Sky SD picture quality on Sky HD box.

[SAGARIS]

Having just had Sky HD installed I have noticed that while the HD channels are very good the SD channels are poorer quality than my old SKY+ box.Has any one else noticed this and is there anything that can be done setting or connection wise? Iam very disappointed.

Many Thnks

[sniper007]

I find SD noticeably better on Virgin than Sky. Not to say Sky is unwatchable, but I think the V+ boxes do a good upscale. I didn't think you should see a difference between Sky+ and HD box with regard to SD channels. I would get the engineer back out to check it.

[MikeyB]

Originally Posted by sniper007

I didn't think you should see a difference between Sky+ and HD box with regard to SD channels.

It's quite possible you will see a difference with the SD channels between Sky+ and Sky HD.

With a Sky+ box it is your TV that will do the upscaling, but with the Sky HD box connected using HDMI the Sky HD box now does the upscaling.

If your TV is better at upscaling than the Sky HD box then there could be a noticeable difference.


I went from Sky+ to Freesat HD, but notice no difference in the HD channels from normal viewing distance, not that I studied it close up.

[Ignitionnet]

Odd, Sky SD is pretty good on my Sky HD box here.

[Bluffdemon]

i have no problem either with the SD stuff on sky with my hd box on my t.v looks sweet to me

[NoKnowledge]

Originally Posted by SAGARIS

Having just had Sky HD installed I have noticed that while the HD channels are very good the SD channels are poorer quality than my old SKY+ box.Has any one else noticed this and is there anything that can be done setting or connection wise? Iam very disappointed.

Many Thnks

Do you have a LCD or Plasma? I hardly hear many people complain about the SD quality on plasma and when I do it's usually a software problem either on Sky's part or the television.

[pmhtuk]

I don't really experience any major problem with SD on the HD+ box, but I sometimes find the EPG sluggish.

[SAGARIS]

Thank you for your replies.Having done some research on other sites,it would appear that it is a known problem, to do with the fact that the Sky+ box apparently allows your television to upscale the picture while the Sky HD box upscales the picture itself.A top end television set is better at upscaling than the SkyHD box hence the difference in Sd picture quality between the two boxes.

[Tezcatlipoca]

You can set the Sky+HD box to only output the HD channels in HD, leaving the TV to upscale any SD content.

[SAGARIS]

Originally Posted by Matt D

You can set the Sky+HD box to only output the HD channels in HD, leaving the TV to upscale any SD content.

Could you tell me how you would do this? Many Thanks.

[Tezcatlipoca]

It's in the picture settings somewhere.

Sky+HD box set to 1080i: HD channels are output at 1080i, plus SD channels are upscaled to 1080i.

Sky+HD box set to Automatic: HD channels are output at 1080i, plus SD channels are left alone & output at 576i (PAL).

http://www.sky.com/portal/site/skyco...icleId=2344410