Can some one tell me what I need? Digital TV

Hill Lady

Hi,
I have got so many different types of advice on this from the stores selling digital boxes etc that I am totally confused now on what I need!

I have 2 Sony TV's (one I know for sure has an MPGEG 4 tuner as I can pick up the digital stations at the minute) the other one doesn't have an MPEG 4 tuner.

I never had sky or anything in my house so I only have an aerial (in the attic)

I am looking to get whatever I need to receive the Irish digital channels on my main TV (which doesn't have an MPEG 4 tuner ) and what ever I need to recieve the free to air channels.

The aeriel that I have is prob there about 15/20 years by now, I was told that I will need to change this to a digital ariel....

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sam Russell

The aerial you have is probably OK for the digital signal. Would need to know where you are to be sure. You can check the channel on the TV that has digital to see how good the signal is and what channel. (Go to services - digital install or system info - I can't remeber the details).

For the second TV you need a STB that does MPEG4 HD. You should go for a certified one, but there are not many and cheaper ones will be released soon. If this second TV has a digital tuner, it should receive DTT, but sound only. Try doing a digital tune and see what you get. If you get a signal, you know the aerial is OK.

Best of luck. Come back with channel numbers or location. www.mpeg4ireland.com should help you.

tmcw

What Sam said, and knowing your location would let us know if you'd have a chance getting UK Freeview; by "free to air", I presume you mean the BBC's, ITV's etc. May be able to get freeview, depending on location, otherwise you'd need a satellite dish and receiver. For your main TV, a combi sat (UK TV) and terrestrial (Irish TV) box might sort you out.

Also, whoever said you will need a new ariel needs a good kick in the pants. If you're already getting digital channels, why would it need to be changed?

The Cush

Hill Lady wrote: »

The aeriel that I have is prob there about 15/20 years by now, I was told that I will need to change this to a digital ariel....

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

The ‘digital aerial’ myth - http://www.paras.org.uk/02-myths.shtml

watty

I have an aerial for UHF (not TV though) that is still perfect and nearly 30 years old.

It depends on aerial type, condition and cable condition if it needs replaced. As "The Cush" says no such thing as a "Digital" aerial.
Or amp, Dish, LNB or cable.
Just Digital Decoders. Strictly speaking even the Tuner in a Digital TV or Satellite box is analogue! It then feeds an Analogue to Digital Converter and the signal processed by "DSP Chip" to giver serial Digital Data. That then goes into a separate "DSP chip" or different part of same one to have the MPEG, MP2, AAC etc decoded.

Hill Lady

Thanks for that advice, I am in the Cavan area

Hill Lady

These questions may make some of you experts out there cry a little so sorry in advance

1.Ok so Saorview... are these the channels that will be picked up on any MPEG4 tuner?

2.Eg on a TV that has a built in MPEG4 tuner then I will get these "SAORVIEW" channels?

3. I understood that the MHEG5 is for the interactive stuff that may be brought out in the future?


4. The free-to-air are the UK satellite channels? BBC,UTV etc?

Sooooo on a TV that ony has an MPEG2 tuner in it...if I get a box that has MPEG4 tuner in it PLUS can receive satelite channels then this is all I will need (apart from the obvious...dish etc)

The Cush

Hill Lady wrote: »

These questions may make some of you experts out there cry a little so sorry in advance

1.Ok so Saorview... are these the channels that will be picked up on any MPEG4 tuner?

2.Eg on a TV that has a built in MPEG4 tuner then I will get these "SAORVIEW" channels?

3. I understood that the MHEG5 is for the interactive stuff that may be brought out in the future?


4. The free-to-air are the UK satellite channels? BBC,UTV etc?

Sooooo on a TV that ony has an MPEG2 tuner in it...if I get a box that has MPEG4 tuner in it PLUS can receive satelite channels then this is all I will need (apart from the obvious...dish etc)

This new RTÉNL document may answer some of your questions - RTÉ NL SAORVIEW FAQ's

1.Ok so Saorview... are these the channels that will be picked up on any MPEG4 tuner?

The receiver must have an MPEG-4 HP@L4 decoder, some don't e.g. Sky Picnic & Triax TR110 STB receivers and will not display RTÉ 2 after April 18th.

2.Eg on a TV that has a built in MPEG4 tuner then I will get these "SAORVIEW" channels?

Yes you will.

3. I understood that the MHEG5 is for the interactive stuff that may be brought out in the future?

MHEG-5 is now used for digital teletext and may be used for other interactive stuff in future. All Saorview certified receivers have it built in. Non Saorview certified receivers with MPEG-4 decoders may or may not have MHEG-5, if not traditional "analogue" teletext is available.

