[emkay456]

Tata Sky HD STBs are available only at Oberoi Mall Goregaon in Mumbai according to Chroma Mumbai helpline. I was looking for availability in Navi Mumbai. It seems it is available in Delhi freely with someone picking up 2 pieces.

[Speeding@160mph]

I feel like an idiot for buying Reliance HD 2 months back. They are offering only Nat Geo & Discovery in HD. Bloody waste - would have loved to watch the World Cup + Wimbledon in HD.

PS - I am guessing all channels are upscaled to 1080p/i - Sincerely doubt that the native feed is HD.

[deep_bang]

hi guys.
I am a newbie to digital TV. So please help me decide on one of them.

Current TV: Normal cable tv, connected to 2 TV's. Total damage per month is 350.
Cable quality is not that good, plus not reliable at all.

New requirement: A few kannada channels on TV1 + a news channel. Anything else is a bonus. TV2 needs to have Star movies or HBO, along with Zee Cafe (or similar channel) and a few other channels.

We dont want a lot of TV, and basic packages are ok.

Which plan do you guys suggest?? Is there anyway i can get both TV's covered under 350 to 400?

Also, Airtel has a 999 plan, which gives one month free subscription. Does it mean the dish + STB price is included in the 999? Similarly, Dish TV has a installation package for 1590 which also gives a subscription worth of 1900. Does this include STB and dish, or they cost extra?

I am terribly confused all the choices.

[Newpunter]

Originally Posted by Speeding@160mph

I feel like an idiot for buying Reliance HD 2 months back. They are offering only Nat Geo & Discovery in HD. Bloody waste - would have loved to watch the World Cup + Wimbledon in HD.

PS - I am guessing all channels are upscaled to 1080p/i - Sincerely doubt that the native feed is HD.

I think Discovery HD and Nat Geo HD natively telecast in HD. These channels are separate from the normal Discovery and Nat Geo. Also, ESPN HD and Star Sports HD are showing Wimbledon and FIFA World Cup natively in HD. But I guess the remaining programs would be upscaled.

[LionX]

Originally Posted by deep_bang

hi guys.
I am a newbie to digital TV. So please help me decide on one of them.

New requirement: A few kannada channels on TV1 + a news channel. Anything else is a bonus. TV2 needs to have Star movies or HBO, along with Zee Cafe (or similar channel) and a few other channels.

We dont want a lot of TV, and basic packages are ok.

Which plan do you guys suggest?? Is there anyway i can get both TV's covered under 350 to 400?


I am terribly confused all the choices.

I was in the same situation sometime back and I can give you some suggestions.

First of all, you cannot connect 2 TVs with a single STB and watch different channels. You may watch same channel on 2 different TVs or get 2 STBs.

I have taken Videocon D2H and very happy with their service till now. They have some basic packages starting from 150/- and add-ons or complete Diamond packages for 275/-. Their image quality is very nice and it is working perfectly on my new 42inch Plasma too.

If you have plans to upgrade TV to bigger size, then get a box with at least MPEG-4 transmission.

Hope it helps.

[echo77]

Someone please correct me if I am wrong:

I just noticed that it is prominently, but in small print, mentioned as 1080i in all ads of all brands - even on TV.

1080i is interlaced (alternate lines) and is equivalent to 540p. In the US, some years back, 1080i was more of a marketing gimmick for "HD", though they provided a 16:9 picture. The Indian satellite cos are now creating a similar gimmick.

720p is 1.5 times better than 1080i, and is like the entry point for HD. TVs capable of 720p are termed "HD Ready".

1080p is twice better than 1080i. 1080p is "Full HD"

Current quality connected with composite video is 256p (or 240p?), because that is what a composite video RCA jack can handle.

Quality when connected with component video cable can be upto 576p. So a component video out (Big TV?) STB, even if it upscales, has a better signal (576p) than the 1080i HD-STB (540p).

Since 1080i (540p) is twice better than the current composite video output (256p), relatively, it will be very clear.

I'll wait till someone starts providing at least 720p resolution.

Anyone with HD, please let us know if the output of STB is 1080p capable/upscaling, even if the current signal is 1080i.

[santosh.s]

@echo77, how do you come up with "1.5 times" and "twice better" judgments?

Can't we also think of 1080i signal as- 1080i @50Hz (frames per second) = 1080p @25Hz? (actually it is better than that as frames are updated half at a time at 50Hz itself) I think so, and 25Hz is adequate since 24Hz is a standard frame rate for movies. Increasing the frame rate will be beneficial to a limited extent in reducing flicker, but I am not sure if one can say 50Hz is twice better than 25Hz, 100Hz is twice better than 50Hz, 1000Hz is 10 times better than 100Hz!

[echo77]

Ah, the refresh rate certainly changes equations. Thanks for that info!

Also confirmed with someone that there is only one 1080p satellite service in the US right now which only provides movies on demand. All others provide 1080i and 720p both @ 60Hz. I think i jumped the gun on my previous post.

[car_crazy1400]

I called up Tata Sky asking for a HD box.. They said its not in stock & i would get it only after 5-7 days..
So much for their instant service.

[EFF-EIGHT-BEE]

Hi guys . As we are planning to instal dth at our home i want to ask which is best btw dish tv and tata sky ? What are thies respective instalation charges (for non HD version) . Also i have heard that dish tv offers a package of RS 125/month is it so ? If yes then how does it stand out ?

[deep_bang]

Originally Posted by LionX

I was in the same situation sometime back and I can give you some suggestions.

First of all, you cannot connect 2 TVs with a single STB and watch different channels. You may watch same channel on 2 different TVs or get 2 STBs.

I have taken Videocon D2H and very happy with their service till now. They have some basic packages starting from 150/- and add-ons or complete Diamond packages for 275/-. Their image quality is very nice and it is working perfectly on my new 42inch Plasma too.

If you have plans to upgrade TV to bigger size, then get a box with at least MPEG-4 transmission.

Hope it helps.

Thanks!
So, does Videocon give any dicscount for your second TV or is it as good as a new connection? I was looking through Airtel.in, and saw that they have some discount packages for the second TV's.

[Proxima]

Sun Direct has an offer - Rs. 2940 inclusive of 2 months HD channels. How good is this? Which channels are in native HD and which of them are upscaled?

[MutantX]

SUN HD offer is good as they offer 7 HD channels in total. Discovery and NAT Geo are in native HD. ESPN telecasts FIFA with native HD, once FIFA is over, they would telecast in SD. Colors and SUNTV are upscaled. Apart from that Regional HD channels are partially HD and partially upscaled versions.

I use TATA Sky HD. The quality is awsome! on a 42inch LCD, Discovery HD is mindblowing! Last night I was seeing "World's deadliest Predators" on Nat Geo! man! i couldnt sleep all night! ehehe

[Proxima]

I have a HD ready plasma TV. Would like to get one of these HD STBs. However, I don't have a 5.1 ch speaker system yet. What I have is a DVD player with HDMI out.

Am looking to buy a budget 5.1 speaker system to fully enjoy the HD STB. How can I get 5.1 ch speaker system for the least money?

[MutantX]

Best bet would be to goto Croma and check out their range of Home theatre systems. When I got my LCD, i opted for LH60 series which comes with 5.1 home theatre - 9 speakers theatre surround sound. Proxima, visit croma and ask for suggestion, they would surely help you with a budget system.