Digital TV Guides

HD TV on BT Vision

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

Thursday 25 November, 2010

Want to watch your favourite programmes in super sharp high-definition? If you’ve got BT TV and a HD ready TV then on-demand films are at your fingertips - just hit “On Demand” on your BT Vision remote.

BT Vision (www.bt.vision.co.uk), the TV service offered by BT, is available to all BT Total Broadband customers. With BT Vision you’ll get access to hundreds of hours of on-demand films, sports and kids’ programmes, as well as all the Freeview channels that are available in your area.

But what can you watch in HD? And how much does high-definition TV with BT cost? We take a look at your options below…

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BT HD TV

Unlike rival TV providers Sky and Virgin Media, who offer a selection of high-definition channels such as Sky1 HD and Living HD, BT Vision doesn’t currently broadcast any HD channels.

For customers with a Vision+ box though, BT Vision does offer on-demand high-definition content, including HD films and sports coverage. This can be accessed through the BT Vision “viewing packs”, either on a pay monthly or pay-as-you-go basis.

High-definition gives you images that are up to five times sharper and brighter, and with Dolby digital surround sound, audio will be clearer with less background noise.

How to watch HD TV on BT

To get the full high-definition experience on BT Vision, you’ll need to connect your Vision+ box to a HD ready TV with a HDMI cable, and connect your surround sound system (if you have one) with a scart lead.

Before you can watch any high-definition films or programmes on BT Vision, you will need to download them onto your Vision+ set-top box - ideally you should do this overnight as HD programmes can take some time to download.

To find out what’s available in high-definition on BT Vision each month, follow these steps:

1. Press “On Demand” on your BT Vision remote control and then select “Film”, “Browse Vision Film” and then “HD”. High-definition TV shows to download are listed in the option “TV Programmes in HD”
2. If you press the blue button on your BT Vision remote control, you will be taken to the search menu. Type in “HD” and all the available HD titles will appear
3. You can also find the HD titles on the BT Vision website.

How much does HD TV cost on BT Vision?

BT’s HD on-demand content is available through either a monthly subscription to a “viewing pack”, or on a pay-per-view basis. The viewing packs you can choose from are:

• Vision Film Club - Offering more than 75 films to watch every month. Titles include recent hits from PictureBox, Warner Films and Film4, and there are 20 new titles to watch each week - many in HD.
• Vision Sport - Watch replays of your favourite team or sport when it suits you with Vision Sport. Highlights include TNA Wrestling, Moto GP, weekly sports shows and a huge archive of classic sport.
• Vision Kids - BT Vision Kids has children’s entertainment from channels including Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Disney XD.
• Vision Music - Subscribe to the Vision Music pack and watch this week’s top 20 music videos, as well as the best music videos from the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Subscription costs start from around £15 for two viewing packs, though you can add more packs for extra each month. And as a Vision viewing pack customer, you can change your subscription on a monthly basis, so you could enjoy the Sport pack one month and the Kids pack the next.

If you’d rather pay for your HD programmes as and when you watch them, prices start from £4.99 for a recently released film, archived programmes can cost as little as 39p, and newer titles can cost around £2.99.

BT Vision Freeview HD channels

Several high-definition Freeview channels, including recently launched BBC One HD, are currently being rolled out across the UK. These channels will be available to all UK homes via Freeview in time for the Olympics in 2012. To check whether you can receive these channels, use our Freeview HD checker.

Although BT Vision offers the standard definition Freeview channels through its service, it is unable to offer any Freeview HD channels on its Vision service at the moment. BT has confirmed that it is working with the Vision+ box manufacturer however, so the next-generation of Vision boxes will be enabled to receive the HD channels.

BT says it will contact all its Vision customers when it has more information on this.

Other HD TV options

If you’re looking for a fuller range of HD channels, you should look at the HD services offered by Sky and Virgin Media. Sky has more than 50 channels in its HD line-up, while Virgin Media has around 20.

These come at a cost however, and prices vary between digital TV providers, so it’s essential you compare costs before signing up to any particular service. Use the price comparison calculator on Digitalchoices.co.uk to work out which option would best suit your household.