Options
Ignorant Freevew beginner asking for help!
Hi
My area goes digital in May so my old portable (black and white with ariel - yes really!) will be useless. If I guy a TV with inbuilt freeview, will it just work? Or does my flat (rented in large old house) need provisions for it? How will I get my signal, and where from? And can I look up in advance if ths is good? Do I need a TV ariel in the house to plug the tv into ?
It's all a bit confusing for a retro tv person like me! (Tesco direct have a flat screen TV ith built in Freeview and DVD which I like the look of, but no idea what set up I need for it to work. I also want to be able to change the location of my tv around the flat)
Any responses gratefully received.
My area goes digital in May so my old portable (black and white with ariel - yes really!) will be useless. If I guy a TV with inbuilt freeview, will it just work? Or does my flat (rented in large old house) need provisions for it? How will I get my signal, and where from? And can I look up in advance if ths is good? Do I need a TV ariel in the house to plug the tv into ?
It's all a bit confusing for a retro tv person like me! (Tesco direct have a flat screen TV ith built in Freeview and DVD which I like the look of, but no idea what set up I need for it to work. I also want to be able to change the location of my tv around the flat)
Any responses gratefully received.
0
Comments
It would help if you gave a location, then other near may have more info
When analogue transmissions shut down, the plan is for the power levels of Freeview transmissions to be increased, which should help, but until it happens it's next door to impossible to predict how beneficial it will be in individual cases.
I hope someone else here can give you some better information.
John
As far as using your TV around the house that's a little more complicated. You will also have to cart around the set top box! Reception might be a problem and only experimenting with the portable's aerial will tell. (pretty much as you would already have to do with analogue now, anyway).
Try it. You might be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is!
In this case as the OP has the budget and the enthusiasm to change their TV then that would be the simplest solution for them. As well as getting colour they would also not have to worry about juggling with more than one remote control.
It is not clear though what kind of aerial the OP currently uses. Is it a set top one or is there a lead from a socket in the wall connected to a communal aerial on the roof of the flats or what?
I think the biggest problem will be reception. I've just tried it out on my portable TV and the indoor aerial only manages to pick up 10-20 stations. Those brick walls! I live in a strong signal area as well and only need a loft aerial to get good reception. If the OP can't get an decent aerial installed he might have problems. But then he's going to have to deal with the reception problem whatever he does. The people in the other flats will probably have the same problem so at least he will have support if he has to go to the landlord.
My current TV has no scart socket and there is an ariel on top of it which I wiggle when I move the tv.
I'll ask landlord about ariel provisions. If I buy a new TV with inbuilt freeview, so I also need to buy an ariel as well then? Can I keep it local to my tv (ie a set top one) and how would I amke sure it's compatible with my tv.
(we get lots of sky leaflets etc through the door, but I really don't need any extra channels, or colour, but accept they don't make black and white these days!)
If the flat has a cable television socket, it would be worth investigating how much a minimal Virgin Media package would cost, perhaps combined with voice phone and broadband.
Check manufacturers' and suppliers' web sites for more specific information and Wikipedia for more general information.
IMHO it is all a bewildering mess.
HTH, John
If your picture is good (ie. not snowy) you should find that you can pick up digital channels after DSO on the existing aerial.
So long as the B&W portable has an aerial socket that its own aerial plugs-into, it could be converted to digital by using a Freeview device incorporating an RF Modulator or a usual design in conjunction with an external accessory RF Modulator.
In the absence of an external aerial connection from the landlord (which is best), you'll have the best chance of reception with an indoor aerial by using one of the best two performing models available. The signal strength of the digital/Freeview signals will be very greatly increased at switchover, so there's a good chance these aerials will obtain reception then, even if they can't at present. If you can bear the sight of it, an external-type amplified log-periodic aerial will far surpass the indoor-types in performance.
I'm surprised no-one's mentioned the substantial increase in the cost of TV Licence required, if you were to change from a B&W to a colour TV. This won't affect you if you're aged over 75 because your licence is free anyway!
Moreover, anyone who's severely disabled or over 75 years and is willing to wait for switchover before expanding their range of channels, can sit back and wait for the Digital Switchover Help Scheme to offer them a (subsidised) upgrade!
If your landlord has no objection, the view to the South-South-East low in the sky is not obstructed and you decide you'd like a "HD Ready" LCD flat-screen TV, you could have "multi-channel" TV with no-subscription high-definition channels via a satellite dish. i.e. BBC Freesat HD (Price: £150) (+£80 Dish installation if no existing dish).
Answers to many "digital switchover" questions can be found on the official Digital UK website. It is however reticent in giving practical DIY advice on overcoming technical problems - hiring a TV tradesperson is mostly suggested! :rolleyes:
Check out Ricability and Switch Help for more consumer-orientated advice.
Regards
There is the slight problem of the TV licence. Keeping the B&W telly will save ££££s on the licence even with a new set top box (as long as it isn't a PVR). :eek: :eek: :eek:
I've a hunch that what might happen some time before DSO is that anybody trying to take out a B&W License who is not an existing B&W License holder will be denied it. Only renewals will be allowed. That way any movement toward B&W by the fashionable (not to mention the real) noveau pauvre of the credit crunch can be stopped. It wasn't so long ago that people boasted of having B&W sets because they wanted to dissociate themselves from couch potatoes. That trend might make a comeback. Not to mention the unscrupulous who might take out B&W Licenses as cover in order to operate a colour set.
If the number of applications for B&W Licenses begins to rise (at the moment they're below 30,000 and falling IIRC) then it will be interesting to see if the BBC would be worried enough by it to seek a change in either the license conditions, or to narrow the differential in License fees.
Note that from December 2009 there will be BBC-HD, ITV-HD and C4-HD on Freeview and from about mid 2010 a 4th HD channel.
These will NOT be available with a current model Freeview IDTV or STB. New IDTV/STB models (DVB-T2/MPEG-4) are expected late 2009.
Maybe you should get an inexpensive box - £15-30 - at DSO in your area. You will then be in a much better position to choose your future TV set later in 2009 or next year.
Lars
If they aren't even bothered about colour, then I doubt they are bothered about HD.