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-   -   Direct-To-Home television in India. Update DTH UHD (4K) now available (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadgets-computers-software/15881-direct-home-television-india-update-dth-uhd-4k-now-available-162.html)

Hi, which VPN service do you use? Is it fast enough to stream HD video? I tried H.M.A VPN service (tried with one month subscription), but their servers in India are very slow and limited the bandwidth to less than 1Mbps.

If Chromecast mirrors your screen, it should be. I have used it though.

I use VPN Unlimited - they had a lifetime offer running sometime back, be sure to check them out. And yes, they are fast enough to stream HD Video.

On the topic:
The general tendency is to see who has the most HD Channels or most channels - I would advise people to 'only' choose what you want to watch - you end up saving a lot. Why bother with 200 channels if you watch only 20?

This is a good setup. However, I think it caters to only the type of users who are interested in non-Indian content.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

I stopped my DishTV more than a year ago.
At times, I download episodes from YouTube and watch them on the TV. Nothing illegal. The quality is not good though (e.g. SAB TV's YouTube channel does not have high resolution / good quality videos).

The good part is I can catch up on all the weekly episodes in one sitting over the weekend. Also, no advertisements.


I have a measly 1 Mbps connection. :(

I meant - I have NOT used it though.

Absolutely right.
However Sony has a very good youtube channel. My point is if you are forced :) to buy a DTH by the ladies in the house (that's the most common thing I hear) - choose only those channels that they watch, not everything.

Here is what I have paid Tata Sky over 4 years: 600*12*4 = 29k approx. It is sheer stupidity if I look at those numbers now. And all I ever watched was sports. Its been over 3 months and I have yet to recharge my TS - I do not miss it at all. However, something like a World Cup comes along, I will probably recharge it for a month, still saves me tonnes of money.

Thank you for the details, I am looking to get a Videocon HD.

Any feedback on videocon HD, Have searched around and found that some are saying its great and some are saying its bad.

Thanks

My cousin moved from DishDTH to videocon. No complaints that I know of. Check their annualized plans as they give you hardware free if you take the annual pack. Atleast it was true a year or so back.

Thank you. It is available right now also if we take one year plan it is comparitively cheaper and also the hardware is free of cost.

Will make the payment and get it installed tomorrow.

Thanks
Zaveed

Thank you pratyush

Videocon currently has a 2000 off on annual subscriptions with HD. It should come to 6000 for a year with a few HD channels.

I am currently looking at this. They are (to the best of knowledge) the only provider to use RF remotes. This means that I can neatly tuck the set top box (velcro it) to behind the TV to get a clean wall mount look with the electric connections and additional wires mounted behind the TV. (Or in the worst case a single pipe would do). You dont need to point the remote at the set top box for it to work.

Thanks a lot for the info. After trying a couple of services and spending some dollars, I had decided VPN is not a viable solution in India to access sites like Netflix, HeroTalkies etc due to poor bandwidth.

I tried VPN Unlimited and see speeds up to 8MBps (that is my Airtel broadband speed limit as well) on their Singapore server and about 3.5Mbps on their US server. Unfortunately, they do not have the lifetime offer now. The annual subscription is $24. With a one year subscription they also provide details to configure the Wifi router as a VPN server. Will give it a try.

Are there any other DTH operators other than Reliance, who do the upscaling of SD channels?

Once, I tried Airtel but went back to Reliance coz of this lack of upscaling of SD feed with Airtel. On a 50" FHD TV, SD channels look awful without upscaling. I have been sticking with Reliance, precisely for this specific feature.

So for the first time today during a very heavy downpour there was no loss of signal on our Tata Sky system. Some change in technology or just a fluke? Maybe a new technology in play. Wonder which one is it?

In a 50", please stick to full HD or UHD. Upscaled or otherwise, SD is just that - standard definition. On 30", even SD looks good!

I bought a 40" HD TV in 2009 and watched only HD media (Blu Ray) until HD was introduced through satellite receivers (set-top boxes). I don't want to dilute the viewing pleasure by going back to SD.

Cost wise it's rather expensive, paying for the entire bouquet and watching only the handful of HD channels. But I'm happy with Tata Sky who keep adding new HD channels rather than Dish TV who keep removing them!

