When we view via Freesat or our recorded stuff, always in the top left corner of the screen is EC/HDMI is there any way this can be removed.

Look on your TV remote for an option like info or similar. It's most likely the TV generating it.

Pretty sure thats a Panasonic trait. Look for the i button to turn it off

would you ruddy believe it !.

When we watch via freesat, we use the remote which came with it, so when the EC/HDMI appeared we assumed we needed the freesat control to remove the letters.

I pressed the i with no effect.

But when I pressed the i on the freeview control, the EC/HDMI disappeared.

Don't know how or why, but after 18 months of being asked the question "why are those letters showing" at last I can sit back in the knoweldge that they have gone, hopefully for good. I suppose it might mean I need to press the i each time we view, but that is no problem. Thanks again and yes,both tv and recorder are panasonic.

Following the advice yesterday ref pressing the i on the non-freesat control, the EC/HDMI has gone, but tonight those programmes which would normally record, ie emmerdale/eastenders/holby didn't, in fact a box came up saying recording failed.

We normally have these programmes recorded and watch them running a half hour behind transmission time via freesat, but tonight, we watched live transmission of holby via freeview.When the phone rang, we turned the tv off.

Then after the call, we turned tv back on, switched over to freesat, so that we could find the place where we had stopped viewing, only to find of these failings but strangely enough, as we turned to holby, it started recording.

I have explained this in detail, because I am of the opinion that yesterday, when I was trying to locate the removal of the EC/HDMI, I think I pressed every button on the control to see if the button had any effect. When it didn't, I think I pressed it a second time to cancel out the first press.

I have looked to see if any of the other programmes set to record have been cancelled, and they haven't. I am also wondering about a power failure, due to high winds.

Whilst typing this, I have set the recorder to record something at 9.30pm. (benidorm 113)I will now go and see if it has kicked in. No, it didn't record.

I have now pressed the i on the freeview remote and brought the EC/HDMI letters back, and set to record the news at 10, to see if that records, if it does, it will mean I must have the EC/HDMI showing, if not, then it's over to you and your advice re the pressing of buttons yesterday.

EC/HDMI is a visual indication on the TV to show you which input you are viewing, in this case it means External Connection HDMI.

It is usually set to go off after a few seconds of switching input, but in your case your TV was set to display it all the time.
I have two Panasonic plasmas and both show it for a few seconds then it goes off.

It has nothing to do with recording. What are you using for recording?

Thanks Fred for your time. Before we went to bed last night, I set the recorder to record at 6am which it did and yes, the EC/HDMI was showing constant.

I have a Panasonic DVD CD Recorder Humax.

So you left the TV on overnight? If so why and which device was set to record? Or are you recording on the Panasonic DVD-R from the TV own tuner?

No, my mis-use of words, we didn't leave the tv on, in fact we're most particular about that, however we do leave the recorder on as we were told turning it off, can erase recordings or interfere with programmes that are set to record. ie if we see a program is part of a series, we set the recorder to record each program.

You can turn a digital TV recorder off in terms of leaving it in standby just as long as it's not switched off at the power socket. Turning a recorder off, either at the power or in standby, will not erase recordings.

What is the make and model of your recorder? It's part of the specification of Freesat that Series link works. I don't understand what a "Panasonic DVD CD Recorder Humax" is! Although you mentioned before that the recorder is Panasonic. Is it simply a DVD recorder or does it have Freesat in it as well? And where does Humax come into it? Does your Panasonic TV have Freesat built-in?

Our tv (Panasonic Viera) has freeview in it and prior to moving to Weymouth, we used to get a great many channels, however since moving to Weymouth in 2010, we could only get about five channels, so I invested in Freesat, which means we needed a satellite dish and new recorder. We have just searched to find the book that came with it but for the moment we can't find it, however, written on the front of the recorder is this:-

Freesat Humax. Foxsat-HDR, Dolby Digital Plus, Common Interface HDMI

OK, it's the Humax Freesat recorder. Unless you have a faulty unit, these are very reliable at doing series links and recording in general. It may have trouble when recordings overlap though, for example if you're making 2 recordings from 8pm to 9pm then have another scheduled for 9pm and the first two programmes overrun and haven't finished when the new one is supposed to start. As long as you don't turn the power off, it's OK (and in fact usual) to put it into standby when not actually watching it and any scheduled recordings will still happen. You can make a setting to go into "low power" standby if you want whereby the clock display is turned off although it will take around 30 seconds to come out of standby.

The EC/HDMI is just the TV telling you that it's receiving a signal on its HDMI socket from the Humax, you can remove it by pressing a button on the TV's remote control as you have discovered. I also have a Panasonic TV and these letters come up for about 5 seconds and then disappear on their own. This has no relevance as to whether recodrings will work correctly or not on the Humax.

However...

Are you sure you are setting the recordings on the Humax or have you been inadvertently setting a timer on the TV's Freeview EPG? In this respect, the EC/HDMI is indeed an indication that you are viewing the Humax Freesat box and not Freeview so if those letters don't appear then it's a possible indication that you are using the wrong EPG to set the recording.

Thank you for that. Tomorrow I will re-read your post and follow it through with an experiment. Unable to do anything tonight though. Will report back.