Freesat on LG TVs

Just a quick update.
Postcode on my LG is entered in the Option menu if Country set to UK.
I set country to UK and entered UK postcode but still no Freesat tuning menu available, just the regular FTA satellite tuning menu so I assume the freesat feature, if it is to be made available at all for this model TV, has not yet been added.
I've never been able to find a changelog for any LG firmwares, more is the pity.

Chimichangas wrote: »

Entering a post code is only available with freesat, not on LG?
Not relevant yet, but where will the postcode be entered? Is it in TV settings?

LG Smart TVs have always had the option to enter a Postal Code, (at least when set to UK, I've never had mine on Ireland), long before there was any mention of Freesat being added to them

my3cents wrote: »

Another LG SmartTV 32LB580V owner, it was on Ver 03.03.13 so updated via USB. I wouldn't trust my 3 connection to do the download directly. Newest software on the website was 04.04.07. The only really obvious change is it now says FREEVIEW HD on the guide screen but no EPG.

My 32LB650V (which I believe is pretty much the same TV) was on 04.XX.XX since I bought it in March, it's currently on 05.00.20 - I wonder is yours fully up to date? Is your Freeview HD logo the old one (Freeview in a red box) or the new one (the word Freeview beside a funny shaped letter F)? Mine only changed to the new logo with the 05.XX.XX update.

Mine still doesn't have Freesat however.

The new update (05.XX.XX) is much better, you can download it online and use USB but I can't remember where I got it, it wasn't from LG's site.

There's still no Freesat but you can switch between Saorview and FTA Satellite much more quickly, the TV is generally much faster, the menus look better, you get channel logos as well as names, when you're changing channel you can see what's on now instead of just the channel number and name, and there's way more stuff I've left out

raddo wrote: »

How many key presses are now needed??

Five: LIVE MENU > GREEN > UP/DOWN > UP/DOWN > OK

I don't know if that's necessarily less key presses but it is significantly faster to change as you don't have to wait for the TV Guide to open and close.
Takes me just under 6 seconds (timed from the first button press until a picture from the opposite source appears) compared to just over 11 seconds for the old way.

Chimichangas wrote: »

Mine is set to UK but it didnt give an option for postcode.

Mine always has since I bought it earlier this year, "Service Area Postal Code", it's called, I'm prompted for it when selecting the country but it's optional.

Just got an update this morning on my LB580V, but still no freesat option.

I have my country set to UK and have a UK post entered, but the tuner options are still only Satellite, Cable and Antenna.

Sam Russell wrote: »

Have you done a factory reset?

Not yet. Don't want to loose my channel lineup.

I'll try the factory reset and report back.
My LB580V is on F/W 04.04.10 which is the latest available for this model.
I've got my channel line-up saved on USB stick so no major hassle.


Just now saw danm14's post so will abandon that idea.

danm14 wrote: »

Our televisions were sold as being just a normal terrestrial TV (in the UK, I know most of the Irish retailers made a selling point of the satellite tuner and rightly so). In the UK, there was no mention of a satellite tuner on the box, website, manual, etc, and people who contacted LG support were told that if it worked, that's great, but it wasn't supported in the UK, and indeed some units had the F connector or a hole on the back but no actual tuner installed. So perhaps only models sold as "having a satellite tuner" in the UK will get the Freesat update, and not just any LG TV which happened to have a satellite tuner that wasn't advertised.

The TV's that are sold in the UK that dont mention a satellite tuner is done deliberately because the UK satellite version of the UK terrestrial system is called Freesat and requires software written using MEHG/Huffman.

That is why they dont advertise the satellite tuner. So as to not cause confusion as to where the freesat menu is. The only ones mentioned that have a satellite tuner are the ones labelled "Freesat HD". They wouldn't require an update if they already had it.

LG TV's are pan european. You choose the country and it turns on and off items. Example. You wont see the BBC Iplayer software if your Tv is set to Ireland.

I would guess that the ones that will actually get the update are those that are Smart TVs that have a satellite tuner. The firmware is 500megs. I cannot see them doing that OTA.

One thing is for sure, there have been a lot of people buying LG's thinking that this update would be available this century. Time for the spanners who announced to cough up the firmware or at least start

whatever_ wrote: »

Well, UK retailers are just responding to a consumer perception that satellite=Sky. Total free satellite ( including Freesat and free Sky) has about 11% of the satellite market in the UK (2012 data) which is probably a lot higher than here. Why should UK retailers care about less than 10% of the Irish market ?

I'd be very sceptical if <10% of Ireland had free satellite, the vast majority of Irish people want or "need" the UK channels, that's why cable TV and MMDS were set up, cable only started carrying more than the main UK & Irish channels in the late 80s as far as I know.

~2% of the UK need Satellite to get the main UK channels and ~10% need it to get more than the main 5 channels and a handful extra.

I'd say at a push ~20% of the Republic of Ireland can reliably receive the UK channels terrestrially with a sensibly sized aerial, and I very, very much doubt anything over 50% over the remainder have only the Irish channels, cable, MMDS or Sky on all their TVs.

I'd be guessing at the very least 30/40% of Ireland have free satellite on at least one television?

Updated last night. May have a go at retuning the freesat later and see if that does it...

Just dont fancy moving all the channels after if it doesnt work...

So.....the version that has the Freesat SDK rolled into the firmware is 04.00.55.

If you have the LF630 or LF650 and this latest firmware, then you now have an option of Freesat or FTA Only in the Programme Tuning settings for satellite.

No update on the implementation of the update for other legacy models just yet.