I was following Videocon D2H very closely for sometime till early this year. I was cheesed off with Tata Sky's tactics of continuously raising the charges on the packages and even for the second connection. Also, for keeping some of the real watchable HD channels out of the standard packages and for asking for separate subscription just for those.

That was was till I reached the last month of my long term TSky subscription and needed to take the final call. This is when I studied the offerings from Videocon and to my astonishment I realized that somewhere along the way they have lost the edge in terms of pricing vis a vis offering that they enjoyed earlier. Now they are much more costlier than TSky for an HD package like Platinum HD which is comparable to what I have from TSky. I think they continue to remain marginally cheaper if you want a plain vanilla SD connection. Even the second connection (multiroom) is costlier, particularly for the bigger packs. A quick, back of the envelope calculation showed me that I am better off sticking to TSky.

Of course TSky seemed to have changed their tactics now. They do not make every new channel a separate bouquet anymore. As a result I am seeing new channels getting added along with their HD equivalent in my package nowadays.

I don't think so. That's because I am not sure whether changing the signal quality of the broadcaster is really a very clean/legal practice. Most others stay clear of this practice. Moreover, the SD signal so upgraded looks less sharp and carry artifacts. Also, remember, you can't really tell whether Reliance at all carries any true HD signal. They claim all their channels are HD anyways. :p

Agreed.

Please share if you have contacts of higher ups/floor managers of reliance digital television. I am having tough time with their CSR's and disconnected calls. please:

I just want to post about the Ineptitude of the Technical Guys & Marketing Guys running Tata Sky now. I have been a customer since the beginning of Tata Sky and am a premium customer yet they still treat me like this.

Recently Tata Sky decided after smoking something that they are not harassing their customers enough so they decided to "Push" videos on the Hard Drive of their Tata Sky HD + Boxes. These are your regular Serials, Movies etc which you can anyway Record by your choice and convenience but no, Tata Sky wants to fill your Hard Disk with content you want to watch. This is different from Video on Demand Service which downloads videos from the internet. To see it in action, Click Showcase button on your Tata Sky Remote and go to Video On Demand. You will see videos that have been downloaded automatically onto your DTH Box. The icing on the cake is that you can't delete these videos. They will get automatically deleted after some time. The best part is yet to come. If you thought you could watch videos of channels you haven't subscribed (e.g. HBO Hits or HBO Defined) it will give you error message to first subscribe to that channel in order to see it.

The problem I faced was that I had quite some programs that I had recorded on my box and since there's an upper limit on the number of program entries that can be recorded, when 30 of such videos were automatically downloaded into my box, I couldn't record more videos and had to delete my own videos. I got fed up with this and complained to the Customer Center who promptly sent a technician to my home who was more interested in changing the box than trying to find out the problem and it's solution. Mind you, my box has been problem free since 4 years and all he wanted to spring on me was a refurbished one. When I refused, he said to try the refurbishment and see if it also downloads the videos and if it does, he'll return my old box. (Pls. do remember I had never complained about my box). All this while I was trying my best to tell him that it's not a box problem but the satellite is pushing the videos.

The $hit the fan today when the new refurbished box he swapped with my old one also downloaded those videos. Further more, the refurbished box has an intermittent re-starting problem every 2 seconds which makes watching TV impossible. I was appalled by the quality of their "refurbished" unit and promptly told him to remember his promise and return my original box which was trouble free from the start & had my some recorded videos too. He starts making excuse that since it's in the "system" we can't return it to you and you can do whatever you want. I've been calling Nodal Officers etc but everyone has the same answer that they can't return my old box and I have to make do with a refurbished box.

I'm really shocked by this behavior of Tata Sky, imagine Airtel pushing Apps to your phone which you can't delete and when you complain, instead of rectifying the problem taking your phone away and giving you a refurbished phone. I'm seriously thinking about moving to a different DTH provider after suffering this ordeal. This is the first time I have ever complained and I think I would not break my golden rule that it's better not to complain because it will get worse. Even though I will take a hit while moving to a new DTH operator, I'm willing to do that. Guys what should I do now ?