Is the satellite tuner on the Sony XH85 range any good?

freddy99

Ah, that makes sense....but how can I force the update- it was OTA.
Is there an option to update from USB?

deezell

Its in the settings

deezell

HOME/APPS/SYSTEM SOFTWARE UPDATE

can be done by USB too, see:
https://www.sony.ie/electronics/support/articles/00119543

freddy99

Thanks a mill. Just found that.
Will try later and report back

freddy99

Tried the update again with the region set to UK, but still no Freesat unfortunately.

deezell

y

freddy99 wrote: »

Tried the update again with the region set to UK, but still no Freesat unfortunately.

Thats a pity. I presume you tried to retune the satellite receiver? The update won't convert your current satellite scan to a Freesat scan, (if the software update contained Freesat upgrade). The menu sequence for the XF80 series is different from the newer android sequence on the sets listed as upgradeable.
The sequence listed for the XF80 is
[Settings] — [Watching TV] — [Channels] — [Channel setup] — [Digital setup] — [Satellite setup] — [Digital satellite tuning],
which is almost identical to my XH90 series. If Freesat is available, an extra item will be listed under satellite setup, probably named Freesat tuning. This allows you to select Freesat rather than general sat tuning, and only when you retune via the Freesat option will a source named Freesat appear in addition to Digital (for terrestrial) and Satellite (for general satellite tuning with now/next only) in the epg. These two sat lists are separate, though they have mostly the same main channels.

Long shot, power off the set, then on. Then check the tuner choices to see if Freesat tuning is available in addition to your satellite general scan, or digital satellite scan as its called on the Sony web help for the XF80 series (and lots of others). https://helpguide.sony.net/tv/faep1/v1/en/02-01-02_02.html
I have a feeling the XF80 may be an android generation older, and not yet tweaked for Freesat.

freddy99

Thanks again. Looks like the XF80 is not supported yet, as you say.
Tried a soft reset and then looked again, but only option is general Satellite setup.
Hopefully they will update in due course.

deezell

freddy99 wrote: »

Thanks again. Looks like the XF80 is not supported yet, as you say.
Tried a soft reset and then looked again, but only option is general Satellite setup.
Hopefully they will update in due course.

Frustratingly, you can't even add the Freesat epg app or equivalents as none are compatible with TV android. You could run the web version on the TV browser, I think you can set the default page to last browsed, but that's a bodge at best. Just keep freesat app on your phone I guess.

Andy454

Be very careful, my UHD tuner is acting up since this latest update!

This TV is very tough to tune!

deezell

Andy454 wrote: »

Be very careful, my UHD tuner is acting up since this latest update!

This TV is very tough to tune!

One thing to watch, if you select manual tuning, there's no sign of Freesat tuning, as it doesn't allow addition of non Freesat member channels. You must go to auto tuning, where you select terrestrial, cable, Freesat or General sat. Once you select freesat, you must get your connection scheme right. If you have only one sat cable but your set has two sat connectors, you must select one connection only, else the EPG and the recorder may try and use the secondary connection while you watch from the primary connection. Linux box owners know this well.
Once the Freesat scan starts, it quickly connects to the Freesat data channel, and all the tuning info is pulled in rapidly, so no long 15 minute wait to scan the entire Astra bands.
The graphicly driven step tuning interface jolts with people who prefer a mutiple choice or numerical entry type, where you can enter and edit all parameters on one page, but Sony are trying to ease this pain for non techie people, and the default choices are correct in most cases. If you have two sat wires, youll know it, if you use DISEqC, you'll be familiar with sat tuning anyway.

salnado

deezell wrote: »

When I tried to install from my pc browser, it lists all my devices, with sony tv tagged as incompatible. I browsed play store on the tv browser itself, and there were two versions, and of course, the second was compatible, with only the TV, so happy days. I note from my google play log alert that it states I've installed a linux app. Interesting, i wonder would this version work in my Enigma 2 box? I feel some fiddling coming on...
Thanks for headsup, I assumed the region killed the player, as it did on my Samsung.

