TV purchased in The North

Darsencia

I was thinking about purchasing a TV in Argos in Derry. It works out about 100 euro cheaper than purchasing it in Donegal. My question is will it pick up Rte if I don't connect it to sky dish. Thanks

muffler

As far as I know so long as it has a freeview tuner then just connect the aerial and it should be fine. Maybe ask in the shop first to be sure.

Can you post the make and model?

Nollog

Yes. We use the same standard.

GreenFolder2

Do you watch TV from a satellite or cable box?

If so, any TV that works on 230 volts will do the job as you're only using it as a monitor.

If it has built in satellite tuners, you might want to see it to the UK anyway to access full free sat.

Freeview HD televisions will unusually work on Saorview but may assign the channels to odd numbers - often up in the 800s and in very odd order. You can get some odd issues with lack of programme guides too.

Many TVs support most European regions out of the box. Just pick Ireland when you're setting up. But, you'd be better off checking the model details first.

GreenFolder2

/\/ollog wrote: »

Yes. We use the same standard.

We don't actually.

Ireland's using Nordig (Nordic & Ireland digital region) which is a bit different to the UK standards. It's not usually an issue for HD ready freeview equipment as the Irish networks use MPEG4 to encode video. There are technical differences though.

They're both versions of DVB-T standards used all over Europe but there are little variations on how they operate and the UK software will try to find local Freeview automatically and won't give you the Saorview electronic programme guides.

Darsencia

muffler wrote: »

As far as I know so long as it has a freeview tuner then just connect the aerial and it should be fine. Maybe ask in the shop first to be sure.

Can you post the make and model?

It's a Bush 32 inch HD ready LED TV. .It says it has a freeview tuner.

Darsencia

GreenFolder2 wrote: »

Do you watch TV from a satellite or cable box?

If so, any TV that works on 230 volts will do the job as you're only using it as a monitor.

If it has built in satellite tuners, you might want to see it to the UK anyway to access full free sat.

Freeview HD televisions will unusually work on Saorview but may assign the channels to odd numbers - often up in the 800s and in very odd order. You can get some odd issues with lack of programme guides too.

Many TVs support most European regions out of the box. Just pick Ireland when you're setting up. But, you'd be better off checking the model details first.[/quote

Our main TV is connected to sky dish but this you be for the bedroom. My son has TV in his bedroom which he used for his xbox and watching soarview channels (I think he gets the TV channels from a connection to the aerial, not 100% sure as it was a friend who set it all up). I would mainly use the new telly for connecting to the chromecast while my other half would be happy enough with the usual soarview channels. Cheers

jonnygee

Argos Bush tv item number 138/4828 does work with Saorview. It will need an aerial connected of course.

Nollog

GreenFolder2 wrote: »

We don't actually.

Ireland's using Nordig (Nordic & Ireland digital region) which is a bit different to the UK standards. It's not usually an issue for HD ready freeview equipment as the Irish networks use MPEG4 to encode video. There are technical differences though.

They're both versions of DVB-T standards used all over Europe but there are little variations on how they operate and the UK software will try to find local Freeview automatically and won't give you the Saorview electronic programme guides.

I don't use epgs as they always seem bad and pointless when there's numbers and ch+. So I didn't know that.
It'll let him watch all our channels right? And being in Donegal maybe even some of the British ones too.

NIMAN

Not every Freeview tuner will receive Saorview.
More Freeview HD tuners will receive Saorview, but again its not all of them.

muffler

NIMAN wrote: »

Not every Freeview tuner will receive Saorview.
More Freeview HD tuners will receive Saorview, but again its not all of them.

Just when you mention that I think I read somewhere in the past that if the telly is HD or even a HD box/receiver then they will pick up the Saorview.

"HD ready" might be an issue though.

editorsean

Check if the TV that supports Freeview HD as such support will generally work fine with Saorview.

HD Ready and 1080p do not necessarily mean the TV supports Freeview HD. Freeview HD uses MPEG4, the same codec as Saorview. Standard definition Freeview uses MPEG2.

