I had BBC News channel on this morning (freeview) and the highlights of the sports were shocking quality (23in LCD).
I will be tunining into IRT later on CH5 (freesat) and per normal the quality will be sub standard on that too. Web catch up is better quality (even when shown on same tv screen).
I am sure that the poor picture quality on BBC News on Freeview is just a temporary thing!
I have to say I'm struggling with this as well. I know many people have badly set up TVs, but unless a TV has truly amazing upscaling I fail to see how 544x576 can look "great" on a 50" screen unless you are watching it from the other side of the road! Acceptable maybe, but "great"?
I have to say I'm struggling with this as well. I know many people have badly set up TVs, but unless a TV has truly amazing upscaling I fail to see how 544x576 can look "great" on a 50" screen unless you are watching it from the other side of the road! Acceptable maybe, but "great"?
Moaning and groaning about Freeview at it's finest! :rolleyes:
Since Freeview did in fact used to be quite decent, I wonder what year from it started going into decline and being known as "Pauper View" like this thread title suggests?
sit too close to any tv with an SD picture and it wont look very good. Saw part of University Challenge on Sky BBC 2 (SD) at a nearby house - with a 62in LCD. Not the worst thing I have seen, but certainly not perfect (screen is way to big for the tiny room-cant sit far enough away). Went home and saw the same episode of UC on Freeview BBC2 (SD) on the 26in screen and the picture was much better.
On that 62in LCD, i could even see digital compression effects on DVD.
...the only way to view a massive LCD with an SD picture close up is through a blindfold. But people want the biggest set money allows for, so lots more of this to follow i guess. A bit like the early days of colour, when the colour slider (or dial) had to be turned right over so it lined up with the word "Max". Surely this gives better results than having it set to about 50-60%, or so a lot of people thought.
Everything forced to Widescreen is another one. Friend has a a newish LCD and has it set to force everything into widescreen (even 4:3 pictures), so she thinks its all in widescreen. Well you would, its a widescreen set. So why does ours have black bars down the sides on old music videos - she must think her set is better, or that there is a fault with ours.
sit too close to any tv with an SD picture and it wont look very good. Saw part of University Challenge on Sky BBC 2 (SD) at a nearby house - with a 62in LCD. Not the worst thing I have seen, but certainly not perfect (screen is way to big for the tiny room-cant sit far enough away). Went home and saw the same episode of UC on Freeview BBC2 (SD) on the 26in screen and the picture was much better.
On that 62in LCD, i could even see digital compression effects on DVD.
...the only way to view a massive LCD with an SD picture close up is through a blindfold. But people want the biggest set money allows for, so lots more of this to follow i guess. A bit like the early days of colour, when the colour slider (or dial) had to be turned right over so it lined up with the word "Max". Surely this gives better results than having it set to about 50-60%, or so a lot of people thought.
Everything forced to Widescreen is another one. Friend has a a newish LCD and has it set to force everything into widescreen (even 4:3 pictures), so she thinks its all in widescreen. Well you would, its a widescreen set. So why does ours have black bars down the sides on old music videos - she must think her set is better, or that there is a fault with ours.
Imagine watching a VHS tape on a 62 inch LCD TV! :eek:
No such service as Sky BBC 2. The correct name is DSat BBC 2 or BBC2 from satellite. Absolutely nothing to do with Sky.
yes there is, the signal is going through...
a/ the Sky epg
b/ a Sky decoder box (which is a proprietary platform, not open ended as with a generic FTA Dsat box).
It should also be noted that in the case of CH5, the signal used by Sky on satellite is not the same as the one used by CH5 on Freesat. I think the same goes for CH4 HD as well (the freesat hd version using the DVB-S2 signal). Sky digital is a gated service.
It should also be noted that in the case of CH5, the signal used by Sky on satellite is not the same as the one used by CH5 on Freesat. I think the same goes for CH4 HD as well (the freesat hd version using the DVB-S2 signal). Sky digital is a gated service.
They're the same for Sky and Freesat, have been for ages.
I would consider Freeview to be less "Pauper" as the title for this thread suggests it is, if there were some decent channels available such as Pop, Tiny Pop and the CBS channels, even if the picture resolution and bitrate was still poor! If such channels ever did make it onto Freeview, which multiplex do you think that they would most likely be on? SDN or the COM A or COM B multiplex?
Erm, the likes of BBC1-4, ITV1-4, C4, E4, More4, Film4, 4Music, C5, 5*, 5USA, Dave, Really, Yesterday, Food Network, Quest, Challenge, Viva, Pick TV[1] and countless[2] news and children's channels aren't "decent"?
[1] Yeah, OK, I'll give you that one.
[2] Actually there are eight.
Sorry, if you misunderstood what I was saying, I think that the channels you just mentioned are decent channels as well, but what I meant to say is we need more decent channels to add the ones we already have as you mentioned.
