Will impending Sky changes render a lot of decoders useless?

[Gollie]

Hey there - sorry for not phrasing this awkwardly, but i'm not 100% on the terminology and trying REALLY hard not to break the forum rules here with this question.

I've seen references here and there that Sky are due to change their broadcast technology from MPG to MP4 in the next few months (all channels? some channels? their own channels? THE SD ones only? i dunno?)
How will this impact older boxes? - i have an older Ferguson 252 box that handles Sky just fine, as well as the Saorview (Irish version of Freeview) HD MP4 on the terrestrial aerial just fine.

I'm also about to buy the Xtrend ET8000 for the dual S/S2 and PVR features.
Am i worrying about nothing, and will my purchase not be wasted?

Basically looking for reassurances that this possible sky update won't turn a lot of satellite boxes into useless paperweights.

[DaMacFunkin]

Most HD channels on sky are already MP4, Sky changing them to this format won't cause an enigma2 box any trouble in receiving the channels, what is likely to happen is that these channels will then have the new pairing algorithm that means only official sky boxes will be able to decode them. Till it happens no one knows much, but you can bet all sky owned or exclusive sky channels will go dark.

[Gollie]

Thanks - that's as bad as i feared it would be.

Thankfully, i'm not greatly interested in the Sky Movies or Sky Sports (although my dad will be annoyed - he's a MUFC fan)

As long as the UKTV and the documentary channels stay put, i'm happy enough :D.

[Blue Jim01]

Hi I am new to this and looking for a box that can show the football in real HD not the Android HD. From what you said I assume that an enigma 2 box might do this or is this an Android? or can you recommend what I should be looking at. Thanks

[ronand]

You should be looking at Sky HD receiver. Enigma2 is a Linux front-end not a magic way to get channels without paying for them.