Sky V Tivo technology

[Scubbie]

Sorry to disagree, but the Gadget Show is recorded in HD & broadcast on Channel 5 HD.

[speedyrite]

Sorry to disagree, but the Gadget Show is recorded in HD & broadcast on Channel 5 HD.

Ah but is it actually being broadcast in HD?

It isn't highlighted in orange (which I believe signifies that a show was made in HD and is being broadcast in HD) on the Sky EPG listing for Channel 5 HD!

[speedyrite]

But then again it's the Gadget show, so expect a superficial item telling you nothing as usual!

There was time (I think!) when The Gadget Show was more serious than it is nowadays.

In my opinion, it seems to have gone down the "Top Gear" road of veering away from being serious about its subject matter and generally moving more towards being entertainment.

Also the last few series have been longer than they used to be and more often (two, maybe three series in a calendar year) so I guess they are a bit stretched to produce a lot of heavyweight material with that kind of schedule.

The odd item is useful and interesting but as I say it's more often than not just entertainment!

[mcphailan.]

SKY+ HD may not allow recording of 3 channels, but it's a darn fine box with some of the most intuitive software I have ever used (and I'm in IT).

[Scubbie]

Ok, looking at tonight's episode, I guess most of you will be drolling in an unstoppable manner for that walkway and the 360 degree display.

I took a little more careful look at the imagery and will admit that I was wrong as the images of the presenters were not in HD when in the studio. However the sound does differ between SD & HD, so I'll continue to what the HD version.

As for the Sky vs Virgin article, their conclusion was that both offer good and bad points.

Sky was quicker to respond & Virgin's TiVo offered more variety. They mentioned that the TiVo allows to to record 3 channels, whilst watching another previously recorded. The Sky+ HD STB could technically do this too.

Two channels can be recorded from live TV, a program can be downloaded from Anytime+ and you can watch a film that was previously recorded, all at the same time. Obviously the 3rd one isn't live, but it is possible

As for the different Players - Come on Sky! We demand better!

[JPL]

Surely it's not just the STB that has to change. A Sky dish has a twin LNB; this would have to be replaced by a quad one to enable use of three or four tuners rather than the current two.

[Scubbie]

A very valid point.

Since the cost of a Quad-LNB is quite low, it is standard practise on new installations to fit one.

I don't know when Sky stopped using twin LNBs as standard.

[Isitme]

I thought they used single LNBs as as standard?

[Wasteman]

One aspect of the TiVo I do like is that you can link a NAS drive to it and massively expand the potential storage space.

It would be nice if Sky could make more use of their USB, eSata & LAN ports and allow people to easily expand the storage space available and to also allow people to use an app such as Sky Go to stream content from their own STB to a Laptop or iPad or some other device connected on their home network.

Is there any way of expanding the sky+ box using an external hard drive at the minute?

[Scubbie]

Is there any way of expanding the sky+ box using an external hard drive at the minute?

Sadly not. This is something that some TiVo support. I am not sure if the version used by Virgin falls into this category.