Team-BHP - Direct-To-Home television in India. Update DTH UHD (4K) now available

Quote:

Originally Posted by SumitB (Post 1014784)

TataSky has launched its DVR services. Its a bit costly though.

DTH ? Tata Sky DTH in India, Leading Satellite Television Provider in India, DTH services by Tata Sky, Direct-to-home, India

I'll wait to see what the offer is for existing customers...
Also TSky needs to give some more information about this box: Is it future proof - tomorrow if they launch HD channels, will the same box work or will I have to change again? What sort of connections does it have at the back? Is their any difference in picture quality compared to the regular service?
I actually dont think it's a bad price for a box with a 160gb HDD. I was expecting it to be 10k+.

TATA Sky is all crap, I have taken a connection a few months back and their decoder only supports RCA (composite video) output (1Video/2Audio). RCA o/p's are lousy to use with a LCD screen, you just don't get clarity. They should have atleast offered component video or S-video outputs. Then they can claim DVD quality picture like they do on their website, the claim of DVD quality on their website today is bogus, you just won't get DVD quality if you connect RCA jacks to your LCD.

HDMI o/p's on the decoder as of today wouldn't help since the transmission isn't HDTV, but the Component video or S-video would definitely give a much better picture on a LCD. I guess I heard that BigTv has launched S-video o/p decoders. Gotta wait and see, and maybe change in some time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by StarScream (Post 1016173)

Oh and btw, forgot to mention, you really should think twice before considering the DVR decoder if it only has RCA. I tried to check on the TATASky website but they didn't have any mention of the o/p on the TATASky+ decoder (they call it tatasky+).

I got quite irritated by the Big TV website.
The print out only shows what is visible on the screen and the channel list needs to be scrolled down.

Simple fix. Right click on the channel lists and save the image.
Now open it in any image viewer and shoot out a print.

Handy tip for people who need to take a print out home for approval.

Quote:

Originally Posted by StarScream (Post 1018242)

Big has announced today that they will increase their channel offerings from 200 to 400 include niche special channels.

Where did you get the news? Could you give us link or so. Apart from Indian channels if we get offer for foreign channels then it would sure create much more interest in DTH.

Finally we have decided to go for one of the guys.
I am wondering why is it that all websites mention 3500 for 6 months, and are mum about monthly charges, unless you deep dive.
Don't want Tata Sky, as their channel kitty is heavy geared towards mainstream channels and we would end up paying for stuff we don't watch.
Thinking about either Big TV(but scared of reliance), or Airtel(the prime candidate).
We watch
Colors, HBO. Star World, Star Movies, Z-Cafe, Animal Planet. AXN, Discovery, History channel, Zoom, MTV. V, CN, NDTV 24x7, Profit, Star One, CNBC, Times(sometimes) .
No Aaj Tak, Aastha etc., kind of channels.

Quote:

Originally Posted by anujmishra (Post 1019155)

Where did you get the news? Could you give us link or so. Apart from Indian channels if we get offer for foreign channels then it would sure create much more interest in DTH.

Check this link [Source: moneycontrol.com]

Package and service wise, I would still suggest TataSky. BigTV has a BIG Problem with its Customer Service at the moment. With Airtel, the package rates are a bit costlier but it seems that the Airtel STB has some option to be connected to Airtel Landline which will in turn offer true interactive services and they have also tied up with Infosys for this. I have not seen Airtel or BigTV installed anywhere so I cannot comment on their picture quality.

In Hyderabad, Big TV is offering 152 channels for Rs.2190 free until 1 year from date of installation. Most importantly, no charges for installation,wiring et all.

After one year, they mentioned the same number of channels will be available for Rs.175 per month. After all a year is a long period and i have no doubt they will jack up the rates by then.

I am currently paying Rs.300 + 25 ( Sports Pack) + 45 ( Entertainment pack which includes colors, NDTV Good Times) = 370 per month which is lootmaar.

I recently replenished with Rs.500. I got to wait for 1.5 months to get it exhausted.:Frustrati

However, Big TV folks told me to pay Rs.2190 now and book and they will install after tata sky amount is exhausted, which seems like a cool gesture

A quick comparision :

Tata Sky ( MPEG-2 Technology) Rs.370 X 12 = Rs.3740
Reliance ( MPEG-4 Technology) : Rs.2190 for 12 months which covers all the channels that i see in Tata Sky:)

Do you think its a good idea to move to Big TV? Is the difference in quality is really huge between MPEG 2 and 4?

MPEG4 and MPEG2 is an eyewash. This technology will only come into the picture once HD-Transmission is introduced in India but with that, we have to upgrade our STBs anyways as none of the current STBs support HD. With DTH, Customer Service is what matters at the moment. I have heard only horror stories with BigTV and DishTV. I am assuming that Airtel will fair better in Customer Services but their package rates are high.

MPEG2 and MPEG4 will also make a difference in the scenario when more channels are introduced and MPEG4 does allow the broadcaster to squeeze in more channels when compared to MPEG2 but then again, less bitrate per channel will lead to a degraded picture quality.

One advantage of Airtel is that it is offering WorldSpace channels even for the basic package.

In the end, it all comes down to personal preferance. Given the current situtation, if I were to get a new connection, it would be TataSky, simply because there are less horror stories about them compared to the BigTV and DishTV. As for Airtel, I have not heard anything about them yet, be it good or bad but their package rates are high.