There still seem to be audio synchronisation problems with some HD satellite receivers. If you have doubts about yours you can access a lip sync test signal on the BBC HD channel. A test card is available too, which has surround sound audio channel identifications.
When the channel is off-air the BBC transmits a continuous stream of programme clips, in what is known as the Barker. The test card appears after an hour, with the audio sync test 50 minutes after that.
So one hour after the BBC HD channel programmes come to an end you can see the test card. One hour and fifty minutes after closedown the audio sync test appears.
In brief the audio sync test shows two moving white bars, one vertical and one horizontal. The vertical one is a clapperboard while the horizontal bar shows the video timing relative to the audio. Simply listen to the audio and see where the horizontal bar has reached at the point that the clapperboard sound is heard. The numerical scale will show you how far in advance or behind the pictures are compared to the sound.
Both test signals can conveniently be recorded on a Freesat or Sk+ HD recorder by using the manual recording option BUT you may well find that the audio sync on replay is slightly different to that on live viewing!
For fuller details on the audio sync test signal see the BBC Blog here.
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Forcing a Sky receiver to do a software update is very easy. The process could be terminal for the box if the mains is interrupted in mid-update so please be careful that this cannot happen accidentally.
Here are the steps to trigger an update:
- Switch the box to standby
- Unplug the mains or switch off at the mains socket
- Hold the Back Up button on the box (not the remote) in. Do not release it.
- Switch the mains back on or re-insert the plug
- After a few seconds you should see a black & white screen warning that the box is updating
- Now you can release the Back Up button
After the update the box will reboot and enter standby. Sky+ boxes in particular will take a few minutes to sort themselves out before they can be switched back on. Installers reckon the box can get confused if you try too early.
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Here is how to access the hidden installer menu on your Sky box.
Warning one – do not change anything you do not understand.
Warning two – even if you do know what you are doing, make a note of the existing settings before changing anything.
The installer menu can be acccessed by the following button presses:
- Services
- 4 (or by choosing System Setup from the menu)
- 01 Select (press the keys rapidly, one after the other)
You should then see the installer menu, which offers the following options on a Sky + box:
- LNB Setup – offers options to make the box work with a non-standard LNB
- Default transponder – don’t change this setting
- Telephone Setings – allows use on non-standard phone systems (eg PBX)
- RF Outlets – allows you to choose which channel the Sky box will output its analogue PAL signal on. Also switches RF outlet power supply
- Manual tuning – no more useful than Add channels in the System Setup menu
- New installation – don’t select this unless you are a Sky installer
- Sky+ planner rebuild – allows Sky+ to rebuild list of recordings after a major box crash
- Full system reset – if all else fails…
NB Sky HD boxes are in the process of having their EPG updated. The new EPG offers access to Service menus etc from the main EPG screen. We have not yet been able to check that the installer menu access mechanism is unchanged.
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Having problems with your Sky HD box? That may be the reason Sky are going to swap out 90,000 boxes made by Pace and which have some sort of non-safety related internal wiring fault, according to reports on Broadband TV News, Digital Spy and other technology websites. Affected customers will reportedly receive a voucher for 3 months free HD viewing in compensation.
The original HD boxes were all made by Thomson but the current generation of Sky HD boxes are made by Pace, Samsing and Amstrad. Some customers with the new generation of boxes had initial problems with lip sync which appeared to have been solved with over-the-air updates last year.
bill News fault, HD, sky