TV's with free view built in

Barr

Hi All

I use a free view box at the moment to watch satellite. I have a seperate arial for the Irish channels but the free view box needs to be switched on to get the Irish channels.

Im thinking of getting a new TV with the free view tuner build in . Will I be able to get rid of the free view box and plug the arial direct into the TV and get all the same channels and it wont effect my Irish channels?

Thanks in advance

Zonda999

I dont understand anyway!

Are you sure its not a "freesat" or a Free To Air box you have to get the satellite channels? I cant really see why you'd need to plug the lead from your RTE aerial into the satellite box uless you connect it to you tv using RF(A connnector like this basically)

If so, and you plan to get a "freesat" enabled tv, then yes, you should be able to plug your aerial into the tv and get the irish channels

"freeview" is the digital terrestrial tv service available in the UK. A tv with a freeview tuner is useless over here, unless you're in a border county, but seeing as you're from Cork, a freeview tuner in a tv would definitely be useless

Barr

Hi thanks for the reply.

It could possibly be freesat or a Free To Air box I'm using to get the satellite channels.
Probably a silly question - How can I tell the difference ?

With regards to the RTE arial there is two connection below which are attached into my PACE box.The Pace box needs to be on stanby in order for me to watch RTE , they were both installed at the same time.

I was just wondering with the second input that if I get a TV with free to air build in will it have this input ?

cnocbui

Freeview/freesat are like a brand names and are used to describe the UK free to air channels - all the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, 5 channels etc.

Be very careful though, Freeview is digital terrestrial TV (DTT) transmission and applies to the UK. Ireland will be getting DTT, probably within the next year or three, and it WONT be the same system the UK uses (Freeview). DTT signals are compressed, The UK Freeview system uses MPEG 2 but Ireland will be using MPEG 4. So it would be inadvisable to buy any TV which is Freeview compatible, as it wont work with the system Ireland will be getting.

Yes you can get TVs with built in satellite receivers that will also allow you to just plug both your antennae leads into the back and watch the UK freesat channels and Irish UHF analog TV. Some of them also have MPEG 4 decoders and might be compatible with the DTT system when Ireland eventually gets it.

There is Boards forum dedicated to these topics and this query should probably be moved there in order for you to get the best advice:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=56

The second thread from the top might be relevant to you and worth a look:

TV's with MPEG4 DTT decoder

I myself have a Panasonic Plasma TV with an inbuilt satellite receiver and MPEG 4 decoder. It can pick up all the UK Freesat channels and the RTE UHF analog TV stations. The set can also decode the DTT test transmissions being used at the moment, but couldn't last week and may not when the final service is introduced.

Zonda999

Barr wrote: »

Hi thanks for the reply.

It could possibly be freesat or a Free To Air box I'm using to get the satellite channels.
Probably a silly question - How can I tell the difference ?

With regards to the RTE arial there is two connection below which are attached into my PACE box.The Pace box needs to be on stanby in order for me to watch RTE , they were both installed at the same time.

I was just wondering with the second input that if I get a TV with free to air build in will it have this input ?

Well, its definitely a free to air box you have then!

As such no major tv manufacturer makes a tv with a free to air satellite tuner built in. What you're looking for is a tv with a freesat tuner built in. Freesat is basically all the FTA channels, plus the few HD ones, put into a nice full 7 day EPG, as well as full interactive services.

There are currently only two manufacturers making tvs with freesat tuners built in, Panasonic and LG. TVs with freesat tuners are only strictly available in the UK so the panasonic freesat sets only have UHF terrestrial tuners, not the combination of UHF and VHF we use for our terrestrial broadcasts here. However the LG freesat range have UHF/VHF tuners so it will work with our terrestrial analogue tv over here. Whats more, they also have mpeg4 tuners so they are compatible with our digital terrestrial television(DTT for short) when it launches finally next year. Sorry if thats all a bit technical buts its all a bit complicated when you're dealing with two different countries

For future reference, when you hear of a tv with freeview(which most now have), it is solely aimed at the UK. It is completely useless over here. Freeview is the DTT that they have in the UK but we will be using a different broadcasting system for our DTT which is why a freeview tuner is useless over here. Freesat is what we can get because that is done via a satellite dish.

EDIT:LOL. We posted about the same thing at the same time!:D

cnocbui

Zonda999 wrote: »

Well, its definitely a free to air box you have then!

As such no major tv manufacturer makes a tv with a free to air satellite tuner built in. What you're looking for is a tv with a freesat tuner built in. Freesat is basically all the FTA channels, plus the few HD ones, put into a nice full 7 day EPG, as well as full interactive services.

There are currently only two manufacturers making tvs with freesat tuners built in, Panasonic and LG. TVs with freesat tuners are only strictly available in the UK so the panasonic freesat sets only have UHF terrestrial tuners, not the combination of UHF and VHF we use for our terrestrial broadcasts here. However the LG freesat range have UHF/VHF tuners so it will work with our terrestrial analogue tv over here. Whats more, they also have mpeg4 tuners so they are compatible with our digital terrestrial television(DTT for short) when it launches finally next year.

EDIT:LOL. We posted about the same thing at the same time!:D

About the FTA satellite tuner. While the Panasonic has a Freesat compatible satellite system, it will also receive all the non Freesat FTA channels that are on the same satellites the Freesat channels are on. The only thing that limits it's FTA abillities is that the list of satellites it is preloaded with is limited to those carrying the UK Freesat channels.

VHF will be going bye-bye fairly soon, I believe, so It shouldn't be a top priority. Irish DTT will be UHF only.

My UHF only Panasonic has no problems receiving all Irish terrestrial TV.

The Panasonics also have MPEG-4 decoders. They have a bug in their software which means it is not certain they will be able to list Irish DTT channels when the service is eventually introduced, but at the moment they can. I am able to receive the Irish DTT channels, the UHF analog TV channels, the Freesat channels, HD satellite cannels, the FTA satellite channels and all using just one remote.

Barr

Thanks guys for yer detailed replies

So TV's with freeview are useless in Ireland , what I'm looking for so would be Free Sat or HD Free Sat built in which means I can discard my old free to air box.

Also it will be advisable to look for MPEG-4 to get the future Irish channels.

Armed with this I am tempted by the 37" LG (HD FreeSat built in) from Richer Sounds or the Samsung 40" B530 (although this doesen't have freesat built in )

Zonda999

Barr wrote: »

Thanks guys for yer detailed replies

So TV's with freeview are useless in Ireland , what I'm looking for so would be Free Sat or HD Free Sat built in which means I can discard my old free to air box.

Also it will be advisable to look for MPEG-4 to get the future Irish channels.

Armed with this I am tempted by the 37" LG (HD FreeSat built in) from Richer Sounds or the Samsung 40" B530 (although this doesen't have freesat built in )

Now you get it:D

Richersounds prices for the LG freesat range are quite good as well. If you got the samsung though, you could put the money you've saved, towards a freesat pvr, basically the sky+ version of freesat.