Help and advice re freeview recorder pixillating etc
chitarivera
Posts: 36,905 Forum Member
✭
I have an ancient TV in the living room which still works fine, I had a freeview twin tuner connected to it via scart which worked fine [until recently] and I've had my reception/aerial all sorted when we went digital.
There is also a portable tv and freeview recorder in the bedroom.
Both pictures have been clear and reception excellent until.....
the recorder in the living room died - just froze up and would no longer operate. It was several years old.
A new one was bought to replace it.
Since the new recorder was connected, the picture on the living room tv pixillates a lot.
The bedroom tv and recorder are still working ok and the picture is still clear. No pixillating ever.
So, I assume the problem is the new recorder. Its a Goodmans one. It was only about 70 quid.
So, as the old tv is still ok apart from this pixillating, I am thinking I might just get a better quality freeview recorder to tide me over until I decide to buy a new telly. But I have also taken a peek at new tv's.
I've heard the name 'humax' often but the price tags seem quite high.
I'm interested in discussing with those of you in the know, about these new tv's and recorders. So I can decide what's best for me. But there's so much choice out there it's a bit overwhelming.
HD has passed me by, and plasma and LED, LCD too.
Also are these humax things worth the money?
[the recorder that went dead on me was a Matsui that cost 99quid and lasted - I think - 9 years.]
The room is small, so if I did go for a new telly I would only want a 22" screen one. And I wouldn't need surround sound and posh speakers etc. So I could hopefully get a tv for under 200 quid.
I don't think I want widescreen - I hate to see the squashed screen effect which makes people on telly look squat.
I would like to be able to watch one channel while recording [at least] one other channel.
And I think I'd rather have a recorder that is separate from the tv.
But there is so much stuff on the market my eyes are glazing over.
Are there any people out there who fancy imparting their knowledge to this novice, please?
I know that's all a bit garbled, but hopefully sense can be made from it.
Oh and stupid question, if I just went for a new recorder for now, if its an HD or HD ready one - will it still work via scart on my ancient telly?
There is also a portable tv and freeview recorder in the bedroom.
Both pictures have been clear and reception excellent until.....
the recorder in the living room died - just froze up and would no longer operate. It was several years old.
A new one was bought to replace it.
Since the new recorder was connected, the picture on the living room tv pixillates a lot.
The bedroom tv and recorder are still working ok and the picture is still clear. No pixillating ever.
So, I assume the problem is the new recorder. Its a Goodmans one. It was only about 70 quid.
So, as the old tv is still ok apart from this pixillating, I am thinking I might just get a better quality freeview recorder to tide me over until I decide to buy a new telly. But I have also taken a peek at new tv's.
I've heard the name 'humax' often but the price tags seem quite high.
I'm interested in discussing with those of you in the know, about these new tv's and recorders. So I can decide what's best for me. But there's so much choice out there it's a bit overwhelming.
HD has passed me by, and plasma and LED, LCD too.
Also are these humax things worth the money?
[the recorder that went dead on me was a Matsui that cost 99quid and lasted - I think - 9 years.]
The room is small, so if I did go for a new telly I would only want a 22" screen one. And I wouldn't need surround sound and posh speakers etc. So I could hopefully get a tv for under 200 quid.
I don't think I want widescreen - I hate to see the squashed screen effect which makes people on telly look squat.
I would like to be able to watch one channel while recording [at least] one other channel.
And I think I'd rather have a recorder that is separate from the tv.
But there is so much stuff on the market my eyes are glazing over.
Are there any people out there who fancy imparting their knowledge to this novice, please?
I know that's all a bit garbled, but hopefully sense can be made from it.
Oh and stupid question, if I just went for a new recorder for now, if its an HD or HD ready one - will it still work via scart on my ancient telly?
0
Comments
http://www.humaxdirect.co.uk/product.asp?ProdRef=10104
It has a SCART socket on the back so could be used with your existing TV until such time as you upgrade to a new one.
As for the TV. You are unlikely to find many 4:3 ratio sets now. Most are 16:9 widescreen, as are most programmes now, so may as well get a widescreen telly. If you've seen 4:3 programmes on a 16:9 telly with short fat people then that means the telly has been set up wrong. A 16:9 TV can display 4:3 pictures in the correct format. But some people don't like the black bars down the sides of the picture for some reason and stretch the picture to fill the entire screen, hence short fat people
If you have something like a 21in 4:3 set at the moment then a 26in 16:9 set would be similar in vertical screen size. But modern LCD/LED sets are so much less bulky than the old CRT TV's that you don't feel quite so overwhelmed by the size.So even a 32 in set might not seem as big as the raw screen dimension implies.
With a Freeview telly and Freeview recorder it is possible to watch one channel via the TV and record two completely separate channels on the recorder all at the same time. If you use the recorder with an existing non-Freeview TV then you can watch one channel and record a different one at the same time.
You don't have the option - all TV's have been widescreen for years. Any program remotely modern is widescreen anyway, and your TV or recorder will sort the format out, there's no need for it to be 'squashed' and there never was.
Anything you've seen with squashed pictures isn't set correctly.
You might also consider a larger set?, a 22 inch is only a portable - 32 inch sets are by FAR the most popular size, and are fine in even very small rooms.
Humax are probably the best.
Yes, although many HD recorders won';t have SCART, but should still have SD outputs via phono sockets.
Very informative replies.
So when I've seen short fat people on other people's telly's it's because they haven't set them correctly? Hah! I love it!
I will take a look at that humax link thanks.
And I will also look at 32" screens.
Thanks again.
As I said they are refurbished unit that have been returned to Humax, so in one respect second hand. They have however been restored to factory condition and do have a guarantee so perhaps less of a risk than traditional second hand.
When looking at TVs the supermarket/Currys/Argos own brand makes are at the bottom end of the price and quality scale. LG and Samsung are somewhere in the middle and Sony and Panasonic at the upper end of the scale.
I have a freeview recorder attached to the telly in the bedroom and there is no pixillating problem.
I attached that recorder to the downstairs telly and had no problem either, so the problem has to be with this new box.
I have the receipt etc so I will return it as faulty.
All advice I've been given is that the Humax products ARE worth the extra money.
And now you have all told me how to deal with that awful fat person on screen thing that I thought all new telly's had, I am happy.
So glad I asked for help.
Thanks again everyone!
:cool: