Why is Talking pictures TV not available on Sky Stream but is available on other sky platforms

[Paul4434]

As TPTV is our favourite station i am very disappointed that we cannot get this channel on Sky Stream, yet friends can get it on other Sky platforms. There seems little point in us having Sky by the looks of it 🤷‍♂️

[xenon81]

Talking Pictures have previously said they would like to be available on Sky stream but Sky has to invite the channel to join the platform. It's not like the satellite platform where any channel can join.  

[ozsat]

This was posted by Talking Pictures today.

[d2h]

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@ozsat wrote:

This was posted by Talking Pictures today.

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They seem to advise people of different reasons quite often. This latest one is not true, of course. 

U&Drama, Comedy Central Extra, Animal Planet, ID, Discovery Turbo/History/Science, Challenge...

[paul789]

Ha that was me that asked the question on fb. They said they have a special announcement coming soon so I just took a gamble and asked them if it was stream. 

[ozsat]

They launched their app this week making content available on Firesticks.

[paul789]

They also said they had another announcement coming soon after the app launch.  

[lettice]

The new TP encore service has been doing the rounds for a launch from Dec.

It is now live online and on FireTVs and fire sticks, so hopefully we will see it on other devices soon.

It will be a free service, but with an ad free plan that au think the previous online version had.

That is listed in the current TP encore T&Cs as

• Subscription Plans: The Service is available with advertising (free) or through a subscription that removes ads ("Ad-Free"). Subscription plans are priced at £4.99 per month or £49 per year.

[CoffeeDrinker]

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@d2h wrote:

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@ozsat wrote:

This was posted by Talking Pictures today.

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They seem to advise people of different reasons quite often. This latest one is not true, of course. 

U&Drama, Comedy Central Extra, Animal Planet, ID, Discovery Turbo/History/Science, Challenge...

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Absolutely agree on the sub-HD bullpuckies. We routinely watch Star Trek Deep Space Nine & Voyager, both SD on Paramount+ and Tales of the Unexpected, SD on Sky's own Sky Arts HD channel. Whatever the issue is, carrying sub-HD content isn't it.

[ozsat]

I was told by other channels too of the HD requirement for Sky Stream.

Just because a channel is not HD on Sky satellite does not mean they can't supply a HD feed to other platforms..

Animal Planet and U&Drama are HD on VirginMedia but not Sky satellite.

The NOW channels have provided a higher quality FAST stream for some time to different platforms.

[xenon81]

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@ozsat wrote:

I was told by other channels too of the HD requirement for Sky Stream.

Just because a channel is not HD on Sky satellite does not mean they can't supply a HD feed to other platforms..

Animal Planet and U&Drama are HD on VirginMedia but not Sky satellite.

The NOW channels have provided a higher quality FAST stream for some time to different platforms.

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But there are numerous non-HD channels on Sky Stream. The belief that all channels on Glass/Stream are HD appears to be a common myth. 

[ZyloKai]

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@d2h wrote:

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@ozsat wrote:

This was posted by Talking Pictures today.

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They seem to advise people of different reasons quite often. This latest one is not true, of course. 

U&Drama, Comedy Central Extra, Animal Planet, ID, Discovery Turbo/History/Science, Challenge...

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The channels mentioned are indeed in HD but broadcast in 720p. However, Sky seems to classify 720p HD as standard definition (SD). If one uses a third-party satellite receiver, as I do, it will display an "HD" icon when a channel is in HD. For example, Challenge SD and all Sky SD channels are marked with the HD icon on the information banner of the third-party receiver, even though Sky doesn’t label them as HD. It seems that Sky reserves the HD label exclusively for channels in 1080p or 1080i.

As for Talking Pictures, I believe it is broadcast in 576p SD.

One can often identify a 576p SD channel on a HD television because the picture may appear slightly blurry or pixelated.

[xenon81]

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@ZyloKai wrote:

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@d2h wrote:

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@ozsat wrote:

This was posted by Talking Pictures today.

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They seem to advise people of different reasons quite often. This latest one is not true, of course. 

U&Drama, Comedy Central Extra, Animal Planet, ID, Discovery Turbo/History/Science, Challenge...

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The channels mentioned are indeed in HD but broadcast in 720p. However, Sky seems to classify 720p HD as standard definition (SD). If one uses a third-party satellite receiver, as I do, it will display an "HD" icon when a channel is in HD. For example, Challenge SD and all Sky SD channels are marked with the HD icon on the information banner of the third-party receiver, even though Sky doesn’t label them as HD. It seems that Sky reserves the HD label exclusively for channels in 1080p or 1080i.

As for Talking Pictures, I believe it is broadcast in 576p SD.

One can often identify a 576p SD channel on a HD television because the picture may appear slightly blurry or pixelated.

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Non of those channels are HD. You may be looking at the resolution (720x576) and thinking the 720 must mean HD, but it would need to be 1280x720 to be classed as HD. 

The satellite receiver you mention may believe that, now as Sky channels including Challenge are broadcast in MPEG4 they are HD, but SD can also be broadcast in MPEG4 and that's what Sky are now doing. 

[TimmyBGood]

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@xenon81 wrote:

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Non of those channels are HD. You may be looking at the resolution (720x576) and thinking the 720 must mean HD, but it would need to be 1280x720 to be classed as HD. 

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Doesn't that depend on who's doing the classification? 

Every online source I can find says 720p is (the lowest) 'HD' resolution: it's just not 'Full HD'.

[xenon81]

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@TimmyBGood wrote:

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@xenon81 wrote:

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Non of those channels are HD. You may be looking at the resolution (720x576) and thinking the 720 must mean HD, but it would need to be 1280x720 to be classed as HD. 

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Doesn't that depend on who's doing the classification? 

Every online source I can find says 720p is (the lowest) 'HD' resolution: it's just not 'Full HD'.

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720p is HD yes, however those channels aren't HD, they are 720x576 which is only SD. It's the last digits that matter, for example:

720x576 is SD, 576p

1280x720 is HD, 720p.

1920x1080 is full HD, 1080i/p.