in the planner, and the ability to highlight HD programmes in the TV guide. The new EPG is also presented in 1080i, rather than the current upscaled version. [5]
Video on Demand
Sky have so far announced few details on their plans for a pull Video on Demand service. Video on demand ( VOD) or Audio video on demand ( AVOD) systems allow users to select and watch/listen However, they have made it clear that they plan to use the ethernet port on the HD box for VOD in the near future, and that the forthcoming EPG update is designed to "lay the groundwork" for this service. Ethernet is a family of frame -based Computer networking technologies for Local area networks (LANs [6]
See also
- British Sky Broadcasting
- High-definition television
- High-definition television in the United Kingdom
- V+
References
- ^ 465,000 Sky HD customers by 31st March 2008 – BSkyB 3rd Quarter Results
- ^ http://www.pacemicro.com/corporate/newsroom/pacenewsitem.asp?id=10571 Pace Micro Technology Press Release
- ^ Forrester, Chris. British Sky Broadcasting ( BSkyB — Sky Television and BSB) is a company that operates Sky Digital, a subscription television service in the High-definition television (HDTV is a Digital television Broadcasting system with higher resolution than traditional television systems (standard-definition High-definition television broadcasts began in the United Kingdom in 2006 V+ (previously known as TV Drive) is a product from Virgin Media which provides Personal Video Recording (PVR and "BSkyB: On way to 30 HD channels", Rapid TV News, 2008-04-30. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 313 - Roman emperor Licinius unifies the entire Eastern Roman Empire under his rule Retrieved on 2008-05-06. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1527 - Spanish and German troops sack Rome; some consider this the end of the Renaissance.
- ^ West, Dave. "Confirmed: ITV HD is Freesat exclusive", Digital Spy, 2008-05-06. Digital Spy (or DS as it is often known by its users is a British Entertainment and Media website noted for its extensive Big Brother coverage and forums 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1527 - Spanish and German troops sack Rome; some consider this the end of the Renaissance. Retrieved on 2008-05-06. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1527 - Spanish and German troops sack Rome; some consider this the end of the Renaissance.
- ^ Scott, Katie. "BSkyB previews HD Sky Guide", Pocket Lint, 2008-05-29. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian defeats the Sassanid army in the Battle of Ctesiphon, under the walls of the Retrieved on 2008-05-31. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1279 BC - Rameses II (The Great (19th dynasty becomes pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.
- ^ Welsh, James. "Sky unveils new high definition EPG", Digital Spy, 2008-05-29. Digital Spy (or DS as it is often known by its users is a British Entertainment and Media website noted for its extensive Big Brother coverage and forums 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian defeats the Sassanid army in the Battle of Ctesiphon, under the walls of the Retrieved on 2008-05-31. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1279 BC - Rameses II (The Great (19th dynasty becomes pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.
External links
- Sky HD at sky. com
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