I'm new to freesat having given up with sky HD and the outrageous fees they charge (approx £55 per month for the full HD setup). Bit disappointed in the freesat HD content. Does anyone know if there are plans for additional HD channels on freesat in the near future. I'm also surprised that channel 4 is not broadcast in HD as this is a freeby on sky!

It's not exactly comparing apples with apples. £55 a month or nothing.

Maybe watch freesat and with the spare £55 buy some bluerays or use a HD rental service. I can only imagine ITV will launch as a dedicated channel soon. I think C4HD wanted to but could not get the space on Astra 2d.

There's been plenty of "contract" and "available space" rumours regarding channel 4HD coming or not coming to freesat in the near future. Channel 5HD is also in the pipeline although that could be a somewhat long pipeline.

I suppose more FTA HD channels will arrive eventually and they will become the norm one day.

In the meantime try any of the following to replicate the same picture as HD :-

1) Buy a smaller TV
2) Sit further away from the TV
3) If you wear glasses then take them off

To be honest i have never found HD TV to be as amazing as some people make out. After a while watching it you forget its HD anyway. I certainly wouldnt pay an extra £10 a month just to watch the same programmes in a slightly higher resolution. More than happy with just BBC HD and the odd footy match on ITV HD.

Huh? I pay £28 a month. One mix+HD. Doesn't get me films or sport but it gets me all normal HD channels.

What do you call normal HD channels ?

Those that don't require an additional payment to watch - primarily not pay per view or part of a premium package.

Specifically:
C4HD
BBC HD
ITV HD (can't record it atm but then there's little on anyway)
Sky 1 HD
FX HD
Bio HD
SCI FI HD
Sky Arts 1 HD
Sky Arts 2 HD
Luxe TV HD (lol)
SkyRealLiveHD
MTVN HD
Eurosport HD
Rush HD
Discovery HD
Natgeo HD
Natgeo Wild HD
History HD
Crime HD

Most of the other HD channels are what I'd call premium channels or part of premium packages. One thing Sky have done which is sensible is have the HD package include everything from their standard mixes. It's slightly annoying for me actually. I only have one mix and it's the Knowledge pack. Since most of what I watch is on the last 6 channels I could probably get by on no mixes - but the gits don't allow that :-/

That's not strictly correct though is it?

With the exception of BBC HD,4 HD ITV HD and Luxe, you are making an additional payment to watch these channels.

Try watching them without the an HD sub

I never said I wasn't. I wrote that I was paying £28 a month and had access to all the normal HD channels. I was disputing the earlier claim of "(approx £55 per month for the full HD setup)"

Of course it hinges on what 'the full HD setup' is. I don't have access to all the HD content available on Sky so in that sense it doesn't apply. OTOH I tend to view PPV (at least in today's market) as silly whereas the basic sub is no different to the license fee so to me it is the full setup. I just don't have the extras.