Freesat confirms first PVR, claims consumers still confused about hi-def
Freesat, the UK's no-subscription satellite service, will launch its first PVR, dubbed Freesat+, in November and go head to head with Sky's line of SD and HD digital recorders. The confirmation came as the service silenced its critics with sales of 100,000 receivers (set top boxes and integrated TVs) since its launch five months ago.
The system, which has benefited from a summer of hi-def sports including Euro 2008, Wimbledon and the Olympic Games, will receive a second big push from licensed manufacturers this autumn. Emma Scott, managing director of Freesat, expects that hi-def broadcasts of BBC hits Heroes and Strictly Come Dancing will continue to drive sales.
'There’s no denying how much people enjoy watching in high-definition once they see it for themselves and the success of Freesat proves that,' she adds. 'Unfortunately there are still a lot of people out there who think they’re already watching in HD because they have an HD ready TV - but they aren’t.'
'We want to help everyone understand that HD Ready is not the same thing as HD now. Without an HD digital receiver connected to an HD Ready TV or an integrated TV with Freesat HD built in you can’t watch an HD TV programme. It needn’t be complicated or costly. For those people that already have a satellite dish installed, they may simply be able to take their Freesat digital box or integrated TV home and plug it straight in.'
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HD
Anonymous - 30 September 2008 - 11:16amTotally agree with the comment re hd tv's, at least 5 people I know think because they have a hd tv they are watching in hi def. Some have been shocked when I have told them they need a HD source to watch true HD. One friend was even assured by the salesman all they had to do was plug it in and they would be watching everything in HD.
What's new? There are still
Anonymous - 1 October 2008 - 12:01pmWhat's new?
There are still people with widescreen TVs watching analog TV and convinced the programmes are in widescreen (i.e stretched 4:3)!
PS
One of these was an academic at a well known UK University
Freesat PVR
Anonymous - 8 October 2008 - 12:09pmThe long awaited launch of the Freesat HD PVR will soon be upon us. We have put off purchas eof Freesat because of the lack of a PVR at service launch, and eagerly await setting one up and veiwing the results.
I agree with Emma Scotts note that many ordinary people are deceived by HDTV. A HDTV sold HD ready does not have to be HIGH resolution, just greater vertical resolution than an analogue TV at 625 lines, so more than 625 pixels vertical. Unfortunatley there are several resolutions at the bottom end of this scale still classed as HD, but for best results with HD on Freesat or any Blue Ray player the vertical resolution needs to be 1080. The suffix i is for interlaced and p for progressive, 1080i is used by Freesat due to bandwidth limitations, but many sources play or upscale to 1080p.
One other big problem is shops selling HDTV's that look really crap on SD signal, so much so that whilst in a Panasonic shop the other week, three people wanted their money back in a short space of time: the problem is most people see the set with HD source! Always ask to see any HDTV set with SD Freeview signals before purchase, since it will be some time befors all material is in HD. And trust me even sets that look great on HD can look exceeding poor on SD!
I swear by my Philips Ambilight HD TV 42PFL9603D with it superb SD upscaling engine, making pictures look very good with minimal artefacts, in fact watching big cat diaries on SD, you could at times have thought it was in HD. The TV's setting have been customised for best results on different sources.
All I need is to purchase the Freesat PVR when it comes in store, and HD here we go.
dB - (PS used to design analogue TV's)
PVR
Anonymous - 8 December 2008 - 5:02pmPVR has been promised for November 2008 . As this is now December can we have a further update on when we can expect it to be available?
I Hamilton