High Definition TV in the UK Explored

Your HD TV will need a different type of connector for connecting to an HD set-top box, Blu-ray player or games console – the connector will either be a DVI (Digital Video Interface) or more commonly, an HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) connection.

You’ll also need an HD TV decoder (such as a Sky+HD set-top box) to watch hi-definition TV.

Sky+HD Box – High Definition receiver

It’s important to note that High Definition is nothing to do with the Digital Switchover. You don’t need an HD TV to get digital TV.

More and more content is now being recorded in an HD format, so we can expect the available content to increase over the coming months and years.

• Sky Digital launched its High Definition satellite TV service in May 2006.
• Channels: 65 channels. Largest number of HD channels in the UK. The following High Definition channels are available: BBC One HD, BBC Two HD, ITV 1 HD, Channel 4 HD, Sky 1 HD, Fox HD, E4 HD, Biography HD, Sky Arts HD, Luxury Life TV, SyFy HD, Sky Real Lives, nine Sky HD Movies channels, 4 Sky Sports HD channels, Sky Atlantic HD, Sky News HD, Eurosport HD, Discovery HD, National Geographic, History HD, Crime HD plus Sky Box Office HD movie channels. See the full Sky HD Channel List.
• The Sky+HD box records up to 180 hours standard or 60 hours of HD, and the box supports the 720p and 1080i HD formats
• How to get it: You’ll need a Sky+HD Box (currently free), to pay the monthly HD subscription, and to have an HD-Ready TV set.

OFFER: Check out the latest offer for new customers looking to sign up to Sky+HD at www.sky.com/hd

• Content: Over 28 channels available, including – BBC One HD, BBC Two HD, ITV 1 HD, Channel 4, National Geographic HD, Fox HD, Living HD, Sky 1 HD, Film 4 HD, SyFy HD, Eurosport HD, Discovery HD, E4 HD and MTVN HD. For an additional subscription fee, there’s Sky Sports 1 and 2 HD, plus ESPN HD.
  On-demand HD content is available though, including Movies on Demand and TV choice
• How to get it: You’ll need the Virgin Media V+ box. Installation of the V+ box costs £49. Additionally, there’s a monthly subscription for the V+ service (£5 a month, or free if you’re on the XL package)More on Virgin Media’s site

• Channels: The following channels are available in HD on Freesat: BBC One HD, BBC Two HD, ITV 1 HD and Channel 4 HD. See the full Freesat channel list.
• How to get it: To get Freesat, you’ll need a High Definition receiver (from £120) and a satellite dish (installation typically £80). See our Freesat box list. More on our Freesat Explained page.

You can get a free YouView box from BT, and get access to 4 Freeview HD channels, plus a decent collection of movies in HD to watch via Broadband on your TV.

More details at get.youview.bt.com

• Channels: BBC One HD, BBC Two HD, ITV 1 HD (STV HD in Scotland) and Channel 4 HD.
• How to get it: You’ll need a special Freeview HD set-top box or TV set. See our Freeview HD Boxes page

More on Freeview HD.

An alternative, is the slightly older DVI connector (Digital Visual Interface), pictured below:

You also get high definition using component cables – note that this is analogue, and component does not carry the audio.

Looking for high-definition cables and adapters, such as HDMI leads, or HDMI to DVI cables? Try TV Cables or Maplin Electronics

We recommend the Nikkai Pure range (high-quality, oxygen-free copper) for minimal signal loss.

• 720 progressive – Each image is made up of 1280 pixels on 720 horizontal lines. The ‘progressive’ bit refers to the fact that each line is drawn individually to build up the picture.
• 1080 interlaced – Each image is made up of 1920 pixels on 1080 lines. ‘Interlaced’ refers to the fact that the image is split into two ‘fields’ that are scanned separately, odd-numbered lines, then even-numbered lines.

1080i offers more detail than 720p, but interlaced images aren’t as smooth as images that are rendered progressively. The format of an HD picture depends on how the programme maker recorded the programme.

Set-top boxes such as the Sky+HD box support both 720p or 1080i HD formats, switching according to the programme’s format, and a high percentage of HD-Ready TV sets support 720p and 1080i (but check before you buy).

The highest quality HD format is 1080p (progressive), and this is known as “Full HD” – However note that no UK broadcaster is currently offering 1080p content, so TV services don’t use this standard. For 1080p content, look at Blu-Ray discs or the output of some games consoles.

• Have a minimum native display resolution of 720 physical lines in wide aspect ratio.
• Accept HD input via: Analogue YPbPr1, and DVI or HDMI
• Have HD capable inputs that accept 1280×720 @ 50 and 60Hz progressive (“720p”), and 1920×1080 @ 50 and 60Hz interlaced (“1080i”)
• The DVI or HDMI input must support content protection (HDCP)

Yes, you can use an HD set-top box even if you don’t yet have an HD-Ready TV set. Obviously, you won’t be able to watch HD content until you get an HD channel, but you will be able to watch the Standard Definition channels. Typically, you’ll connect from the HD box to the TV using a SCART lead.

If you’re looking to get HD via your TV aerial, you’ll need Freeview HD. If your aerial s able to let you receive Freeview channels, it should be fine for Freeview HD when it comes to your area.

Note that HD denotes the number of horizontal lines a picture has (minimum 720, compared with 576 for standard definition). Just because content is “in HD”, there’s no guarantee that it’s pin-sharp and perfect. A number of factors can affect HD quality:

• Sky HD boxes support two different HD formats 720p and 1080i. More.
• Compression – HD uses a lot more bandwidth than standard definition, and the signal is compressed (Sky use MPEG-4 compression for their HD service). Different compression ratios can be used. Fast-moving images (common with sporting events) make compression artifacts more visible.
• Not all content on HD TV channels is true HD. Some content is standard definition that’s been ‘upscaled’ to the larger number of horizontal lines used on HD.
• Recording techniques – Different broadcasters record, edit and transmit their content differently, and it’s not always perfect.

Well, they both are capable of transmitting High Definition. HDMI is ‘digital’, so is less prone to interference over long distances. HDMI also carries the audio. Component is analogue and doesn’t carry audio. For more on this, read this article.

At the basic end is a 2-into-one selector lead (the HDMI Selector from Maplin, and there are various other 2-way, 3-way and 4-way selectors available from TV Cables or Maplin Electronics. See our HDMI Help and Advice page for more.

In Show 15 of our podcast, we heard from forum visitor Linus, who pointed out the following… “sales folk are keen to push ‘bigger is better’, but unless you watch your telly in a pitch-black room, you could be wasting your money going for big-number ratios. In a living room with moderate ambient light, anything higher than a 500:1 ratio wouldn’t be perceivable by the eye.”

For more on choosing a telly, see our podcast’s How to choose a digital TV page, and listen to our audio guide in Show 25.

Supports many different video, audio and image files and with two USB sockets for memory sticks and hard drives, this is a great and cheap option for watching HD content on your telly.

See our full review, photos and screenshots on our WD TV HD Media Player Review.