Quote:
Originally Posted by MargaretR
I have read that all HD equipment, (be it either an HD ready tv or an HD box), is equipped with a camera and microphone which is capable of relaying sound and vision BACK down the cable......interesting.....tones of 1984?
Maybe tv engineers can confirm or deny that.
|
That is not correct Margaret.
Virgin equipment does talk to virgin and Sky does through the phone line.
A Virgin box is a bit like a piece of internet equipment, it has MAC and IP addresses. Virgin know what channel your box is on and what you are watching. This comunication between your box and Virgin is what makes Virgin so good. You can select programs on demand and watch what you want from a big list of stuff. You can also watch it when you want, so you can pick a film and watch it now if you want, not wait until the next scheduled start time. The program is then sent to your box (sort of).
You can also access BBC iPlayer from your set top box and watch the programs on your TV like any other program. This is great because most normal people want to watch TV in the living room not sat at the PC (yes you can connect your PC to your TV but Virgins is an idiot proof system for normal humans) Sky's satellite system can not do this as there is no real communication back to Sky. Yes with Sky+ you can select some programmes to watch but these have been saved to your box by Sky so the choice is more limited.