Isakat

I wondered if anyone is watching UK tv( freeview, BBC, etc, not Sky) through a sling box and what is the quality of the picture.

Thanks

Isakat

Cliftonensis

I have set up a Sling Box onto a second Sky box in my sistets house in the UK.

Cannot comment on the quality yet though as there have been problems with here boradband upload speed. Should be ok by Christmas.

Isakat

Thank you for your reply.
We have not set up the sling box yet. The upload is 1.5 megabyte, so not sure what quality we can expect.

Regards,

Isakat

duffer

If you really have 1.5mb upload speed you'll be fine. Do you have the Slingbox that connects directly to your TV via a modem? Better that I think.

Cliftonensis

I spoke to the makers when I brought mine. The download required is 500kbs and I seem to remember the upload was less - not sure why but it was not more than the download speed anyway.

If you have the HD version then the requirements are considerably higher.

duffer

The upload is very important where the slingbox is connected, if too low then the quality is will not be too good - it will be choppy and pixelated.
Even if someone has 20mega download speeds, they might only have 256kb upload - you need to check with the provider.
For me, slingbox is only good enough to watch TV on a small window on your pc. OK for catching up with Eastenders, etc.

bradg60

Slingbox is great, but it's just as important your the upload speed of the connection is where the Slingbox resides as it is your speed in downloading the feed.

Keep that in mind when considering a Slingbox.

Isakat

Thanks all on the useful advice. We have not set it up yet.
A friend of ours has done so and I will go and see the picture quality, although I might not be able to judge well as she has it connected to her PC and not telly. She did mention though that the quality was not like the quality on her telly, which makes me think that if she feeds it through her tv, than it might be even worse.
Duffer, we do not have HD yet as my husband took a long time to decide on the telly and now it seems having heard that the new version with 3D will come out in June, he is waiting.I am personally not sure about having a 3D telly with kids at home. Just read in the Italian papers that under 6 y. olds can not go to the cinema and watch 3D movies because it is not good for their eysight.
Going back on to the slingbox, I will bear in mind the advice to keep the slingbox close to the internet connection.
Regards
Isakat

duffer

Slingbox is ok for watching on your PC. However with a great internet connection with high upload speed you can get good results using the pro version, hooking it up to a TV.
3D TVs are already available in the UK and there is already a Sky 3D preview channel. I personally think it's a gimmick and not really interested in having it in my home. Plus the 3D glasses cost about £100 each and you get only 2 pairs with the sets. I would consider a 3D tv that doesn't require glasses but they don't exist so until that point I'm happy to go to the cinema.