Loading ...This year will see the UK’s first ever HD Christmas from Freesat with a feast of high-definition programme highlights. A whole range of Christmas films, comedies, dramas and family entertainment will be brought to life with vivid HD picture and sound.
BBC HD (channel 108)
BBC HD will be showcasing a huge range of family films over the Christmas period, meaning viewers won’t have to rely on the family Blu-ray player for a dose of HD entertainment. Films include:
The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Brothers Grimm
The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit
Starter For Ten
Toy Story 2
Wallace and Gromit: A Matter Of Loaf And Death
The BBC HD Channel will keep the nation laughing with the return of some comedy favorites, including the welcome return of all-new The Royle Family and Gavin and Stacey, all in HD;
After You’ve Gone Christmas Special
Gavin and Stacey Christmas Special
Lead Balloon
The Royle Family Christmas Special
Other festive HD highlights from the BBC will include the Shrek The Halls Christmas Special from everyone’s favourite green film star, the Christmas special of Strictly Come Dancing, and Michael Palin returning to bring the world to our screens in 80 Days Revisited. In addition Casanova, Doctor Who Prom, Lark Rise to Candleford, The 39 Steps and The Queen’s speech will all be available in HD on BBC HD Channel over Christmas.
ITV HD (via the red button on channel 103)
ITV HD will be showing a veritable feast of Christmas movies and entertainment, as well as top-drawer sport over the Christmas period and the finale of all-singing, all-dancing drama Britannia High.
Movie lovers will get to experience a range of blockbuster films in full HD, including;
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones
True Lies
Ali G
Bird on a Wire
Meaning of Life
The drama won’t be limited to blockbuster films though, with ITV HD showing UEFA Champions League matches in HD, making every blade of grass, bead of sweat and even the odd tear, even more life like.
Now is a great time to own Freesat, so if you haven’t already taken the plunge, there’s still time before the big day!
December 4th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
I haven’t got HD and I’m not sure what would tempt me. There are no “must see” offerings here so I guess my HD money will stay in my pocket for a while longer yet!
TonyQuote
December 4th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
p.s Is there a minimum screen size, below which HD shows no benefit?
TonyQuote
December 4th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
I’d say below 32″, HD shows no real benefit.
I think that’s a great line-up for Christmas. You’d want to be able to record all this, to be able to enjoy it though!
dhaumiQuote
December 4th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
if the freesat PVR box is available, let me know and I will get it before xmas start… PLEASE!!!
WouterQuote
December 4th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
can not wait to get my hands on a hd box for christmas i bet sky are getting worried no more subscription hurray
thomasQuote
December 4th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Well that’s not a bad selection at all. Especially Toy Story 2
Pete CullenQuote
December 4th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
This gives a good example of what Freesat offers (well done the both the Beeb and ITV). Sounds a lot like a press release though
LengFreesatQuote
December 4th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
It is indeed a press release, with just a few edits by me
adminQuote
December 4th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
You can get one on ebay now. But make sure who you buy from. Some of them may be fakes if they dont have a real pic of the box.
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/items/_W0QQ_nkwZfoxsatQ20hdrQQ_armrsZ1QQ_fromZR40QQ_mdoZ
RonnieQuote
December 4th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Many thanks for the update
Steve PQuote
December 4th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
tbh for me and my family that list of movies is pretty damn good. cant wait!
PeteQuote
December 4th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
That does look like a good line-up, especially from the BBC.
Also, Danielle Nagler (the head of BBC HD) said in a post over on the BBC Internet blog that the channel’s hours will be extended from noon to the early hours of the morning from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day, and that they’ll be repeating “what we feel have been the best programmes we’ve put out on BBC HD over the last year – they’ll include Lost Land of the Jaguar, Michael Palin’s New Europe, and the Wimbledon’s Men’s Singles’ Final (less a few of the breaks)”:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2008/11/bbc_hd_update_and_christmas_sc.html
AndrewMQuote
December 5th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
What! No Morecambe & Wise Christmas Special?
StevenQuote
December 5th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
There are now 7 BOXES on ebay. Maybe some are from that lorry. Being sold one-by-one?
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/items/_W0QQ_nkwZfoxsatQ20hdrQQ_armrsZ1QQ_fromZR40QQ_mdoZ
RonnieQuote
December 5th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
What about subtitles for Xmas on HD freesat That would be the best Xmas pressie for a lot of people
robert holgateQuote
December 5th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
What about subtitles for Xmas on HD freesat ? That would be the best Xmas pressie for a lot of people
robert holgateQuote
December 5th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
If you want bloody subtitles for Xmas on all your HD channels, I suggest you invest your hard earned cash in a brand, spanking new Sky+ HD Box and sit back and watch 29 channels in glorious HD, all for 10 notes!!! ….I’m off to the Feathers for a pint!!
