Migrating to new tech always tends to bring with it some compatibility issues between devices, but thankfully Sky seem to have ironed out any possible problems with their upcoming Sky 3D service.
The satellite TV giants sent out a message today, reiterating that "Sky 3D, its forthcoming 3D TV service and Europe's first 3D TV channel, will be compatible with all 3D TVs being introduced by Sony, Samsung, Panasonic and LG. Sky 3D will work with both 'active' and 'passive' 3D formats." That means that no matter what new 3D TV set you get, Sky have pretty much got you covered.
Dont fret if you're already a Sky+ HD subscriber but are not planning on upgrading your set just yet. Sky's HD content already available will not be affected by the additional 3D channels.
Look for Sky 3D to roll out sometime over the summer. For more info, click here.
A new range of Sony Bravia HD TVs, the UK's first to feature an integrated Freeview HD tuner, will be hitting UK stores this week.
Rather than having to shell out for a HD compatible set-top box, these HX, NX and EX sets will let their owners watch Freeview HD channels straight out of the box.
They're pretty stylish too, with a minimalist design that should see them fit right in in almost any home.
Each set will include a range of IPTV features too. LoveFilm accounts can be accessed through the sets, along with Twitter feeds and the Demand Five VOD service.
To sweeten the deal even further, the HX models will be fully 3D compatible once Sony start rolling out firmware updates to their Blu-Ray players and PS3 consoles.
Click here for more details.
Perhaps it's a knock on effect of the global rescession, but the latest report by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising has found that TV viewing is at the highest it has been in 18 years.
Viewers watched an average of 3.75 hours of TV a day last year, the highest figure since 1992, according to IPA research.
As one would expect to find, the first and last quarters of the year, with less daylight and fewer people away on holiday, tended to show the highest television viewing figures.
Interestingly, the IPA revealed that only 8.2 % of UK households relied on an analogue signal to catch their favourite shows, showing that the digital switch-over is almost complete.
While ITV and GMTV gathered 19% of the total television audience in the last three months of 2009, likely thanks to the popularity of the X-Factor, BBC1 continued to achieve the highest share of all the terrestrial channels, at 21%. All five analogue channels continue to lose ground however, as multi-channel satellite options grow in prominence.
All the scrum crunching, drop kicking action of the 2010 6 Nations Rugby tournament will be broadcast in high-def, free of charge, thanks to Freesat HD and the BBC HD channel.
This year's 6 Nations rugby tournament will be broadcast on BBC HD from February 6th until the 20th of March, with Ireland and Italy squaring up in the first match.
It's a good year for Freesat HD-owning sports fans. They can also look forward to The World Cup on the BBC HD channel and ITV1 HD, as well as Winter Olympics, Golf Masters, Wimbledon, FA Cup and UEFA Champions league matches.
For more info, check out www.freesat.co.uk.
You may have only just finished shovelling the snow off of your driveway, but it looks like more will soon be headed to your flatscreen too. Freesat have today confirmed that you'll be able to watch all the coverage from this years 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics in high-definition, as free as ever.
The HD coverage kicks off on the 12th February with the game's grand opening ceremony. Snowboarding, slalom skiing, bobsleigh runs and (everyone's secret favourite) curling will all be featured.
It looks set to be a good year for sport-loving Freesat owners. The World Cup, Golf Masters, Rugby Six Nations and Wimbledon will all be available on the BBC HD Channel with the FA Cup, England World Cup internationals and UEFA Champions league matches also being presented in high definition over on ITV1 HD.
For more info, visit www.freesat.co.uk.
The message boards over here at HDTVUK have been alight with readers venting their spleens over the new-look Sky + HD guide, which completed its nationwide roll-out last week.
Many of you have been complaining that the new Sky Guide isn't up to scratch, either running too slowly, not being particularly intuitive or with text too small to read.
Alex Foligno posted on December 17th:
SERIOUSLY AWFUL the greatest injusticed (sic) is the fact that non-HD (lower paying customers) have the classic menu which we have all loved for the past decade. A CLASSIC option would be much appreciated.
James followed up with a similar sentiment:
I thought I would give it a go for a week before I complained as I thought it would grow on me. I was wrong. I still hate it. I want the old one back. The old one was straight forward and easy to use. This one is just a mess. It really puts me off watching TV.
