Where do you get HD content from?

Randomface74 · 27 Aug 2018 at 20:53

OK, so this is about how I'm annoyed with live TV being broadcast in SD, and wondering what people actually watch - surely you're not all watching SD on your HD or 4K TVS?

atm I have:
- Freeview HD, gives me 1-5 +news in HD, and a ton of SD
- via PC-HDMI: Amazon Prime, YouTube, Twitch, VLC

What I'd really like is something like the Sony Movie Channel but in HD. I don't want to have to buy/rent every bit of content I watch.

Suggestions?

Edit: I have a dumb 1080p TV. But i'll be looking for a 4K HDR tv in the black friday sale, so I'm also interested in where you get 4K content from. I'm aware Amazon Prime won't do 4K on the PC, need to use the tv app afaik.

Mel_P · 27 Aug 2018 at 21:01

Freesat has BBC channels (INCLUDING CBBC and CBeebies!!) , ITV1 and Ch4 and Ch5 in HD. (and usually dolby sound).

Kanpai · 27 Aug 2018 at 22:39

A majority of services which are fed via my Nvidia Shield (iPlayer/Prime Video/Netflix/YouTube/Kodi), best bit of hardware I've purchased in recent years.

Mel_P · 27 Aug 2018 at 22:53

If you want full HD or higher you'll have to pay!

E.g. sky.

MookJong · 28 Aug 2018 at 10:14

Virgin all main channels are in HD
Netflix, nearly everything recent is in HD (Netflix do offer an ultra service but I don't have a 4k TV so no point).

Mak3R · 28 Aug 2018 at 10:31

This annoys me when I think about it. Surely in this day and age HD should be the standard mode and you pay for the fancier ones like 4K. Are we going to be milked by sky, virgin etc for HD forever?

Mel_P · 28 Aug 2018 at 10:38

Yep! BBC HD etc, on Freesat is not as "HD" as cable or Sky, or so I am led to believe. 1440 instead of 1920 - but I can find anywhere to check this? Mel

Randomface74 · 28 Aug 2018 at 11:01

Are people saying that everything on Sky/Virgin is HD? Is that right?
Even channels such as channel 32 the sony movie channel which is only SD over Freeview?

Mel_P · 28 Aug 2018 at 11:08

billysielu said:
Are people saying that everything on Sky/Virgin is HD? Is that right?
Even channels such as channel 32 the sony movie channel which is only SD over Freeview?

Here is the Virgin Channel line up
https://my.virginmedia.com/content/dam/virgoBrowse/docs/VirginMediaTVChannelGuide.pdf

Sony movie channel does not appear to be HD

Kanpai · 28 Aug 2018 at 12:01

billysielu said:
Are people saying that everything on Sky/Virgin is HD? Is that right?
Even channels such as channel 32 the sony movie channel which is only SD over Freeview?

Unfortunately no, quite a lot of channels still broadcast in SD, so frustrating having to watch these channels in this day and age!

bremen1874 · 28 Aug 2018 at 12:07

There's a finite amount of bandwidth. If everything was in HD I'm pretty certain they'd have to drop some of the channels to make room.

Scam · 28 Aug 2018 at 12:09

The only "live" TV I watch is Freeview so most of that is in HD. Apart from Film4 which does my nut that it's not HD, and E4 which is not quite so annoying as it's generally just for nonsense like Big Bang Theory or Tattoo Fixers

p). Everything else is Netflix or Prime.

Sp00n · 28 Aug 2018 at 12:30

Mel_P said:
Freesat has BBC channels (INCLUDING CBBC and CBeebies!!) , ITV1 and Ch4 and Ch5 in HD. (and usually dolby sound).

Channel 4 HD was dropped due to some licensing nonsense, but you can still view it via STB mode.

There is also Quest HD which was recently added and NHK World but I've never watched it.

G-MAN2004 · 28 Aug 2018 at 16:59

All I watch is Netflix (4K sub) and that's pretty much it. Most of the Netflix Originals series on there are worth a watch.

chroniclard · 28 Aug 2018 at 17:04

Didnt know SD still existed.

Usual streaming apps and Usenet.

Malevolence · 28 Aug 2018 at 22:36

Only Freeview HD here. Can't have a Sky dish, Virgin refuse to install their product at my property and, despite living in a large(ish) city, internet isn't fibre enabled yet. So for most of my stuff I just don the eye patch and attach the parrot to my shoulder.

killem · 28 Aug 2018 at 22:44

SpartaK said:
A majority of services which are fed via my Nvidia Shield (iPlayer/Prime Video/Netflix/YouTube/Kodi), best bit of hardware I've purchased in recent years.

This. Only down side is the netflix app wont output atmos. But for 4k HDR on netflix, Amazon prime and Kodi I am very happy with it.

TJM · 29 Aug 2018 at 08:51

billysielu said:
What I'd really like is something like the Sony Movie Channel but in HD. I don't want to have to buy/rent every bit of content I watch.

Unfortunately the future of high quality content delivery is online, not over the air, so you'll have to bite the subscription bullet at some point.

I have an Apple TV 4K with Netflix for general viewing and iTunes for buying or renting films that are worth seeing in 4K. If you add Now TV, which has Sky's best content at 720p for a fraction of Sky's monthly cost, you'll have access to a lot of HD content.

Glanza · 29 Aug 2018 at 09:06

Sky Q offering Ultra HD on certain programs now, general HD for everything else I watch on there then Netflix and Amazon.

TheVoice · 30 Aug 2018 at 10:28

Freeview HD, BT TV, Netflix, Now TV and Amazon Prime Video. I never, ever watch the SD Freeview/BT channels.

I'll probably go back to Sky at some point though because they at least have HD versions of Film 4, E4 etc whereas BT TV/Freeview doesn't.