ya since the telco open up for competition, the government shud think ways to open up this pay tv service as to improve and provide the best for less...

Astro is planning for its HD service rite now. You can ask any astro installer.

most likely we need to pay extra $$$ for the HD service.... heard in June 09 will be the launching.. maybe
selected location .(or testing)...and End of 2009 nationwide

and got to pay $$$ for the new decoder...heard it cost around RM600 to RM700

Forget it. Better download ...full season HD of your favorite show for free...RM600 can buy another 2TB of Hard disks to store the movies!!!

i don't watch ASTRO nowadays....once i watched the downloaded HD...somemore very important...NO COMMERCIALS!!!

I bet ASTRO will be loaded with commercials!!

To be more realistic, better invest in a good build s-video cable to improve your picture quality on your LCD/Plasma TV.

That's the only way to improve astro picture quality.
If anyone has better solution, please share.

Monster THX S-Video Cable:
http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/742712

This post has been edited by DigitalTech: May 5 2009, 04:15 PM

s-video doesn't seem to have improved the picture any, it's as blotchy as ever - or is the PQ on ESPN/Star sports basically just crap?

yeah i agreed the S-video won't improve the PQ of Astro..

I have to disagree. The difference using good s-video cable (in my case Monster s-video) is pretty obvious. Even my wife who doesn't know jack about AV also notice it.

S-video does improve PQ for my SONY CRT...but not sure about LCD...never tested on it and never bothered. I use crap RF frequency for ASTRO for my LCD coz i pull a line from the decoder downstair.

I have to agree with arremie. I've sold hundreds of units of Monster S-Video cable.

You can read my buyer's testimonial on my thread. Those testimonials are 100% honest feedback from my buyers.

http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/742712

Furthermore, you are not paying full local retail price for Monster cables.

arremie is one of my satisfied customers.

If you know other methods to improve your astro picture quality, besides using good s-video cable, please share with us.

This post has been edited by DigitalTech: May 11 2009, 09:51 AM

i agree. that's what i do. i download lots of asian dramas and movies, keep in my externals, watch and rewatch whenever i feel like it. high quality pictures, no commercials, no disruptions during rain. i too don't watch astro anymore. waste of money saja pay every month but can't unsubscribe (yet) cos my dad wants to watch CNN and my adik wants disney. my mom watches HD asian shows with me

if astro change to HD format, the ratio will be 16:9 rite?

hi guys,

My Samsung FullHD TV doesn't come with a S-Video port, how to I optimize the ASTRO PQ? Please enlighten me. Thanks in advance!

Can PM me where to get those HD asian dramas? Direct download or BT? Thanks!

hahahahahah ..2012 dream ON ..my fren .....

as at now ... astro is making good $$$$ with the system .. do you think they will "crack" their head for FULL digital with HD quality .. for what you know .. yes... many many people in are using LCD TV ... but still got many many many many people using tv set which are around 10 yrs OLD not LCD ....

so how you think astro going to justify that .. !!!!

Astro has already begun looking for testers for their HD broadcast

taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_telev...tro_contents-15

Digital terrestrial TV

[edit]Free-to-air
In 2005, the Ministry of Information announced their plan to digitalise nationwide free-to-air TV broadcasts led by Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM).[1] Trial broadcasts were undertaken, involving one thousand households in the Klang Valley from September 2006 till February 2007. According to the then-Deputy Minister of Information, Chia Kwang Chye, the trial received "very positive" feedback, i.e. "more than 60 percent said the quality of the signal ranged from good to very good. Over 88 percent said the picture quality improved, while 70 percent said the sound quality was better."[2]
Accroding to Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek, RTM is expected to fully complete its digitalization in 2012 as part of its three-year restructuring process.[3] Each household, once equipped with the necessary equipment (set-top box or iDTV set) is expected to receive up to 19 channels, seven of which fall under RTM and the rest for private broadcasters such as Media Prima (TV3, ntv7, 8TV and TV9).[4] Thus far, besides simulcasting TV1 and TV2, RTM is test-airing RTMi, Muzik Aktif and Arena exclusively on the digital TV platform, transmitted at UHF channel 44, modulated at 64QAM.[5] RTM is also expected to launch regional channels for each state and/or territory in Malaysia, making it 20 RTM television channels.[6] Media Prima is expected to commence trials on March 2009.[7]
Malaysia and all other ASEAN nations had selected DVB-T as the final DTV standard, and are expected to switch off analogue broadcasts completely by 2015.[8] On June 2008, participants of the 6th ASEAN Digital Broadcast Meeting from seven south-east Asian countries (including Malaysia) agreed to finalise the specifications of the DTV set-top box for use within ASEAN, and also set up an ASEAN HD Centre to provide training on HDTV content to broadcasters in the region.[9]
HDTV

HDTV broadcasts is hard to come by[17], although the first HDTV sets hit electrical stores in the middle of the 2000s. Overtime, the sales of these sets rose higher as they have been sold rampantly[18]. According to consumer laws, a buyer cannot return the item claiming dissatisfaction with the fact that the item did not correspond to what was advertised in the first place in the shop.
RTM was originally expected to initiate high-definition television (HDTV) trials by 2009[2], however during the Beijing Olympic Games, RTM test-broadcasted the opening and closing ceremony, and several events on HD.[19]
Astro is currently looking into HDTV development before launching its service[16]. Chief executive officer Rohana Rozhan said that:
“ The world is moving towards HD and there will be certain segments in Astro's subscriber base that will want the service. ”



So, i think astro is going to HD sooner...haha, astro sure dun want defeated by RTM la...

---

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another article from http://www.measat.com/services_broadcasting_hdtv.html


so, so, any doubt that astro will not broadcast the hd channel?

---

Added on May 19, 2009, 3:28 pmanother info taken from interview.. http://www.nds.com/worldvision/forty_seven/article_2.html


What new services are you planning to launch?

We plan to launch our new standard definition XTV™ DVR with push VOD by the middle of the year. By the end of the year we expect to add the NDS progressive download service otherwise known as “pull VOD” on the DVR.

Early in 2010 we plan to offer an HD DVR as a premium product. All our next generation boxes, whether DVRs or zappers, will be IP-enabled, capable of hybrid DTH and IPTV operation and interconnection via a home network.



by all this explaination, i think astro is going to have the HD DVR for option la i think early next year....and bcoz of this, i think our lcd or plasma tv prices surely goes up a bit la...i think so la..

This post has been edited by apexg2: May 19 2009, 03:28 PM

Interesting read. Well, it is almost middle of the year now and still no sign of the new DVR.

ya...me oso waiting....but soon or later, we can watch hd channel via astro..haha!!!!have to buy plasma now...later, price da boom

I seriously doubt prices of LCD/PLASMA/LED will be be affected in anyway even if ASTRO goes HD. Even if it does, more likely it'll go down, as distributor can order larger bulk at cheaper price. But again, i must stress, ASTRO is too insignificant to have any impact on the global TV market.

Anyway, you guys can wait all you want. I'm already enjoying commercial free HD movies and TV series rip RIGHT NOW...at no extra cost.

I can guarantee ASTRO will charge sky high for their HD service. Definitely nothing cheaper than their SD service.

This post has been edited by Matrix: May 20 2009, 10:30 AM