Some readers have had such difficulty reading the new guide that they have contacted the Royal National Institute of Blind People, believing the new guide to be an affront to accessibility for the visually impaired.
Your complaints have not fallen upon death ears completely however! A Sky customer services representative today confirmed to HDTVUK that visually impaired Sky viewers will be able to revert back to the previous Sky + EPG. However Sky + HD subscribers will have to downgrade to a Sky + box in order to get the old guide back. This may be however just a temporary solution, as all Sky boxes, including earlier models, are expected to take on the new look guide sooner rather than later.
What do you think? Should all Sky +HD subscribers be given the option to revert back to the previous guide? Or are the complaints all smoke and no fire, with the guide being well suited to your needs?
Let us know!
(Thanks to HDTVUK reader Mark for the tip!)
PS3 in one room and your HD TV in another? Fear not, for the Rocketfish WirelessHD adapter is here to foil your madcap plans to run HDMI cables through walls and up banisters!
Providing your two devices are no more than 33 ft apart and are HDMI compatible, connecting a Rocketfish WirelessHD adapter to each will let you wirelessly throw 1080p HD content around the house without the need for lengthy cabling. It's also totally compatible with 7.1 audio sources and screens with 120hz refresh rates.
Currently only available to US readers, at $599.99 (circa £365) it's one of the cheapest Wireless HD options we've yet seen.
Via: Engadget
It's one year since Freesat launched in the UK and despite a few teething problems with poor marketing and availability of boxes, the company has heralded the first twelve months as a success.
Some key statistics include:
- Nearly 400,000 overall Freesat sales;
- Up to 70 hours of HD programming shown on Freesat every week;
- 3,000 hours of BBC and ITV high definition programming shown since launch;
- Nine out of ten Freesat customers would recommend the service to a friend.
Freesat has announced a new partnership with German consumer electronics company TechniSat to produce high definition digital boxes for the subscription-free satellite service this year.
No specific hardware details have yet been announced.
MD of Freesat, Emma Scott, said, "The new HD digital boxes by TechniSat will provide a quality option for consumers to enjoy the choice and range of channels that are available on Freesat."
MD of TechniSat Digital UK said, "We are extremely pleased to be working with Freesat. This provides us the ideal opportunity to introduce the high-quality TechniSat brand and Freesat HD receiver into the UK market."
The BBC will be showing this year's Six Nations Rugby matches, with all of England, Wales and Scotland's home matches available in high definition.
Freesat is keen to point out that it offers a subscription-free way to watch those matches via the BBC HD channel. Of course, you can also catch it via a Sky HD package.
Matches include:
- Sat 07/02 England v Italy
- Sun 08/02 Scotland v Wales
- Sat 14/02 Wales v England
- Sat 28/02 Scotland v Italy
- Sat 14/03 Scotland v Ireland
- Sun 15/03 England v France
- Sat 21/03 England v Scotland followed by Wales v Ireland
Sky has decided that it's time to get really aggressive when it comes to high definition in the UK, and to that end has slashed the price of its Sky+HD box to just £49. That's a third of the price it was early last year (£150) and is the satellite broadcaster's hope of getting many more subscribers hooked on pay-for-HD.
In fact, thanks to a lot of enticing marketing and the lure of a variety of sports, films and other content in high definition, Sky has just had its best quarter -- in the three months to the end of December, 188,000 people signed up for high-def services, taking the total number of subscribers to nearly 800,000.
Rather short notice on this one, but Sky's thirty-first high definition channel launches tonight courtesy of NBC Universal Global Networks.
Sci Fi HD launches on Sky channel 214 and will feature a range of movie exclusives including Cyclops and Ba'al: The Storm God, plus series such as Eli Stone, Tin Man and Sanctuary.
"We are thrilled to introduce Sci Fi HD in the UK," said Laurance Dawkin-Jones, UK managing director for NBC Universal Global Networks. "Our Sci Fi audience is early adopting, highly discerning and strongly loyal consumers of science fiction and it is a natural evolution of the Sci Fi brand to offer them such high quality targeted programming."
