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Questions about TVs with built in Freetime recorders


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Old 28-12-2015, 15:55
scoobiesnacks
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I've noticed the latest Panasonic and Samsung TVs and possibly some Sonys have built in Freetime recorders with record to USB facility

Has anyone on here got one of these or tried one?

Do they allow you to record to the USB and play the content on another TV - eg in the bedroom? Or are they copy protected and/or using a strange format for the recordings so they can only be played on the original TV?

I've read user reviews that suggest Panasonic's lock down the recordings so that they can only be played on the actual TV it was recorded on.
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Old 28-12-2015, 16:34
scoobiesnacks
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I've done a bit of online research and apparently the latest Sony TVs are advertised as offering sat recording to USB but it isn't actually working in any of the 2015 models and they have missed several deadlines already. Now forecast for late Q1 2016.
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Old 28-12-2015, 16:42
Nigel Goodwin
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I've done a bit of online research and apparently the latest Sony TVs are advertised as offering sat recording to USB but it isn't actually working in any of the 2015 models and they have missed several deadlines already. Now forecast for late Q1 2016.
It's not Freetime, or Freesat either - but 'should' allow full terrestrial YouView recording, including two channels at once, when it arrives.

Can't say I've seen any 'missed deadlines', as they don't promise when it might be released - they only give possible 'suggestions' as to when it might be

But YouView has been out for over a month now, on the Android sets, and is obviously a key part of the recording scheme.

As for recordings been locked to the set, it will almost certainly be the case, as is normal on decent make sets (as it's an anti-piracy measure).
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Old 28-12-2015, 16:52
scoobiesnacks
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It's not Freetime, or Freesat either - but 'should' allow full terrestrial YouView recording, including two channels at once, when it arrives.

Can't say I've seen any 'missed deadlines', as they don't promise when it might be released - they only give possible 'suggestions' as to when it might be

But YouView has been out for over a month now, on the Android sets, and is obviously a key part of the recording scheme.

As for recordings been locked to the set, it will almost certainly be the case, as is normal on decent make sets (as it's an anti-piracy measure).
The Sony TVs I've seen have satellite inputs, is recording never going to be possible from sat to USB then?
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Old 28-12-2015, 17:01
scoobiesnacks
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General impression I get is it is only Panasonic TVs that are pushing Freetime built into TVs.
eg
https://www.panasonic.com/uk/consume...-50ax802b.html

Some models appear to allow recording to USB. Whether they do that straight from the Freetime menu I'm not sure.

I haven't been able to find any Panasonic model that has both Freetime & UltraHD in the spec.
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Old 29-12-2015, 13:36
Night Watchman
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I've done a bit of online research and apparently the latest Sony TVs are advertised as offering sat recording to USB but it isn't actually working in any of the 2015 models and they have missed several deadlines already. Now forecast for late Q1 2016.
The Sony TVs I've seen have satellite inputs, is recording never going to be possible from sat to USB then?
Although not a YouView model, I have a 2015 Sony Bravia KDL-32W706B in my bedroom and it can record satellite programmes to an external USB HDD. The basic EPG is limited to Now/Next but the extended Wi-Fi EPG powered by Gracenote provides 14 days of programme information. The only limitation is that you can't set up series links however repeat recording options (i.e. Daily, Mon-Fri, every Tuesday etc.) are available, With just one satellite tuner recording is limited. The USB HDD is linked to the TV so cannot be used on another device.
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Old 29-12-2015, 16:58
Nigel Goodwin
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The Sony TVs I've seen have satellite inputs, is recording never going to be possible from sat to USB then?
No idea, it's NOT Freesat, just a generic non-UK satellite tuner, and pretty well an unsupported feature in the UK.

It's obviously possible that it 'could' be enabled on satellite, but it 'may' only be for non-UK sets, just as the YouView update is for UK only.
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Old 29-12-2015, 17:00
Nigel Goodwin
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General impression I get is it is only Panasonic TVs that are pushing Freetime built into TVs.
Panasonic of course were the first TV's to include Freesat, so it's reasonable that they are maintaining their relationship with Freesat.

It's certainly possible though that other Freesat sets could follow suit, such as Samsung and LG.
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Old 29-12-2015, 17:16
scoobiesnacks
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Panasonic of course were the first TV's to include Freesat, so it's reasonable that they are maintaining their relationship with Freesat.

It's certainly possible though that other Freesat sets could follow suit, such as Samsung and LG.
I've now found that the Panasonic 55CX802 has freetime from freesat, even though there is no mention on the Panasonic website. As do the CR852B range of curved televisions.

However you can't record from freetime apparently. Like the Sony you have to use a generic menu to record.
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Old 29-12-2015, 18:31
grahamlthompson
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I've now found that the Panasonic 55CX802 has freetime from freesat, even though there is no mention on the Panasonic website. As do the CR852B range of curved televisions.

However you can't record from freetime apparently. Like the Sony you have to use a generic menu to record.
My Panasonic TV has twin Freetime tuners and Twin Freeview ones. Despite this there is no series or accurate recording, and a limited number of manual recording slots. As a pvr it's pretty useless. All you get from the freetime epg apart from the programme data is access to the backwards catch up epg.
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Old 29-12-2015, 18:34
scoobiesnacks
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My Panasonic TV has twin Freetime tuners and Twin Freeview ones. Despite this there is no series or accurate recording, and a limited number of manual recording slots. As a pvr it's pretty useless. All you get from the freetime epg apart from the programme data is access to the backwards catch up epg.
How recent is your model?
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Old 29-12-2015, 18:45
grahamlthompson
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How recent is your model?
Just over 12 months old.
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Old 29-12-2015, 18:50
scoobiesnacks
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So I think the conclusion is there are Ultra HD TVs with Freetime that can record via USB but those recordings are limited to playback on that TV and the PVR functionality is not built into the Freetime menu.
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