Reply With QuoteMy IQ2 is being installed tommorrow so I'll post my own impressions in the next few days. Certainly, for me, there's a big difference on FTA between, say Channel 10 digital and OneHD, when the AFL footy is on.
HD - is it all its cracked up to be ?
Greetings All
I have been runing SD dreamboxes for some time
I use the SCart to component connection from dream to TV and have been reasonably happy with results. TV reports back 576i
I have just grabbed a f0xtel IQ2 with HD+ and the HD channels and watching these I feel a little let down - not a whole lot of noticeable improvement if any .. TV reports back 576p
TV's are modern NEC that handle 1080i, 720p - no problems
am I missing something
At this stage I reckon SD on good cables to a good TV is better value for money. I know Z80 use to sing the praises of HD .. anyone else got better results than me ?
Dm500, DM5620, DM600 x2, DM7000 x1, DM7020, DM7025, DM800, VU+DUO and a partridge in a pear tree
All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing
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My IQ2 is being installed tommorrow so I'll post my own impressions in the next few days. Certainly, for me, there's a big difference on FTA between, say Channel 10 digital and OneHD, when the AFL footy is on.
cheers mate thanks for the feedback - I agree with you on terrestial differences - I noticed that last time I was in Brisbane - DVB-T HD there was fairdinkum jumping out of the set - whereas satellite from F0xtel I aint quite seeing that sort of marked difference. Happy to hear how yours looks
Dm500, DM5620, DM600 x2, DM7000 x1, DM7020, DM7025, DM800, VU+DUO and a partridge in a pear tree
All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing
It's mainly about the quality of the source material.
- If you have a true high def receiver then you'll really enjoy some of the high-def programs on FTA. Which channels depends on what programs you're into. Realistically you shouldn't expect more than a couple of your favourite shows to be in high def - most will remain in standard def for quite a while because high def production costs are much higher.
- Good quality standard definition broadcast, eg most terrestrial stuff and most of Optus C1 Aurora, as well as most DVDs, will also look good on your high def TV - but only if it has good quality upscaling. That's one of the main differences between expensive TVs and cheap ones, and the quality difference can be very visible depending on progam material. For the same reason that video codecs vary enormously in quality; some look great, some look like crap, but the difference is more visible with some material than others.
- Pay TV business model is based on milking long-term revenue out of one-off investments, namely, cheap shows bought up after their run on FTA TV many years ago. That means old 4:3 content of dubious production quality transferred carelessly from worn-out videotape. Those programs will always look poor - you can't polish a turd without a lot of time enhancing and remastering the source material.
- Even some of the better-quality source material is trashed on Pay TV by excessive compression at broadcast, so they can cram extra channels into each transponder and save money. That's why the standard definition movie channels like showtime and FBO look better than some of the other channels.
Cheap set top box hardware design is also responsible for some picture degradation, which you'd notice if you were able to do a true side-by-side comparison with alternative receivers. The Common Interface standard was designed to give consumers freedom of choice about receiver, so those who want better quality can pay the extra money needed for better quality product. But Austar / Foxtel cartel have removed that freedom and now have no incentive not to cut cost and use cheap low-performance hardware. Consequently, just as you don't see the Pay TV companies at the Logie Awards, you don't see their hardware in the hi-fi or cinema industry magazines. The reasons are the same: they're rubbish, surviving only by anticompetitive protectionism. The is a case in point.
I havent got foxHD,Originally Posted by nfnovice
but have you tried using a HDMI cable,i know most devices can output 720p on component cables but it worth a shot.
does the iq2 have different output settings or is it all one standard?
yeah - I am using HDMI cable and watching all the HD channels in case it was a one off program in lower definition
still nothing reports above 576p and nothing looks like that HD terrestial I saw in Brisvegas.
Dm500, DM5620, DM600 x2, DM7000 x1, DM7020, DM7025, DM800, VU+DUO and a partridge in a pear tree
All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing
nfonovice, I had my iq2 installed at the end of Feb.
There is a setting in the setup menu for output if I recall correctly? (I use my octagon now) the pic quality is nothing short of STUNNING and the channels report 1080i as they should, if you can't find the setting, shout out and I'll plug mine in again and find it.
tv is a 63 inch samsung series 7 plasma running hdmi.
Apparently the IQ2 are defaulted to composite. Once booted and you have the HDMI cable installed you can go to settings and change output type to HDMI.