Jim RoyleQuote
December 6th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Jim Royle – You are so ignorant, not everyone has 20/20 vision, broadcasters should provide subtitles on all channels.
Peter FQuote
December 6th, 2008 at 11:12 am
It would be nice to see sky sports news added as it is availiable on freeview along with dave and virgin 1.
JimQuote
December 6th, 2008 at 11:43 am
I’m quite underwhelmed with HDTV. You still have to invest a considerable amount of money to get one and a half HD channels. Is it really so mindblowingly better or just an excuse to make you buy a new TV every two years to keep up with the technology? I don’t think HD is a great deal better than ordinary digital TV. My sister doesn’t even see the difference. It’s like the difference between 4:3 and a 16:9. You could easily do without 16:9 but you scrapped your good-old 4:3 telly way before it’s sell-by date to be rocket-launched into another dimension of television bliss by wide-screen. Don’t believe the hype people. Take it from a proud new Foxsat HDR owner
MartinQuote
December 6th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Martin: If you don’t think HD is much better then either you have problems with your eyes or a poor TV setup. HD is significantly better.
LengFreesatQuote
December 6th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Everything is set-up correctly. I even watched Blu Ray on 1080p and wasn’t impressed. I’m not saying it’s not better quality but normal digital was already decent unless you have a 70 inch TV. I’m just saying it’s not much better so not worth the investment of at least several hundred pounds. And if you are being honest you, just like everyone else couldn’t wait to get HD and pay a lot for it. I think it’s just not worth it. It’s a trick to sell new TVs otherwise none would have a reason to and keep their TV for ten+ years until smoke is coming out. Sony and co don’t like that idea I’m sure…
MartinQuote
December 6th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Is it correct that you cannot get subtitles on the HD channels,
AlanQuote
December 6th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
LengFreesat says “you have problems with your eyes. . .” If you look around you at the number of people wearing glasses you will see how true this is. Why do those with 20/20 vision (and TVs too big for their rooms) want to count every eyebrow, every blade of grass? When the novelty wears off, too much detail can be quite tiring. When programme makers want us to see fine detail (even on terrestrial) they make sure we do. As Martin says, normal digital is pretty good. And if Jim Royle can imagine not being able to swallow his pint he might understand what it is like being unable to make sense of the TV sound – and hence the need to have subtitles available (as a switchable option)
TonyQuote
December 6th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
I think the list of Christmas HD programmes is great – especially the films (On BBCHD at least…) and as long as they keep the quality equivalent to that I have seen on Survivors and Sunshine it will be great.
DanielQuote
December 6th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
I’ve taken an old fashioned approach to Freesat. I have a very old telly so thought the first thing I should would be to get a satellite with 3 cables from it. 2 for the room where I would record programmes and 1 for just watching.
All good so far. Freesat working well on old telly with Freesat basic box.
Next I thought “get a HD telly plus PVR”. My dilemma now is whether to buy a HD ready telly for about £400 plus a Humax recorder for about £300 or to continue to record where necessary in video format and wait until someone produces an affordable HD telly ready with recorder built in. Another choice would be to go for a Panasonic with freesat built in but that looks expensive at the moment and surely there will be competition.
Are there plans to have a rival to Humax PVR or Panasonic Freesat . Extra boxes are surely going to be phased out before long?
My only timescale is next years Wimbledon.
AllanQuote
December 6th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
yep v.good line up , lets hope itv stick to it !!
what no ” Escape to victory ” this year ??
@ Martian im sorry but i disagree with you there is a big difference between SD and HD, so much so even my misses notices the difference !!
I do agree with the fact that there is not enough HD content but that will get better in time ..
I ask the question how much do we have to pay every month for these HD channels ???
you say you are not impressed but you last sentence was ” Take it from a proud new Foxsat HDR owner” ?!?!?!
DeanoQuote
December 6th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
BBC HD seems to have got better, before the PQ was not very good. In the last few weeks it has improved.
DaveQuote
December 7th, 2008 at 11:08 am
can someone tell me if you can get subtitles in HD. If not it would be pointless purchasing freesat as my better half is deaf and relies on subtitles.
AlanQuote
December 7th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Alan – not yet, but we have been promised them.
LengFreesatQuote
December 7th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
The PQ on ITV HD is not that good on the star wars movie. Is it my TV?
DaveQuote
December 7th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
@Deano, well I can’t see a huge improvement in quality. It’s better, yes but not worth the hassle. Yep I couldn’t wait to get the Humax PVR but also for it’s other functions like PVR, Series link, etc.
