Dialog went public with the HD pack details which was leaked publicly first on this blog. As per the details released, they are the same to what was leaked a couple of days ago by a fellow blogger who shared the details with us.
Whilst appreciating the fact that a major Sri Lankan company has taken steps to launch HD channels to our tiny island nation, we wish that the product pricing was better suited to the Sri Lankan market. Dialog have tied their own hands thanks to short sighted use of new technology by them. We know that there are many non HD television owners in Sri Lanka who will be happy to add Fashion TV, History TV18, Ten Action & BBC Entertainment channels which are included in the HD package as Non HD channels, to their existing packages. It's hilarious that Dialog includes non HD channels in a pack containing HD channels, makes you wonder if the one's who priced the product actually knew the difference. It's a total ripoff to ask subscribers to purchase the HD pack to view a bunch of basic non HD channels.
There have been rumors about a special promotion by Dialog issuing the HD decoder FOC to Gold package subscribers until July 15th under the condition that they will subscribe to the "HD" pack. A good incentive for those who have HD televisions but not at all favorable to those who just want to view the non HD channels. Although we haven't been able to confirm this yet and if it's true they will probably release it to the public when they find out that yet again we leaked it to the public from right under their noses thanks to our fellow bloggers.
The addition rental which exceeds Rs 1000/= with the inclusion of taxes for the HD pack is way beyond the means of ordinary middle class Sri Lankans & like one of our fellows bloggers put it, one "has to be born a Maharaja" to subscribe to this pack.
As per the information gathered by us, the pack is activated as a set plan, and they will issue the decoders to the subscribers site which should take a couple of days. It's actually a pity that all of Dialog MPEG4 decoders that were issued to the subscribers were never fully utilized. Maybe Dialog TV can do some form of software upgrade to make use of the MPEG4 decoders at least to watch these non HD channels in the HD pack. However it is highly unlikely since the major stars of the HD pack are actually the non HD channels namely "Fashion TV" and "Ten Action".
Another point worth mentioning is that the content of the HD channels is the same as their SD counterparts which are available in other lower priced packages on Dialog TV. For example Star Movies India SD & Star Movies India HD have the same content, AXN Asia SD & AXN Asia HD have the same content, Nat Geo India SD & Nat Geo India HD have the same content, Ten HD is a mix of the content of their SD channels Ten Sports, Ten Cricket & Ten Action. Therefore you will not watch anything different from the SD version in the HD version apart from far more clearer sounds & pictures.
As a matter of fact the non HD History TV18 channel on the HD pack is originally a HD channel which Dialog converts to SD and broadcasts. So elevating History TV18 to HD makes sense plus they should have added Discovery HD World plus some non Indian feed HD channels to which Dialog doesn't have the SD counterpart would have made the HD pack far more appealing. Well one thing is for certain, it would be very interesting to watch when Star Movies HD interrupts the movie to telecast HD advertisements in Dolby Digital sounds.
Well it wouldn't be fair if we didn't say "Congratulations Dialog" on being the first in Sri Lanka to introduce HD but it's a "boooo" when it comes to pricing & channel selection, basically a "boooo" for the way the entire thing was handled. Dialog went from "Hero" when we first announced the rumored HD to "Zero" when the pricing got leaked. They have no one else to blame except themselves.
It's still not too late for Dialog to rectify the matter if they want. Please keep us updated on the latest on Dialog TV as the days progress.
29 comments:
I checked with CC, but they said there is no offer to give HD decoder FOC to gold customers
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Free HD decoders will be given to Gold subscribers till 15th July with 16GB PVR enable facility.
Fellow Bloggers Know the reliability of NOKIA’s word :)
CC just confirmed what NOKIA said :)
It was History Channel which caught my attention. After seeing it's logo in the page about DTV HD, I went to the SD channel list to find it's channel number in order to activate it on my regular subscription, thinking they'd sure make it available for SD customers also - but No.
After the CC officer told me it won't be available for us, I wrote a blogpost stating my opinion, to which I'll post the link at the end of this comment.
Lates this afternoon, I tweeted my concern at @dialoglk and they responded with a positive reply. It is under "Update 2012-06-21-1850h" section in the said blog post.
Here is the blogpost I wrote:
Dialog, Y U NO offer History Channel as a standalone channel?! : http://blog.budhajeewa.com/dialog-y-u-no-offer-history-channel-as-a-standalone-channel/
Let me know when they push down the prices and add more channels to the HD line up, at which point I presume i should be able to at-least think of going for a HD pack with dialog. wonder if there will actually be people buying this pack.
pl tell me how many hd channels can be added to that 5 th transponder i mean considering with the remaining space on that 5 th TP ..
I'd never go for INDIAN HD feeds. Dialog screwed us again by introducing this HD & SD mixed pack.
If anyone says anything about this really high prices, people are curious to have HD in their own home.
I've called CC and, they say they can't give the connection in 3 days, because many people requested HD Pack and now they don't have facilities to coverup all until the ship comes with another stock of materials.
Then we have to wait. But I don't think people will not pay the bills regularly after they get to know about how HD works in their homes accordingly their curiosity.
Got a little information about Dialog's HD adventure.
Turn's out it was SLT that originally had plans to launch HD. But somehow the information had leaked to Dialog and they decided to launch HD before SLT. So the HD launch was done almost overnight.