(Via Digital Spy)
Freesat has announced that sales of its satellite packages had doubled in the last quarter of 2008.
Since the service launched in May 2008, over 200,000 sales have been recorded, with 100,000 of those coming in the months since September.
Freesat believes that high definition offerings from the BBC and ITV (of which the latter is only available on the Freesat platform) have helped to drive sales as high definition in general gets more interest from consumers.
Following Panasonic's lead, LG and Freesat have announced a partnership which will see the TV manufacturer produce Freesat-integrated digital televisions this year.
Though details are sparse at present, LG will initially develop TVs, possibly with other products coming in the future.
Freesat's MD, Emma Scott, commented, "We're extremely pleased to be working with LG as a manufacturing partner for Freesat in 2009. LG is world renowned for its quality products and this partnership will give consumers even more ways to enjoy Freesat as we grow the service."
Freesat is said to be in talks with a number of other manufacturers regarding Freesat-enabled products, with other partners to be announced in due course.
Sky News is to make its high definition debut next month as it broadcasts the US presidential inauguration of Barack Obama on 20th January 2009.
As the news channel currently has no high definition output, Sky has chosen to broadcast it on the Sky Arts HD channel (258); an interesting choice probably more to do with logistics than fitting the channel's usual genre.
Coming live from Washington, coverage will be presented by Jeremy Thompson and political editor Adam Boulton.
Will Sky News be the next channel to get the full HD treatment?
(Via Broadcast Now)
Freesat+ and Humax's new FOXSAT-HDR DVR were both announced last month, but now we have a solid release date for both: Saturday 22nd November.
To recap, the FOXSAT-HDR has the following features:
- 320GB hard drive to store up to 80 hours of HD programming, or up to 200 hours of standard definition shows
- Eight day electronic programme guide to plan your viewing and recording with ease
- Series recording to automatically capture all the episodes of your favourite shows
- Live pause and instant rewind to give you full control over your viewing
- Option to record programmes in standard and high-definition when shows are broadcast in both formats
- Split recordings for two-part programmes that may have a break in the middle for a news bulletin, such as films
- Digital text and interactive services
Available for £299 across selected John Lewis, Comet, Argos and Dixons stores plus some selected independent retailers.
Freesat
Disney has announced that it will launch a high definition version of its Cinemagic channel next month, available on Sky+ HD to customers subscribing to the Movies package.
Cinemagic general manager Michael Cairns expressed delight at Disney's first high definition channel to be aired in the UK, affirming the companies commitment to cutting-edge technology.
Films available during December and January will include Ratatouille, Tinkerbell, Sleeping Beauty and The Incredibles.
(Via Digital Spy)
Not only is Sky pushing its arts and original drama programming, but the satellite broadcaster is also looking to get its hands on more re-mastered Hollywood classic films.
This could, in time, lead to a "Sky Classics HD" channel.
The re-mastering of older films is a smart move that's surely worth pursuing for transferral onto Blu-ray disc as well as for high definition broadcast. Film is easily of high enough quality (notwithstanding physical degradation over time, which may require significant processing during the digitisation process) to be worth putting onto formats capable of higher resolution than standard DVD or broadcast TV.
No firm plans have been made yet, but director of Sky Movies and Sky Box Office, Ian Lewis, told Screen Finance magazine that Sky would "continue to push them so we can have a classics channel in HD".
(Via Tech Radar)
The latest Astra satellite, the 1M, was launched yesterday. Located at 19.2 degrees East, it will deliver direct-to-home services including high definition TV to continental Europe.
"We are very proud and satisfied that the ASTRA 1M launch has been a success", said President and CEO of SES ASTRA, Ferdinand Kayser. "ASTRA 1M will benefit our customers and allow them to broadcast additional high definition channels. The success of the ASTRA 1M launch is an important milestone for SES ASTRA and we would like to underline the very good cooperation with our launch partners, International Launch Services (ILS) and EADS ASTRIUM."
(Via Marketwatch)
Hot on the heels of news of Sky's Christmas advertising campaign comes details of Freesat's seasonal push.
Maybe I've been looking in the wrong places, but it does seem as if Freesat's marketing has been a little lacklustre to date, with only a few mentions of it, so it's encouraging to see that there will be a strong push over Christmas.
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