HD channels

[MrTrav15]

Hello,

 thinking of ditching my sky q box and going with the BT TV box Pro. However, I can’t seem to find details about HD channels. Do most of the channels have the HD options? For example BBC 1,2 itv, 4 etc and other channels like Comedy Central and gold. Also do the sky channels included also have HD options? No HD is a deal breaker for me so any info would be greatly appreciated. 

[terry821]

Sure. You’ll get all the freeview HD channels. 

The sky channels are in HD if you take the HD option as part of your package. 

Some HD channels you receive on Sky aren’t available on freeview, for example DAVE and Film 4. 

[NigelB72 · Accepted solution]

1-5 have HD variants along with a few other Freeview channels but all of the Sky channels in the NowTV package are HD but you'll need the HD Boost which included in the VIP packs. The Boosted channels are also 1080p and BT Sport has selected programming in 4K HDR.

Please check the channel line up though to make sure the channels you want are available.

All NowTV content is also available on demand through the app and you'll have a selection of other apps available too.

Disney+, Discovery+ etc aren't available on Youview/BT TV as of yet so if you want to watch these you'll need a sticky thing.

[MrTrav15]

I’ve checked the channel line up. They are sufficient for what we need. We just want a box that can record a few channels we watch (mainly free view) and we’ve got a fire stick for any thing else. 

The deal that BT are currently offering with the entertainment package including Netflix and nowTV, does that bake NowTV channels into the TV guide or does it just provide access to the NowTV app similar to Netflix?

[StewM]

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@MrTrav15wrote:

I’ve checked the channel line up. They are sufficient for what we need. We just want a box that can record a few channels we watch (mainly free view) and we’ve got a fire stick for any thing else. 

The deal that BT are currently offering with the entertainment package including Netflix and nowTV, does that bake NowTV channels into the TV guide or does it just provide access to the NowTV app similar to Netflix?

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Hi @MrTrav15 . It provides both. The Now TV channels appear in the TV guide (depending on your package). You will also get access to the Now TV app.

Stew

[NigelB72]

It includes NowTV and Netflix plus the Freeview channels available in your area. These are delivered by your aerial and not all channels are available nationwide. You can check what's available in your area on the Freeview website.

https://www.freeview.co.uk/freeview-channel-checker

For HD NowTV channels, you will need the HD Boost add on. Netflix is in HD as part of the package but you can upgrade that to 4K via the account/subscription section of your Netflix account if you wish.

[MrTrav15]

Oh so to access free view you still need the aerial connection? I know BT TV use to require this but they make it seem on their website that everything is now delivered via Wi-Fi/Ethernet. Thanks for that info.

[MrTrav15]

Also, out of curiosity, how is the recording nowadays? I had BT TV about 6-7 years ago and had a lot of issues with recordings ending too soon or starting too late , has that been improved?

[NigelB72]

@MrTrav15 I still believe that is a bone of contention 😆.. for us, it's fine on the Freeview channels but can be a bit flakey on the Sky ones according to some posts on here. 

The issue appears to be with the recording data and who actually controls it. 

[Seany10hats]

Annoyingly I bought a top end big Samsung and it doesn’t have freeview . I didn’t realise because I’ve always had sky. It wasn’t until I decided to ditch sky that I realised. I decided to get a btpro and can tell you that annoyingly it only has channels 1-5 hd. The rest (including all +1 channels, 3,4&5 od and bbc news24) are watchable but a little grainy. I can’t believe in 2023 when they’re trying to flog 8k tvs that you can’t get hd on everything. I’m now spending the next month figuring out if I can live with it because the whole reason I got rid of sky/virgin was because I mostly stream now.