Sun Direct launches India's first HD service....

siddvi · 13th April 2009, 19:05

Discovery and NGC are best viewed in HD. 100Rs per channel is overly expensive. BTW, if they allow HD on monthly basis, there subrcriptions on HD sports channels will shoot up during IPL.

gkrishn · 14th April 2009, 10:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by shipnil

Nowhere on the website it mentions the resolution. The true HD resolution is 1920 by 1080 pixels. The general CRT tv's won't be able to utilize this thing and the most of the current breen of LCD tv's have resolution 1366 by 768 which is called HD ready. So even these LCD can't make a full use of this HD feed.

CRTs are clearly out of picture here. Sun is giving sugestion to go ang buy LCD. They are claiming 5 times more resolution. My guess, they will start with 720p. I feel the 1366x768 is good enough.

Only ps3 and such gives 1080p right? Does any one transmit 1080p even in US?

StarScream · 14th April 2009, 18:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by gkrishn

CRTs are clearly out of picture here. Sun is giving sugestion to go ang buy LCD. They are claiming 5 times more resolution. My guess, they will start with 720p. I feel the 1366x768 is good enough.

Only ps3 and such gives 1080p right? Does any one transmit 1080p even in US?

Yes, the PS3 outputs 1080p. AFAIK HD broadcast is at 720p around the world.

Jonny Bravo · 14th April 2009, 20:38

even if you get the HD service free of cost still then one needs to invest atleast 70k for geting a full HD 1920x1080 LCD TV. for some it will be a hell lot of money effectively Rs2,000 per month (for 36months an average life for any warrantied TV beyond which the price falls drastically that one can buy better performing LCDs) plus the monthly HD pay price (if you desire to pay for those southy type channels). even if we get NGC & History & Discovery in HD but thats not enough for the average family as every one not like get knowledge all the time. Any average household would like to watch those crappy saas-bahu, chil marriage etc serials & these are all being shot in Standard definition. Unless the acquisition doesn't start in HD the last mile connection wont benefit from any upscaled SD-> HD broadcast. Its going to be along process as

1. Shot HD (hardware very costly & renting equally costly)
2. Editing also costly as footage requires more HDD space
3. Uplinking cost will b more as it requires HD hardware for playback & more bandwidth for the uplinking so another cost
4. DTH ops will flees the customers fr HD distribution on their networks
5. lastly we end paying all the cost for watching HD channels

I am sure not very many channels are charging a premuim on their HD channels for ADverts so where does the whole game of making moolah out of a HD channels runs from. So why would any channel go HD just for viewers gratification for quality.

As it is the penetration of DTH has not surpassed Cable connection (which still are not geared to think of HD) apart from that think of how many households have the luxury of shelling out 70k kind of moolah just to watch HD.

I am a TV programmers & have been using HD for most of our works for documentaries for few channels (not indian) abroad. We know how much have gone into for the HD workflow.

At the most we shoot edit everything in HD & later distribute in down-converted SD stream which is better then being shot & done thru in SD way.

Perakath · 14th April 2009, 20:53

Jony Bravo, but at least it's a start, right?

As a TV programmer can you tell us (in laymen's terms) f it's possibly to easily convert old SD programs (i.e. the entire canon of TV shows produced prior to HDTV) to HDTV? Or will such shows be shown in standard definition only? Is there some sort of "remastering" technology to convert SD>HD, or does it always have to begin with HD hardware at the shooting stage itself?

hrag · 14th April 2009, 21:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by nitrous

Tamil and Telugu channels in HD.

Midnight Masala and its equivalents would be superb in HD, don't you think?

Jonny Bravo · 15th April 2009, 17:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perakath

Jony Bravo, but at least it's a start, right?

As a TV programmer can you tell us (in laymen's terms) f it's possibly to easily convert old SD programs (i.e. the entire canon of TV shows produced prior to HDTV) to HDTV? Or will such shows be shown in standard definition only? Is there some sort of "remastering" technology to convert SD>HD, or does it always have to begin with HD hardware at the shooting stage itself?

See the Pix quality will never improve when we upscale Sd content to HD, Its like when you photocopy any item the duplicate will be good but not better then the ORIGINAL.

So the HD upscaled output will never be better in performance then the original SD video.

In upscaling process only the 720x568 size ups to 1280x720 or 1920x1080 which in turn cover the whole HD frame but doesn't boosts the pix quality.

Yes if we want HD quality then right form the Shoot till broadcast it has to be pure HD signal. EVEN at home if you get the signal from your HD DTH dabba if we connect using RCA-RCA cable we wont get DH quality so there also we need HDMI cable between HD dabba to our Full HD LCD TV !

Hope the writeup is of some help !

Quote:

Originally Posted by hrag

Midnight Masala and its equivalents would be superb in HD, don't you think?

HD is beyond all the late night PROGS

for you folks perhaps VHS was also good so when you get late night HD you will do Balle Balle

Perakath · 15th April 2009, 18:44

Yes it's a great help, thanks!

