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Why isn't Freesat HD on all TV's?


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Old 04-01-2017, 12:58
Dansky+HD
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As per title really

Why isn't Freesat HD on all TV's?

Who pays for it as Sony have satellite but not Freesat?

I know it's on most/all Samsung & Panasonic TV's, I think LG too.

If it were cheap to license the software and cheap to add to the TV would it not be as widespread if not even more than FreeView.

More channels? wider availability? better picture?
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Old 04-01-2017, 13:14
grahamlthompson
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As per title really

Why isn't Freesat HD on all TV's?

Who pays for it as Sony have satellite but not Freesat?

I know it's on most/all Samsung & Panasonic TV's, I think LG too.

If it were cheap to license the software and cheap to add to the TV would it not be as widespread if not even more than FreeView.

More channels? wider availability? better picture?
There are very few Freesat capable TV's. Most just have a generic Free To Air DVB-S2 tuner.

Freesat does not give you more channels, nor wider availability or a better picture.

Freesat is just a epg for some of the free to air channels from 28.2E.

TV's with free to air DVB-S2 tuners can access any such channels from any satellite you can point a dish at (They can usually work with a motorised dish that can give you thousands of channels). When used to view a channel that happens to be on the Freesat epg the picture quality is the same (It's the same transmission)

With a Sky dish a Freesat TV will give you about 210 channels, a generic FTA DVB-S2 also receiving from 28.2E about 497 channels (many regional variations you don't see on a Freesat box).

http://en.kingofsat.net/freqs.php?&p...q&filtre=Clear

Current Freesat capable TV's

http://www.freesat.co.uk/get-freesat/all-tvs
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Old 04-01-2017, 14:25
Mickey_T
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Why isn't Freesat HD on all TV's?
I expect due to the sheer amount of aerials that are already installed on peoples homes. Manufacturers will use tuners for the most dominant way of receiving free tv (via DTT) to keep costs down and ensure the majority of people who buy their sets have a way of watching tv.

Who pays for it as Sony have satellite but not Freesat?
My old Sony has Freesat, but presumably not having to pay any license fees or meet certain specifications of Freesat helps keeps costs down. Remember most people wont need or use a Freesat or sat tuner, so it's just another expense that would be passed on to the consumer.

If it were cheap to license the software and cheap to add to the TV would it not be as widespread if not even more than FreeView.
If nearly every house had a satellite dish instead of an aerial then probably yes. But the reality is that in the free tv market, DTT aerials are far more widespread.

Most people with a sat dish will either have Sky, or previously have had Sky. Not many will install a dish specifically for Freesat if they already have Freeview available, despite the benefits of a wider choice and better picture quality on many channels.
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Old Yesterday, 09:51
Nigel Goodwin
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Why isn't Freesat HD on all TV's?
Because there's very little demand for it, with most Freesat TV's never seeing a satellite signal in their life.

Obviously adding satellite adds considerably to the manufacturing costs, but FTA sets can be used all over Europe where Freesat can't be - plus there are probably licensing costs as well.

Most of the Freesat TV's we've stocked have ended up been sold off cheap as normal Freeview models - which was a great shame. The people who I see who have got Freesat TV's used as they should be are VERY happy with them though.

Obviously Panasonic have the advantage that they make UK specific models, so there are no concerns about them not working outside the UK - presumably LG and Samsung do the same for their Freesat models?, certainly Sony did.
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Old Yesterday, 10:00
grahamlthompson
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Because there's very little demand for it, with most Freesat TV's never seeing a satellite signal in their life.

Obviously adding satellite adds considerably to the manufacturing costs, but FTA sets can be used all over Europe where Freesat can't be - plus there are probably licensing costs as well.

Most of the Freesat TV's we've stocked have ended up been sold off cheap as normal Freeview models - which was a great shame. The people who I see who have got Freesat TV's used as they should be are VERY happy with them though.

Obviously Panasonic have the advantage that they make UK specific models, so there are no concerns about them not working outside the UK - presumably LG and Samsung do the same for their Freesat models?, certainly Sony did.
You have the option on at least Samsung sets of opting for Freesat or FTA mode. Even the Sony sets had manual tuning if I remember correctly as it was a EU requirement.
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Old Yesterday, 11:52
Brian The Dog
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Haven't we moved on from a decade ago? Whilst nowhere near ALL and of course some can't but don't the vast majority of houses have a satellite dish? They are everywhere on nearly every house.

Satellite TV is hardly the novelty it was 10 years or more ago.

In fact for those of us in Freeview areas where we don't and probably won't ever be getting the latest HD coms added, then satellite TV is the way to go and a must have.
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Old Yesterday, 12:43
David (2)
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Haven't we moved on from a decade ago? Whilst nowhere near ALL and of course some can't but don't the vast majority of houses have a satellite dish? They are everywhere on nearly every house.

Satellite TV is hardly the novelty it was 10 years or more ago.

In fact for those of us in Freeview areas where we don't and probably won't ever be getting the latest HD coms added, then satellite TV is the way to go and a must have.

Indeed that is my experience. Most of this area only gets the freeview lite service (3 multiplexes only). The majority of homes have a dish. Actually, the take up of satellite tv was in full swing some years ago - people began choosing sky (no freesat back then) when analogue ch5 started (it wasn't available here via an aerial), and in the early days of digital tv - the OnDifital/ItvDigital era when that service was plagued by a very restricted service area (we had no chance of getting that - and most of the area had no chance), and finally if you wanted 16x9 widescreen pictures you had to go digital - which for the other reasons meant going with sky.
And that's before u factor in things like football & film channels.
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