Normal (not HD) Sky picture quality

[HamMan]

I have been thinking for some time that my Sky picture was not as good as it was. Had a new box fitted and the dish alignment checked but still the same. On talking to friends with standard Sky they have all said that they thought the picture was not as good as it was, in fact it seems that if there is the same channel on Freeview we are watching that instead of through Sky! I live on the south coast of England and although I cannot imagine why, is it an area problem or.......

Have Sky purposely degraded the normal Sky signal to encourage people the change to HD?

[dms05]

I've not seen any threads on this subject here or other relevant forums. However as an HD customer I watch non-HD content on Freeview, when it's available, for exactly the same reason as you - the PQ is better on some SD content especially BBC News 24 and BBC3/4. However we nowadays often don't watch a programme because it isn't in HD. I know everyone says 'it's the content not the PQ that counts' but I must say I'm beginning to see that becoming less relevant - sometimes SD programme PQ is so bad that it's unwatchable on a 40" TV.

[simonmpoulton]

The picture hasnt been degraded to encourage people to switch - I certainly havent noticed any picture degradation. It could be your box is simply getting old or the new one isnt as good, if they degraded the signal then it would also affect hd customers remember!

[Undecided Adrian]

Sky may not have degraded the picture quality on SD but bandwidth costs money and certain channels do seem to be compressing their offerings a large amount which is down to the broadcaster.

[Kenedin]

............
Have Sky purposely degraded the normal Sky signal to encourage people the change to HD?

There has been no noticeable loss of picture quality on SD channels. Bitrates are pretty much the same as they have been for some time. My Freeview pictures are of the same quality as the Sky equivalents on a Thomson HD box, and my mother has a Thomson Sky+ box that displays excellent SD images on her new Panasonic Viera 32" LCD - , in all honesty, I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality.

[Stayontheground]

Hello, I am so glad I have found this forum because I have noticed the same thing too recently. Just Before Christmas, I received a sales call from sky (which irritates me massively, as I have told them at least three time now that I do not want to receive these calls) They wanted me to take out the Sky HD package for an extra £10 a month, I refused; stating, that I wasn't interested in paying that much when my picture quality was fine already.
Since then I have gradually watched my picture quality decrease, now it's absolutely terrible, ITV3 is unbearable and now the BBC channels are becoming the same so I have to go to the HD channel. My neighbours have experienced exactly the same.
Frankly, I believe that Sky have reduced the picture quality to force us into buying the HD package and I am furious.
I don't believe anything they say anymore and if I could get freeview here I wouldn't even use Sky. I have had problems with Sky before, we had a standard box previously and coincidentally enough, it started playing up just as they tried to sell me the Sky + (even though I do prefer this one) I also paid for the internet sky package only to discover that there was only about four channels worth watching, the others being Nigerian or God channels. I only found this out after I'd paid as you can't access it until you do and they make it look great, really great, but it's rubbish!!! I'm really beginning to hate sky!

[Old_nick]

What you all need to appreciate is that on HD there is only one satellite transponder for BBC, ITV, but with SD there are regional channels, each with their own transponder. I think you may find that some BBC and ITV regions have less bandwidth than others. Try comparing BBC London with BBC East - you may well see a difference.

[Scubbie]

Unlike analogue, digital, whether FreeView or Satellite, needs bandwidth. If a particular channel wishes to reduce costs, then bandwidth is typically reduced.

There are various examples on FreeView, take a look at the less popular channels to confirm this. Virgin One used to be an example, ITV4 is another current example.

ITV3 on freeview is broadcast at a lower signal strength than the BBC channels, for example, in your local area. This is also the case for the other channels on the same transponder.

Having just flicked through the FreeView channels, I now see that there is another re-tune happening in this area today from 2pm. "eeeeekkkkkkkk"

[ChromeDome]

I upgraded my TV to a Samsung HD freeview one,i watch the HD channels through the built in tuner & think they look great.....BUT when i switch on Sky,the picture is really poor, i understand there will be a difference,but it is a massive one.
Is there any way to improve things (Sky is connected via SCART as no HDMI on box)

Cheers

Ian

[Scubbie]

I upgraded my TV to a Samsung HD freeview one,i watch the HD channels through the built in tuner & think they look great.....BUT when i switch on Sky,the picture is really poor, i understand there will be a difference,but it is a massive one.
Is there any way to improve things (Sky is connected via SCART as no HDMI on box)

Check the Scart lead is still good. Some can deteriorate over a period of time, it might be worth swapping it for a new, better quality, lead. If you have a spare one, try it first to see if the picture quality improves.

As for not having a HDMI port on your box, I would suggest that you sign into the Sky web site and see if you qualify for a free Sky+ HD Box. This way you'll get to appreciate your new HD TV more.