They're shuffling around the BBC HD channels when the new ones arrive. BBC One HD stays on 108, but they're moving BBC Alba to channel 161 and BBC Two HD to 162 (from 187), then the new ones will be
BBC THREE HD 163
BBC FOUR HD 164
BBC NEWS HD 604
CBBC HD 710
Ceebies HD 711
Not sure why they didn't put BBC One HD onto 161, but then channel numbering since the introduction of HD has always been a hit and miss affair.
9 comments:
Surely they are going to replace the SD channels with the HD ones at some point? i truly don't understand why the haven't already, or at least banished the SD ones to the channel 700 region or something.
There is a simple answer to that, HD channels are not regional like their SD versions, so the SD channels are kept in their normal positions so viewers can find the easily.
I do wish they'd at least give us the OPTION of displaying the HD channels in place of the SD versions in the guide. That way everyone would be happy.
I'm glad that the Beeb are finally updating their range to have a whole fleet of HD channels - I think this puts them toe to toe with Channel 4, who also have more than a handful to go around. BBC News HD is long overdue, especially since they've been shooting the majority of this content in HD for years, as evidenced by the 6pm news on BBC One HD which is simulcast with BBC News channel. Also that tech program Click, about cutting edge gadgetry (not a patch on Channel 5's The Gadget Show but occassionally worth a watch) having been hard to catch in HD until this year was unacceptable.
This combined with the license fee freeze is good news for those with a passion for HD programming, especially if they're able to keep the "arty" BBC Four broadcasting not combining it with BBC Three as has been threatened, although foreign TV shows and interesting music documentaries being on in the wee small hours is less of a problem now many of us are DVR enabled and can let our TiVos, Sky+, Freesat+ etc boxes grab them at 3am or what have you.
Also well done to the BBC for being about a month ahead of schedule - from all I'd read on the subject the rollout wasn't expected until late January 2014, maybe even February. This way it's in time for Christmas and DVR HDDs can be stockpiled with some quality seasonal programming in 1080i!
On another note, SD channels should always remain, not just for legacy reasons. For those in the household who can barely notice the difference between SD and HD - and not just because they're old and their sight is going! - their shows can be recorded in SD to save space for those that can't get enough HD content. But it would be nice to be able to replace the first five channels with HD versions by default for live TV - I've lost count of the amount of times I've banged on about the benefits of HDTV to sports fans but their muscle memory means they tune in to watch F1, football and rugby on the SD channels, when such fast motion events are the things that benefit most from the HD bitrate/resolution bump. C'est la vie, say the old folks, it goes to show they never can tell...
Sorry you think the gadget show is good! It's wakeful and frequently inaccurate and bias... It is to tech what top gear is to cars. The tech is a vehicle for an entertainment show. Click is a different type of show and is far more accurate in its reporting of tech news.
But that's just us two having different tastes and interests.
I agree, The Gadget Show is biased and it's TV tests are terrible - they're all done with default factory settings as opposed to post-calibration where all the colour levels have been set and white balance is correct (i.e. 6500k as is the standard). Top Gear of tech it is indeed.
But on the other hand, BBC Click isn't without problems or bias either. They never miss an opportunity to lord Apple as tech kings - witness Mark Ciaslak's recent tablet roundup from the 7th December episode, where he heaped superlative praise on the iPad Air while being more neutral and critical of the Android efforts despite their more open source versatility and the fact they were less than half the price. Also, Kate Russell's often useless Webscrape feature, which is full of novelty sites rather than useful contributions.
Still be nice to have it in HD though, which was the crux of my post rather than a comparison of The Gadget Show and Click, which was more of a off-the-cuff passing reference.
Points taken and agreed with... Is nice to finally have all the bbc channels as hd.
Time the 'HD on Virgin Media' widget gains a new section: 'PSB Entertainment'
Time the current XL package PSB sibling HD channels is given PSB Status so become M+: ITV2-4HD, More4 and E4 HD Channels (along with any future HD from them and Channel 5)
CITV should work towards HD. Milkshake should consider being a channel and C4 as it only PSB Kid content seems thesedays are 'The Hoobs' should not have (infant) kids TV anymore.
Channel 5 and ITV should be made to either ditch Gambling on PSB channels or the genre hours behind a timeshare split barrier - Supercasino and Jackpot247 (Teleshopping such as 'Teleshopping blocks and simulcasts like ' The Store'is no better).
Gambling and Dating should be equal treated as 'PPV Adult and Adult' Channels that on Virgin that can be hidden behind parental controls - It accessible for those who may want it but as accessible it is it should also be as easy to apply 'morality'/censorship settings. As with Internet censorship in 2014 it believed opt out instead of opt in of any censoring/banning as in 2014 for grounds of 'nanny state'/child protection outweigh choice. These days faciliation of say Gambling, Adult, Dating, Crime etc are all considered 'not normal'. Religion should be added as one (its the cause of most of the world ills)
If people got HD compatable set top box equipment it has been proven that someone who has say an old TV can still watch HD Channels (say if BBC launched a new channel such as BBC Five or even BBC One+1 as HD only but watching through a scart connection your box will downscale your content.
These days it should be made law (perhaps the EU should) that if a HD (or looking foreward 4k) version it should be broadcasted in the best quality as possible but if you can not get it (i.e. TV is incompatable) the quality gets downscaled to lower quality by the box if home display equipment will not be able to give the intended result!
It should be assumed as already is possible in 2014 if a channel is broadcasted in HD those viewing will be HD viwers through HDMI unless if connected via scart - the equipment will sort it out!
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