HD through Virgin Media box?

[Brand86]

Hi guys

I have a 40" Sony Bravia LCD (V series I think) and have the Virgin Media HD box and HD channels.

To me, the HD channels look really good but when I stay on them a sign comes up saying that I am not watching them in HD. I have checked the TV and the HDMI cable is definitely plugged in, do I need to maybe change some settings to get the HD switched on at all - really confused by it all!!

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers
Tom.

 

[Pettsi]

Press the Home button on your remote.

>Settings>Change Display and audio settings>

Then change the 'TV display format' to the HD option.


Hope this helps

 

[cava83]

how you finding virgin?

 

[Brand86]

Press the Home button on your remote.

>Settings>Change Display and audio settings>

Then change the 'TV display format' to the HD option.


Hope this helps

Excellent mate thanks for that, will have a go after lunch! Will let you know!

TBH think Virgin is pretty good.. Compared to Sky, the pros are stable performance in bad weather, LOADS on the On Demand section (this is wicked) and you can record 2 programs on different channels even when watching something on a third channel. Now we have loads new sports channels too which you don't get on Sky.

The cons are the box is prone to freezing from time to time, the navigation isn't as quick or intuitive as on Sky, and most of all no Sky One to watch 24 or Lost on!!!

I have Sky at my place and on balance think Sky is probably a little bit better, but not a lot in it. Only the Sky One thing really bothers me as the other things will be ironed out.

 

[JoelDee]

I think if i was paying i would rather have sky

 

[Nigel]

How sluggish are the menus compared to std. telewest box? I hate the way you press a button and several seconds later it changes channel!

If they have sorted that out, I might give it a try!

 

[Brand86]

How sluggish are the menus compared to std. telewest box? I hate the way you press a button and several seconds later it changes channel!

If they have sorted that out, I might give it a try!

We have a new HD box and it seems a lot better than the old one - although as I said it sometimes pauses for a few seconds which can be annoying.

 

[JoelDee]

How much is virgin then in comparison to sky

I think id rather pay that little bit more and have sky

 

[Brand86]

Press the Home button on your remote.

>Settings>Change Display and audio settings>

Then change the 'TV display format' to the HD option.


Hope this helps

Cheers mate, just changed the picture over to 1080 resolution and using HDMI component and my the HD channels look amazing!

However, the normal channels if anything look a tad worse (maybe my imagination as the HD looks so good) - would you recommend changing the settings depending on what program I am watching or anything?

Just saying to my mate, between all the combined knowledge of CS members we could conquer the world!!

 

[Brand86]

How much is virgin then in comparison to sky

I think id rather pay that little bit more and have sky

Not sure as its at my parents home, and we get the phone and broadband too.

For Sky at my place I was paying £18 a month for 4 mixes which had all the channels I wanted. Also got Sky Sports free for 6 months too!

 

[JoelDee]

Press the Home button on your remote.

>Settings>Change Display and audio settings>

Then change the 'TV display format' to the HD option.


Hope this helps

Cheers mate, just changed the picture over to 1080 resolution and using HDMI component and my the HD channels look amazing!

However, the normal channels if anything look a tad worse (maybe my imagination as the HD looks so good) - would you recommend changing the settings depending on what program I am watching or anything?

Just saying to my mate, between all the combined knowledge of CS members we could conquer the world!!

Too right, all we need now is a Adolf Hitler

 

[Jay]

Sky are doing an offer on HD boxes now

www.sky.com/thankyou

Very tempted for me at £199

 

[sneeks]

The V+ box is excellent and it definitely runs quicker noe than it used too.

 

[AliasOmega]

virgin package we have is 2mb broadband, and tv for £20 per month.

no bt line too..

 

[Ibanezman]

Brand, leave the HD setting at the optimum setting for your tv, just flick between 720 and 1080 to find the best picture. Once thats set, just leave it

I've got a 37" lcd with v+ and I think loads of channels look good, sky sports etc and of course they will be worse than HD

 

[Brand86]

Brand, leave the HD setting at the optimum setting for your tv, just flick between 720 and 1080 to find the best picture. Once thats set, just leave it

I've got a 37" lcd with v+ and I think loads of channels look good, sky sports etc and of course they will be worse than HD

Oh right you reckon the 720 / 1080 might be the issue. My sister switched it back to non-HD setting but I will try it again later on the 720 mode.

Excellent advice, cheers guys.

Also - just another thumbs up for Virgins improving service. If you aren't on either Sky or Virgin, I would recommend giving them a go, simply to avoid Sky getting a monopoly if anything else.

 

[Ibanezman]

Aye mate, your tv will look better in one of those HD resolutions, just a case of seeing which it is

....tie your sister to a chair, so she can't use the remote They are not for girls lol

 

[Brand86]

Aye mate, your tv will look better in one of those HD resolutions, just a case of seeing which it is

....tie your sister to a chair, so she can't use the remote They are not for girls lol

She has been on holiday for two weeks and now trawling through millions of Hollyoaks and other equally rubbish shows.

Luckilly I have recorded my shows to watch later.

On another note did any of you watch The Enemies of Reason with Richard Dawkins on C4 last night? He is the daddy.

 

[Ibanezman]

Yeah the recording stuff is excellent, although recording HD uses up the HD in about 6 mins hehe

No mate, whats that about, is it on catch-up ?

 

[sneeks]

Catch-up TV is excellent on VM, far superior to the Sky Anytime service.

 

[Brand86]

Yeah the recording stuff is excellent, although recording HD uses up the HD in about 6 mins hehe

No mate, whats that about, is it on catch-up ?

Cool will bare that in mind! The HD is excellent though. I was in the local Harman Kardon store at the weekend and was looking at their latest TV which was hooked up to a Blu Ray player watching King Kong. I can honestly say the picture was absolutely pin-perfect and crystal. Literally stunning to see - think the HD DVD / Blu Ray technology might be better than I first gave it credit for.

This episode of Enemies of Reason was about how humans see patterns where they don't exist, basically, and how this leads to superstition and muddled thoughts and pseudo-science. Presented by Richard Dawkins (one of my intellectual idols, man is a genius) in such a clear way that I hope it is shown in schools to younger kids. Posted on GC yesterday but no one replied, not enough breasts or racist remarks maybe??! Anyway, next one is on 8pm next Monday so put the record link for the series on and try and watch yesterdays one if you can. If you haven't even considered this stuff before then I imagine it would be even better.

 

[Pettsi]

Glad you got it sorted. Have you found the best setting for your tv? 720 or 1080?

 

[Brand86]

Glad you got it sorted. Have you found the best setting for your tv? 720 or 1080?

Cheers mate. I tried the 1080 wide screen setting again and it looked fine on the normal channels and HD looks amazing. Also it has sorted out the screen size 100%, before some of the side of the picture was cut off, now it is framed properly so another bonus!

 

[Ibanezman]

Ah sounds good that program mate, i'll have to try and source it

Btw it's not a great idea to use the WIDE settings, as they stretch the EPG at the bottom to the size of the screen, and it looks a bit odd

 

[Brand86]

Yeh check it out, comes highly recommended.

The wide looks ok, it puts like a 1cm black strip at the top and bottom of the screen but looks fine to me. Amazing how a few simple changes can make such a difference.