It has always puzzled me as to why many companies complain that they can't afford to be on Freeview, but the slapper channels etc can.
It has always puzzled me as to why many companies complain that they can't afford to be on Freeview, but the slapper channels etc can.
The adult channels all run overnight in capacity that general entertainment channels have given up, because they aren't making any money from the very few viewers that are seeking such content in normal hours.
It sucks for shift workers, but unfortunately for them, the majority of the country does prefer to be awake in daylight hours and to be entertained from about 6pm to 10:30pm.
It is far more expensive to get a 24 hour slot than to take 6 unwanted hours of someone else's.
The babe channels run because there are enough paying customers to make it worthwhile despite the restrictions they operate under. ITV1,/2/3/4, Channel 5, Watch, Gold flip over to Teleshopping or Casinos on Sky at night, a poor reflection on their broadcasting credentials. Perhaps if they actually met more viewers needs they might actually attract enough viewers to justify broadcasting round the clock. As it is too much content is dull and sanitised.
Having read the vast majority of the responders in this thread, I would add this...... Freeview is what it is. I have it and like it. I've never had sky or virgin. Even if I wanted it, I couldn't afford it. I struggle to pay the TV licence, so why would I even want to pay twice for watching tv. Yes, the tv licence is only for the BBC channels, but I'm not prepared to pay twice to watch a programme once !
If you want freesat, it normally costs quiet abit of money.... However I knew someone who had sky but then cancelled it, she asked if she could use it for freesat and she did till she moved. When she moved she couldn't afford the set up fee, so she now has Freeview. :-)
For me I'm happy to either rent DVDs from lovefilm and buy movies/boxsets that I want to keep from Amazon either secondhand or brand new.
A very valid response, at lot of the posters do seem to forget there are some people with fairly tight budgets and pay tv etc. or even freesat are not viable for them.
I'm one as well, I'm able to cover the extra cost for Top Up TV (just) to give us some extra programmes and to be fair with PickTV from Sky on freeview improving over the last 12 months and by reading the guide fairly carefully freeview isn't so bad.
It may not have all the bells and whistles that people are obsessed with at the moment but it's better than nothing and compared to the free services in some countries is very good.
Just wish we had another film channel and a couple less plus 1 channels but it does the job and that's what's important.
Seems we have become a bit spoiled over the years.
At the end of the day Freeview was designed to be a digital replacement for the old analogue service. In that respect the fact we now get more than the five main terrestrial channels is a bonus..
I have a 50inch plasma, and in most cases the picture quality is actually fine 90% of the time. I agree occasionally the low resolution shows up, but in general picture quality is fine for the most part.
Other posters mentioned setting up your TV correctly, that's actually quite important. A decent Plasma will, in terms of SD picture quality, produce a superior picture than an LCD TV when properly calibrated. But even a good LCD can produce impressive SD picture quality when calibrated properly. Turn off such things as Dynamic Noise Reduction, Edge Enhancement etc. etc. as such digital processing techniques will just amplify the flaws of low bitrate Freeview signals.
A good tip is to Google calibration settings for your model of TV. You just may get lucky and find the details posted by someone with the same TV. That's what I did and found a thread on another site where someone with the same TV had spent £300 having his professionally calibrated. He posted all of the settings, I printed them out and spent the next half hour to 45 minutes setting mine up. The improvements in picture quality, especially with SD material, was actually very marked indeed and quite surprising.
If had only pay for sky but you have to pay for tv license as well even you don't watch bbc who would go and buy something don't want or use. So its not worth it.
It seems funny that before DSO, most people I knew who got Freeview never did watch any of the commercial channels, they only ever stuck to watching BBC One, BBC Two and ITV1 etc and maybe one or two of the digital only channels like BBC Four or ITV2, but never anything like Pick TV or Quest.
If had only pay for sky but you have to pay for tv license as well even you don't watch bbc who would go and buy something don't want or use. So its not worth it.
You still have to pay for a TV Licence to be allowed to watch live TV in the UK, regardless of what channels you watch, it may fund the BBC but that is not its purpose.
It seems funny that before DSO, most people I knew who got Freeview never did watch any of the commercial channels, they only ever stuck to watching BBC One, BBC Two and ITV1 etc and maybe one or two of the digital only channels like BBC Four or ITV2, but never anything like Pick TV or Quest.
Some people are like that though, they will eventually start using the extra channels.
The most used channel on Freeview in our house is Quest.
Free TV is the best it's ever been and certainly it must be the best in the World? With the advent of Youview which has more than enough on demand programs to keep anyone busy (I'm with TalkTalk), the promise of much more free on demand content coming soon, a good selection of different channels on Freeview, many of which you pay for on other platforms. free plus recording, free HD on main channels and more promised in the near future, what more could you ask for? I also have Free Sky so I get the extra channels that offers. Also Pick TV have recently started showing many of the programs I wanted to watch on Sky, Stargate SG1, Terra Nova, Warehouse 13 and next week Game of Thrones starts. My problem with Sky is that you pay for hundreds of channels many of which show utter rubbish on a loop, you have to pay for the use of plus recording and HDTV and still be bombarded with adverts. I remember when Sky first started and the whole idea was that the channels you paid for, e.g movies, there were no adverts at all just wall to wall films and the likes of MTV and Sky channel (as it was then) were free with adverts. $ky got greedy and knew at the time they had a monopoly and took over.