Glad it worked, this TV is the only device in the house using the Play store (everything else is Apple ) so I didn't realise there were other ways to install than from on the TV.

championc

Hi all,

I'm thinking of replacing our 10 year old Panasonic G20B and I was previously seriously thinking about an LG until I read this thread. I have been looking at a 43" KD43XH8096BU. I won't be going bigger than 43", but is there any other feature on any other 43" model which is worth waiting for or worth paying extra for ?

If I set the region to UK for FreesatHD, can you download RTE Player App ?

Thanks in advance

deezell

championc wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm thinking of replacing our 10 year old Panasonic G20B and I was previously seriously thinking about an LG until I read this thread. I have been looking at a 43" KD43XH8096BU. I won't be going bigger than 43", but is there any other feature on any other 43" model which is worth waiting for or worth paying extra for ?

If I set the region to UK for FreesatHD, can you download RTE Player App ?

Thanks in advance

Yes, because it uses Android, you can download a TV android compatible version of RTE player. Other non android TV such as samsung have an RTE player app which is tied to the TV region, and can't be installed manually if you've set the region to UK for Freesat.

The KD43XH8505 and KD43XH9196 are the only other 43 Sony with a few extra features for an extra €100+ .Better contrast VA panel. 2 times/2.5 times interpolation rate, (motion flow), extra HDMI 2.1 socket, two satellite tuners, and a few extra audio winkles, but otherwise the spec and processors are identical. Slightly different stand and bezel. Try and eyeball them in currys, power city, hardly normals. There were a few significant differences in the 55 inch versions XH8196 and XH9005 when I bought, sufficient to justify the €100+ extra I paid for the latter.

mackersdublin

deezell wrote: »

Yes, because it uses Android, you can download a TV android compatible version of RTE player. Other non android TV such as Samsung have an RTE player app which is tied to the TV region, and can't be installed manually if you've set the region to UK for Freesat

That's not true at all. I have a Samsung and a LG TV both set to UK on initial setup for Freesat, but the RTE Player is pre-installed on both because the Wifi they are connected to is an Irish IP address. Freesat comes from your dish and has nothing to do with Apps pre-installed on your Smart TV

dam099

mackersdublin wrote: »

That's not true at all. I have a Samsung and a LG TV both set to UK on initial setup for Freesat, but the RTE Player is pre-installed on both because the Wifi they are connected to is an Irish IP address. Freesat comes from your dish and has nothing to do with Apps pre-installed on your Smart TV

Not familiar with the recent Samsungs but don't think my LG OLED is going by geolocation in terms of the apps available to install.

It does however have separate country settings for tuning and online services so tuning can be UK to get Freesat and online services set to Ireland to get the Irish players (most the UK players wont work anyway due to geolocation but they can be installed when set to UK) so ultimate result is as you indicate.

deezell

That was not my experience. My Samsung had RTE player when in ROI region, and BBC iplayer when in UK. For that reason and the extreme difficulty of sorting terrestrial channels on what was now a Freeview terrestrial receiver, I reverted to Roi region. My channel list reverted to Saorview on Terrestrial, unsorted Astra on satellite, and BBC iPlayer disappeared. Oddly enough, I had been able to use it with a DNS proxy service, but it was too much hassle not having Saorview start at 1, plus no autoupdate. Amazingly, after a few days, Freesat reappeared, despite being in region ROI. So I had nearly all I wanted, except it took eleven torturous button presses just to change tuners. This is major, as leaving the set on satellite causes divorce proceedings when swmbo can't get RTE1 simply by pressing 1, or a few taps on the ch + -. This is the subject of several other threads on boards, particularly for people buying sets for older users.
Happily, this Sony does it all. I even have iplayer installed, but I haven't bothered to revisit the complex vpn/dns configuration required to make it work, and I probably won't at this stage.

championc

For the size of our room, I'm only going with a 43" replacement for my current 37" Panasonic. One minute I'm looking at a €400+ set but then, thanks to this thread, I was drawn in to Sony's and looking at €600+.

Given the fact that this will be a once in 10 years investment, I'm finding it very difficult not to justify the XH85. My son's Student Leap card gives 10% off the €779 price, which is looking better in the proposal to swmbo

deezell

The new Google TV android interface is coming to most Sony android TV models from about 2016 on. Here's a list. Note X90H is the US version of our designations, XH90** and so on. Link to an article below.

FY21: W800
FY20: Z9H, Z8H, A9S, A8H, X95H, X92H, X91H, X90H, X85H, X81H, X80H, X75H
FY19: Z9G, A9G, A8G, X95G, X90G, X87G, X85G, X83G, X81G, X80G, W80G
FY18: A9F, Z9F, A8F, X90F, X87F, X85F, X83F, X80F, X78F, X75F, W80F
FY17: A1, X95E, X94E, X93E, X90E, X85E, X82E, X80E, X75E
FY16: Z9D, X83D, X80D, S80D, X75D, X70D

https://www.androidpolice.com/2021/04/28/googles-new-discover-homescreen-is-coming-to-sony-android-tvs/

championc

I picked up my 8505 yesterday. Slotted in seamlessly with my LG sound bar. I'm still figuring out my way through the menus.

I've set the tv up to do Freesat, so all the Saorview channels are scanned into the 800's. Unfortunately, I cannot see how to renumber these. Is there a method to have Saorview in a more decent order. I've got RTE2 followed by RTE1 followed by Oireachtas I think I assume that if I change the region back to Ireland, that Freesat will disappear ?

deezell

championc wrote: »

I picked up my 8505 yesterday. Slotted in seamlessly with my LG sound bar. I'm still figuring out my way through the menus.

I've set the tv up to do Freesat, so all the Saorview channels are scanned into the 800's. Unfortunately, I cannot see how to renumber these. Is there a method to have Saorview in a more decent order. I've got RTE2 followed by RTE1 followed by Oireachtas I think I assume that if I change the region back to Ireland, that Freesat will disappear ?

Press the Settings button on the remote, then select Settings/Watching TV/Channels/Channel list Edit/Digital. Here you can select reorder, delete and renumber by moving the raw list. Move RTE1 to 001, and so on. Delete everything else after about 013.
Yes, Freesat region dependent.

byte

championc wrote: »

I picked up my 8505 yesterday. Slotted in seamlessly with my LG sound bar. I'm still figuring out my way through the menus.

I've set the tv up to do Freesat, so all the Saorview channels are scanned into the 800's. Unfortunately, I cannot see how to renumber these. Is there a method to have Saorview in a more decent order. I've got RTE2 followed by RTE1 followed by Oireachtas I think I assume that if I change the region back to Ireland, that Freesat will disappear ?

It can be done, though my memory is a bit hazy.

On initial set up, pick Ireland, tune in terrestrial channels. When the channels are tuned in, back up in the menu to where you can pick country UK, then Freesat option will be there to tune in.

After all that, the terrestrial channels will still be there from earlier, still with their correct channel numbers. And of course Freesat will be working too.

deezell

byte wrote: »

It can be done, though my memory is a bit hazy.

On initial set up, pick Ireland, tune in terrestrial channels. When the channels are tuned in, back up in the menu to where you can pick country UK, then Freesat option will be there to tune in.

After all that, the terrestrial channels will still be there from earlier, still with their correct channel numbers. And of course Freesat will be working too.

A channel list saved under region Ireland will not restore when you change region to UK, the set will display 'Wrong region' or the like. Now the file it saves to USB is an XML file, a script file wilh a region entry in the header, so if you want, you can edit it and change IRL or ROI to UK, I can't remember which it was. This might work, but its a doddle to renumber the terrestrial channel list, there's only 9, and a few test card unused channels. Restoring the astra sat list while in UK may completely mess up the sorted sat list you get when you scan astra in UK region, (separate from the Freesat sorted and full egg list, which is a third scan)
Edit; on rereading, I think you mean back up as against backup. Hitting the back button. Not saving the terrestrial list. Afair, you have to reset the telly to change the region, you can't just change it as a setting, so everything is deleted and you're back to factory settings

championc

Thanks all. She is enjoying the vivid colours, so maybe i'll get up at 06:00 to have an opportunity to spend more time going through the settings !!!

byte

deezell wrote: »

Edit; on rereading, I think you mean back up as against backup. Hitting the back button. Not saving the terrestrial list. Afair, you have to reset the telly to change the region, you can't just change it as a setting, so everything is deleted and you're back to factory settings

Yeah, back up on the menus, as opposed to using a backup. Sorry, I should've phrased it better. Don't leave the setup menu.