You can still easily pay 60 squid for an HDMI cable. Do they use moon dust to manufacture those cables or what justifies this kind of price? A digital signal is either strong enough or not. Picture quality is not affected. That’s why freesat just breaks down when the signal gets too weak. This is just another example that people reach deep into their pockets to experience HDTV, but is it really worth it? I guess with the credit crunch I shouldn’t complain that money is being spent
MartinQuote
December 7th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Martin, you can get top quality HDMI cables alot cheaper than £60.00
Try £20.00 Delivered. A quick google of HDMI Cables UK or somthing similar will lead you where it will.
But do get a good cable, you only buy it once,
People pay alot of money for their equipment and then waste it all for the sake of a relativly inexpensive cable and the time it takes to properly calibrate their TV.
HDMI cables in shops are a huge money spinner for them, but so is wine in a restaurant.
Pays your money, takes your choice, Chris
ChrislayerukQuote
December 7th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Martin, you can get top quality HDMI cables alot cheaper than £60.00
Try £20.00 Delivered. A quick google of HDMI Cables UK or somthing similar will lead you where it will.
But do get a good cable, you only buy it once,
People pay alot of money for their equipment and then waste it all for the sake of a relativly inexpensive cable and the time it takes to properly calibrate their TV.
HDMI cables in shops are a huge money spinner for them, but so is wine in a restaurant.
Pays your money, takes your choice, Chris
ChrislayerukQuote
December 7th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
@ Dave its NOT your tv its ITV the PQ was a bit up and down ..
@ Martain @ Chrislayeruk i would say whats the point in paying more money for an extra HDMI cable when it comes with a perfectly good one !!
Im sure you will not notice much difference in PQ if you paid £20 ,£30 or more for one..
DeanoQuote
December 7th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Hi Chris.
Have you watched the Gadgit Show, if not, on one of there programes on channel 5 they tested HDMI cables from under £10 to £250 and there was no difference, like all all electrical accessories BIG RIP OFF.
monkeymaniacQuote
December 7th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Don’t waste money on premium cables, those supplied as standard are more than suitable unless you need more length than provided.
adminQuote
December 7th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
I bought a 2m gold plated HDMI cable in Poundstretcher for £3.99.
Does the job very well!
Glyn SmithQuote
December 7th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
To amplify what Martin said in an earlier posting, there are very good reasons why expensive HDMI cables should not be necessary. Unlike analogue signals, digital signals do not gradually degrade, they either get through or they don’t. To ensure that they do get through correctly, many digital transmission systems have sophisticated error detection & correction algorithms built in to accurately regenerate any part of the digital signal that may be lost in transmission. So my advice is don’t waste your money on an expensive HDMI cable unless you are having consistent problems with dropouts in the picture or the sound is distorted.
DerekQuote
December 8th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Cables that cost more than £50 will make “In the Night Garden” look even better in HD
In about 5 years they will introduce ultra high definition TV and you will have to buy a new TV and receiver to be able to “experience” it. I’m not kidding it’s already in the pipeline. You will get a standard high definition receiver for 15 quid at Argos then. lol
MartinQuote
December 8th, 2008 at 10:20 am
@ Wouter – If you still haven’t got a PVR, try Argos Direct, they keep getting loads of stock that doesn’t show on the web site – give them a telephone call!!!
@ Tony – Your eyes get tired of seeing too much detail? Are you for real?
TV only represents a fraction of the detail your eyes see in real life. Simply looking around the room away from the tv floods your brain with hundreds of times more detail than you get from watching the screen. We’d all be asleep if your assertion was true simply from looking around us.
Full HD (1920 x 1080) is around 2.1 mega pixels.
The latest cameras are around 28 mega pixels (Red Epic Monstro) and even these are said to record less detail than the eye.
Depending on where you source it from, the eyes resolution is said to be between 105-500 mega pixels!!!
Also, the goal of tv in the long term is to achieve real world reality so detail is only going to go one way!
Al (Original)Quote
December 8th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
A quick return to a previous comment; My TV is a 26″ 720p and the HD content looks sensational. The diffence between HD and SD is extremely noticable, so I wouldn’t pay to much attention to the 32″ limit expressed above. People are so sizist about TV’s these days, as though you’re not a ‘Good Consumerist Citizen’ if your TV isn’t 32″ plus…
In terms of ‘dots per inch’ my 26″ screen has a higher resolution than my friends 40″ 1080p, so saying you can’t tell the difference from SD is incorrect. It looks absolutely stunning.
On an unrelated topic I’m a little sad to see that this site doesn’t appear to find it necessary to mention the disappearance of TWC fight from Freesat at all. Not that this was a particularly interesting channel, or that I miss it, but I prefer a ‘Warts and All’ style of coverage for any subject, as it provides balance. This site appears to be ignoring news that doesn’t reflect well upon Freesat; understandable, I suppose, but not a very modern approach. (If this is covered somewhere on Join Freesat and I’ve missed it then I offer my apologies). What’s become of them? Will they be back?
BenQuote
December 8th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
26”? I feel sorry for you. Couldn’t you afford a 32” one, you loser?
