Do I need Saorview box

Red Pepper

I have a relatively new Samsung TV and I can see ATV and DTV channels. When I am on RTE2 Digital I can see RTE TWO HD.
I presume I dont need a Saorview box but my mate reckons I will because I only have an aerial. Who is right?

sesswhat

You!

ardmacha

If you have digital channels, then that's it. Don't ask this particular mate for technical advice.

Solair

You only need a Saorview box if you have an older television that doesn't have an ability to tune into digital television, or if you have a UK-spec (or other imported) TV that is somehow incompatible with Irish digital television (i.e. Saorview).

If your TV's working with Saorview, you're sorted!

The only thing you might want a box for in future is if some decent Saorview recorders arrive on the scene so you can rewind, record etc like Sky+ for SaorView.

formerly scottish paddy

This is a problem I posted on before, people with MPEG 4 tvs being told, or thinking they need a box! :mad:

Solair

formerly scottish paddy wrote: »

This is a problem I posted on before, people with MPEG 4 tvs being told, or thinking they need a box! :mad:

Yeah, it's pretty confusing for a lot of people.

I know one elderly person who bought a Saorview box to use with UPC Cable!!! She'd no idea that it was only for viewing with an antenna and insisted that she had an aerial while pointing at a UPC analogue connection.

The fact that there are also a rake of flat-panel TVs out there sold before Saorview was standardised that were only compatible with UK Freeview SD doesn't really help things either! As there are a lot of relatively new televisions that are not capable of tuning into Saorview as they're the wrong spec.

I actually think that's also where Freeview did well on timing and Saorview was too late. A lot of people were replacing TVs for flat panels a few years ago and that's when Freeview uptake in the UK really began to take off.

Meanwhile in Ireland, we played around with deciding what standard to use for too long and then missed the boat. A lot of people had already bought new televisions, many of which were not capable of receiving MPEG4 saorview signals.

And, it's also launching during a deep recession when people are far less likely to buy new TVs. So, I'd imagine there'll be a lot of STBs

The other issue that is a bit annoying is the range of boxes available in this market is very poor compared to larger EU markets. It's a shame as people expect "Sky+" like functionality these days.

formerly scottish paddy

Solair wrote: »

As there are a lot of relatively new televisions that are not capable of tuning into Saorview as they're the wrong spec.

As I have posted before, if anyone has bought a tv in the republic within the last two years and it does not receive Saorview then they should TAKE IT BACK to the retailer as it has been mis-sold! :mad:

Solair

formerly scottish paddy wrote: »

As I have posted before, if anyone has bought a tv in the republic within the last two years and it does not receive Saorview then they should TAKE IT BACK to the retailer as it has been mis-sold! :mad:

There are plenty of digital TVs that predate that which were sold here. I have a Sony from about 2005 which has a digital tuner, but obviously only supports MPEG2. It picked up some of the pre-Saorview RTE DTT tests in MPEG2 in perfect quality. It was a shame to see it disappear when the new standard went on stream.

muincav

Another problem I have noticed is, 2 weeks ago a local Tv retailer was charging 20 euro to install a Saorview box you purchased in his shop and then last week he was charging 30 euro...I have been doing this for anyone (mostly older people) for free for months now and I think it is typical of the Rip off Ireland we are used to....If anyone you know needs a box installed and you know how to do it, then help them out....:)

jonnygee

Installing the box is usually the easy bit, explaining how to use it is a different matter.