Workmate has done it a few times on various Sony TV's at work (electrical retailer). He's able to save the terrestrial, then go back to country choice, pick UK and choose Freesat, and when finished, Freesat works with Terrestrial channels numbered as normal.

I'll need to clarify with him on Wednesday, but that was the gist of it. If it's quiet, I might try record the process.

deezell

salnado wrote: »

Great tip thanks, hadn't thought of that for VM player - works for me

I see VM player is now available in android TV version, just installed it on the Sony there. Seems to work OK.

decor58

deezell wrote: »

I see VM player is now available in android TV version, just installed it on the Sony there. Seems to work OK.

We had a Sony smart TV many years ago which had TV3player, Sony appears to be one of the few brands with TV3/VM player, is it on all android tvs
or just Sony. Wasn't there a tie up between Sony and Tv3, regarding a studio upgrade,

deezell

decor58 wrote: »

We had a Sony smart TV many years ago which had TV3player, Sony appears to be one of the few brands with TV3/VM player, is it on all android tvs
or just Sony. Wasn't there a tie up between Sony and Tv3, regarding a studio upgrade,

I was just browsing the (TV) app store when it showed up. I had been using the browser version of Vmplayer on the tv browser as the standard android version wouldn't run on AndroidTV platform. I think this version good to go on any Android TV, stick or box, or Google TV systems also.

deezell

Here's BBC iplayer for Android TV,

https://drive.google.com/file/d/155ZXUWhrCsLkgWguMhA5nUFOLMIo05ys/view?usp=drivesdk

Iplayer doesn't normally show up in a Playstore search when you're not in UK, and won't play anyway. If you sign up for a trial from here,
https://unlocator.com/
You can change your network connections on the tv to Static, and change the last two entries to 185.37.37.37 and 185.37.39.39 . Use the existing network values for ip and gateway.

Works great.

lertsnim

decor58 wrote: »

We had a Sony smart TV many years ago which had TV3player, Sony appears to be one of the few brands with TV3/VM player, is it on all android tvs
or just Sony. Wasn't there a tie up between Sony and Tv3, regarding a studio upgrade,

It's also on Android TV through the Nvidia Shield.

salnado

deezell wrote: »

Here's BBC iplayer for Android TV,

https://drive.google.com/file/d/155ZXUWhrCsLkgWguMhA5nUFOLMIo05ys/view?usp=drivesdk

Iplayer doesn't normally show up in a Playstore search when you're not in UK, and won't play anyway.

How do you get that file installed on the TV?

deezell

salnado wrote: »

How do you get that file installed on the TV?

Sorry, should have explained that. There's an androidTV app called APK installer in the app list on sony tvs, settings/apps/see all apps. If not already installed, search for it in the TVs App Store. Put the iplayer .apk file
on a USB stick into the TV, run apk installer, and load and run the .apk file. The iplayer app will appear in the app list, you can add it to the favourites.
Sign up to unlocator, it will add your external Internet ip address to their list, then when you set the TV DNS addresses to the two I listed, their server will do its thing and your iplayer app will stream.

byte

byte wrote: »

Yeah, back up on the menus, as opposed to using a backup. Sorry, I should've phrased it better. Don't leave the setup menu.

Workmate has done it a few times on various Sony TV's at work (electrical retailer). He's able to save the terrestrial, then go back to country choice, pick UK and choose Freesat, and when finished, Freesat works with Terrestrial channels numbered as normal.

I'll need to clarify with him on Wednesday, but that was the gist of it. If it's quiet, I might try record the process.

Finally got around to this, though I'm sure anyone who wondered has it figured by now.

First, pick Ireland as country:


Tune in Digital terrestrial channels:




Then press BACK button to country choice and choose UK:


Now Freesat is an option to tune (you see on the far left that the DTT channels are still there):


After all the tuning is done, you should have as below:


Sorry for the poor images and a lack of video. Time constraints got in the way!

