[IronWolf]

Hey Anuj,

Thanks for confirming that the BigTV died on you last night after the heavy rains. I think we can live with that esp as my Hatway (with Set top) also died on me last night.

I think the Big plus with BigTV is MPEG4 and that its got bandwidth for lots more channels. at Rs.2190? for all channels including sports channesl its cheaper than cable.

How is the program list. At hathway most of the time its a "No info Available"

Anuj, any motoring specific channels ?
What channels are missing? Where can I get a list of channels?
I could not find it on the BigTV site. The site was full of bugs and bad links.

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

I dont see a HD interface. How are they going to give HD TV ?

Originally Posted by linuxtechie

Right, even I am looking for the same thing, when I saw that USB thing, I had some hope lit up, however by the specs of USB, I guess it can't support Full HD.

Hmm, but it won't be digital, so will it be able to take care of such high speed data transfer? I don' think so, HDMI was explicitly designed with this spec in mind (of course in addition to content protection ).

~LT

BigJohn/LT, you can use the component cable for HD transfer. HDMIs only edge is that its All Video and 5 channel Audio in one cable. Although HDMI option is something ADAG should consider.

[SumitB]

This site has a recent channel list on BigTV:
BIGTV Channel List | Computer World

My advice is that people planning to go in for a DTH connection now should wait for a few months if possible. Bharti-Airtel will be launching their services soon. They have already started testing their service in Gurgaon with a few hundred residents. They Should be here by October. Also Videocon has boarded the DTH bus and will launch their services by year end. Also, my cousin distributes TataSky in Meghalaya and according to him, TataSky will be coming out with a few surprises soon.

[wanderernomad]

Guys can I use a TATA SKY Card on a neutral settop box? What I mean is that if i dont have a tatasky set top box but another make and brand can I still watch tatasky on it by using their card?

[suman]

Originally Posted by wanderernomad

Guys can I use a TATA SKY Card on a neutral settop box? What I mean is that if i dont have a tatasky set top box but another make and brand can I still watch tatasky on it by using their card?

Why would you want to do that? You'd have far lesser channels on Tata Sky than you would on most other set top boxes.

Originally Posted by SumitB

My advice is that people planning to go in for a DTH connection now should wait for a few months if possible. Bharti-Airtel will be launching their services soon. They have already started testing their service in Gurgaon with a few hundred residents.

In Gurgaon, we already have DEN (Digital Entertainment Network) who have tied up with the erstwhile DLF Cable Network & are offering 164 Digital channels with a free Set top Box (one time activation charge of Rs 500). They have offered me 4 set top boxes at a total monthly recurring cost of Rs 500 per month (for my existing 4 cable connections, I pay Rs 400 per month). I also have a Dish connection which is hooked up to my LCD TV (I'm on Dish Maxi which costs me Rs 300 per month) and they've offered to take the Dish set top box away and waive the one time activation charge of 500 for each of the 4 boxes that they are giving me.

I haven't yet accepted the offer but am very tempted because they have ALL the channels on Dish Maxi (excluding a few regional ones that I have no interest in) and a few more. Also, the current Analogue cable connection also remains (activated on & off through the Set top box remote). It would also save me Rs 200 per month & I'd effectively be recovering Rs 2000 out of the initial investment that I'd made on Dish TV 2 years ago (I would get nothing if I asked Dish TV to take it back).

I intend switching over this coming weekend. I'm thinking that the outages would probably be as few & infrequent as the existing Cable network - that's the only uncertain factor.

[SumitB]

Originally Posted by suman

Why would you want to do that? You'd have far lesser channels on Tata Sky than you would on most other set top boxes.


In Gurgaon, we already have DEN (Digital Entertainment Network) who have tied up with the erstwhile DLF Cable Network & are offering 164 Digital channels with a free Set top Box (one time activation charge of Rs 500). They have offered me 4 set top boxes at a total monthly recurring cost of Rs 500 per month (for my existing 4 cable connections, I pay Rs 400 per month). I also have a Dish connection which is hooked up to my LCD TV (I'm on Dish Maxi which costs me Rs 300 per month) and they've offered to take the Dish set top box away and waive the one time activation charge of 500 for each of the 4 boxes that they are giving me.

I haven't yet accepted the offer but am very tempted because they have ALL the channels on Dish Maxi (excluding a few regional ones that I have no interest in) and a few more. Also, the current Analogue cable connection also remains (activated on & off through the Set top box remote). It would also save me Rs 200 per month & I'd effectively be recovering Rs 2000 out of the initial investment that I'd made on Dish TV 2 years ago (I would get nothing if I asked Dish TV to take it back).

I intend switching over this coming weekend. I'm thinking that the outages would probably be as few & infrequent as the existing Cable network - that's the only uncertain factor.

Sumanji, this DEN that you are talking about is not from Bharti. This is a Network 18 venture. Read about it here:
Indiantelevision.com's > Digital Edge > Digital Entertainment Network to distribute Neo Sports chnnls

[linuxtechie]

Originally Posted by IronWolf

BigJohn/LT, you can use the component cable for HD transfer. HDMIs only edge is that its All Video and 5 channel Audio in one cable. Although HDMI option is something ADAG should consider.

