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Homechoice Digital Television |
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#26 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 60
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Oh one thing that looks great. They record lots and lots of popular soaps and TV series and these are available on demand. You just go to to the right channel and choose Tuesday's Eastenders for example and watch it when you like. This is included in the £35 so looks like a nice feature.
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#27 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 462
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fergusm
Oh one thing that looks great. They record lots and lots of popular soaps and TV series and these are available on demand. You just go to to the right channel and choose Tuesday's Eastenders for example and watch it when you like. This is included in the £35 so looks like a nice feature.
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#28 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: West London
Posts: 24,301
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In case any new HomeChoice subscribers have just tuned in, please could you post your thoughts about the "new" TV service?
Do you get the "interactive" programming on the BBC and/or Channel 4, either the same as on Freeview, or as on Sky, or not at all? For instance the extra news screens on BBCi? Is the choice of on-demand programmes any good? What about the films? I'm asking because the HomeChoice web site is very good at making it sound like a spiffy new product but rather evasive about the finer details, so any info would be appreciated. |
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#29 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tooting, London
Posts: 103
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There is no interactive programming on BBC or Channel 4 - pressing red gives a box saying that interactive content for this channel is not yet available on HomeChoice. There is a separate "BBC News Interactive" channel.
As far as I can tell, HomeChoice has no current support for widescreen televisions. There seems to be no way to tell the HomeChoice box that I have a 16:9 screen. All channels are shown 4:3. There is what appears to be a widescreen button on the remote. It doesn't do anything (although the STB acknowledges the keypress on the OSD) but this would seem to suggest that widescreen is planned for the future. Apart from these issues, I'm really pretty impressed. The picture quality is fine (although I don't have a giant television), the responsiveness of the box isn't bad and the VOD services are really pretty cool. |
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#30 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: London, U.K.
Posts: 1,560
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Letterbox only, at times when broadcasters increasingly provide 16:9?
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#31 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Bristol
Posts: 668
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brush Master
Letterbox only, at times when broadcasters increasingly provide 16:9?
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#32 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: London, U.K.
Posts: 1,560
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Don't worry - this just how I show my ignorance. I shall ask HomeChoice what their plans are... Stay tuned...
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#33 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: London
Posts: 16
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HomeChoice 16:9 and service conflicts
Thanks for all your comments. As I have been seriously thinking about signing up to the HomeChoice service this is very useful stuff...
let me add to it:- I called HomeChoice today and the line was: 1MB Broadband is our main service. The TV is just a nice extra. We are not trying to compete with Sky/NTL/Telewest etc. So basically DO NOT expect anything from the TV or VOD service... and they have NO PLANS to offer 16:9 widescreen. So you can certainly get DVD functionality ... but without widescreen? If you have a widescreen TV this will be a step backwards in my view. Also, HomeChoice warn that any additional voice services you have on your BT line may be jeopardised - unless it is a BT service eg. other cheaper-than-BT calling services like OneTel, Tele2 etc. So do not expect to keep these running (>> the hidden cost of signing up to HomeChoice?!) At the end of the day, £35 for 1MB broadband may be good value... but prices for these services are dropping fast and do you want to be contracted to a 12mo contract when many are offering less? |
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#34 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Glasgow
Posts: 296
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Can any of the homechoice subscribers give me an example of some of the films you can get in the A-Z section?
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#35 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tooting, London
Posts: 103
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jaggers
I called HomeChoice today and the line was: 1MB Broadband is our main service. The TV is just a nice extra.
Quote:
Also, HomeChoice warn that any additional voice services you have on your BT line may be jeopardised - unless it is a BT service eg. other cheaper-than-BT calling services like OneTel, Tele2 etc. So do not expect to keep these running (>> the hidden cost of signing up to HomeChoice?!)
Bollocks. They're just covering their asses. I've used CPS calling services with DSL before and there's no problem. I think Oftel would do some screaming if BT tried to pull something like this.
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#36 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tooting, London
Posts: 103
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Oh - and I didn't mean to imply that there's nothing letterboxed. The HomeChoice box always sends a 4:3 signal to the television, but this doesn't mean that the 4:3 signal can't contain a letterboxed picture. I haven't tried buying any VOD movies yet so I can't say whether those are letterboxed.
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#37 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: London
Posts: 16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Denuvo
I can't say whether those are letterboxed.
...but saying that everyone I speak to at HomeChoice seems to offer a different view... Quote:
I've used CPS calling services with DSL before and there's no problem
but was that a 4-6Mb DSL service? HomeChoice claim that because they need so much bandwidth pumping TV/VOD down the phone line having another service would simply interfere with theirs - or perhaps this is BT forcing their arm...
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#38 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 60
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I didn't realise that it was just a 4:3 picture! I just cancelled my order. Maybe I will try again in the future when they get their act together.
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#39 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tooting, London
Posts: 103
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jaggers
HomeChoice claim that because they need so much bandwidth pumping TV/VOD down the phone line having another service would simply interfere with theirs - or perhaps this is BT forcing their arm...
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#40 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: West London
Posts: 24,301
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jaggers
Simple answer from HomeChoice when I called them today was NO: all TV/VOD broadcasts are 4:3 and they have no plans to offer 16:9
I know this proves nothing, but it certainly implies that the films are shown in 16:9. |
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#41 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: London
Posts: 16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Inkblot
I know this proves nothing, but it certainly implies that the films are shown in 16:9.