The likes of RTÉ Player still worked when we last tried, but didn't get a chance to try again today on the new X81J model. Still pre-installed though.

deezell

That is a brilliant bodge. I wonder will the terrestrial tuner continue to operate as a Saorview tuner, with Saorview automatic updates, or as a generic or Freeview Dvb-T terrestrial tuner, requiring manual retunes when Saorview channels change.
I had some very odd EPG and channel list problems, whereby half the Saorview channels would disappear from my favourite list. And I had no epg data for this multiplexe's channels.. I discovered the problem arose when the TV assembled the RTE list of channels from two different locations' multiplex, e.g. tuning RTE1 and others from channel 34 on Kippure, then using the RTE2 mux on ch 33 from Three Rock. As a result, epg data was only available for half the channels, as it mismatched the channel ids from the wrong transmitter. I have to do a manual scan of terrestrial, selecting the two Kippure mux channels, 34, 35. to avoid this problem. A terrestrial tuner operating in Saorview, not Freeview(UK) mode would not need manual retunes when channels shifted or changed spec.

deezell

For anyone who installed the BBC iplayer app and DNS trial to get it to work, the Euros are (partly) on BBC and BBC iplayer, but the iplayer is in 4K for the football, so if your broadband is fast enough, (>40Mbs, but ideally faster to allow for speed drop and surge), you can watch in 4K free. If you have wired ethernet to the set it will help prevent glitches also.

Dec4

I picked up the 43XH8196 slightly lower spec TV today. As it's last years model it is currently on clearance at €599. Excellent TV for the money.

I followed the excellent advice of Byte and have Freesat and Saorview on the 2 guides however one issue is that if you are recording a programme on say Freesat you cannot switch to Saorview. The set only has one sat input but i would have thought that the 2 tuners were separate and that I could watch say RTE1 on Saorview whilst recording a programme on say BBC1?

Any advice chaps?

(Obviously I could use the RTE Player but this might not always work e.g RTE+1 or RTE News not available this way).

decor58

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117717414#Comment_117717414

I keep an Ariva combo for that reason, a one for all remote works tv and combo box, just switch source on tv.

Dec4

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117719400#Comment_117719400

That's an option, looks like I might have to keep the old Sky HD+ box. Still cannot understand why one cannot watch via one tuner (eg sat) and record via the other (DTT)....

deezell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117717414#Comment_117717414

I would have thought so too, so I've just hooked up an HDD to my XH9005, its configured with terrestrial and only a single sat input, though it can take two. I Recorded RTE1 no prob while I switched over to BBC2. Can't think of an immediate reason why it should not work, XH8196 is substantially the same TV, just a few bells missing, 2nd Sat input, BT audio out and Full array backlighting. It's hardly the tuner bodge that allowed split regions? Mine is tuned all in UK, I just sorted and relisted the Freeview Terrestrialtune of RTE. I Didn't bother redoing it with Byte's method, if its not broken etc, but I'm not getting automating of Saorview, which is a bit of a problem sometimes as high trees in the wind can mess up my optimal source. Maybe I'll fiddle with it.

Dec4

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117771820#Comment_117771820

I checked it out with Sony and according to them its not possible. Although I still cannot figure out exactly why?

There are 2 separate tuners if you have a model which takes 2 sat feeds (as you have with XH9005) so recording on DTT is possible whilst watching a different channel on Freesat.

If I had known this is advance I might have held out for a higher spec TV with the 2 sat feeds.

I might try the UK only setup and see what happens; otherwise a good TV.

deezell

It doesn't make sense though, unless at the demultiplex level of the 8000 series there is only a single stream decoder, then in that case it may be that the 9000 series has two, to facilitate record and display from any two of three sources. There may even be only one front end on the 8000, configured as either dvb-S or dvb-T. I'm an analogue dinosaur, but I understand the quantum difference in how modern digital signals are encoded and decoded by sophisticated sampling rather than the rigid band tuners of yore. It has to be said that the Linux combi tuners in settop boxes were very impressive in this regard, I pushed an Alien clone to 4 simultaneous channels from its 3 inputs 1 terrestrial and 2 satellite. Playing live saorview while recording one sat, and sending two other live streams, one from a shared tuner multiplex, (terrestrial uhf channel or satellite transponder). The only limit was the processing power of the box. In theory you should require little processing to decode two or more streams from the same mux, e.g, watch RTE2 and record TG4 from one input, as both are demodulated from the same mux.

