# SKY HD Setup Advice



## benji330i (Jan 8, 2007)

Just got it installed and was wondering if there were any 'tweaks' I could make to optimise my picture? I've messed with changing from 1080i to 720p and can't really tell the difference. Anything else I could do? The picture on HD is good but not a huge jump from SD IMO. My TV is a top of the range 32" Sony LCD (or at least it was last Feb when I bought it!)

Cheers....


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## HC1001 (May 27, 2007)

Are you using a HDMi or component, I found component to have the edge but I don't know why? maybe it's in my head............


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## benji330i (Jan 8, 2007)

I'm using the HDMI that came with the box. I'll look at getting a component connection and see. I guess the differences were talking about here are minute!


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## S63 (Jan 5, 2007)

I've tried every type of cable and can see little difference. Some HD broadcasts are better than others, Sky footy really shows the difference, with a 32" screen you will not want to be sitting any further than 6ft away to appreciate HD. I had a 26" LCD before upgrading to a 42" plasma and needed these


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## Automake (Dec 2, 2008)

What tv are you using? do you know its native resolution? if the resolution is less than 1440 x1080 then its not "true" HD, no matter what you feed into the set... if the set isnt either 1440 x 1080 or 1920 x 1080 the pic quality simply will look not much better than standard DVD.


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## James_R (Jun 28, 2007)

Automakeover said:


> What tv are you using? do you know its native resolution? if the resolution is less than 1440 x1080 then its not "true" HD, no matter what you feed into the set... if the set isnt either 1440 x 1080 or 1920 x 1080 the pic quality simply will look not much better than standard DVD.


A 720p picture will look *MILES* better than a SD broadcast.

If you're tvs native resolution is 720, then go for the 720p [progressive scan] selection, the 1080i will be an interlaced resolution.


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## James_R (Jun 28, 2007)

benji330i said:


> Just got it installed and was wondering if there were any 'tweaks' I could make to optimise my picture? I've messed with changing from 1080i to 720p and can't really tell the difference. Anything else I could do? The picture on HD is good but not a huge jump from SD IMO. My TV is a top of the range 32" Sony LCD (or at least it was last Feb when I bought it!)
> 
> Cheers....


You're definitely watching a HD channel arent you? I know its a daft question, but not all the channels are HD unless in say --- HD after the channel name.

i.e Sky Sports 1 HD

The normal BBC1, BBC2, ITV etc are simply standard definition broadcasts through a HD box.


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## benji330i (Jan 8, 2007)

James_R said:


> You're definitely watching a HD channel arent you? I know its a daft question, but not all the channels are HD unless in say --- HD after the channel name.
> 
> i.e Sky Sports 1 HD
> 
> The normal BBC1, BBC2, ITV etc are simply standard definition broadcasts through a HD box.


Yeah I'm watching the HD channels!

My TV is a Sony KDL - 32D3000. 5 star what hi-fi review last year. 100hz. Not sure what it's 'native resolution' is. How can I find out? Instructions?!


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## JasonRS (Aug 8, 2006)

It's 1366x768

So...although it claims ot be a 1080p TV, what it really means is it's a 720p TV with some extra lines that can downscale a 1080p signal to fit.

Couple of things worth bearing in mind

All Sky HD channels are broadcast in 1080i, even if the source is 720p, they upscale pre-transmission.

The Sky HD box is quite possibly not as good as your TV at downscaling to 720p and your TV will only go and upconvert to 1366x768 anyway.

So...

Set the Sky HD box to 1080i ( default for installation ) and let your TV do the rest. This minimises up and down scaling and keeps the picture as good as it can be.


BTW. Downscaling is preferable to upscaling, as your removing data you have, versus creating data that you don't (the TV has to guess the missing bits...)


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## JohnWoods41 (Aug 20, 2008)

James_R said:


> You're definitely watching a HD channel arent you? I know its a daft question, but not all the channels are HD unless in say --- HD after the channel name.
> 
> i.e Sky Sports 1 HD
> 
> The normal BBC1, BBC2, ITV etc are simply standard definition broadcasts through a HD box.


not all programs on some HD channels are HD eg SKY one HD has some HD content but most is still SD, same with Channel 4 HD

things like discovery HD etc are all in HD and also movie channels

to check hit info and look in the top right hand side of the panel it should say HD if its broadcast in it... eg "*HD* DD W S"


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## andye (Apr 15, 2007)

When I set mine up last year I went into the tv menu and messed around with the contrast the tint and the sharpness settings, actually made a difference ?


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## timprice (Aug 24, 2007)

one other point, relating to the sound, the HD box doesn't support anything other than 2 channel digital signals via HDMI

if you have a 5.1 surround system you will need to use the optical output to get Dolby Digital sound (programmes using this standard will have DD in the info)


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## wayne_w (Jan 25, 2007)

Go onto www.avforums.com. Into the forums & do a search for your tv by model code.
Usually there is a post showing peoples settings that they feel give the best results from the tv.
I have a Samsung 46" 1080p model & from following their settings & tweaking to suit my own taste, I have found the tv really comes alive, especially with HD content or Blueray through my PS3

HTH.
Wayne


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## Chester (Jan 15, 2007)

The resolution on most sets is sometimes best set to Auto. The Sky HD box then delivers at the resolution of the broadcast. It's a bit of a pain waiting for the Sky HD box and TV to handshake during res changes, but you get used to it.

Scalers in TVs (and I think your Sony should also cut the mustard here) should be better than that in the Sky HD box. Set it to Auto, the Sky HD box doesn't do any.

Don't forget that the Sky HD box is also capable of 2.0 to 5.1 channel Dolby Digital, as long as it's enabled in the Sound settings, and you are limited to using an Optical (TOSLINK) SPDIF cable to your receiver. This does not link across HDMI, even though HDMI specs go way beyond carrying simple DD audio!


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## James_R (Jun 28, 2007)

JohnWoods41 said:


> not all programs on some HD channels are HD eg SKY one HD has some HD content but most is still SD, same with Channel 4 HD
> 
> things like discovery HD etc are all in HD and also movie channels
> 
> to check hit info and look in the top right hand side of the panel it should say HD if its broadcast in it... eg "*HD* DD W S"


Good call. :thumb:


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## Chester (Jan 15, 2007)

Yeah, that's true, but you still get 4X more bandwidth on the HD channel than the SD channel despite the content only being SD. Do a comparison yourself: watch an SD broadcast on the SD channel (i.e. CH4) and then on the HD channel (i.e. CH4HD). Much better


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## benji330i (Jan 8, 2007)

Thanks for the advice chaps - got it set to 1080i. I'll tinker with the TV settings and have a look on avforum.
:thumb:


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