[omishra]

Tata Sky service

At 11:00 AM thought upgrade from TS+ to HD+. Made call, got call to keep cheque ready after failed IVR booking due to my CC. Hardware received at 2:00PM and installation complete at 3:00PM.

ICC World Cup on sport channels in HD, Nat Geo HD, Discovery HD and showcase HD are HD channels. Otherwise star plus HD looks like upscale from SD to HD. Because DVD dump of 3-idiots played through xtreamer is more clear that StarPlus HD.

missing - Previous default audio setting at power on state is missing. (At least I could no find)

Overall now SD channels are clear without any noise. This seems effects of MPEG4 compared to MPEG-2 and HDMI connection cable. STB Hardware requirements are (smaller footprint) for MPEG4 compared to previous MPEG2 STB.

[anujmishra]

Originally Posted by dadu

At a point of time I was tempted to move to Dish TV HD (due to their number of HD channels) but they dont provide 5.1 sound. Without a 5.1 surround, its like watching a Movie in PVR but without Dolby surround sound.

I am not sure about 5.1 surround in DishTV HD STB. But there is SPDIF output available at the back of STB. I think this is output for home theater receiver. Also there is USB connector at back.

[hiren.mistry]

Originally Posted by vvrchandra

Disc. HD, Disc. Turbo, Disc. Science, Movies Now HD/SD, FX, FOX Crime, Big CBS Prime channels have been added in Airtel DTH. To view these channels, one's dish should be realigned to SES-7 and also add the repective topup's.

All 3 HD channels @ Rs40pm + tax.
Disc. Science + Disc Turbo @ Rs. 20pm + tax
FX + Fox Crime @ Rs. 20pm + tax
Big CBS Prime @ Rs.10pm + tax.

Originally Posted by vvrchandra

Correction.
Disc. Science + Disc Turbo @ Rs. 25pm + tax

From where did you get these? I cannot see anything on their website? Do I need to call up the CC to get my dish aligned and these channels added?

Thanks

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by hiren.mistry

From where did you get these? I cannot see anything on their website? Do I need to call up the CC to get my dish aligned and these channels added?

Thanks

Disc HD is on Channel 338, Disc Science and Turbo are on 346 and 347. If you subscribe to either of these packs through SMS, Airtel will send a technician to realign the dish.

Atleast this was what I was told by the customer care. I subscribed to the HD Chota pack (Rs.40 + tax pm, 3 HD channels) on Friday evening. But, it was not activated even by saturday afternoon. I called up customer care and let them know about the issue and they said that a request was made to realign the dish at my house and it will be done in 48 hrs. As yesterday was a Sunday, I'm hoping it will be done by today.

[shankar.balan]

Even Tatasky has announced the upgrade box. But the sad thing is that the old box simply has to get scrapped it seems. One cannot transfer it or give it away and one cannot do an exchange deal. The only thing we are advised by them is that we should add the box to a third room!!
Whats the point? Its a total waste of time for me to upgrade because Ive got 2 boxes now and we mostly need just one! We certainly dont need a third box hanging about.

[dadu]

Originally Posted by anujmishra

I am not sure about 5.1 surround in DishTV HD STB. But there is SPDIF output available at the back of STB. I think this is output for home theater receiver. Also there is USB connector at back.

Thats for their "superior theatre like stereophonic sound" to connect to SPDIF input on TV or HT, cleverly they are not using the 5.1 or Dolby words.

Originally Posted by hiren.mistry

From where did you get these? I cannot see anything on their website? Do I need to call up the CC to get my dish aligned and these channels added?

Thanks

You can get this information by Sending "Get Channel Name" to 54325. For eg. "GET MOVIESNOW" to 54325 will give you this information.

But they will get activated only once the Dish is realigned to SES-7 (CC calls it SAT-2) and this information is sent to the backend (Satellite HUB). Once your profile starts showing SAT-2, you can activate any channel/ topup by SMS.

You can call CC to get your Dish realigned.

[sgiitk]

I think if they just put in the normal channel of place of the HD channel it will help. Otherwise you stand to lose a few of the 20 favourites you can set.

Slightly OT: If you want to send a query to TataSky do not upgrade to IE9. firefox is unable to send, as is the (new) IE9. Their system does not accept the query.

[sumathindra]

I had booked my TS HD+ last friday night. Today they came at 3:30 and by 4:30 they had setup everything. The old TS+ was shifted to my another TV and bingo the HD is up and running.

The HD experience is just awsome! The only regret is there are currently 3 to 4 channels as compared to its competitors. I wonder what kind of straregy this is?

Anyways wathing ICC was the only motivating factor to move to HD+. Will post the detailed review in a couple of days :-)

[im_srini]

Got my Tata-Sky+ HD box installed this weekend - I was using a CAS set-top-box (from SCV) previously. The Tata-Sky+ PVR connects to my TV using a HDMI cable. My first reaction on turning the box on, after the initial download & activation, was "meh" ! All SD channels appear as if washed through a Gaussian filter, my CAS STB had discernibly better clarity. The HD channels are glorious though, the only issue is that there are less than a handful of them. I'm not much of a Cricket fan, I sure hope F1 is shown in HD this year.

The STB UI provides a lot of detail regarding the content being shown. The set-top-box UI however is quite cumbersome to use, most operations require multiple key-presses. I miss the rather simple UI of my earlier CAS set-top-box. The remote is rather bulky & does not have a way for you to 'swap' between 2 channels.