I wonder if Sun DTH makes all this clear to customers who think they're getting the HDTV experience...

Jonny Bravo · 15th April 2009, 18:57

atleast we can help folks from geting goofed ... cox there is no HD w.o real HD shot at least for next 2-3years no indian pure HD channel for sure ... in these adz of recession.

gopinathann · 15th April 2009, 19:04

If atleast the tv showrooms get these HD box, then we might have a chance to find the difference.

anekho · 15th April 2009, 19:42

A good start for HD broadcasting in India.
Will be great when Discovery and some sport channels are added.
Imagine IPL in HD...

gkrishn · 15th April 2009, 21:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonny Bravo

Yes if we want HD quality then right form the Shoot till broadcast it has to be pure HD signal. EVEN at home if you get the signal from your HD DTH dabba if we connect using RCA-RCA cable we wont get DH quality so there also we need HDMI cable between HD dabba to our Full HD LCD TV !

Yes, this is not an unknown. Basically, o/p is as good as the weakest link in the entire chain.

If i remember correctly, espn or star sports said that they are ready for hd. I wont be surpraised if the matches in AUS/UK are already broadcasted in HD. And F1 and such major sports events will be in HD for sure. Now coming to movie channels, hbo/star movies/sony wont have a big issue here. Sun is already talking about NatGeo and disc.

So there will be atleast 10 odd channels ready for HD telecast right away, which satisfice all the things you have pointed out.

Who cares about how the mega serials are shown....

13th April 2009, 19:05	#16
siddvi BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 54 Thanked: 48 Times	Discovery and NGC are best viewed in HD. 100Rs per channel is overly expensive. BTW, if they allow HD on monthly basis, there subrcriptions on HD sports channels will shoot up during IPL.
	() Thanks

14th April 2009, 20:38	#19
Jonny Bravo BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: india Posts: 209 Thanked: 5 Times	even if you get the HD service free of cost still then one needs to invest atleast 70k for geting a full HD 1920x1080 LCD TV. for some it will be a hell lot of money effectively Rs2,000 per month (for 36months an average life for any warrantied TV beyond which the price falls drastically that one can buy better performing LCDs) plus the monthly HD pay price (if you desire to pay for those southy type channels). even if we get NGC & History & Discovery in HD but thats not enough for the average family as every one not like get knowledge all the time. Any average household would like to watch those crappy saas-bahu, chil marriage etc serials & these are all being shot in Standard definition. Unless the acquisition doesn't start in HD the last mile connection wont benefit from any upscaled SD-> HD broadcast. Its going to be along process as 1. Shot HD (hardware very costly & renting equally costly) 2. Editing also costly as footage requires more HDD space 3. Uplinking cost will b more as it requires HD hardware for playback & more bandwidth for the uplinking so another cost 4. DTH ops will flees the customers fr HD distribution on their networks 5. lastly we end paying all the cost for watching HD channels I am sure not very many channels are charging a premuim on their HD channels for ADverts so where does the whole game of making moolah out of a HD channels runs from. So why would any channel go HD just for viewers gratification for quality. As it is the penetration of DTH has not surpassed Cable connection (which still are not geared to think of HD) apart from that think of how many households have the luxury of shelling out 70k kind of moolah just to watch HD. I am a TV programmers & have been using HD for most of our works for documentaries for few channels (not indian) abroad. We know how much have gone into for the HD workflow. At the most we shoot edit everything in HD & later distribute in down-converted SD stream which is better then being shot & done thru in SD way.
	() Thanks

14th April 2009, 20:53	#20
Perakath BHPian Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Chennai Posts: 260 Thanked: 31 Times	Jony Bravo, but at least it's a start, right? As a TV programmer can you tell us (in laymen's terms) f it's possibly to easily convert old SD programs (i.e. the entire canon of TV shows produced prior to HDTV) to HDTV? Or will such shows be shown in standard definition only? Is there some sort of "remastering" technology to convert SD>HD, or does it always have to begin with HD hardware at the shooting stage itself?
	() Thanks

15th April 2009, 18:44	#23
Perakath BHPian Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Chennai Posts: 260 Thanked: 31 Times	Yes it's a great help, thanks! I wonder if Sun DTH makes all this clear to customers who think they're getting the HDTV experience...
	() Thanks

15th April 2009, 18:57	#24
Jonny Bravo BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: india Posts: 209 Thanked: 5 Times	atleast we can help folks from geting goofed ... cox there is no HD w.o real HD shot at least for next 2-3years no indian pure HD channel for sure ... in these adz of recession.
	() Thanks

15th April 2009, 19:04	#25
gopinathann BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Chennai Posts: 765 Thanked: 20 Times View My Garage	If atleast the tv showrooms get these HD box, then we might have a chance to find the difference.
	() Thanks

15th April 2009, 19:42	#26
anekho Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: . Posts: 1,995 Thanked: 684 Times	A good start for HD broadcasting in India. Will be great when Discovery and some sport channels are added. Imagine IPL in HD...
	() Thanks