If you are within Freeview coverage from Northern Ireland, just beware that there are certain TVs can be problematic with picking up both sets of muxes. Generally you'll end up with one set of muxes numbered correctly (1, 2, 3, etc.) and the other set placed in the 800s. In this instance I suggest setting the TV's region to UK/Northern Ireland so that the UK channels are numbered correctly and small selection of Saorview channels are placed in the 800s.

NIMAN

muffler wrote: »

Just when you mention that I think I read somewhere in the past that if the telly is HD or even a HD box/receiver then they will pick up the Saorview.

"HD ready" might be an issue though.

HD Ready and Freeview HD are two completely different things though.

The first refers to the ability of the panel, that it can display 720p.

Freeview HD refers to the tuner built in to the TV. A standard tuner i.e. one without HD capability, might get Saorview, and might not.

However a HD tuner i.e. one that can receive Freeview HD (as opposed to ordinary Freeview) tends to have more likelihood of receiving Saorview.

jonnygee

If any tv has been specifically designed to work in the uk only and contains only the uk standard, (whether it is marked freeview, freeview hd, full hd or hd ready), then it will be useless for saorview.

Thankfully most tv,s on sale now are designed for the European market's differing standards and will enable whatever standard is required (whether that is freeview, freeview hd or saorview) when the user selects their country from a list of countries in the setup menu.
The Argos Bush tv 138/4828 is such and works perfectly with saorview when Ireland is selected as the country in the installation menu.
If you are unsure then only buy a saorview approved tv.

NIMAN

afaik, the likes of Argos, Currys, Harvey Norman, Power City, DID etc who sells TVs in RoI are not allowed to sell TVs that aren't compatible with Saorview.

jonnygee

Yes, there should be no problem for anyone buying in Roi.
However now with the large drop in sterling and Christmas coming up people (mostly living near the border) will once again resume buying tv,s in the likes of currys and argos in Northern Ireland where better value can be had once again.
There was no difference in price really when sterling was costing 35 or 40 percent to buy. It was as cheap to buy any tv in donegal when the exchange rate was factored in.
The tv that the op is talking about buying in Argos in Derry is excellent value for donegal shoppers if it is only required for saorview through an aerial and sky through satellite.
If someone wanted to buy a tv for uk and irish channels through an aerial only (not satellite) then a pan european tv that tunes freeview hd channels (rather than freeview) would be a better buy.

NIMAN

I notice that a lot of the TVs on the Argos UK website say "will work with Saorview" in the description. Maybe best for OP to stick to one of those.

There is always the option of just Googling your model number of the TV you like and see if it works with Saorview.

If that provides no info, then you can always take advantage of Argos' return policy. Say its no use to you as it doesn't get Saorview.

jonnygee

jonnygee wrote: »

Argos Bush tv item number 138/4828 does work with Saorview. It will need an aerial connected of course.

This.

Firblog

Spend a tenner extra, buy locally and avoid any worries

http://www.currys.ie/Product/jvc-lt32c360-32-led-tv/336127/409.13

Spend 80 extra, buy locally avoid any worries, get a 3 year warranty, true HD, & smart TV

https://www.expert.ie/products/tv-dvd/televisions/32-inch/dgtec-32%E2%80%9D-full-hd-smart-tv


There's no law that says you have to buy in the north you know

Darsencia

Darsencia wrote: »

It's a Bush 32 inch HD ready LED TV. .It says it has a freeview tuner.

From memory (I haven't checked this in ages!)

Saorview RTEs broadcast in MPEG 4 (so HD Tuner, it used to need a twin tuner, not sure if it still does), Freeview HD broadcasts in MPEG 4 too, with the non-HD channels in MPEG 2.

Saorview Teletext is in MHEG5, (which is actually designed for audio - don't ask why it was selected for Teletext, I don't know!!) - so some of the TVs that support Saorview will not have a working channel guide/Teletext, if that's important to you.

Check the specs of the TV, and ask the shop staff before you buy.
They're supposed to know the answers.