The Tata Sky+ HD set-top-box is small & does not heat up much. I'm worried though about the specs mentioning a standby power consumption of 20W - I wonder if the HDD is kept powered-on even when in standby mode.

On the positive side, the install & service-follow-ups since have been excellent (this was seriously lacking with the service I was using previously). In particular, I was impressed with the professional manner in which the receiver dish & the PVR were installed. One thing though, I did not get the new Tata-Sky+ receiver dish, on inquiring, I was told that it would be ordered separately & installed in a couple of days.

In essence, it has been an average experience at best, my biggest grouse with the Tata-Sky+ HD service being the diffused quality of the SD channels. I hope a future firmware update of some kind will take care of this lack of picture clarity. Having got the annual mega-pack subscription, I feel short-changed right now.

P.S. - Could anybody provide feedback regarding the 'Topper' channel ?

[santosh.s]

Originally Posted by im_srini

my biggest grouse with the Tata-Sky+ HD service being the diffused quality of the SD channels.

Disappointing! I thought people were expecting better quality on SD channels due to HDMI connection.

[sumathindra]

Originally Posted by gopikb

Audio experts, need your advice on connecting Tata sky HD+ set top box to Onkyo HT to get 5.1 audio from HT. Currently, I have connected the HDMI cable (both audio and video) from set top box to HT and another HDMI cable goes from HT out to LCD TV. I was told by the technician that this is sufficient to get 5.1 surround sound output from HT. However, I have read in some forums that even after connecting HDMI cable, we still have to connect either the TOSLINK or Coaxial audio out from set top box to HT to get the full surround sound effect. Not sure how true it is. Anyway, ordered the TOSLINK cable through ebay and waiting for it. Can the experts throw some light on this?

Tatasky confirmed to me just now that the coaxial port in the HD+ box is blocked! This does not work for streamimg audio out to your amp. Instead the optical cable option will work is what i have been told. The other alternative can be connect the audio out from your TV to the amp via optical or HDMI if it is supported...

[dadu]

Originally Posted by im_srini

The set-top-box UI however is quite cumbersome to use, most operations require multiple key-presses. I miss the rather simple UI of my earlier CAS set-top-box. The remote is rather bulky & does not have a way for you to 'swap' between 2 channels.

Airtel DTV provides a small Universal remote (maps 5 functions) along with the STB, I have locked away my TV remote now and use only the STB remote, it was also one of the advantages in Favour of Airtel DTV, but yes the HD channels are limited to 4 till now.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by omishra

Tata Sky service

At 11:00 AM thought upgrade from TS+ to HD+. Made call, got call to keep cheque ready after failed IVR booking due to my CC. Hardware received at 2:00PM and installation complete at 3:00PM.

You are very lucky. I got my HD+ STB along with the engineer at 3:00pm on the 11th. He was done by 5:00pm and told me that the recording may take up to 72 hours. I had an existing two STB connection, so it was an upgrade of one of them. Recording was enabled by 11:00pm the same day.

When I got up at 5:30am the following day, the box was dead. Called up TataSky call centre. They came at about 11:00am and declared the box dead. Requisitioned a replacement, and on being asked put back my old STB (non-HD). Said that the erplacement can be expected by Wednesday.

Now the games start. On Wednesday (16/3) I get a call from their call centre in Hyderabad (04066549800 & 04027655814) asking me to renew my subscription to the Annual MegaPack. The lady checks, and calls me back that the new HD+ box is scheduled for installation on Thursday at 4:00pm. Like a fool I renewed and charged rs.6100 to my card. Heard nothing and contacted Kanpur on Thursday. They said there was no information, but promised installation latest by Monday. Called TataSky (Chandigarh) on Tuesday and was promised confirmation within 24 hours. Nothing. Called up Kanpur half an hour back. No information. Asked the incharge Mr Prajapati for the contact details for the CEO - denied. Claims that since HD+ is still to be launched in UP officially, they are reluctant to give a replacement box. Called up Chandigarh. Now promised installation tomorrow - though I doubt anything will happen.

You cannot register complaints/queries by the net since their site does not register queries by Firefox, and now also IE9 (IE8 used to work).

The moral - God help you if you have problems with TataSky!

[hiren.mistry]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

Atleast this was what I was told by the customer care. I subscribed to the HD Chota pack (Rs.40 + tax pm, 3 HD channels) on Friday evening. But, it was not activated even by saturday afternoon. I called up customer care and let them know about the issue and they said that a request was made to realign the dish at my house and it will be done in 48 hrs. As yesterday was a Sunday, I'm hoping it will be done by today.

Even I have subscribed to this pack via SMS but still to hear from them. Its been a couple of days now. Let me try calling their CC today.

Originally Posted by dadu

But they will get activated only once the Dish is realigned to SES-7 (CC calls it SAT-2) and this information is sent to the backend (Satellite HUB). Once your profile starts showing SAT-2, you can activate any channel/ topup by SMS.

You can call CC to get your Dish realigned.

I will call the CC today. Thanks a ton!

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

.... I'm hoping it will be done by today.

Originally Posted by hiren.mistry

Even I have subscribed to this pack via SMS but still to hear from them. Its been a couple of days now. Let me try calling their CC today.

I will call the CC today. Thanks a ton!

I have been trying to call CC from Monday and I have not been able to get through to the executive even once