Is BBCA really in HD?

Don_S

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Jun 1, 2004
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After reading about the new HD channels on this Forum, I checked and found that I am getting all the 9 new channels. However, BBCA does not appear to be in HD.. the picture quality sucks (like watching a bad VHS tape) and the channel info banner does not have "HD" on the extreme right like all HD channels do. So is BBCA really in HD or not?
 
After reading about the new HD channels on this Forum, I checked and found that I am getting all the 9 new channels. However, BBCA does not appear to be in HD.. the picture quality sucks (like watching a bad VHS tape) and the channel info banner does not have "HD" on the extreme right like all HD channels do. So is BBCA really in HD or not?

Sounds like he needs to get his dish upgraded, give dish a call. :) and the answer is YES overwhelmingly!
 
Sounds like he needs to get his dish upgraded, give dish a call. :) and the answer is YES overwhelmingly!

I have the Dish 1000.2 and get the 129 bird, so not sure what they would be upgrading?? Also, all the other new HD channels have very good picture quality and do have the "HD" on the right end of the banner. I do get channel 135 (BBCA) but it does not show up in the all HD channel line-up. Not sure what's going on? :confused:
 
I have the Dish 1000.2 and get the 129 bird, so not sure what they would be upgrading?? Also, all the other new HD channels have very good picture quality and do have the "HD" on the right end of the banner. I do get channel 135 (BBCA) but it does not show up in the all HD channel line-up. Not sure what's going on? :confused:

did you try all channels and see if there are two of them.
 
I have the Dish 1000.2 and get the 129 bird, so not sure what they would be upgrading?? Also, all the other new HD channels have very good picture quality and do have the "HD" on the right end of the banner. I do get channel 135 (BBCA) but it does not show up in the all HD channel line-up. Not sure what's going on? :confused:
Have you checked the HD channels in the 9000s?

Edit: It should be 9450.
 
Have you checked the HD channels in the 9000s?

Edit: It should be 9450.

Just checked 9450 and 879.. they both have the HD prefix, but are in red (as in unsubscribed channels) when I click on them I get a message stating that it is an unsubscribed channel.. WTF?? I have the America's Everything Pak with HD.
 
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After reading about the new HD channels on this Forum, I checked and found that I am getting all the 9 new channels. However, BBCA does not appear to be in HD.. the picture quality sucks (like watching a bad VHS tape) and the channel info banner does not have "HD" on the extreme right like all HD channels do. So is BBCA really in HD or not?

Actually a lot of their shows aren't in HD. They're just well-upconverted wide screen PAL. It reminds me of what Fox does for "Hell's Kitchen" and "So You Think You Can Dance".
 
Actually a lot of their shows aren't in HD. They're just well-upconverted wide screen PAL. It reminds me of what Fox does for "Hell's Kitchen" and "So You Think You Can Dance".


You're right, but on a side note, I don't have any clue about the rules, but the rugby on there over the weekend was amazingly clear.
 
Doctor Who "The End of Time" was quite crisp.

They sure could do with less screen clutter and the popup ad crap though.
 
I wasn't getting any HD on BBCA, period (upconverted or not). I called Dish and everything is Kosher now... getting BBCA in HD!
 
Actually a good portion of BBCA is real HD. While the Brits are a bit behind us (for once) in HD content, things are gaining momentum as shows such as Doctor Who, Top Gear--most of BBCA's prime-time schedule is in true HD as they were produced so in the UK, but not necessarily aired in the UK domestically in Hi-Def. Unfortunately, BBCA still airs a lot of old standard def that looks it, but still improved from the SD BBCA Dish channel.

I'm unaware of any SD wide-screen programming on BBCA that has be "upconverted". I am aware of UK wide-screen programming still in Standard Def, but airing on BBCA HD. The effect is something like one would expect if it were "upconverted." It's just that almost any SD is going to look a lot better than it does on the standard def channel.

The sad part is that, the last I checked, BBC World News service was produced in wide-screen (at least for a number of years), but BBCA HD seems to zoom in and present it in a 4:3 aspect ratio. This is really unfortunate. BBCA used to air it in wide screen but zoomed with very thin black bars at top some time in the past (the UK wide-screen is a bit different from US wide-screen). I've also seen a few shows on BBCA HD that I know were produced in wide screen, but air on BBCA HD in an ugly forced 4:3 aspect ratio.
 
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Actually a good portion of BBCA is real HD. While the Brits are a bit behind us (for once) in HD content, things are gaining momentum as shows such as Doctor Who, Top Gear--most of BBCA's prime-time schedule is in true HD as they were produced so in the UK, but not necessarily aired in the UK domestically in Hi-Def. Unfortunately, BBCA still airs a lot of old standard def that looks it, but still improved from the SD BBCA Dish channel.

I'm unaware of any SD wide-screen programming on BBCA that has be "upconverted". I am aware of UK wide-screen programming still in Standard Def, but airing on BBCA HD. The effect is something like one would expect if it were "upconverted." It's just that almost any SD is going to look a lot better than it does on the standard def channel.

First off, programming on BBC channels other than BBC-HD are shown in 16x9 (or sometimes 14x10) and 576i. So they often look HD-like.

Any Top Gear episode prior to Fall 2009 is SD, but in 16x9 576i, so it looks close.

Same with Doctor Who episodes prior to the last 4.

All BBC World News is 14x10 576i.
 
I had the same problem, but only on one receiver. I called Dish and they "sent a signal from the satellite" and I had to do a check switch and download the program guide again after that. I was missing BBCHD and TruTvHD.
 
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