NEWS: Sky upgrade to HDR compatible box to cost £50

Seems very strange that Sky can't support HDR10 (or even Dolby Vision) for pre-recorded content that's already being delivered that way by NetFlix and others. Odd that they need to convert everything to HLG.

Regards,
James.

I can think of a couple of reasons why they're using HLG for all their own content.
1. Means they only need a single version of the content, not separate ones for on demand and broadcast. Especially if they finally start adding sports content to catch-up.
2. Avoids the support problem of trying to explain to non technical users why they can watch on demand in HDR, but not broadcast.

They will be enabling HDR10 support in Netflix and Disney+ in the future, but only on the HLG compatible boxes. I assume again to avoid the support hassle mentioned above.

So it's not that they're converting everything to HLG, but that only the newer boxes will have any HDR output enabled. At least that's the latest rumour.
 
This has really annoyed me. I have signed up to find out if they are going to charge me, Seems very unfair that you are one of the first sky q customers but want you to pay for a service which was advertised and charge you for a box you never own.
 
I’ll tell you what else is naughty - putting the charges for sky sports back now the football has started but airing all the games on free to air channel. I’ll be cancelling my sports for a while I think
 
My hardware version of Sky Q box is 32B12D and is a fairly recent replacement for one zapped by lightning. Is it HLG compatible?
 
I’ll tell you what else is naughty - putting the charges for sky sports back now the football has started but airing all the games on free to air channel. I’ll be cancelling my sports for a while I think
Sky haven't done that. The 39 games they were always going to show on Sky Sports will only be on Sky Sports.
The extra 25 games will be free to air.
 
Off topic guys, sorry!

Question at what price point would make you ditch sky and look for alternatives ?

Or you don t care how much they put the price up per month .

Answer, well I er erm suppose if Sky started to charge me more each month than I received from the government in my benefits each month, then I maybe, just maybe, might very very reluctantly have to consider looking around for alternatives and ditch my Sky Q

Oh my oh my its making me feel all faint and dizzy just thinking about it, I think I better go for a little lay down now!

So yes, I er erm suppose that really means I do care how much they put the price up per month.

Hope this answers your question mate.

Many Thanks

Dave
 
Off topic guys, sorry!



Answer, well I er erm suppose if Sky started to charge me more each month than I received from the government in my benefits each month, then I maybe, just maybe, might very very reluctantly have to consider looking around for alternatives and ditch my Sky Q

Oh my oh my its making me feel all faint and dizzy just thinking about it, I think I better go for a little lay down now!

So yes, I er erm suppose that really means I do care how much they put the price up per month.

Hope this answers your question mate.

Many Thanks

Dave

Yes
i had Sky Years ago but did not pay ........but wanted recording function so replaced with Freesat one payment thats it .
Now looking at the new Freesat 4K Recorder HDR box for £199.00

maybe worth a look in the future for you and no monthly cost .
 
Ok the £50 (equivalent of a good curry) is a route to upgrade but real concern is not the fee but how do you deal with legacy recordings. Can I download them to a pc to playback when my old box is sent back. Will they delete after x days? Do I need another solution?

kevin
 
I have never understood Sky asking for an upfront fee for any of their Sky Q boxes when they are clear you never own them, never-mind the ridiculousness of asking for a fee in this instance. They seem to want to have their cake and eat it.

Sadly while Sky retain a monopoly on sports rights, they can probably get away with quite a bit of price gouging. But for anyone looking for entertainment and movies, there are increasingly better alternative options out there.
It should be a deposit! Don't send the box back when you cancel? You don't get a refund, simple as but you know, Sky.
 
why dont you try the my version 1 box has an intermitaint fault, ie it ramdomly resets or every now and then no sat signal comes up, if need be get put through to cancerlations
 
Not much point in getting the upgrade as my TV does not support the hlg varient of HDR, sadly. I am definitely not upgrading as I would lose my 3d for my collection.
 
I have the early sky Q 2tb box which is not hdr compatible, sky said if we get enough interest they can upgrade box but at present no boxes available
 
So Sky are telling you there are no boxes available?

So they won’t be doing any new Q installs for some time then? :laugh:

I bet if you phoned them as a new customer they’d soon find a box:D
 
Can I ask a daft question

how do I know if my box is compatible please

I second that question.
I had signed up to BT after Sky refused to give me a 4K box without charging me £199.
Despite me ringing every week for a 3 weeks after telling them goodbye to check they had changed their mind and getting the same answer, 4 days after I signed to BT they phoned up and gave me a cracking deal, so I cancelled BT and signed up again.
I should be getting a new 1gb 4K Q box before the month end, how do I know if it supports HDR ?
TBH I am not that bothered, if I want to watch a film properely, ill get it on 4kBD, more curious than anything.
 
Im not sure what the big rush is to get the HDR compatibly boxes. A large % of us I suspect are watching on mid level TVs, and unless you are watching on one of the more expensive panels, HDR is you are better off without it. I'm not keen on watching HDR or Dolby Vision encoded movies from Netflix, Amazon or D+ (I have all) on my tv, because its not a top end model and the picture tends to look dim and washed out with HDR on, DV maybe less so.
Lamurs on Sky looks excellent on my panel with no HDR as does the likes of Billions in UHD (BTW, I have one of the non HDR Q boxes, but I certainly won't be paying to get an upgraded box.
 
I second that question.
I had signed up to BT after Sky refused to give me a 4K box without charging me £199.
Despite me ringing every week for a 3 weeks after telling them goodbye to check they had changed their mind and getting the same answer, 4 days after I signed to BT they phoned up and gave me a cracking deal, so I cancelled BT and signed up again.
I should be getting a new 1gb 4K Q box before the month end, how do I know if it supports HDR ?
TBH I am not that bothered, if I want to watch a film properely, ill get it on 4kBD, more curious than anything.
See above...
 
Ok the £50 (equivalent of a good curry) is a route to upgrade but real concern is not the fee but how do you deal with legacy recordings. Can I download them to a pc to playback when my old box is sent back. Will they delete after x days? Do I need another solution?

kevin
From my own experience to minimise the impact I did the following. Photograph recordings and scheduled recordings screens. Find out which programmes, films etc are available on demand. Watch those that are not available before your box is changed. Download those available on demand on your new box when installed.
 
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I have the early sky Q 2tb box which is not hdr compatible, sky said if we get enough interest they can upgrade box but at present no boxes available
So Sky are telling you there are no boxes available?

So they won’t be doing any new Q installs for some time then? :laugh:

I bet if you phoned them as a new customer they’d soon find a box:D

More likely the agent has misunderstood that there's no process specifically to upgrade from a v1 to an HDR capable box, so just said they can't supply a box..

Sky seem to have problems with staff not reading internal announcements properly, something which will be worse now most are working remotely.
 

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