Freesat

[erw]

I have a Panasonic Viera HDTV and when it was delivered a sky dish was installed so that I could watch Freesat and the BBC HD channel without subscription. The installer (presumably to save work) connected the cable from the dish to an old Eurobell (later Telewest then Virgin) cable along the side and rear of the house. The Freesat picture is very good but I am not sure that the picture is any better when I switch to the HD channel during a programme which is being broadcast simultaneously on BBC HD and, say, BBC1. Can anyone kindly tell me:

whether there should be a marked difference in picture quality; or

whether there should be a new cable of a different type.

Many thanks for any help.

ERW

[Matt34]

Picture quality on BBC HD should be very good - low levels of picture noise and plenty of detail with vibrant colours. But, it also depends upon the quality of the original programme as some is upscaled SD, rather than true HD. For comparison purposes, nature programmes usally give the most marked improvement in HD.

With respect to your cable query, if you are getting good signal levels with the 'old' cable, then don't worry too much. It's bad practice to use old cable, but if its in good condition and working OK with good signal levels reaching the TV, then you won't see much/any benefit from having the cable replaced.

Hope this helps

Matt

[erw]

Thanks Matt for your thoughts. Picture quality on BBC HD is very good. It's just that I am not sure it is any better than BBC1 on Freesat - which is much better than the old set, especially, as you say, on nature programmes etc. Which is why I wondered if HD required a different type of cable.

Eric

[Matt34]

Hi Eric

Viera TVs produce excellent pictures generally anyway (I have a new one on order!) whether displaying SD or HD. I think you'll notice the benefit of HD with time, but it isn't always as obvious as chalk and cheese between SD and HD. Some of the non-BBC transmissions are noticably lower quality and you'll soon see the difference if you look for picture noise and other digital transmission nasties.

However, as long as you are happy with the picture and enjoy watching it, then why worry?

Matt

[erw]

Only just picked this up, thanks. Will bear this in mind when watching.

Eric