what to look for in new tv ?

cj maxx

hi all. xmas nearly here and thinking of getting a new telly for the kitchen. basic terrestrial reception and a few flicks from a hard drive tho may get satilite later but would like to know some basics in what to look for/avoid as i dont want to find out in a few years that it needs to be upgraded . near the border so bbc, itv as well as rte etc are picked up.

John mac

have a look here for a start

cj maxx

thanks john. that all seems a bit technical for me. lol.was thinking of a sony bravia 32" thats in tesco now. now sure of make/model to see if its mheg5 ??? not thinkin of a 'main' tv but would like to get the benefits of digital like hd etc. thanks

cauliflower69

find out the model#

John mac

cauliflower69 wrote: »

find out the model#

+1 you need to get the model # to make sure.

STB

cjmc wrote: »

hi all. xmas nearly here and thinking of getting a new telly for the kitchen. basic terrestrial reception and a few flicks from a hard drive tho may get satilite later but would like to know some basics in what to look for/avoid as i dont want to find out in a few years that it needs to be upgraded . near the border so bbc, itv as well as rte etc are picked up.

A lot of the LG's do DTT and play divx straight from the onboard usb port.

cj maxx

hi. just checked a few tv on sale in town. one i was ooking at was a sony bravia 32bx300 for €349. any ideas if it would be an ok buy?

The Cush

cjmc wrote: »

hi. just checked a few tv on sale in town. one i was ooking at was a sony bravia 32bx300 for €349. any ideas if it would be an ok buy?

Should work OK, MPEG-4 compatible. (http://pdf.crse.com/manuals/4168148E51.pdf)

STB

A 32" in the kitchen ?

Okay then

Sony KDL32V5810

http://powercity.ie/?par=10-12-32V581

A no more bills TV HD Freesat and Irish DTT in one built in (no box required). You connect a satellite dish and an aerial to it.

You get all these stations http://www.freesat.co.uk/what-you-get/our-channels

And the Irish stations, RTE1, RTE2 HD, Tv3, 3E, RTE News Now, Tg4.

Did I say there are no bills.

Think the previous poster has one....

Peter Henderson

I suppose MPEG 4 reception at the very least, although I suppose all new Freeview HD sets are MPEG4 compatable now.

Will sets with built in Freesat be able to receive Saorview ?

Here's another point as well. Many sets now come with WiFi capabilities. Is the BBC iplayer for example, available to viewers in the ROI ?

Sponge Bob

Peter Henderson wrote: »

Will sets with built in Freesat be able to receive Saorview ?

Generally yes but if it is a Panasonic then who knows...not even Panasonic.

Here's another point as well. Many sets now come with WiFi capabilities. Is the BBC iplayer for example, available to viewers in the ROI ?

iPlayer, no. If we could hack them to display RTE Player then they might be more useful

STB

Peter Henderson wrote: »

Will sets with built in Freesat be able to receive Saorview ?

Here's another point as well. Many sets now come with WiFi capabilities. Is the BBC iplayer for example, available to viewers in the ROI ?

Officially ? Like a certified Freesat TV/DVB-T combo ? Definitely not. Sure freesat doesnt exist in ROI !

But there are products whilst not certified that will work like the Sony above.

BBCiplayer: No. Its geoblocked.

watty

(Though RTE recommends you use Freesat for UK channels. That's what they told the Oireachtas! But Freesat can't promote itself outside of UK).

Will the new International version of iPlayer work when launched, I wonder?

cj maxx

a 32" in the kitchen ?? im not goin there cos ive already had that conversation !!. what does mpeg 4 do /is it

watty

MPEG2 and MPEG4 are video codecs. Without them the data would be 576 line x 720 dot x 24 bit colour x 25 fps = 248,832,000 bits per second. About 250Mbps!

Mpeg2 allows compression to about 4Mbps to 9Mbps (usually variable) and MPEG4 allows compression to about 1.5Mbps to 4Mbps for same quality. Thats a saving of about x100 or x250

MPEG2 is obsolete, and so not used for newer systems or HD.
UK Freeview, Sky Digital and Freesat are old so they use MPEG2, the TVs and boxes can't be upgraded to MPEG4 because unlike a PC, the CPU is only for control and user interface, the codec is done in Hardware.

