| Sky+ Explained |
Sky+ is a satellite receiver and personal television recorder (PTR) in one. Sky+ Gives you the freedom to easily plan and record programmes for days ahead, in a matter of minutes, freeze live programmes and rewind to watch the start of a programme that you might have missed. Record one satellite channel while watching another.
Record without a video - No timers, no tapes. Sky+ records an average of 20 hours on its internal hard drive.
Pause live TV - Just pause whatever you're watching, you can even fast forward to catch up with live TV.
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Instant rewind - Sky+ allows you to rewind the programme you are watching - so if you come in half way through a programme, you will be able to rewind and watch it from the start without missing the beginning.
Home Cinema - With a Sky+ digibox you can connect to a compatible home cinema system and watch selected wide screen movies in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround for the real Home Cinema experience! |
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| Can Sky+ be used outside the U.K.? |
| Yes, though your Sky+ box should be connected to a phone line (UK Landline), this is in the Sky contract. However, Sky do not seem too bothered about this, and there are many viewers using Sky+ on the Continent. |
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| Equipment |
You will need a Sky+ receiver/PVR, the Sky+ Digibox has 2 tuners (so that you can record one channel while watching another) you will need to connect the Sky+ to a universal lnb with at least 2 outputs.
Pace Sky+ V1: Physically the largest of the Plus receivers available. Has the Interactive card slot in the middle, with the Led counter on the left. 40GB Hard Drive as standard.
Pace Sky+ V2: Smaller than the Pace V1 Sky+ receiver. Has the Interactive card slot on the left with the Led counter in the middle. 40GB Hard Drive as standard.
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| Amstrad Sky+ V2: Equal in size as the Pace Sky+ V2 and looks virtually identical, apart from the Interactive card slot being on the right, and the control buttons on the left. 40GB Hard Drive as standard. |
| Sky+ V3: Newest Sky+ receiver which has a 160GB Hard Disk as standard. However 80GB of whatever size drive you install in such a box is reserved by Sky, leaving the remainder (which also happens to be 80GB as supplied) for the user. 80GB doubles the recording capacity (from previous V1 and V2 receivers) to approximately 40 hours. No one except Sky knows how to “unlock” the reserved space, at present. |
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| What is a Personal Video Recorder (PVR)? |
A PVR (Personal Video Recorder) allows you to record TV programmes onto a hard disk, similar to those found inside a computers.
There are several advantages to this approach - no tapes to rewind, the ability to pause live TV, integrated programme guides, and series recording, plus a lot more storage space than a standard VHS cassette. You can copy programmes down onto video tape for archiving, if you wish. |
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| Sky Guide |
Sky+ has its own electronic programme guide (EPG) made by Sky. From here, users can see what programmes are on in the next seven days. The current EPG software version (as of April 2006) is Sky+ 4.10.c.
To check which version of software your Sky+ box is using, press the Services button, System Setup menu, option 5, 'System Details'. You can force your Sky box to update to the latest software, this is done in the same way as standard Sky Digital receivers.
You can see which programmes have been recorded, which have been viewed, by pressing the blue button on your remote the selected programme will be kept and can not be deleted.
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| Connection to phone line (UK Landline) |
| Sky Digital customers get subsidised installation and digibox provided they stay connected to a phone line. This is to ensure that the Sky+ receiver can be used with Interactive services, and to check that multiroom subscriptions are on the same telephone line. |
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| Sky+ Versions |
| Sky Plus comes in three versions: |
| Sky+ 40GB - First Version of Sky+. An average of twenty hours recording time. (Discontinued), manufactured by Pace (v1) and then, later, by Amstrad and Pace (v2) |
| Sky+ 80GB - Now officially and colloquially referred to as Sky+. Launched September 2005 as standard Sky+ box. An average of forty hours recording time. Despite having a 160GB hard drive installed, only half (80GB) is available to the customer, with the other half "reserved for use by BSkyB" - although it is unclear at the moment what this disk space will be used for. |
| Sky+ 160GB - Sky+ 160 has an average of eighty hours recording time, manufactured by Thomson only. (discontinued).
