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Sky+ HD is the brand name of the HDTV service launched by BSkyB on 22 May 2006 in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland to enable high definition channels on Sky Digital to be viewed. For the first 2 years after launch, the service was branded Sky HD. The service requires the user to have a Sky+ HD Digibox (costing upwards of £49 or €49 to new customers), and a HD ready TV. Customers who pre-ordered by paying a £30/€45 deposit before 6 April 2006 were the first to receive the service, with installations starting on 22 May 2006.

On 30 June 2009, Sky announced that the number of homes with Sky+HD has gone up to 1.313m.[1]

Subscriptions

File:Skyhdlogo.JPG
Original logo from 2006 to 2008

A subscription to the HD Mix carries an extra £9.75/€14.75 per month fee on top of the standard Sky subscription. This fee allows customers to view the equivalent HD channels of their chosen channel package. To receive all HD channels, a customer must subscribe to the Sky Movies and Sky Sports packages. Without a subscription to Sky Movies or Sky Sports, Sky Movies HD and Sky Sports HD respectively, will not be available.

Sky+ recording facilities are included at no cost if a customer subscribes to any Sky Digital package. Viewers who do not take a subscription channel package will still receive all free channels, but cannot use the recording facilities, although they can be subscribed to standalone for £9.75/month.

Additional Pay-Per-View events on Sky Box Office HD are not available to customers unless they subscribe to the Sky HD mix.

Free Channels

A number of FTA HD channels are available which do not require a subscription, only an HD capable digibox such as the Sky+ HD box.

BBC HD, ITV HD and Luxe.TV HD are all broadcast free to air, and Channel 4 HD broadcasts free to view, requiring only a viewing card but no subscription. ITV HD is not listed on the Sky EPG but can be tuned in manually via the 'Other Channels' menu on Sky HD boxes with the latest version of the EPG software.[2]

Technical information

The Sky+ HD Digibox backpanel.

The first generation of Sky+ HD Digibox were produced by Thomson. Sky have since added Samsung, Pace and Amstrad as manufacturers, and the Thomson box has been discontinued (though it is still available/supplied as an A grade refurbished item from Sky). A manufacturing fault led to a batch of up to 90,000 units manufactured by Pace / Sky starting to replace boxes , commencing in February 2009 and still ongoing in spring 2009.[3]

For connectivity with HD ready televisions, the box outputs via a HDMI connector (adapters to Digital Visual Interface are available). The box is High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) compliant. Sky boxes manufactured prior to Jan 2008 also had analogue component connections (YPbPr), but as the HDCP copy protection cannot be applied to this type of output it is no longer included. Traditional standard-definition (SD) connections are available via SCART and S-Video. All programming is currently output from both HDMI and SD connections, although individual broadcasters have the option to require HDCP (and therefore HDMI) in the future. The digibox also comes with a new slimline version of the Sky+ remote control.

All HD channels are broadcast in 1080i format (though the box can be set to scale this to 720p if the user wishes), using the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC compression standard, from Astra 2A, Astra 2B and Eurobird 1 satellites at 28.2°E and 28.5E in a new DVB transmission standard, DVB-S2. BBC HD is however DVB-S.

The Version 5 EPG (electronic program guide) is almost identical to the one found on Sky+, with the exception being that by pressing TV Guide and then number 2 on the remote control, listings for only the HD channels are shown. An update was sent to the HD boxes early on March 20, 2007, which also included code for Sky Anytime. Sky Anytime TV is accessed by pressing "TV Guide" and then the red button. Version 8 of the Sky Guide, dubbed the Sky+ HD guide, was released in early 2009. This version boasts a Mini TV (similar to that in version 5's Sky Anytime), improved search functions and a completely new look. Further information can be found in the 'Sky+ HD Guide' section below.

Channels

Main article: List of HD channels on Sky+ HD

The launch line-up consisted of Sky1 HD, Sky Arts HD, Sky Movies HD 1, Sky Movies HD 2, Sky Sports HD 1, Discovery HD, National Geographic Channel HD, Sky Box Office HD 1 and Sky Box Office HD 2.

Currently, there are 34 HD Channels available on Sky+ HD, with more rumoured to be launching during 2009.

