Satellite Connection to Pioneer HDTV

[admin_exported]

Dear readers,

** I originally posted the following in the Home Cinema forum, but was advised by the good professorhat that it might be better to post the question in this category instead, even though it might technically be in violation of house rules #10. Hopefully Andy E or other moderators are forgiving...the posting in Home Cinema can be deleted. **

"I searched through forum topics and a globally
used search engine for the answer to the following question, but have
been unable to find a good answer. Perhaps you can help. Please
forgive me if I am not posting in the appropriate category.

I'm
a very pleased owner of a 9th generation Pioneer PDP-LX5090 HDTV that
works just wonderfully in combination with a Panasonic DMP-BD35
Blu-Ray player. I also have a satellite dish that has 2 LNB (one for
Hotbird, the other for Astra). I also own a nice but not so recent
digital satellite receiver (EchoStar DSB-880 2ci) without HD capability
that I used with my previous non-HD CRT television." I should note that I have not subscribed to any of the providers mentioned (Sky, Freesat, Virgin, etc.). I simply receive the satellite signal and using the EchoStar watch free-to-air or use my CA slot with a card, but as I said it doesn't have HD capability.

"Is it
possible to connect the coaxial cable directly from the dish to the ANT
input terminal on the Pioneer TV and receive the signal (either free to
air or scrambled via the Pioneer's CA module/smart card slot) and use
the TV's DTV capabilities to search for (and display) the programs?
I'm also wondering if I will get both audio and video and HD
programming with this setup, or if I will get absolutely nothing 🙂? I
confess that I would experiment doing this myself, and answering my own
question, but I fear to damage the rather expensive Pioneer." If anyone has the theoretical technical knowledge regarding the Pioneer capabilities and satellite signal technology, then perhaps they can answer without testing it..or at least be able to tell me if I can test it without damaging the Pioneer.

Regards and thanks,
Johnny_C

 

[Cofnchtr]

Hi Johnny,

I don't think there are currently any HD broadcasts 'over the air' - I.E. down an aerial anywhere in Europe. HD requires a huge amount of bandwidth to put out - current bandwidth in the UK is crammed already so it may be a while before any HD is available 'over the air' in the UK.

I can't speak for our euro cousins though but I'd imagine a similar situation over there.

If I remember correctly when HD does eventually (read if) become available down an aerial it will require a different tuner/decoder to the ones within TV's that are currently on the market.

Cheers,

Cofnchtr.

P.S. Anyone wondering what I'm on about? Post was originally within the 'Home Cinema' forums.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Cofnchtr,

Thanks for your response regarding availability of "over-the-air" broadcasts. In any case, I get a somewhat different impression about the technology from this article - it's a good read (hope I did the link thing correctly 🙂 ).

A link included in the article Digital TV Transition is also interesting (to me anyway 🙂 ).

Granted, it's about the conditions in the States, but the technology should be the same anywhere and hopefully it will make its way to the U.K. and the rest of Europe, eventually.

The U.S. is mandating that all TV broadcasting be digital by the middle of this year. Of course those living near the big cities will benefit the most from the wider selection/availability of programming.

The article seems to imply that what they are calling an "integrated" HDTV with the digital tuner built in will be able to receive a great HD signal as well as digital STD signal, and the only TV's that will need a converter are the ones without a tuner or with an analog tuner. Also HDTV picture quality is supposed to be best because it will be broadcast at full resolution, not compressed. I don't know if bandwith is an issue, because it is "over-the-air". The best news is that it is "free".

Of course all of this "over-the-air" discussion sort of strays away from the satellite topic. 🙂

Cheers,
Johnny_C

 

[nads]

if it anything like my Gen 8 then for the HD channels you will need an HD set top box. If you can get the SD via the inbuilt decoder.

what can you get via the built in box?

 

[Alsone]

You can't attach any satelite dish straight to tv unless it has a satelite decoder built into it.

So far as I'm aware Pioneer TV's only have Freeview decoders built in not satelite decoders.

If you want HD satelite for free, then you need to either get a 2nd hand Sky HD box (bearing in mind you can't use it for recording) or you need to buy a Freesat HD box such as the Foxsat or the HDR if you want recording (the Foxsat is a receiver only the hDR is a PVR / receiver).

 

[The_Lhc]

Alsone: You can't attach any satelite dish straight to tv unless it has a satelite decoder built into it.

Glad somebody finally said that!

So far as I'm aware Pioneer TV's only have Freeview decoders built in not satelite decoders.

Actually, not quite, the PDP sets don't but the KRP sets DO have a built in satellite decoder, but it ISN'T freeview compatible, which means the red button stuff doesn't work, but you can watch all the channels and the EPG DOES work (I've seen it in action WHF!). It just wasn't designed for the UK system, so I'm treating it as a bonus, rather than a feature.

