[carbonem]

Hi.

I've just moved to Denmark and I have a question about digital TV.

I've just bought from Sony (in Field's, Cph) a Sony KDL-40W4500 (Full HD, 100Hz).

Because of where I live, the only way I can see anything besides DR1 and TV2 is to use cable TV which, in my area, is only provided by TDC -- yousee.dk (from which I also got 12Mbits internet connection).

I got "mellem pakken" and everything seems to be working on analog. Obviously, also because of the kind of TV I have, the picture quality is really bad and I would like to watch things in digital.

Now, I know that yousee transmits a digital signal too via cable but, in order to see it, you need to rent a smartcard for 199DKK every 6 months (that's very unfair but...).

Now, besides that, I've been told that I have to get a viaccess card (499DKK) which is a ca module where the smartcard should be put and then I can put the whole thing in my Sony TV.

Now, I have two questions:

1) Is there a cheaper way? E.g. getting the ca module somewhere else or getting another card reader where I can put the yousee card and then go via HDMI to my TV?

2) With that smartcard from yousee (199DKK every 6 months), can I see ALL channels from mellempakken digitally? E.g. can I see DR1 or 3 or 3+ or whatever in digital?

3)Will I really notice a difference from analog, even if the channels are not HD? Can I see HD channels?

Thanks a lot for your help.
Marco

[MacDuster]

First of all - I don't know too much about this, cause we do not recieve digital signal here in my house...

1) This I can't answer...

2) Yes, I'm 98 % sure that everything is sent digitally... You cannot send some channels analogic(right in English?:) and some digitally through the same cable.

3) Without knowing the exact answer I would say yes! I think more it's a question about the noise in the picture, cause the resolution schould stay unchanged. But some of the channels in "mellempakken" might be in HD... you tell me

[Michael Eriksen]

1) Is there a cheaper way? E.g. getting the ca module somewhere else or getting another card reader where I can put the yousee card and then go via HDMI to my TV?

Answer: Well I looked for the same 6 months ago and did not find a cheaper solution. Ended up buying a settop box from YouSee.


2) With that smartcard from yousee (199DKK every 6 months), can I see ALL channels from mellempakken digitally? E.g. can I see DR1 or 3 or 3+ or whatever in digital?

Answer: Yes you will get all the channels from "Mellem parken" in digital. I have "Fuld pakken" and receive all channels in digital. In addition you will get Kanal5HD in High Definition. Not every program is in HD but most are during the evening.

One of the limitations Yousee impose is that you cannot get the HD package with 6 HD channels unless you upgrade to "Fuld Pakke". So the HD channels comes at a premium on top of the 79 DKK subscription for the package itself.

Another limitation is that you cannot use Cinema - the video on demand service - with the smart card. In order to access Cinema you need to rent the set-top box. The Cinema application relies on software in the set-top box.

3)Will I really notice a difference from analog, even if the channels are not HD? Can I see HD channels?

Answer: YES! And with HD it's even more significant. I suspect Yousee deliberately provide low quality analogue tv signals in order to get people to subscribe to the digital service. It is really bad in analogue.

Best regards
Michael Eriksen.

[carbonem]

dear all,

thanks for your informative replies.

And thanks for confirming what I was hoping

I checked with you see, and they want 39Kr. per month to rent their HD-box (without hard-disk) but then they want 500Kr. for activation which I wouldn't pay if I decided to get one of their Digital TV offers (e.g. Favorit - 4 valgfrie kanaler at 48Kr. per month).

I forgot to say that the ca module (where I will insert yousee smartcard) is to be bought in Sony and it costs about 500Kr.

I'm going to Malmoe tomorrow, I'll check if I can get it cheaper there :P

Cheers,
Marco