4. The free-to-air are the UK satellite channels? BBC,UTV etc?

A free-to-air channel is any channel that is available without a subscription i.e. RTÉ1&2, TV3 and TG4 and the UK channels via satellite dish or separate aerial pointing at an N Ireland or Wales digital transmitter if you live close to the border or east coast. The UK channels will not be available thru Saorview.

Sooooo on a TV that ony has an MPEG2 tuner in it...if I get a box that has MPEG4 tuner in it PLUS can receive satelite channels then this is all I will need (apart from the obvious...dish etc)

Yes.



Some further reading
Connecting a Television Set to SAORVIEW
Receiving Saorview Digital Terrestrial Television
http://www.saorview.ie/
http://www.rtenl.ie/broadcast/saorview-digital-television.html

watty

Hill Lady wrote: »

These questions may make some of you experts out there cry a little so sorry in advance

1.Ok so Saorview... are these the channels that will be picked up on any MPEG4 tuner?

2.Eg on a TV that has a built in MPEG4 tuner then I will get these "SAORVIEW" channels?

3. I understood that the MHEG5 is for the interactive stuff that may be brought out in the future?


4. The free-to-air are the UK satellite channels? BBC,UTV etc?

Sooooo on a TV that ony has an MPEG2 tuner in it...if I get a box that has MPEG4 tuner in it PLUS can receive satelite channels then this is all I will need (apart from the obvious...dish etc)

1.Ok so Saorview... are these the channels that will be picked up on any MPEG4 tuner?
No. It has to be DVB-T or DVB-T2, connected to suitable aerial, MPEG4 H.264 AVC Level3 and Level 4. Also. MP2 and HE-AAC sound.

2.Eg on a TV that has a built in MPEG4 tuner then I will get these "SAORVIEW" channels?
Maybe see (1) and coverage http://coverage.rtenl.ie/ or http://maps.techtir.com/ireland-dtt.htm
See www.saorview.ie and www.saortv.info

3. I understood that the MHEG5 is for the interactive stuff that may be brought out in the future?
Not quite: MHEG5 is an "engine" in the TV, like iPhone or Android or Java Feature phone able to run an "app". The Applications are automatically downloaded via aerial and the data for them. See http://www.saortv.info/about/mheg5/ Interactive text (running now as a clone of teletext) and Interactive Video/Text multiscreen are just two possibilities. A better EPG (program guide) than the native one of the TV may be provided. Unlike the "built-in" one, it would be the same on any model of TV or set-Box and even Windows 7.

4. The free-to-air are the UK satellite channels? BBC,UTV etc?
Not quite. FTA (free to air) just means not-encrypted, not payTV. It is a term that can be applied to Saorview (Irish FTA via Aerial), Freeview and Freeview HD (UK FTA via Aerial), Freesat and Freesat HD (Most UK Satellite FTA Channels, some are not part of Freesat, i.e. Sky News) and Saorsat (Satellite version of Irish FTA channels).
There are also FTA satellite channels that can be received from about 18 to 20 other Satellite positions in Ireland. Most of this is not in English.

There are also UK FTV (free to view) Channels on Satellite. They need a Sky card only sent to UK addresses for a once off fee.
There are also the Sky and related PayTV channels on Satellite.

Some people in Border areas, South East and East coasts can get N.I., IOM or Welsh Freeview via aerial (FTA)

Aerial
All DVB-T2 (UK Freeview HD) tuners do DVB-T (Freeview, Saorview) also
All MPEG4 systems (Freeview HD, Saorview) also do MPEG2 (Freeview)

Dish
All DVB-S2 (some UK HD satellite, all Soarsat) tuners do DVB-S (some UK HD, all UK non-HD) also
All MPEG4 systems (Freesat HD, Saorsat) also do MPEG2 (Freesat)
Saorsat is not till May/June and needs a different Dish to Freesat/Sky

watty

@ The Cush
Snap, you win

I obviously could have saved typing if I had refreshed first!

tmcw

Hill Lady wrote: »

Thanks for that advice, I am in the Cavan area

Can you get analogue BBC 1, 2, UTV, and C4 at your location? I would have thought most of Cavan would be grand for getting a signal from Brougher (not the most mountainous region), in which case, you mightn't need a satellite dish, just get UK DTT and Irish DTT on a DTT box. You may need to install another aerial to get the UK TV though. When power is crankled up next year, you mightn't need another aerial!

watty

A "freeview HD" box, not a "freeview" box.