Sky Anytime

Main article: Sky Anytime

On 27 March 2007, Sky launched its Sky Anytime on TV Push-Video on Demand service for owners of Sky+ HD set top boxes. Programmes in high definition and standard definition are recorded overnight to a reserved 140GB of disk space, to give the effect of video on demand.

This has also been used to bring viewers high definition programmes from channels that do not currently broadcast in HD. These have included Sky News (Technofile, Diana: The Last Word), The Disney Channel (High School Musical 2) and Nickelodeon (iCarly)

Developments

Increase in HD channels

In the two years since launch, the number of HD channels available has increased significantly and will grow even more during 2009, thus Sky+ HD is the world’s largest HD offering outside North America.[4] However, this expansion of channels did not include ITV HD at launch, as the service will initially be exclusive to Freesat. Although it can now be added manually by the Sky user as long as they have the latest update.[5]

The Sky+ HD Guide

Since the launch, the Sky+ HD EPG has been based upon the Sky Guide, which has changed little since the launch of Sky Digital in 1998. For two years, Sky have been working on a completely new EPG exclusively for Sky+ HD boxes. This was first made available to customers with Thomson boxes in March 2009.As of May 28 2009 all Thomson and Pace models have been upgraded to the new EPG. The remaining Samsung and Amstrad boxes will be updated in August and September 2009. Further information and details about the EPG are available on the Sky+HD Guide website, with a user guide on how to use the EPG and new instruction manuals for the boxes.[6]

The channel listings will now be cached on the hard drive, freeing up the tuner so that users can continue to view programmes in a small Mini TV while browsing the TV Guide. The data being stored on the hard drive also means that loading times decrease and synopsis information can be displayed for channels other than the one you are watching. Other features include a significantly improved programme search system, A Series Stack which groups episodes of the same series together in the planner, and the ability to highlight HD programmes in the TV guide. The new EPG is also presented in 1080i, rather than the current upscaled version.[7]

The current EPG Software Version for Thomson boxes is sky+ 8.3.2, and for Pace boxes is sky+ 8.4.0. [6]

Video on demand

New Sky+ HD boxes have a green outline on their ethernet ports, matching the green ports on the new Sky Broadband Routers

Sky have so far announced few details on their plans for a full Video on Demand service. However, they have made it clear that they plan to use the ethernet port on the HD box for VOD in the near future, and that the forthcoming EPG update is designed to "lay the groundwork" for this service. If a new VOD service was to be launched it would require the content to be delivered via a user's broadband connection, as the satellite technology cannot deliver content truly on demand.[citation needed] James Murdoch has been referenced saying that due to the acquisition of Easynet, Sky has a "backbone" for a delivery network of IPTV (Video on Demand Services). The service will probably be similar to DirecTV's (a subsidiary of Liberty Media) Video on Demand service, which delivers content through an ethernet port connected to a user's home network; however DirecTV does not provide its own broadband service, and does not have the "backbone" which Sky gained from Easynet.[8][9]

On 30 July 2009, Sky confirmed the launch of a comprehensive ‘pull’ video-on-demand (VOD) service for 2010, to provide Sky+ HD customers with additional choice and control to complement Sky+ and the current Sky Anytime ‘push’ VOD service. This new service will use the broadband capability of existing Sky+ HD boxes. [10]

3D

In December 2008, Sky demonstrated a show reel of 3D content, this is designed to running through existing hardware rather than a new set top box having to be purchased.The HD box is expected to be released in 2010 it is a great experience.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jul/30/bskyb-annual-results-2009-new-subscribers
  2. ^ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=1001614
  3. ^ "Fault hits 90,000 Sky+ HD boxes". Digital Spy. 2009-02-14.
  4. ^ Forrester, Chris (2008-04-30). "BSkyB: On way to 30 HD channels". Rapid TV News. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
  5. ^ West, Dave (2008-05-06). "Confirmed: ITV HD is Freesat exclusive". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
  6. ^ a b "Sky HD EPG gets a major upgrade". [thetechangel.com]. 2009-03-11. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  7. ^ Scott, Katie (2008-05-29). "BSkyB previews HD Sky Guide". Pocket Lint. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
  8. ^ "DirecTV on-demand". DirecTV. 2008-06-10. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
  9. ^ Welsh, James (2008-05-29). "Sky unveils new high definition EPG". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sky 3D was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "Interview: How Sky 3D is drawing closer". TechRadar. 2009-05-27. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
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