Recommendations for New Saorview/Freeview TV -Border Regions

In the old days

A family member lives on on the Cavan/Fermanagh border. Picks up Longford and Enniskillen perfectly for dtt. She has an old sd analogue tv with a cheap and old dtt convertor set top-box convertor unit for yonks on which Saorview and Freeview channels are all all randomdly mixed up and needs an upgraded TV . She also has netflix on another set top box via wi-fi. She (and partner more so) are not very tech savy but I was wondering if anyone would have a recommendation for a TV which would enable a simple solution with ordering of saorview/freeview in a logical manner and with additional netflix capability from their wifi. Would Walker /Normende/Vetal/Sony etc be a solution?? 7 day epg and recording and dual tuners would be great. As I visit houses on the border I am amazed there is not an obvious TV solution than the multiplicity of set top boxes and weird bespoke arrangements for saorview/freeview I see. Real pity. I'm surprised that there is not an obvious solution for those wanting both sets of channels north/south on a tv once reception is good and in a logical order on each tv (but maybe this is a niche market). Any suggestions gratefully accepted especially if someone has a neat dtt tv border setup up and running.

Johnboy1951

IMO, a set top box feeding a TV/Monitor is a better solution than a smart TV.

Gerry Wicklow

You hit the nail on the head in that it is a niche market. In my experience of Freeview boxes by design they ignore "foreign" channels. I.E. if set to UK they ignore Saorview and if set to IRL ignore Freeview or at best list the strays in odd numbers. As for buying a Smart TV, they are usually obsolete before they even leave the shop. The software is usually restrictive and rarely updated by the makers. You pay a huge premium for the added functions that could be provided by a far more flexible STB for far less.
IMO

decor58

I have a Panasonic dmr hwt150, live in Bray we get freeview from time to time and channels can be rearranged, has a 500gb hdd, restricted apps list, Netflix YouTube are there. It may be a bit expensive I think it is about 190 sterling, I got it second hand. So far so good.
Bought a Sony smart TV in 2011, restricted apps from the start, most could not be updated within 18 months, won't be buying another smart TV.

danm14

The cheaper (Walker, Bush, Alba etc.) televisions (which are all made by a company called Vestel) seemed to deal better with channels from multiple countries when we bought our televisions. All of our televisions are several years old though, so no guarantees they still are. If you visit a smaller local electrical shop in an area that can receive both signals they'll probably be able to point you in the right direction - it would probably be a very common request.

I receive television signals from the same transmitters.

Two televisions in the house (a Bush and an Alba, both set to Ireland) list the Irish channels on their usual numbers. The British channels are listed from 51 upwards with the channels in the same order they would be on a Freeview receiver (but without gaps in the numbering) by default. So UTV is on 53, Channel 5 on 55, BBC Four on 57 etc.

On the other hand, two other televisions (an LG and a Samsung) list the Irish channels on their usual numbers and the British channels from 51 upwards in seemingly random order They're actually in channel order like on a Freeview receiver, but split by multiplex - all the channels on COM4 (ch 21) are listed first in order of their channel numbers followed by PSB2 (ch 22) and so on.

For these, the simplest thing to do was set them to UK, so the British channels were on their normal numbers, and move the Irish channels (of which there are fewer and which very rarely change) manually onto their channel number + 800.

SmartinMartin

I just bought a walker smart TV with built in saorview and Freeview, all the channels are worked from the one remote. Have Netflix on it too. €350. I'll dig out the model number if you want.

SmartinMartin

This is the one.
https://powercity.ie/product/WPS4319
Great picture. Sound is alright but I'm going to get a sound bar.

Digifriendly

SmartinMartin wrote: »

This is the one.
https://powercity.ie/product/WPS4319
Great picture. Sound is alright but I'm going to get a sound bar.

That link points to TV with built in satellite for UK channels not Freeview which is UK DTT i.e. via an aerial although I presume if it receives Saorview it may be able to receive Freeview if within range of UK transmitter.

In the old days

danm14 wrote: »

The cheaper (Walker, Bush, Alba etc.) televisions (which are all made by a company called Vestel) seemed to deal better with channels from multiple countries when we bought our televisions. All of our televisions are several years old though, so no guarantees they still are. If you visit a smaller local electrical shop in an area that can receive both signals they'll probably be able to point you in the right direction - it would probably be a very common request.

I receive television signals from the same transmitters.

Two televisions in the house (a Bush and an Alba, both set to Ireland) list the Irish channels on their usual numbers. The British channels are listed from 51 upwards with the channels in the same order they would be on a Freeview receiver (but without gaps in the numbering) by default. So UTV is on 53, Channel 5 on 55, BBC Four on 57 etc.

On the other hand, two other televisions (an LG and a Samsung) list the Irish channels on their usual numbers and the British channels from 51 upwards in seemingly random order They're actually in channel order like on a Freeview receiver, but split by multiplex - all the channels on COM4 (ch 21) are listed first in order of their channel numbers followed by PSB2 (ch 22) and so on.

For these, the simplest thing to do was set them to UK, so the British channels were on their normal numbers, and move the Irish channels (of which there are fewer and which very rarely change) manually onto their channel number + 800.

Very interesting. I feel I am getting closer to a solution. Set to UK first seems to be a solution and one of the latest walkers.

In the old days

SmartinMartin wrote: »

I just bought a walker smart TV with built in saorview and Freeview, all the channels are worked from the one remote. Have Netflix on it too. €350. I'll dig out the model number if you want.

