poor reception from new sky+ help - Sky+

ennazud1 · 05-02-2007, 18:01

hi
can anyone help or give advice??
as we had recently bought a new samsung LCD TV (with freeview), we decided to get sky installed and went for sky+. an amstrad was installed a few days ago,but picture quality is was awful, so bad we ended up watching via the freeview that is installed in the TV.I was under the impression that sky has equal if not better picture quality than freeview! We contacted sky who sent a technician out today.when he arrived i explained that we were disappointed with the picture quality and that freeview was far better ,he said it was because it was a plasma screen, when i told him it was in fact and LCD he came up with all sorts of excuses, none of them explaining why the picture quality was not not as good on freeview, or so poor that it is almost unwatchable on some channels. he did put a different amstrad box in but this was even worse, the picture began to freeze within seconds of him installing it.
i asked if the dish was in the right position to which he laughed and said yes!
eventually after giving more excuses than i thought possible mainly blaming the tv!! he told us there was nothing else he could do and left.
i felt as if he couldn't really be bothered and was just fobbing us off with excuses. We phoned sky again and they have arranged to someone else to visit.
we are now undecided as to whether we should cancel and just stick to freeview or it it possible to get as good a picture via sky
can anyone please give me any advice before the next visit

thanks in advance

Jarrak · 05-02-2007, 18:11

Freeview tend to be broadcast at a slightly higher bitrate and in some cases resolution, these are the main channels although Five is better on satellite.
An internal Freeview tuner cuts out the need to convert the broadcast to an analogue format to send via RGB scart to the TV which means one less opportunity for the picture to fall in quality.
You are using RGB scart?

Now if the SKY+ picture is literally breaking up and/or freezing then it's just as likely to be a reception issue.

IF Freeview provides the channels you want they cancel SKY and certainly cancel if you are not happy with the SD pictures on a HD display, barring an actual problem with the SKY+ or it's dish/lnb they are not going to get any better.

fredmarkone · 05-02-2007, 18:47

I'd suggest persevere a bit first as the quality of Sky techies varies widely. See what the second bloke does first. Otherwise, if the install's only a few months old, hit Sky with rejection of a product unfit for purpose under the Sale of Goods Act (your local Trading Standards may help), get a full refund and go with Freeview.

I had an Amstrad Sky+ box go bad after 14 months. After threatening to cancel an everything-but-sport £45 package held for 4 years, I was sent a techie and a new Amstrad box which packed up after a day. Another call got me an excellent installer with a refurbed Pace box that has now been fine for over a year.

And don't waste money on the 0870 8p a minute rip-off numbers. Try the cheap/free alternatives on saynoto0870.com - Sky is already making enough off us without skimming the phone call costs as well. Their latest profit report was pretty healthy but their customer leaving arte was up at 11.9%.

nutter426 · 05-02-2007, 22:16

Isn't it samsung that have a known compatibility problem with Thomson boxes? Maybe its spreading with a new model of Amstrad. Was the second box a Thomson?

ennazud1 · 07-02-2007, 10:10

2nd box was same as 1st one an amstrad

Tumbleweed666 · 07-02-2007, 11:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by ennazud1

2nd box was same as 1st one an amstrad

Whats actually wrong with the picture? Fuzzy? Pixellated? Wrong colour?

ennazud1 · 08-02-2007, 06:54

It’s like watching TV with bad reception. Shadows around people. lines on faces on close up, colours really dull . Have tried new scart lead, altering settings on TV etc.

05-02-2007, 18:01	#1
ennazud1 Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 13	poor reception from new sky+ help hi can anyone help or give advice?? as we had recently bought a new samsung LCD TV (with freeview), we decided to get sky installed and went for sky+. an amstrad was installed a few days ago,but picture quality is was awful, so bad we ended up watching via the freeview that is installed in the TV.I was under the impression that sky has equal if not better picture quality than freeview! We contacted sky who sent a technician out today.when he arrived i explained that we were disappointed with the picture quality and that freeview was far better ,he said it was because it was a plasma screen, when i told him it was in fact and LCD he came up with all sorts of excuses, none of them explaining why the picture quality was not not as good on freeview, or so poor that it is almost unwatchable on some channels. he did put a different amstrad box in but this was even worse, the picture began to freeze within seconds of him installing it. i asked if the dish was in the right position to which he laughed and said yes! eventually after giving more excuses than i thought possible mainly blaming the tv!! he told us there was nothing else he could do and left. i felt as if he couldn't really be bothered and was just fobbing us off with excuses. We phoned sky again and they have arranged to someone else to visit. we are now undecided as to whether we should cancel and just stick to freeview or it it possible to get as good a picture via sky can anyone please give me any advice before the next visit thanks in advance

08-02-2007, 06:54	#7
ennazud1 Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 13	It’s like watching TV with bad reception. Shadows around people. lines on faces on close up, colours really dull . Have tried new scart lead, altering settings on TV etc. Last edited by ennazud1 : 08-02-2007 at 06:56.

05-02-2007, 18:11	#2
Jarrak Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Gender: Male Location: Ilkeston Services: Non-sub SKY+HD, PlayTV, Philips DTR 1500 & Humax 9200 Freeview, O2 Premium Posts: 17,590	Freeview tend to be broadcast at a slightly higher bitrate and in some cases resolution, these are the main channels although Five is better on satellite. An internal Freeview tuner cuts out the need to convert the broadcast to an analogue format to send via RGB scart to the TV which means one less opportunity for the picture to fall in quality. You are using RGB scart? Now if the SKY+ picture is literally breaking up and/or freezing then it's just as likely to be a reception issue. IF Freeview provides the channels you want they cancel SKY and certainly cancel if you are not happy with the SD pictures on a HD display, barring an actual problem with the SKY+ or it's dish/lnb they are not going to get any better.

05-02-2007, 18:47	#3
fredmarkone Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 23	I'd suggest persevere a bit first as the quality of Sky techies varies widely. See what the second bloke does first. Otherwise, if the install's only a few months old, hit Sky with rejection of a product unfit for purpose under the Sale of Goods Act (your local Trading Standards may help), get a full refund and go with Freeview. I had an Amstrad Sky+ box go bad after 14 months. After threatening to cancel an everything-but-sport £45 package held for 4 years, I was sent a techie and a new Amstrad box which packed up after a day. Another call got me an excellent installer with a refurbed Pace box that has now been fine for over a year. And don't waste money on the 0870 8p a minute rip-off numbers. Try the cheap/free alternatives on saynoto0870.com - Sky is already making enough off us without skimming the phone call costs as well. Their latest profit report was pretty healthy but their customer leaving arte was up at 11.9%.

05-02-2007, 22:16	#4
nutter426 Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Lincoln, LN2 Services: Sky+(ThomPVR3) & Pace flow, Freedom2surf 8Mbps DSL, XBox, Creative 5.1 Posts: 237	Isn't it samsung that have a known compatibility problem with Thomson boxes? Maybe its spreading with a new model of Amstrad. Was the second box a Thomson?

07-02-2007, 10:10	#5
ennazud1 Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 13	2nd box was same as 1st one an amstrad