I think something missed here. I am looking for digital transfer, composite can't do digital transfer, hence I mentioned HDMI. I also mentioned that since USB is there on the STB, it may allow digital transfer, which in current scenario is not the case. HDMI is not just about clubbing wires together, its a different technology altogether. Composite is very old I guess.

~LT

[anujmishra]

Originally Posted by IronWolf

Hey Anuj,
Thanks for confirming that the BigTV died on you last night after the heavy rains. I think we can live with that esp as my Hatway (with Set top) also died on me last night.

Yes, outage was there for few minutes. But during surfing few channels were appearing.

Originally Posted by IronWolf

I think the Big plus with BigTV is MPEG4 and that its got bandwidth for lots more channels. at Rs.2190? for all channels including sports channesl its cheaper than cable.

For South India current maximum price is 2190 and total 186 channels are there in telecast.

Originally Posted by IronWolf

How is the program list. At hathway most of the time its a "No info Available"

Channel list is like it is sorted by type of channels. Entertainment channels are in one place, news channels are in one place, sports channels are in one place and so on. There is option in set top box to sort channels by channel name. But I think it is useless.

For every channel at the most current event and next event displayed in the telecast. For next few hours guide there is GUIDE button in remote control. It displays program list for next 4 - 8 hours.

Originally Posted by IronWolf

Anuj, any motoring specific channels ?
What channels are missing? Where can I get a list of channels?

There is not any motoring specific channels. However many business channels and news channels telecast programs related to motoring.
I cannot see COLORS channel in the list. May be they add in future.

Originally Posted by IronWolf

I could not find it on the BigTV site. The site was full of bugs and bad links.

Channel list is there in BIG TV site, but I think now site is overloaded with requests

Originally Posted by wanderernomad

Guys can I use a TATA SKY Card on a neutral settop box? What I mean is that if i dont have a tatasky set top box but another make and brand can I still watch tatasky on it by using their card?

Set top boxes are built along with operators preferences. There is no aftermarket set top box available. However you can try by changing parameters of satellite in set top box. But not sure.

[suman]

Originally Posted by SumitB

Sumanji, this DEN that you are talking about is not from Bharti. This is a Network 18 venture.

I know. I was just pointing out that a good option is already available.

[StarScream]

Originally Posted by wanderernomad

Guys can I use a TATA SKY Card on a neutral settop box? What I mean is that if i dont have a tatasky set top box but another make and brand can I still watch tatasky on it by using their card?

Well according to DTH guidelines the STBs of various DTH players in India are supposed to be interoperable. So in theory at least a TSky card on a Dish STB may work with the loss of some functionality. But there is a caveat as explained below.
In the case of a third-party STB, you'll have to match the technologies of the service and box to have any hope of it working. TSky uses some proprietary technology and the chances of it working with another box are slim. If your box has the DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) logo it may be a better idea to try a DishTV card, because Dish runs on that same standard.

[StarScream]

Originally Posted by anujmishra

On the other part, it seems this thread become too TECHNICAL in its discussions. From Set Top Box to GPS to SMS etc. I feel these are off topic discussions happening here. There is huge DVB specification available freely on internet, without knowing specification commenting on technical aspects of DTH would yield no result. I request members please discuss only DTH aspects in it.

Let the moderators decide that. Nowhere does it say that this thread is only for superficial discussions on DTH picture quality, pricing, packages etc.
All that has been discussed here is relevant to how the DTH service works - to some of us that may help expand our horizons.

[nemo]

We had a Airtel Digital TV [FONT=&quot]road show [/FONT]in our company, they are supposedly soft launching in Bangalore from today . Their STB cost is 2.5k with 3 months free subscription. i didn't go through the entire channel list but they seem to have most of the popular channels. The STB had a USB port but there was no Component outs. It comes with a universal remote. STB and the remote is black in color and it looked neat. I quickly ran through the menus and it was ok. The marketing guy said that they have tiedup with worldspace and that you can expect WS channels after commercial launch.

I have a Hathway STB, although i don't have complaints with the quality and service i most probably will be switching to Big TV at the end of the month mainly because of the one year free subscription. For 2190 + 15/month i get all channels i want and it still less than i pay to the cable guys.

[IronWolf]

I think for a first year Rs 2190 inclusive of Everything. @ 182.50 p/m for MPEG4 quality for 150+ channels its a very very good deal.

I am yet to hear a really good con about Big TV other than the wonderful Reliance service.

I have sent them about 3 SMSs. Updated my contact details on their site few days back to be called back. No luck.

Guess I need to get my lazy behind to a Reliance World now.

[csentil]

Was just looking at the Big Tv website. They have component Video out which is a good thing. Unfortunately the audio out is the same. What's the point in tom-tomming that they have digital audio and video. Unless and until I see a digital out its not the same.

[lohithrao]

ahh good news that new players getting into this....i can say good bye to tata sky!

[sammyboy]

Hey Anuj ,how is the EPG(electronic program guide) for BigTV. I have found the menu for Tata Sky more user friendly than Dish so please let us know how your experience has been with BigTV.