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Planet Knowledge

a516a516 Posts: 5,241
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Planet Knowledge has gone live today on Freeview channel 245 (for viewers in COM7 coverage area). A placeholder has been on that channel for several weeks.

Planet Knowledge is a video on demand portal that features a range of factual documentaries across categories including history, nature, travel, kids, people and culture, science and technology.
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    kasgkasg Posts: 4,731
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    Another service that is not compatible with my fairly new Sony TV.
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    fmradiotuner1fmradiotuner1 Posts: 20,505
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    Says No Signal for me on my Sony 42w706 TV.
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    kasgkasg Posts: 4,731
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    I've got the signal, it just displays the MHEG saying it is not compatible with my device, like most of the other recent IPTV launches.
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    grimtales1grimtales1 Posts: 46,695
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    kasg wrote: »
    I've got the signal, it just displays the MHEG saying it is not compatible with my device, like most of the other recent IPTV launches.

    That's the same message as me, the signal is fine though :confused:
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    David (2)David (2) Posts: 20,632
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    No chance of getting that channel for me.
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    mossy2103mossy2103 Posts: 84,309
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    kasg wrote: »
    I've got the signal, it just displays the MHEG saying it is not compatible with my device, like most of the other recent IPTV launches.
    grimtales1 wrote: »
    That's the same message as me, the signal is fine though :confused:
    This does seem to be the Achilles Heel for IPTV on Freeview
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    dachsedachse Posts: 582
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    mossy2103 wrote: »
    This does seem to be the Achilles Heel for IPTV on Freeview

    Not really. I'd have thought that the Achilles Heel was your decision to purchase a non-freeview HD TV. Surely we've known for ages that DVB-T2 is the way to go when buying new equipment.
    Works perfectly on my Samsung.
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    DX30DX30 Posts: 899
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    dachse wrote: »
    Not really. I'd have thought that the Achilles Heel was your decision to purchase a non-freeview HD TV. Surely we've known for ages that DVB-T2 is the way to go when buying new equipment.
    Works perfectly on my Samsung.
    I think you have missed the point, people did buy a Freeview HD TV but later when the IPTV services launched found they are incompatible. It is a common problem with. many of the early Freeview HD TVs.
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    kasgkasg Posts: 4,731
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    DX30 wrote: »
    I think you have missed the point, people did buy a Freeview HD TV but later when the IPTV services launched found they are incompatible. It is a common problem with. many of the early Freeview HD TVs.
    It's worse than that, it's new Freeview HD sets that DO support IPTV channels, just not the ones using the VuTV type system, which has changed the standard yet again.
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    chrisychrisy Posts: 9,421
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    kasg wrote: »
    It's worse than that, it's new Freeview HD sets that DO support IPTV channels, just not the ones using the VuTV type system, which has changed the standard yet again.

    The standard hasn't changed - just Synapse decided to whitelist compatible devices, so things that might work don't get that far. Of course the code is different which would cause some discrepancies, but the standards used are the same ones defined in the D-Book.
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    mossy2103mossy2103 Posts: 84,309
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    dachse wrote: »
    Not really. I'd have thought that the Achilles Heel was your decision to purchase a non-freeview HD TV. Surely we've known for ages that DVB-T2 is the way to go when buying new equipment.
    Works perfectly on my Samsung.
    I have a Freeview HD PVR actually.

    And like others, it is fine for some IPTV content, but fails on others.

    And as others have pointed out here and on other IPTV-related threads, some channels work, some don't (are "not compatible").. Very different from HD-related or DVB-T2 related broadcast content (which do work in all case). Hardly a ringing endorsement of the IPTV "standard" or its implementation on Freeview (whether that be from the "broadcast" end, or the firmware end).
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    grimtales1grimtales1 Posts: 46,695
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    I only bought my TV in late 2013 so surprised it doesnt work, oh well.
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    kasgkasg Posts: 4,731
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    grimtales1 wrote: »
    I only bought my TV in late 2013 so surprised it doesnt work, oh well.
    Mine's a 2014 Sony model - The VuTV website still says "Sony are currently conducting extensive tests and expect to confirm which of their Freeview HD TVs are compatible with the VuTV service later this year." That was last year (or maybe even the year before. Incidentally, TVPlayer on LCN 241, which originally displayed the incompatible message, got my hopes up a few months ago when it started loading the home page. It still does, with all the channels listed, but when you select any of them it just sits there doing nothing.
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    fmradiotuner1fmradiotuner1 Posts: 20,505
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    Getting signal now on 245 and its saying TV is not supported yet is a 2014 TV.
    Channel 238 says the same.
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    David (2)David (2) Posts: 20,632
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    On a similar theme, my 1 year old sony bluray player used to work with bbc iplayer (and it has s big bbc iplayer logo on it) but support for that specific feature has been dropped recently. It's other online services and the rest of the unit works normally.

