Sky+HD vs Virgin Media TiVo
Is it Sky+HD or Virgin Media TiVo that has the best picture quality? We find out with our exclusive tests
SKY+HD
Sky was the company that really changed TV in this country, offering tons of channels via a satellite dish years before Virgin Media (back then, a selection of competing cable companies), Freeview or Freesat even had a look-in.
While it’s changed a lot over the years, the delivery method of TV has stayed the same: you get everything through your satellite dish. That means no fancy cable network as for Virgin Media, or a TV platform designed with the internet in mind, as with YouView. However, in recent months the company has made leaps and bounds in what it can deliver through its Sky+ HD box, offering a wide selection of apps and catch-up services, all while retaining the thing that attracted people to the service in the first place: top-quality content.
The Sky+ brand has become ubiquitous for PVRs in the UK
INTERFACE AND REMOTE
Sky+ HD has been an evolving work, going through a series of changes to introduce new features and bring high definition to the UK. Sky was the first company in the UK to make a real success out of a hard-disk recorder, with its adverts simply showing people that could pause and rewind live TV.
It’s no wonder, then, that the latest iteration of the EPG means that Sky+ HD has one of the best interfaces. Everything about the box is geared around TV, making the most of the HD output. Jumping to the EPG keeps a thumbnail of the current channel or recording you’re playing, in the top-right of the screen, so that you can keep an eye on the action while you work out what you want to watch next or simply sort out your recordings.
Sky’s EPG maintains a thumbnail of the current programmes, so you can keep watching TV while using it
The focus on live channels is on HD content, and the EPG has been reorganised so that the HD channels appear first. In terms of organisation, Sky is brilliant, with tabs for different genres of programmes (Entertainment, Sports, HD, etc). Selecting a genre then lets you select the type of content you want: Live TV, Planner (your recordings) and On Demand. You can, of course, also search for content using the built-in menus.
Sky organises all of its content into simple categories
The Sky remote is one of the best available. It’s comfortable and well-laid out, giving you easy control of your box. This remote has evolved over the years to introduce new features, such as playback controls, but it means that anyone who’s ever used Sky will be familiar with it immediately.
One of the key things about the Sky remote is its coloured buttons, which are used for shortcuts throughout the system. Press Green, for example, on the EPG and you jump straight to the planner. All of the shortcuts available are marked clearly on screen, so navigating through the calm blue interface is incredible easy.
Recording programmes is a matter of finding a show in the EPG and hitting the Record button on the remote. Sky prompts you to see if you want to record a single episode or everything, using Series link. It will also warn you if there’s a clash with other programmes you want to record. With dual tuners you can record two programmes, so clashes should be rare.
Recordings, both made and upcoming, are managed through your Planner. Episodes of the same show are organised into folders, so your view doesn’t get too cluttered. From the Planner you can remove the series link on shows, playback recordings and delete anything you’re finished with. A neat touch, recently added, is that deleted recordings aren’t actually deleted, but just marked that way; you can go to Deleted Recordings to recover a programme you accidentally wiped up to the point where the hard disk space it’s using is deleted.
Sky’s planner is incredibly well organised, bundling TV shows into folders
We also like the way that when you start a programme, you can choose the point you want to jump to, such as 89 minutes. It’s a great way of catching up with something topical, such as a goal in a football match, when you know roughly where it occurred.
LIVE CONTENT
If there’s one thing that’s clear, it’s that Sky has the widest range of channels and the most HD channels. Content is something that the company is keen to make a fuss of and exclusives are often found on its channels. You can get the vast majority of this content, such as Sky One, on Virgin Media; although it’s still the only place you can watch Sky Atlantic.
This channel shows the best new shows from the US, including top hits, such as Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones. Throw in more HD sports channels, and the Sky F1 HD for motor racing and there’s popular content here that you simply can’t get from other providers. It’s also the only UK TV provider to have a 3D channel, although given the dearth of good content, this isn’t anything to get excited about.
CATCH-UP AND ON-DEMAND
Catch-up and on-demand content is one area that Sky used to struggle in, but its’ recently put a lot more effort into it. There are multiple ways to get on-demand content. First, is Sky Showcase, which is an optional service that you can disable from the main interface. This wakes your box up at night and records a Sky-selected range of programmes, which you can then watch in broadcast quality at your leisure. Programmes are typically available for a few weeks, before they’re deleted automatically.