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The other versions were initially manufactered by Amstrad and Pace. Although both look similar, they have minor external differences (viewing card positions etc.) and significant internal differences. By December 2005, Sky+ 80GB boxes manufactured by Pace, Amstrad and Thomson were being installed. however there have been many problems with Amstrad boxes following a software update (January 2006). The problems include freezing and hard drive problems. Amstrad and sky still are trying to sort this out.
The latest version of the Amstrad box (July 2006) is generally believed to be free from software bugs. Recordings and playback are robust although the operation is, compared to other manufacturers, sluggish. |
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| The Hard disks inside Sky+ receivers can be upgraded, to see how click HERE. |
| For a pictural Guide to upgrading Sky+ click HERE. |
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| Sk+ Remote |
| A typical Sky+ remote control is similar to a typical Sky Digital remote, but provides controls for the extra features, e.g rewinding the programme, record, play or pause, fast forward and stopping playback of the programme. The Sky+ remote uses entirely different codes to a standard Sky Digital remote control and so is, by default, incompatible with it. This is probably intentional, as some homes will have two subscriptions and would not want the risk of the controls operating the wrong equipment. However, the Sky+ remote can be programmed to operate a standard Sky Digital digibox, and vice versa. The remote can not opperate all makes of TV. |
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| Remote recording |
In July 2006 Sky added remote recording functionality to Sky+ which enables customers to schedule recordings when they are away from home via a mobile telephone. Programmes can be added to the planner either by downloading an application to the mobile phone, called 'Sky By Mobile', or by sending as SMS with details of the programme name, time, date and channel.
Viewers with a 2.5G, 3G or GPRS phone who have downloaded the Sky by mobile application can view Sky’s 7-day TV guide on their phone and select programmes to record on their Sky+ box.
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The guide on your phone looks similar to Sky’s light blue on-screen guide and enables people to browse listings and view programme details on the move. There is no charge to use this part of the service other than the phone operator’s data charge for using 2.5G, 3G or GPRS services.The service also works via text message. Sky+ customers just send a short message with the programme details to a dedicated number. The text message version works with any UK-based mobile phone, users send a short message such as The Simpsons. Sky 1. 11/06. 18:30. to the dedicated "Remote Record" number 61759. Sky then automatically searches the TV listings and if a match is found a message is sent to the customers Sky+ box. To use Remote Record you need an active Sky+ subscription. Up to eight mobiles can be registered on one box. However mobile phones cannot be registered on multiple boxes. |
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| Copying recordings from your Sky+ receiver |
| You can connect a DVD or video recorder to your Sky+ box, to allow you to copy shows recorded on your Sky+ box... great for archiving series recorded using series link. Note that there is a restriction on copying Sky Box Office movies. Connection to a recorder can be made via the box's two SCART sockets, or via the modulated output. |
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| Programme Padding |
| The Sky+ receiver supports 'padding' or recording offset, which is a setting that allows you to add a number of minutes of recording time to the scheduled start and end times of programmes. This means that the receiver will record a few extra minutes in case a programme does not start quite when it should, for occasions where the Sky+ EPG isn't aware of overruns. To edit the settings, press Services, and select Sky+ setup . |
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| Dolby Digital 5.1 |
Connect Sky+ to a compatible home cinema system and watch selected wide screen movies in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. Sky Premier Widescreen and Sky Box Office Widescreen are airing a wide selection of movies in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. To get Dolby Digital 5.1 with Sky+, you need to connect an optical digital audio cable between your Sky+ set-top box and your Dolby Digital 5.1 compatible home cinema amplifier/processor.
You will then be able (with the necessary six speakers) to get surround sound through five audio channels (left, centre, right, left surround and right surround), plus a sixth channel giving low frequency (bass) effects.
Check your Sky listings to see which films are available in Dolby Digital 5.1. |
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| Sky+ Links |
| Sky Plus Official Website |
| Everything Sky+ Information on Sky+ |
| Plusworld Plusworld was formed due to the lack of consistent feedback from Sky to its customers over Sky+. The site was created because like you we wish to make Sky+ the best it can be, by voicing our concerns and acting on them. |
| Sky+ Amstrad DRX180 Hard Drive upgrade Step by step guide to upgrading a Sky+ reciver. |
| Sky+ Upgrade Information on how to upgrade and install a new hard disk in a Sky+ receiver. |
| The Digital Spy PVR Forum Digital Spy's PVR Forum |