    In cases such as this or the lack of support on nearly new tv's for new online services, is there a case for the affected units to be returned under the term "fault". In the old days if you had a 8month old video recorder that lost the ability to record but in every other way worked normally, we would have returned it. Is there any difference with this new situation.
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    PhilH36PhilH36 Posts: 26,335
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    David (2) wrote: »
    In cases such as this or the lack of support on nearly new tv's for new online services, is there a case for the affected units to be returned under the term "fault".

    Sadly not. The primary function of a blu-ray player is to play blu-rays, as long as it still does that then it can't be described as faulty. I-player, Demand 5 and the like are simply external services and Sony can't be held responsible for the service provider(s) making changes that render said services incompatible with a particular Sony product. Equally the service provider (BBC, etc) is not legally obliged to ensure the service will continue to function on a particular product. I posted the gist of the above in the other thread on iplayer being removed from some Sony devices, and a few weeks later, having lost iplayer, someone wrote to Computeractive magazine asking if he had any case against Sony and/or the BBC, and was given pretty much the same answer.
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    David (2)David (2) Posts: 20,632
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    Seems like a rip off to me. Is the idea the customer goes and buys another new tv after 1 year when certain features stop working.

    Maybe we should go back to renting a tv, so when bits of it stop working we can get it swapped for a newer model at the same rental fee.

    I did originally predict this sort of thing happening.
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    mossy2103mossy2103 Posts: 84,309
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    Only if you really want those features.

    Otherwise, you wait until you want to replace or have to replace.

    And thus it has always been so, more or less. Manufacturers cut corners/don't adhere to standards in order to produce to a price point. Manufacturers drop support for models after a few years. Technological standards change and new services launch on the back of that new standard.
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    ClusterbombedClusterbombed Posts: 234
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    There's an argument to be had for only having 'dumb' TVs, with lots of connectors in the back.

    It's far cheaper to replace a PVR, roku box or chromecast stick than it is to replace a TV who's operating system is obsolete within a year.
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    trilobitetrilobite Posts: 2,351
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    There's an argument to be had for only having 'dumb' TVs, with lots of connectors in the back.

    It's far cheaper to replace a PVR, roku box or chromecast stick than it is to replace a TV who's operating system is obsolete within a year.

    Exactly. The manufacturers should be producing monitors only. Monitors which excel in giving the best pictures possible.

    This way, the consumer can upgrade the tuner / internet connectivity as and when they see fit to do so.
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    Mickey_TMickey_T Posts: 4,962
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    The IPTV bolt-on idea for Freeview has been a huge cockup imo, and I can't be bothered to go through the hassle of retuning yet again to see if I can even view the channel.
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    mossy2103mossy2103 Posts: 84,309
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    Mickey_T wrote: »
    The IPTV bolt-on idea for Freeview has been a huge cockup imo, and I can't be bothered to go through the hassle of retuning yet again to see if I can even view the channel.

    Same here - it's far too hit and miss.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 89
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    Mickey_T wrote: »
    The IPTV bolt-on idea for Freeview has been a huge cockup imo, and I can't be bothered to go through the hassle of retuning yet again to see if I can even view the channel.

    I removed the ethernet cable from my Icecrypt FreeviewHD box last year, since it was incompatible with any of the iptv channels available.
    With the advent of Planet Knowledge, I thought I would give it another try.
    After reconnecting the cable to the router I got the following message

    "Unfortunately your Freeview TV does not currently support Planet Knowledge"

    I tried some of the other channels in the EPG. The only fully working one was TVplayer, but it took about a minute to initially load up. A couple of other channels were just showing a test card and the rest failed.
    I disconnected the ethernet cable again.
    Some people think the future of TV is via the internet. Judging by the current fiasco that is iptv, I don't think so.
    I rarely use the Icecrypt box for watching in HD, but it is useful for recording tv programmes to an external USB hard drive in PVR mode.
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    kasgkasg Posts: 4,731
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    Viewer66 wrote: »
    The only fully working one was TVplayer, but it took about a minute to initially load up.
    It might have loaded up but did any channels actually work when you selected them?
    Viewer66 wrote: »
    Some people think the future of TV is via the internet. Judging by the current fiasco that is iptv, I don't think so.
    The future of TV is via the Internet, that is indisputable. The flawed IPTV implementation on Freeview has nothing to do with it.
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    noise747noise747 Posts: 30,885
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    People should realise this is the UK, we muck up most things we do technology wise. Either that or Freeview is in some sort of agreement with manufactures of TVs and set top boxes. We will change the specs every so often so people have to go and buy new.

    Yep, a stand alone monitor with a load of connections is the best way to go, never get out of date as you can add what you want to it.
    If i could get a 42inch one at a good price, I would do once my Plasma decides to give up.
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