That would explain the poor pricing structure and lack of market research. Also, if the customer care are now saying that they are out of HD set top boxes, that is also explainable. They were never in a proper position to launch HD in the first place, but did so only to be the "first" and beat SLT. So if they have run out of HD receivers that is not because of demand but because they didn't have many boxes to begin with. I have been watching the Pak vs. SL test match and I'm more than a little bit surprised that there are no promo ads about their new HD service, especially because the India Sri Lanka tournament will be on Ten HD. All these point to the fact that this HD launch was done very hastily.
There is an old sinhalese saying "ikman kotai". I hope the folks at Dialog are aware of that.
Star movies india hd is a total crap
y dialog cant add fox movies premium hd TO their HD channel line up
i think this channel is highly requested channel also
crappy indian feed of star movies
who wants to watch that channel in HD when we fed up with SD
FOX movies premium HD is available in lots of countries y dialog cant add it shit.........@@#$
@ E2C,
I totally agreed with you. Why do we have to pay another rental for HD and view the same content of Non HD.
If I get HD and pay 990/= I get 2 StarMovies with HD and SD....
I'm planing to try HD but The TV set to be changed.
can some one let me know wheter Philips P32PFL3605 is a good HD TV please
@Nokia
i think Samsung is the best brand.
about DTV HD
this is a criminal act as far as i can see. why should i pay another extra for channel that already i viewing as SD.
Also they given new non HD channel as a bonus. why should other can have those channels.
@ NOKIA
I think Samsung or LG is the best.
Panasonic is also good.
If ur on a low budget, TCL LED that is marketed by Singer is ok.
I myself am looking for one.
About DTV HD.
I wish they included more at least 2-3 more HD channels or given us more bonus channels for that price. The HD pack is just a gimmick to sell TEN ACTION & FTV.
For the benefit of those who look for HDTVs, you have to consider a number of facts before purchasing your TV. One of the most definite factors would be the place that you will keep your TV.
If the place is a well lit room, it is advised to go for a LCD (or so called LED) TV. Please don’t be fooled by the term LED as these TVs are also LCD TV with LED Backlights. LED TVs at the general range are expensive and provides lower picture quality compared with Plasmas. Plasmas are an older technology, produce very high picture quality but consumes more power than LEDs. Only Panasonic Plasmas are available in local context and they are the best plasmas in the market too. If you are going to buy a 3D TV, better go for plasma as they are the only capable TVs to deliver full HD 3D images. However, smallest plasma available is 42 inches. If you are looking for a smaller TV, then you have to go for an LCD. Plsamas cannot deliver the brightness of LCDs too.
On the brands front, Panasonic and Samsung both are competing with each other. Sadly, Samsung and LG plasmas are not available in Sri Lanka. On the LED front, Samsung and Sony displays are generally thought to be good. On the design front, nothing beats Samsung. Samsung and Sony TVs are widely available through some shops in Pettah (hit ad has it all) as well as the respective agents. The price difference is large yet I am reluctant to make such a big investment while taking a risk.
I personally like plasma due to lower price, value for money and the higher picture quality it delivers and the natural colors. Yet Sony and Samsung LCDs also provide competing picture quality (at a slightly premium price). Thus, please do your own research, read up before you purchase your TVs. These panels last long. So you might not want to buy something that you want to change in a hurry.
@ nokia
i called the customer care regarding star movies hd and ask about r they going to add fox movies premium hd ?
they said that they took this matter into their consideration bla bla bal @#$#@
send some e mail to dialog regarding fox movies premium HD
-----service@dialog.lk-----
MY DOCORDER SHOWS 94 CHENNELS. IS THERE POSSIBILITY THAT DIALOG WILL ADD MORE HD CHENNELS
bt my decorder only shows 75 channles. newly added TP is fail. thats why nokia
What about AOC LCD/LED Tv's ?
All,
I've just got Dialog HDTV installed. They are issuing a Decoder Made in Korea + I got a 16GB Kingston Pen drive to support PVR facility.
I didn’t get my TV (HD) yet, but the facility fixed to the Standard Sony Wega 21inch Flat. The experience is superb. The pictures are sharp and very rich quality.
I’ll keep you all informed on the status ones I get the Full HD Tv and after connecting it via MIDI
@Nokia,
got my HD pack last night after a mega battle with CC since they took almost a week to come and change the decoder and they finally came at 9pm last night!! I have 40" LED and the HD channels are excellent and is of similar quality to a Blue-Ray movie. The decoder also seems to be of better quality than the previous TechnoSat junk.
Star Movies HD and AXN HD have the same programs that runs on the SD channel although there are less ads and ad breaks on Star Movies HD. Last night, Die Hard 4 started at the same time on both channels but on the HD channel it finished about 30 mins before the SD. Based on my observations so far, the content on NatGeo HD is not the same as NatGeo
@ leyland
Thanks for the info. And what about the PVR feature? The quality of the recorded programme is not that good.
Will update after checking all tonight :)
SLPL will be shown in SET SIX.
@nilu: We don't have SET SIX in DTV, do we?
no we want to add
They can use the Test Transmission Slot to add this channel during the Matches.
Hi,
As I told you the picture quality on HD is superb. There is a 5-10 seconds delay on AXN HD comparing to SD AXN channel.
Video Recording is a crap as you cannot watch the recorded videos. There should be a system issue on that. I informed this to the technical team and they seems working on that. Since I received 16GB pen drive to record videos I think they should add value to that.
I Prefer if they could offer something extra to SD and HD as some channels are duplicated on SD and HD. What my personal view is they must add different channels on HD.
Anyway Proud of Dialog being first to introduce HD in Sri-Lanka and I’m being few of the first to get the service activated :)
Cheers
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