With more UKTV channels moving to Freeview and Youview's growth here's hoping for a sharp decline in Sky subscribers over the next couple of years!
Comments
Well said sparkplugs old boy, I concur with you all the way.
By the way, do you have a large LCD or Plasma TV?
Can't see how. 50" screens stretch the picture even more.
Surely ITV2+1 doesn't look good on any screen.
On that 62in LCD, i could even see digital compression effects on DVD.
...the only way to view a massive LCD with an SD picture close up is through a blindfold. But people want the biggest set money allows for, so lots more of this to follow i guess. A bit like the early days of colour, when the colour slider (or dial) had to be turned right over so it lined up with the word "Max". Surely this gives better results than having it set to about 50-60%, or so a lot of people thought.
Everything forced to Widescreen is another one. Friend has a a newish LCD and has it set to force everything into widescreen (even 4:3 pictures), so she thinks its all in widescreen. Well you would, its a widescreen set. So why does ours have black bars down the sides on old music videos - she must think her set is better, or that there is a fault with ours.
yes there is, the signal is going through...
a/ the Sky epg
b/ a Sky decoder box (which is a proprietary platform, not open ended as with a generic FTA Dsat box).
It should also be noted that in the case of CH5, the signal used by Sky on satellite is not the same as the one used by CH5 on Freesat. I think the same goes for CH4 HD as well (the freesat hd version using the DVB-S2 signal). Sky digital is a gated service.
They're the same for Sky and Freesat, have been for ages.
Erm, the likes of BBC1-4, ITV1-4, C4, E4, More4, Film4, 4Music, C5, 5*, 5USA, Dave, Really, Yesterday, Food Network, Quest, Challenge, Viva, Pick TV[1] and countless[2] news and children's channels aren't "decent"?
[1] Yeah, OK, I'll give you that one.
[2] Actually there are eight.
It has always puzzled me as to why many companies complain that they can't afford to be on Freeview, but the slapper channels etc can.
The adult channels all run overnight in capacity that general entertainment channels have given up, because they aren't making any money from the very few viewers that are seeking such content in normal hours.
It sucks for shift workers, but unfortunately for them, the majority of the country does prefer to be awake in daylight hours and to be entertained from about 6pm to 10:30pm.
It is far more expensive to get a 24 hour slot than to take 6 unwanted hours of someone else's.
If you want freesat, it normally costs quiet abit of money.... However I knew someone who had sky but then cancelled it, she asked if she could use it for freesat and she did till she moved. When she moved she couldn't afford the set up fee, so she now has Freeview. :-)
For me I'm happy to either rent DVDs from lovefilm and buy movies/boxsets that I want to keep from Amazon either secondhand or brand new.
I'm one as well, I'm able to cover the extra cost for Top Up TV (just) to give us some extra programmes and to be fair with PickTV from Sky on freeview improving over the last 12 months and by reading the guide fairly carefully freeview isn't so bad.
It may not have all the bells and whistles that people are obsessed with at the moment but it's better than nothing and compared to the free services in some countries is very good.
Just wish we had another film channel and a couple less plus 1 channels but it does the job and that's what's important.
At the end of the day Freeview was designed to be a digital replacement for the old analogue service. In that respect the fact we now get more than the five main terrestrial channels is a bonus..
I have a 50inch plasma, and in most cases the picture quality is actually fine 90% of the time. I agree occasionally the low resolution shows up, but in general picture quality is fine for the most part.
Other posters mentioned setting up your TV correctly, that's actually quite important. A decent Plasma will, in terms of SD picture quality, produce a superior picture than an LCD TV when properly calibrated. But even a good LCD can produce impressive SD picture quality when calibrated properly. Turn off such things as Dynamic Noise Reduction, Edge Enhancement etc. etc. as such digital processing techniques will just amplify the flaws of low bitrate Freeview signals.
A good tip is to Google calibration settings for your model of TV. You just may get lucky and find the details posted by someone with the same TV. That's what I did and found a thread on another site where someone with the same TV had spent £300 having his professionally calibrated. He posted all of the settings, I printed them out and spent the next half hour to 45 minutes setting mine up. The improvements in picture quality, especially with SD material, was actually very marked indeed and quite surprising.
Some people are like that though, they will eventually start using the extra channels.
The most used channel on Freeview in our house is Quest.
With more UKTV channels moving to Freeview and Youview's growth here's hoping for a sharp decline in Sky subscribers over the next couple of years!