If you want HD satelite for free, then you need to either get a 2nd hand Sky HD box (bearing in mind you can't use it for recording) or you need to buy a Freesat HD box such as the Foxsat or the HDR if you want recording (the Foxsat is a receiver only the hDR is a PVR / receiver).

Some of the Panasonic sets have satellite decoders built in, I can't remember if they're HD or not though.

 

[simonlewis]

Panasonics PZ81 range have freesat tuners built in & yes they are HD tuners.

 

[Anonymous]

Alsone, the_lhc, thanks a lot for your informed responses.

Somebody else told me that the digital tuner (there is an analog tuner as well) inside the PDP-LX5090 is a DVB-T tuner where the T stands for Terrestrial... meaning it should work with any Terrestrial broadcast signal sent as MPEG2 video. I guess the term is free_to_air, meaning if I theoretically had an aerial, I would be able to receive and the built in DVB-T tuner would decode the signal. I say theoretically, because I don't live in the UK.. so either I have to wait for DTV to come to my area, or I have to get transferred to the U.K. or some other country that has it.

I believe the signal coming from Satellite is DVB-S, which as Alsone said, can't be decoded by my HDTV.

All of that said, can someone, (yes, I would be pleased to have WHF moderators respond

) recommend a top of the line non-subscriber HD digital satellite receiver to replace my older non-HD Echostar? I would like it to have at least two CA slots like the Echostar, and a minimum of 1 HDMI output. I could be wrong, but it seems most of the ones recommended on this site are subscriber based.

Thanks again for everyone's advice/input,
Johnny_C

 

[nads]

Just a note on the DVB-T you may not have that inside as it depends on where you are in the World.

Not all Pioïs come with the same decoder.

So where are you?

 

[Dave_]

Johnny_C:

All of that said, can someone, (yes, I would be pleased to have WHF moderators respond

) recommend a top of the line non-subscriber HD digital satellite receiver to replace my older non-HD Echostar? I would like it to have at least two CA slots like the Echostar, and a minimum of 1 HDMI output. I could be wrong, but it seems most of the ones recommended on this site are subscriber based.

Thanks again for everyone's advice/input,
Johnny_C
I would have a look at the Technomate range.Particularly the TM-6900 super which has two ci slots and an integral smartcard reader.........available here

 

[Anonymous]

Dear nads,

The TV was purchased in Germany.
I also located the specifications that came with the TV:

Digital:
Receiving system: DVB-T (2K-8K COFDM)
Tuner VHF/UHF: VHF Band III (170 MHz to 230 MHz) and UHF Band IV, V (470 MHz to 862 MHz)
STEREO: MPEG layer I/II, Dolby Digital

I won't include the Analog specs.

Regards,
Johhny_C

 

[Anonymous]

Dear daveh75,

Thanks so much for your response. This seems promising. I'll have a look.

Any other recommendations from others will be appreciated.

Regards,
Johnny_C

 

[Dave_]

Johnny_C:

Dear daveh75,

Thanks so much for your response. This seems promising. I'll have a look.

Any other recommendations from others will be appreciated.

Regards,
Johnny_C
No problem, also forgot to mention the humax iCord HD receiver. Officially it's intended for the middle eastern market but will work in the uk and throughout europe.

 

[The_Lhc]

Johnny_C:
Dear nads,

The TV was purchased in Germany.
I also located the specifications that came with the TV:

Ah, the Pioneer dealer I bought my KRP-500 from mentioned that the satellite tuner in there was developed "for the german system", so that might actually work perfectly for you.

Of course he might have been talking rubbish, you know what sales people can be like, but it wasn't a selling point so I've no reason to doubt him really, he seemed to know what he was on about.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Johnny_C:Receiving system: DVB-T (2K-8K COFDM)

DVB-T is T for terrestrial - so not satellite, no.

 

[Anonymous]

Exactly Andrew. As I said, in my response earlier to Alsone (on 18th 12:06 pm):

"...the digital tuner (there is an analog tuner as well) inside the PDP-LX5090 is is a DVB-T tuner where the T stands for Terrestrial."

"I believe the signal coming from Satellite is DVB-S, which as Alsone said, can't be decoded by my HDTV."

I would also like to correct myself for something I said in an earlier message (17th at 9:25 pm) regarding an article about free-to-air in the States, " the technology should be the same anywhere". That statement is was rather naive, to say the least. I had a little time to research this more, and terrestrial free-to-air in the States uses ATSC tuners (Advanced Television Systems Committee). Here is a link to an image of tuners/broadcasting standards used around the world. There is a comparison of ATSC and DVB in this ATSC wiki for anyone interested.

Regards,
Johnny_C