Irish DTT (even when not HD) and UK "Freeview HD", "Freesat HD" and Sky HD transmissions all use MPEG4 as it saves over 50% space (x2 to x3 more compression).

MPEG4 video is still carried in same specification of Transport Stream, MPEG2-TS.

MHEG5 is nothing to do with Codecs
See http://www.saortv.info/about/glossary/
Also "hover" mouse over any unfamiliar word or abbreviation on www.saortv.info

dd02

I would endorse the Sony KDL32V5810 mentioned above. I have one as a second TV and watched the Leinster match on Friday night in High Def on RTE 2. All Saorview features work including EPG, Digital Text etc. Using Freesat you have all of the UK channels including BBC1 and ITV1 in HD.

It has a USB port, Ethernet Port and is DLNA compatible so will play content from a networked PC. Also works great with a PS3 as you can control Blueray and other content on the PS3 with the TV Remote.

I am sorry I didnt get the 46 inch version for my main TV.

DD

cj maxx

thanks everyone. got the bravia and all seems fine , so far. mpeg 4 so take it it wont be obsolete next year.. ah woo be the days when colour/b&w were the only options !! c:)

STB

cjmc wrote: »

thanks everyone. got the bravia and all seems fine , so far. mpeg 4 so take it it wont be obsolete next year.. ah woo be the days when colour/b&w were the only options !! c:)

Did you connect an aerial to the TV and get the digital channels ?

You bought the one for 349 ?

cj maxx

yeah. did i pay dear ?

jamm

Sounds like a good purchase.
Are you receiving the Irish digital channels and can you view digital text ?

cj maxx

sorry for the delay getting back. digital txt works , i think, but noticed that certain channels (fiver, quest etc) are breaking up and unwatchable lately. old uk freeview box was like this and rendered it pretty much useless. im only connected via aerial so should i put a dish up. any ideas on what kind and can someone explain differences between freeview/freesat/saorview . thanks.

STB

Where are you in Ireland ?

Obviously either border area or Wexford.

You might consider repositioning/checking your aerial and aerial amplifier before you go out and buy anything else. It could be the source of your problem.

Mr McBoatface

cjmc wrote: »

sorry for the delay getting back. digital txt works , i think, but noticed that certain channels (fiver, quest etc) are breaking up and unwatchable lately. old uk freeview box was like this and rendered it pretty much useless. im only connected via aerial so should i put a dish up. any ideas on what kind and can someone explain differences between freeview/freesat/saorview . thanks.

It sounds like your aerial needs servicing, where are you located ? I'm sure users here could recommend somebody to service it for you.

Freesat and Freeview offer pretty much the content - UK based channels only. Freesat is received through a dish and Freeview through an Aerial. Freeview can only be received in certain parts of Ireland close to the border and along the East coast.

Saorview is the new Irish digital service showing only Irish channels - current Line up is RTE1, RTE2HD, TV3, TG4, 3e, RTE News Now. More TV channels should come along in the next year or so. It is a replacement for the Analogue signal which is getting shut off in 2012.

Are you picking up Saorview and the Freeview channels off the one Aerial at the moment ?

Mayo Exile

Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) - Digital TV via a TV aerial.

Freeview - UK DTT (what your UK Freeview box was/is getting now). BBC1/2 etc.

Saorview - Irish DTT. RTE1, RTE2 (in HD), TV3, 3e, TG4, RTE News Now, RTENL (currently carrying RTE2 in SD until April 2011). Plus RTE's radio services.

RTE2 transmits in High Definition (HD), but program content is still only in Standard Definition (SD). So what you get at the moment is upscaled SD. The TV you bought (Sony BX300?) should be fine for Saorview.

Freesat - UK Free To Air (FTA) satellite service. Comes from same satellites (28.2E/28.5E) that Sky TV comes from. You will need to install a satellite dish (80 cm in size) to get Freesat. Freesat branded satellite boxes are available to buy as well as other satellite boxes from other manufacturers.

Freesat branded boxes also give you interactive services such as text and extra streams (BBC Red Button etc) providing coverage of sporting/music events that wouldn't be on the main TV schedules.