It could simply be that the HC sales people are not up to speed with the technology... The HC engineer setup screen has an entry for "widescreen" - have yet to discover what this suggests. J |
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#42 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: UK
Posts: 790
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i emailed HC about widescreen and they said that they are planning to upgrade to mheg 4 at the end of the year. And that as a result widescreen may be introduced then.
Still think l am going to carry on with the order. Trying to watch less TV as it is. |
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#43 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: London
Posts: 2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pmaciver
Well I've signed up for this service as well, which is to be installed on the 15th of June. My mum used to have it installed a couple of years ago when it wasn't that good. But reading what other people have said about the new service I hoping for big things from them.
The other reason that I have chosen to subscribe now and not earlier is that I am a Linux user and although I know it was possible to use Linux with the old system, it just seemed like too much work just to get an internet connection. Now that they have ethernet ports on their Set Top Boxes I can just plug in my existing ADSL router and share the connection between all the pc in my house regardless of the operating system that they run. And seeing that my linux box is already set up to access the internet through this router then I should be able to just plug it in and go (I'm hoping). I'll report back on my findings about the ease of getting my internet connection working with Linux when it's installed. The only thing that I'm having trouble with is subscribing to the news groups. I don't know whether this is because I am a Linux user and I have to do something to actually get this to work properly, or something else. The other thing that Im having trouble with is the smtp server. Again I don't know whether this is a Linux problem (althought I don't see why it should be) or something else. If anyone has any knowledge on these two subjects I would be greatful to hear from you. Well I'm off ot but a £50 netgear router today so that I can share the connection with the others in my house. I let you know my findings when I do. |
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#44 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 165
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I've had Homechoice for 3 years and its fantastic. Up till now it has not been a direct competitior to NTL or SKY etc as it was purely video on demand. There are 5000 music videos for example available at the press of a button where you can search by artist title etc. They are bang up to date and often have new video's available before the hits/tmf etc.
The broadband service is A1 also. I've had a 1.5 mps service for a year and it works wonderfully. It has no effect on the tv picture if you have both on at same time. I spoke to customer services recently and they said the picture will be MPEG 4 within a few months which is dvd quality. What people have to bear in mind before they slag the service/company off is that they are just developing the channels you watch as you do now - uk gold etc, as up till now its been pure video on demand which is great. in 6 months to a year when they have all the major channels on board this will be THE service to have. I've been lucky to have it for the last 3 years as for the last 2 they have not taken on any new subscribers in order to get the service working properly before increasing customer base |
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#45 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tooting, London
Posts: 103
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Widescreen now available
It seems HomeChoice are now able to provide widescreen output from the STB. The customer service agent I just spoke with said that she'd just gotten the email announcing it this morning. It's a setting that the installation engineer has to enable in the box. They're sending somebody to my place tomorrow to turn it on.
This leaves me with only one significant HomeChoice complaint, the broadband bandwidth limitations. |
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#46 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: London, U.K.
Posts: 1,560
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What the f* are you doing, if 1GB/day (or 45GB/month) are a significant complaint?
Get a life! |
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#47 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: West London
Posts: 24,301
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brush Master
What the f* are you doing, if 1GB/day (or 45GB/month) are a significant complaint?
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#48 |
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Posts: n/a
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Inkblot
I'm not sure what that is in real terms. For example, if I listen to an online radio station @ 128 k for four hours a day, how many MB or GB or whatever is that a month? If someone could "show their working" so I can see how to calculate that kind of thing I'd be most grateful!
128kbits/sec = 4K/sec (kilobytes) So your audio stream would total 432,000 * 4 = 1,728,000K - or a little over 1.6GB in a month. Leaving you more than 43GB of Web browsing and downloads. You'd have to watch a fair amount of streaming video to hit the limit on a regular basis, I expect. If you are intending to download DVD-quality films you might run into trouble, but how many people do that? |
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#49 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: London, U.K.
Posts: 1,560
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Is the calculation that simple?
I would have thought there are at least two more aspects to it: (1) 128kbps means 128kbps effective audio data rate at the decoder. That is, the more monotonous the music you listen to, or the better is compresses for other reasons, the lower the actual transfer rate gets. Assuming my understanding is correct, then your figure will be a worst case figure. Good enough for an estimation related to an ISP's bandwidth limitation; not good enough for making a statement about the actual network load incurred. (2) The data rate figure relates to sheer payload, ignoring any packet frame overhead. I'd be interested to hear reasonable rules of thumb as to how to estimate the overhead ratio. Thus, until a better formula is suggested, I am in favor of a simple experiment. Listen to BBC Radio 3 and Radio 1 for one hour each (classical and pop music have different compression qualities) and note the figures "bytes send" and "bytes received" for each, using Windows' NIC connection status dialog. |
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#50 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: West London
Posts: 24,301
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mithy73
Well, four hours a day in a 30-day month would be 4 * 3,600 * 30 = 432,000 seconds.
128kbits/sec = 4K/sec (kilobytes) So your audio stream would total 432,000 * 4 = 1,728,000K - or a little over 1.6GB in a month. |
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