Relatively new is TV via the internet, with all of the major channels (BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five) available now for Catch Up. For this to work you have to hook your Sky+ HD box up to the internet via its Ethernet port. If your router’s nowhere near your set-top box, HomePlug is a good alternative. Sky also sells a tiny adaptor, which takes the Ethernet output of your box and converts it to Wi-Fi, so you don’t need cables at all. Sky also has its own catch-up service available, too, which covers Sky 1, Sky Atlantic, Sky Living, Sky Movies, Sky Sports and Sky Arts.
Sky’s Catch Up service downloads the full quality stream to your set-top box, giving you better quality than streaming services
What makes this different to other services, is that programmes aren’t streamed live, but are downloaded at broadcast quality, including HD, to your set-top box and saved in your Planner. This means that they look and act like ‘real’ recordings and aren’t reliant on internet speeds for quality. Virgin Media has something similar for some content, using one of its cable tuners, but a lot of its on-demand content is the lower on-demand video stream.
As with online catch-up services, downloaded shows have an expiry date and are wiped from your box when the deadline is hit. The only slightly strange thing is that BBC iPlayer content is not currently searchable from either the main Sky search or through the mobile app.
On top of that, is the Sky Library, which contains box-sets of old TV programmes and some films that you can download. These are free, but you can also buy more recent and premium content from the Sky Store.
APPS AND MOBILE DEVICES
Apps and mobile devices is one area where Sky really leads the way. It’s had the Sky+ app for smartphones for ages, letting you set recordings from anywhere in the world, with requests taking up to 20 minutes to hit your home box.
However, more recently, you can now use the same apps (iOS and Android) to remotely manage your box when you’re on the same network. This means you can set recordings, manage your Planner, choose what to watch and then control playback all from your app, without having to delve into the main interface. For managing recordings and searching using the onboard keyboard alone, this app is incredible.
The Sky+ App lets you set recordings anywhere in the world and control your Sky+ HD box directly when you’re on the same network
Then, there’s Sky Go. This app (iOS, Android, Windows and Xbox) lets you watch TV over the internet, wherever you are. It has live channels to let you watch what’s on now, including all of the sports, most of the movies, Sky 1, Sky Atlantic, Sky Living, Fox and Sky Arts 1. The only restriction is that you can only watch the channels available through your TV package. You can also watch a decent selection of catch-up TV from Sky’s channels, but not from the terrestrial channels, such as BBC.
New is Sky Go Extra, which costs £5 a month extra, but lets you download content to your device, so that you can watch on-the-go. However, the standard version for streaming only is free to anyone with a Sky account and TV subscription.
HOW TO GET IT
To get Sky you need to have a satellite dish installed, which isn’t always possible on some properties, particularly those in conservation areas. Each Sky+ HD box requires two cables to be run from the satellite dish: one per tuner. It may also be more expensive to have the dish installed if special work needs to be done, such as fitting a dish to a high-rise block of flats.
All Sky+ HD boxes have to be connected to a telephone line, although if you take a triple-play pack, you can get Sky to provide your broadband and telephone in one. However, to fully benefit from such deals your local exchange will need to have Sky’s broadband kit installed – check if you do at http://www.sky.com/quickbuy/build?changeAddress.
To get all of the on-demand services we mentioned, you have to take out a Sky+ HD subscription, which costs an additional £10.25 a month over the SD channels. Prices start at £21.50/month for the basic service and cost more if you want a wider range of channels and premium content, such as sports and movies. This currently includes a free set-top box, which you own: in other words if it’s out of warranty and breaks, it’s your responsibility to pay for a new one. A second box can be bought for an additional fee (prices vary depending on the type of box) and connected to the same TV package for an additional £10.25 a month.
You can get free ADSL broadband (up-to 20Mbit/s) with a 2GB download limit, provided you switch your landline to Sky for £14.50/month line-rental. Unlimited usage at the same speeds costs £7.50 a month, while fibre (availability dependent on location) costs £20 a month.
CONCLUSION
It’s not particularly cheap and having a satellite dish installed doesn’t suit every household, but the quality and range of live TV channels can’t be beaten. There’s a complex range of packages, but you can find out what’s available using the Sky product page. Sky also has the best apps for watching content on the go and its live control on the same network is brilliant. If you want premium channels and don’t live in a cable area, it’s the obvious choice, especially if you can get Sky Broadband. If you’re lucky enough to have the option of cable too, then you’ll have to pick between more HD content on Sky and its better catch-up and apps, or faster, cheaper high-speed internet with Virgin Media.