On the settop box I've just there now recorded TG4, while watching VM1 live, streaming VM2 live to a phone, that's three channels from a single Terrestrial connect. I also had BBC one live to a tablet from the same box, which currently is using only one of two sat inputs. That's on an ageing €80 box. Very disappointing if the 8000 series demux is limited to one channel stream from one source. Not much point in recording something you have to watch.

deezell

One thing you could try is to set a timer rather than just press record, then watch a different channel and see if the timer forces the set to the timed channel. I'm guessing it will.

Dec4

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117774284#Comment_117774284

Yep, tried that. If you are watching anything it switches channel to whatever the timer has been set to record.

As you say it's possible on a €80 box but not on a Sony TV. Very strange!

vidapura

[sony KD-55XH9005]

Just want to drop a note here to thank ye all for this brilliant thread.

I followed @byte 's instructions there on page 3 and after days of despair I now have a fully functional EPG for Saorview and Satellite.

I was getting dogs abuse over it cos I talked the wife into letting me spend the extra €400 on the Sony over a Samsung cos I always thought Sony was the be all and end all.

When it became apparent that the Sony wasn't going to have a decent EPG AND doesn't pause live Tv there was murder...

I had an LG for the past 4 years that had turned blue the last six months... (common problem..) and we finally had a chance to replace it.. But the LG was easy enough to change location on and get the Freeview EPG going.. The Sony really had me foxed..

So you guys were an immense help.

Just wondering if ye could answer two questions for me.

1 - is there any way at all to get this yoke to pause live tv ?

2 - the freeview channel list is missing a lot of channels I had on the normal satellite list.. like C4 HD .. can they be added to this Freeview list some way?

The lack of live tv pause is a right pain.. we've small kids and its almost a given I'd need to pause the TV a lot...

Anyway, thanks again...

swoofer

You cant get C4HD on freesat and to get it on that sony tv you would need to change to non freesat mode but then you may lose Freesat and get a different list. Can you say Freesat becuse Freeview is the name of the UK dtt service ie its their equivalent of saorview, which is SAOR = free!! If you are near the fringes you can get both SAORVIEW and FREEVIEW by aerial and then FREESAT by dish. As I said I cant access that sony TV very often and I keep well away.

Apparently its all over the net that SONY wont pause live TV and that is a surprise. The only work round I can see for pausing is to record the programme you are watching, ie press red then it will ask for a duration, select that, then press rec list and play the programme back. Now you can pause. Better than nothing.

Gerry Wicklow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118180755#Comment_118180755

You will be delighted to know there are reports of CH4 HD returning to FreeSat soon on LCN 126.

deezell

You can have the satellite channel list in addition to the Freesat version. You have to run the tuner twice, once for Freesat, and once for generic Satellite (with only now/next EPG). You can populate a favourites list with channels from Saorview, Freesat and Satellite, having all three on an EPG list. The only hiccup with this favourites list is that when you scroll from say RTE1 (on button 1) to BBC 1 or CH4, and select, yoy must use the same Favourites EPG or scroll using the ch arrows to return to RTE1, as pressing '1' on the keypad will reset to the EPG of the tuner selected (say Freesat), not the first channel in the favourites EPG. The only other quirk is that though favourites can be resorted, they present in order of Tuner, you can't put BBC 1 in the middle of Saorview. CH4 HD can be added to the end from Satellite EPG.

I never knew that timeshift was not implemented on these sets. Most surprising. Perhaps if you watch a program on a stream from its Player, you can pause the feed.

vidapura

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118182512#Comment_118182512

Ohh right.. brilliant.. a second satellite list? Grand.

And the favourites then.. makes sense.. Thank you.

The Timeshift thing would really me a lot more off-the-cuff usage.. you're watchin something and suddenly there's a Crash! in the kitchen .. or you hear a child make a bloodcurdling howl.. and you just can hit pause and go investigate..

Or one of the kids just HAS to arrive in roaring as Bundee makes a brilliant break and scores a try.. and you miss it.. ... and you can just go back..

Its a fecker to loose that convenience...

deezell

For those critical programs it really only takes a few seconds to hit Record, Duration of record, then Record list and start playing what you've just started recording. Now you can pause.

vidapura

Mmmm... I spose...

Just have to learn a new way of workin... 👍️

deezell

Here's a demo,

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mtQtjSE2i6XaESm2WkzRqcI-tsIz99uJ/view?usp=drivesdk