MartinQuote
December 8th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Nah. Tiny living room mate. If I’d bought a 32″ or bigger I’d have felt like I lived in a cinema. Good for the 0.03% of the time that you’re watching a film, but a little, erm, lets go with ‘extreme’ the rest of the time. I can see by far enough of Gordon Ramsey’s nasal hair already
BenQuote
December 8th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Soon, most people will be stuck with what they have. Money will be very tight!
DaveQuote
December 8th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Stock now in at Argos – phone orders only today.
Just ordered mine for delivery Wednesday 10th.
stuartQuote
December 8th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
@ Ben
yeah m8 i did see ‘the disappearance of TWC fight’ the other night while going through the EPG.. mind you i wont miss really it why does’nt Freesat get some up to date wrestling.. as i do miss it as i have’nt got Sky.
FrancisQuote
December 8th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
I shall be looking forward to celebrating a subscription free freesat+ Christmas with my new PVR.. After twelve years of being ripped-off by an over expensive inferior quality service from Sky, it gave me great pleasure to call them on Saturday morning and cancel my contract.
Now that a choice of HD providers is available I should think that Sky will be heamorraging subscribers ??? How long before they drop the £10 a month charge for watching BBC HD that we already pay for via our licence fee ?
Steve.BQuote
December 8th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Hi all, got my box today, at first it wouldnt boot up, phoned Humax Tec, they said from the discription that it was a fulty unit, phoned Argos, they came to the same conclusion said they would get Argos Direct to phone me. later I turned the unit of at the mains and back on again, it worked, now however it wont accept my post code, somehow got into manual tuning and about 300 channels came down, but i dont think these are the Freesat ones, I an utalising my sky dish, run two cables to the inputs and the HMD part of the Tele is working, any ideas
Dave GQuote
December 9th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Dave G – I remember video recorders having something like a ‘dew sensor’ in them, in that they would not work until warmed up (from outdoor to indoor). With your postcode prob, you do have to put a space in, in the middle for it to be recognised. I would perform a reset and try again. If it’s your actual postcode that’s a problem, try using another local one. It’s only there to give your the correct local channels.
Glyn SmithQuote
December 9th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Having postcode problems try this link.
http://www.astra2d.com/installation.htm
Vat59Quote
December 9th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Well done to Freesat and especially the BBC for what looks like a really great line up of HD for Christmas. I am now actually looking forward to watching some festive TV for the first time in donkey’s years.
Now all we need is an expansion of the number of HD channels.
Paul WQuote
December 9th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
@Glyn and Vat59, cheers lads, the box fired up after a couple of hours, guess the cold had somthing to do with it, my Post code was refused as invalid up until an hour ago, it all of a sudden started to look for channels and downloaded the lot! dont knowwhat happened but its all working fine
Dave GQuote
December 9th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Dave G – YAY!
Now am I doing something wrong here? Been recording Survivors on series link in HD. After viewing the only episode in the folder (cos its series linked) I delete it. Can’t then find a way of getting back to my list of recordings, without coming out of and going back into the media library – annoying!
Glyn SmithQuote
December 15th, 2008 at 8:37 am
bbc christmas hd looks reasonable but the itv offering is following on in a similar vein to the past, ie pathetic. a list of second rate films (3 of these are already gone by now) and a promise of more sport – i don’t watch or like sport!!!
johnQuote
December 16th, 2008 at 9:48 am
Dave G.
One thing to be careful of when you buy your new kit – If it’s been sitting on a delivery van all night it’s going to be pretty cold. Soon as you unpack it in your front room – leave it there to naturally warm up for an hour or so (difficult I know)before powering it up. Condensation and all that stuff. Yep the HDD is hermetically sealed but why take any chances.
Cheers guys. Have a good’n
GraemeQuote
December 16th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
bbc hd looking great this christmas with a full variety of different types of films, some that I believe will be broadcast in HD but haven’t been mentioned are;
Herbie fully loaded, The Santa Clause & The Santa Clause 2, Calender Girls, Bruce Almighty and The Muppets Treasure Island.
So along with what is already mentioned above there is something for everyone, young or old. Aswell as this the choice of dramas and comedies that bbc and itv are providing are genuinely satisfactory. And although itv’s movies available in hd leave alot to be desired (surely some of there bigger movies this year could have been broadcast in hd such as the harry potter movie), however this is made up for in the sports action available which bbc dont have. So between the two major broadcasters us freesat viewers will recieve a good selection of films, drams, comedies and sports in hd this christmas, which is great considering its subscription free!
Overall I have to say this is better than I expected from the first christmas on freesat regarding hd quantity and quality, so I have to ask what people have to really complain about, afterall with freesat being so young its only going to get better from now on, bring on C4 HD and BBC IPlayer!…
Martin BQuote