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Best Option for TV

  • 19-07-2018 9:15am
    #1
    aabarnes1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 295 ✭✭


    Following the digital switch off, like most people I had to get an extra decoder box in the bedroom( a rather large unsightly addition),however the kitchen tv is a different matter.
    Being a flush VESA wall-mounted setup, there really isn't the scope for a big decoder box hanging there. Plus the wife wont have it at all. I am resigned to the fact that my options are really limited to getting a new TV with wifi to connect to my Virgin media box in the sitting room, am I on the right track, or do I need the Virgin media app on the new TV? The cuurent TV is not a smart Tv, however it is a good LG 1080p plasma.
    I see that most of the new samrt tv's have Freeview, Netflix, iPlayer etc, is this all connectable/possible via wifi?
    Any help and constructive answers would be appreciated, thanks.


Comments

  • #2
    coylemj
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,620 ✭✭✭✭coylemj


    You can't get the Virgin Media channels any way other than with a digital decoder box connected to the TV.

    Freeview (UK version of Saorview) means the TV can receive a terrestrial digital signal from an aerial and decode it. A digital terrestrial tuner is a bog-standard feature in every TV sold in Ireland, it's not a Smart TV feature.

    Netflix and iPlayer mean it's a Smart TV which can run s/w to receive those over wi-fi or a cable connection to your router.

    You say the box you got for the bedroom is large and unsightly, did you get a basic decoder box with no recording capability? Mine sits under the base of the TV and takes up not much extra surface space.


  • #3
    aabarnes1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 295 ✭✭aabarnes1


    Hi Coylemj,
    yes the decoder in the bedroom is like one of the old type of UPC boxes that you can record on, even though I didn't request the record function. Its about 42cm wide and 25 deep, Cisco make. Not suitable for a wall mounted tv setup. You say the only way to get virgin channels to your tv is a direct connection to the decoder? So they tell me there is a virgin media app that allows me to watch tv on pc or a smart tv. My current tv is not smart and has no wifi, so hence the need for a new tv, or so I think.


  • #4
    coylemj
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,620 ✭✭✭✭coylemj


    aabarnes1 wrote: »
    yes the decoder in the bedroom is like one of the old type of UPC boxes that you can record on, even though I didn't request the record function. Its about 42cm wide and 25 deep, Cisco make. Not suitable for a wall mounted tv setup.

    My (non-recording) bedroom decoder is 29 x 16 x 3.5 cm, a lot smaller than the box they gave you. It's branded UPC Mediabox but the label underneath says it's a Pace DCR 7111/05
    aabarnes1 wrote: »
    So they tell me there is a virgin media app that allows me to watch tv on pc or a smart tv. My current tv is not smart and has no wifi, so hence the need for a new tv, or so I think.

    Yes, there is an app which allows you to watch VM channels on an Android tablet or iPad. You can also watch VM channels via a browser (IE/Edge/Firefox/Safari/Chrome) on a PC so in theory a Smart TV with a browser might work but I suspect you will quickly run into a brick wall involving a requirement for a browser plug-in which the TV does not support.

    Smart TVs are also notorious for the situation where an app that used to work no longer does so because the feed supplier has updated their s/w but your TV manufacturer couldn't be bothered updating the s/w on your two year old TV to stay compatible so you get left behind and gradually all of the apps on the TV stop working. So don't bank on using the Smart TV you buy tomorrow to watch VM channels for the life of the TV.


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