I have an old HD 1080i Sony plasma(last model Sony ever made) It doesn't have HDMI. I found a cable that converts? from HDMI out to DVI/? in. Noticable difference.
As for HD content on Fox, very dissapointing.
good examples of stuff in HD are the EPL, and Monday Night NRL. Both these look bloody nice on my MySkyHDi
cheers thanks to all for responses
I have HDMI cable and settings in IQ2 to HDMI
HD settings in IQ was set to auto out of choice of 576/720/1080/auto
I set to 1080 just to be sure - still got 576 at the TV
My guess is content on f0xtel is at that settings
*perks* monday nght NRL in HD - now there is a good test of the system hehehe
Dm500, DM5620, DM600 x2, DM7000 x1, DM7020, DM7025, DM800, VU+DUO and a partridge in a pear tree
All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing
Nfnovice, all content I have seen is in full 1080i, all the time, except a few dago soccer matches on espn, primera league stuff. I'd check elsewhere, it's definitely an individual issue.
Cables don't convert from HDMI to DVI. You can send video signal over a HDMI cable with a DVI connector on the TV. It is just not receiving the audio.
I got my IQ2 las week. Hopefully i can put my plasma together tonight. (if i can figure out all the cables)
iam a bogan
thanks again - it seems the answer was after all my ignorance
- My Tv says it has HDMI 1080p input - I saw that - beauty I want it
- BUT that doesnt mean it has an output display of 1080
- fooled by the marketing speak again
- it down scales - it doesnt mention this in the manual
- it does show 1024 x768 deep in the specs
I found this page to be useful to understand what is possible for that and other resolutions and TV types
check the table out - interesting
bugger
Last edited by nfnovice; 24-04-09 at 07:12 PM.
Dm500, DM5620, DM600 x2, DM7000 x1, DM7020, DM7025, DM800, VU+DUO and a partridge in a pear tree
All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing
Yup, that's their job.
With anything expensive there's no substitute for doing your homework, reading reviews, deciding what you want, going looking for it and then finally double-checking to make sure the product model being sold is precisely the same as what you're after.
The Harvey Norman business model is the exact opposite - decide what you want customers to buy and then convince them of it. They lay before you what appears to be a plethora of choice, knowing most people will feel overwhelmed, focus on their price region, visually compare until their heads spin, then take their pick from what's offered. The prices are all preloaded 5-15% so all the salesman has to do is grab you before you turn and head for the door to check offerings elsewhere, offer back part of the markup as a special manager discount, then throw in some other freebie to close the deal. Once you're on the hook they sting you with a bunch of upsells before you can make it to the checkout. The end result is buyers who feel like they've expended a lot of effort weighing up "the" alternatives and were able to haggle a good deal. None of which is true.
But ignorance is bliss. Who am I to tell people that the $190 Monster cable they upsold you is only worth $40, or that their Harvey Norman extended warranty isn't the same as the manufacturer's extended warranty, or even that the model you bought doesn't really do what you thought it does. By the time it's home, unpacked and hooked up the idea of taking it back is too exhausting to consider. After all you still feel lucky for scoring that special manager discount that nobody else gets.
Gentlemen,
Check out NINE's FTA Entertainment Tonight at 3pm weekdays on a good terrestrial HD setup, the studio segments and some of the inserts are the benchmark of HD and it was only produced 3 hours earlier at Paramounts LA studios.
How does NINE get it to air so quickly with such quality?
Regards,
smoke and mirrors
pirate bay......
Last point = eeek. Dump it (no offence).
Run a 117cm Samsung 650 Series LCD Full HD, now Foxes HD channels are clearer than the rest, and some of those Fox SD channels seem upscaled in quality too, using an IQ2 and HDMI 1.3 leads.
Terrestrially, SCTV (10 Net) demo loop shows excellent quality, but as said here - good, IF the source content is HD.
I will grab an aftermarket sat HD stb and use that soon, instead.
5th Wyking Panzer Division
I had a browse in Retravision the other day ( rare for me ) and must say that Discovery HD looked brilliant through a Sony Bravia. But I dont know too much about what Foxtel are broadcasting it in/at/etc.
Hoe,pirate bay......
Firstly who is the LADY who blows me the kisses, is she yours?
Na, me knows it's a 34Mbps private fibre running under the Pacific from 6255 Sunset Blvd Los Angeles to 14 Artarmon Rd Willoughby Sydney.
Kind regards,
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