Saorview and Freeview HD certified TV?

Turbulent Bill

I'm looking at buying either a Samsung UE32D5000 or Samsung UE32D5520. Both are Saorview certified, but only the 5520 is Freeview HD certified, which I thought was a bit odd.

Is there any advantage in getting a TV that has both certifications (rather than just Saorview)? I'm in Dublin so the chances of Freeview HD reception seem slim, and I'm guessing that selecting 'Ireland' as the TV's country will turn off any Freeview HD features anyway.

yangzone

A UK Freeview-badged Samsung TV may be "Saorview Certified" BUT:

Before buying any "Saorview Certified" TV check to see if it will receive RTE’s new digital teletext service. (not just RTE1 & 2, TV3, TG4, E3 and RTE News Now.)

If it does not this means the TV is not MHEG-5 compliant (as distinct from the accompanying MPEG-4 standard) – the interactive TV middleware necessary to receive the DTT teletext broadcast and future RTE services such as series link for PVRs, interactive TV and the RTEplayer.

There have *even* been many set-top boxes sold in Ireland already without this crucial MHEG-5 standard included. This IS Ireland... .

Shopper Beware.

STB

Turbulent Bill wrote: »

I'm looking at buying either a Samsung UE32D5000 or Samsung UE32D5520. Both are Saorview certified, but only the 5520 is Freeview HD certified, which I thought was a bit odd.

QUOTE]

Its not odd. The reason that the first one is not certified for Freeview HD is because it only have a DVB-T tuner. Freeview HD uses DVB-T2, a different tuner.

Whilst the one that is Freeview HD certified (i.e. has a DVB-T2 tuner) is fine because DVB-T2 tuner is backward compatible with DVB-T. Vice Versa is not the case.

So to sum up (our specs are not similar to UK outside simple tuner diffs). Also choosing the countries setup option will load the software settings for that country, so you can have TV that are designed with different countries in mind with slight tweaks dependant on setup options in country profile.

yangzone

yangzone wrote: »

A UK Freeview-badged Samsung TV may be "Saorview Certified" BUT:

Before buying any "Saorview Certified" TV check to see if it will receive RTE’s new digital teletext service. (not just RTE1 & 2, TV3, TG4, E3 and RTE News Now.)

If it does not this means the TV is not MHEG-5 compliant (as distinct from the accompanying MPEG-4 standard) – the interactive TV middleware necessary to receive the DTT teletext broadcast and future RTE services such as series link for PVRs, interactive TV and the RTEplayer.

There have *even* been many set-top boxes sold in Ireland already without this crucial MHEG-5 standard included. This IS Ireland... .

Shopper Beware.

Turns out this is not correct. The interactive middleware MHEG-5 is usually included in Freeview TV's and set-top boxes but when setting up some models, when the country Ireland is selected, for some reason the MHEG-5 feature is switched off.

The Cush

yangzone wrote: »

Turns out this is not correct. The interactive middleware MHEG-5 is usually included in Freeview TV's and set-top boxes but when setting up some models, when the country Ireland is selected, for some reason the MHEG-5 feature is switched off.

A three year old Sony I own works this way.

My brother's Samsung (not Saorview approved) gives priortity to traditional analogue teletext if present but on RTÉ2, RTÉ News Now etc. where analogue is not transmitted MHEG-5 digital text is displayed (in the Ireland setting).

Saorview approved products should have no problem with MHEG-5 text.

Sam Russell

The Cush wrote: »

A three year old Sony I own works this way.

My brother's Samsung (not Saorview approved) gives priortity to traditional analogue teletext if present but on RTÉ2, RTÉ News Now etc. where analogue is not transmitted MHEG-5 digital text is displayed (in the Ireland setting).

Saorview approved products should have no problem with MHEG-5 text.

The correct sequence should be:
1. If MHEG 5 text is transmitted, it is displayed and any EBU text is ignored. This is true for RTE1 and RTE2.
2. If no MHEG text is transmitted, then EBU text is displayed. This is true for TV3 and TG4.
3. If the device has no MHEG5, the RTE2 will display [P100] in the top LH corner and an otherwise blank screen, but the other channels will display teletext. Channels without teletext will ignore the TTX button.

Some TVs that have MHEG5, have this turned off for [Country=Ireland]. Many UK only sets (FreeviewHD) have EBU teletext turned off so no teletext on TG4 and TV3. They also ignore LCN and DST in many instances.

The Cush

Sam Russell wrote: »

The correct sequence should be:
1. If MHEG 5 text is transmitted, it is displayed and any EBU text is ignored. This is true for RTE1 and RTE2.
2. If no MHEG text is transmitted, then EBU text is displayed. This is true for TV3 and TG4.
3. If the device has no MHEG5, the RTE2 will display [P100] in the top LH corner and an otherwise blank screen, but the other channels will display teletext. Channels without teletext will ignore the TTX button.

Some TVs that have MHEG5, have this turned off for [Country=Ireland]. Many UK only sets (FreeviewHD) have EBU teletext turned off so no teletext on TG4 and TV3.

Yes, I know the sequence (posted similar previously). It's part of the Nordig specification.