Was looking at that model. It has T2 so should be fine for UK HD DTT. I don't know if you can renumber the channels or if there are restrictions with that model on renumbering if needed. That seems the gamble is if you are using a tv for saorview and freeview and they do not scan in a logical order your options may be limited. Any idea if you can renumber at will on your walker?

Johnboy1951

danm14 wrote: »

...
....

For these, the simplest thing to do was set them to UK, so the British channels were on their normal numbers, and move the Irish channels (of which there are fewer and which very rarely change) manually onto their channel number + 800.

I have seen this 'normal numbers' referred to in various posts over time.
I never understood what was meant by it, except maybe it was written from the perspective of whatever the writer had used previously.

So the 'normal numbers' for an ex-Sky subscriber would be different to an ex-Freesat user and different to an ex-Freeview user and different yet again to an ex-FTA who liked to order the channels to their own preference and not be confined to some arbitrary order determined by some provider or other.

Is my interpretation correct, or do all those services order the channels (by default) in the same order?

ei9go

Digifriendly wrote: »

That link points to TV with built in satellite for UK channels not Freeview which is UK DTT i.e. via an aerial although I presume if it receives Saorview it may be able to receive Freeview if within range of UK transmitter.

What order does the tv put the satellite channels in when you tune and is there a 7 day epg for them?

emaherx

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I have seen this 'normal numbers' referred to in various posts over time.
I never understood what was meant by it, except maybe it was written from the perspective of whatever the writer had used previously.

So the 'normal numbers' for an ex-Sky subscriber would be different to an ex-Freesat user and different to an ex-Freeview user and different yet again to an ex-FTA who liked to order the channels to their own preference and not be confined to some arbitrary order determined by some provider or other.

Is my interpretation correct, or do all those services order the channels (by default) in the same order?

I'm sure it's the normal order rather than normal number that is meant. ie. BBC1/2 ITV CH4 CH5 etc.

To the OP. Make sure the TV can receive Freeview HD (which most can these days) and it will work for all available DTT channels. Just set TV to UK delete all the crap unused channels and reorder the Saorview channels to more sensible numbers.

Only potential issue is RTE Player /TV3 /TG4 players won't work with TV set to UK(if TV has them). With TV set to Ireland, Irish channels will have first preference on guide and it will take longer to reorder UK channels.


Loads of TV's out there with Netflix and Freeview HD/Saorview.

Johnboy1951

emaherx wrote: »

I'm sure it's the normal order rather than normal number that is meant. ie. BBC1/2 ITV CH4 CH5 etc.
....

My query was about 'normal' ...... is what is 'normal' for one the exact same as what is 'normal' for another?

emaherx

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

My query was about 'normal' ...... is what is 'normal' for one the exact same as what is 'normal' for another?

And the answer is more or less. (Especially for the older audience which is the target of this thread). And it is going to be similar to the Freeview LCN guide anyway with the biggest question being do you stick the Saorview channels in front of BBC1 after CH4/5 or at the end of the UK channels (after the smutty ones are deleted)

"Normal" is pretty much built on the order pretty much every one used when they had only 6 channels and has now been slightly extended to include the 10 most watched channels.

"Normal" for you or me Johnboy1951 is probably not normal and you know it

Johnboy1951

emaherx wrote: »

And the answer is more or less. (Especially for the older audience which is the target of this thread). And it is going to be similar to the Freeview LCN guide anyway with the biggest question being do you stick the Saorview channels in front of BBC1 after CH4/5 or at the end of the UK channels (after the smutty ones are deleted)

"Normal" is pretty much built on the order pretty much every one used when they had only 6 channels and has now been slightly extended to include the 10 most watched channels.

"Normal" for you or me Johnboy1951 is probably not normal and you know it

Oh I know that part ..... but when posters use 'normal' in this context I am usually at a loss as to what they mean.
It seems what is normal order for a Sky subscriber is different to what is normal for a Freeview user or a Freesat user etc etc ..... and of course not normal for the likes of you or me.

It is about trying to understand what is meant as 'normal' from post to post.

I guess I will just accept I will never know what is meant exactly.

danm14

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I have seen this 'normal numbers' referred to in various posts over time.
I never understood what was meant by it, except maybe it was written from the perspective of whatever the writer had used previously.

So the 'normal numbers' for an ex-Sky subscriber would be different to an ex-Freesat user and different to an ex-Freeview user and different yet again to an ex-FTA who liked to order the channels to their own preference and not be confined to some arbitrary order determined by some provider or other.

Is my interpretation correct, or do all those services order the channels (by default) in the same order?

I mean "normal numbers" as in the numbers which the channels would be on by default using Freeview in Northern Ireland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_DTT_channels_in_the_United_Kingdom

Johnboy1951

danm14 wrote: »

I mean "normal numbers" as in the numbers which the channels would be on by default using Freeview in Northern Ireland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_DTT_channels_in_the_United_Kingdom

Thank you.
That is more explicit.

SmartinMartin

In the old days wrote: »

Was looking at that model. It has T2 so should be fine for UK HD DTT. I don't know if you can renumber the channels or if there are restrictions with that model on renumbering if needed. That seems the gamble is if you are using a tv for saorview and freeview and they do not scan in a logical order your options may be limited. Any idea if you can renumber at will on your walker?

It has the saorview channels numbered 101, 102 etc, and the UK channels 201, 202 etc. I was able to move the channels around within their respective groupings.