TVs supporting HD on Freeview

[admin_exported]

Hi All,

I'm thinking of buying a new tv, but I can't get a satellite dish (as I'm in a listed building) so no SKY or FreeSat, and there is no cable TV in my area. This means my only real HD tv option is going to be HD on freeview, but I don't see any of the manufacturers advertising support for this at the moment.

I know the BBC have trialled this technology and are looking at bringing this out in the next 12 months to some areas, so when will we see TVs that support it? Should I wait 12 months before getting a new TV or will current models be "upgradable" so they can support it without adding yet another box?

I'm really keen on the Philips 37PFL7603D as I like the look of the ambilight and quality of the SD picture, but if it won't support Freeview HD next year then do you think I might be better off waiting?

Thanks

 

[Clare Newsome]

No set we've seen to date will natively support Freeview HD - you'd need to add a seperate set-top box/PVR (none of which exist yet, either).

 

[D.J.KRIME]

Does Freeview have the avalible amount of bandwith to support HD?

 

[Clare Newsome]

Apparently so, once you've switched off the analogue signal/ had a general twiddle with the broadcast spectrum

More info on Freeview HD here.

 

[Anonymous]

I just wanted to add some info about this whle HD Freeview business.

My parents live in France and recently bought a Sony 32w4000 ( lovely telly by the way).

I was surprised to see ÿthat it was receiving HD Freeview (over there they call it TNT) from the get go with no additional device or subscription.

My understanding of the situation is therefore as follows:

Most recent LCD TV's with integrated Freeview are able to receive/display High DefinitionÿbroadcastÿBUT there is no such service in the UK yet. This may come from the fact that UK Broadcast bandwidth is litterally packed with channels (many of them extremely usless) while French TNT only contains around 16 channels altogether. It could also be that cunning broadcasters are keeping HD broadcast for subscription based services (Sky/Virgin).

One can only hope that HD Freeview will become available in the UK at some point, maybe during the final digital switchover.

ÿHope that clarifies things a little!

ÿTÿ

ÿ

 

[Anonymous]

shnex:

Most recent LCD TV's with integrated Freeview are able to receive/display High Definition broadcast BUT there is no such service in the UK yet. This may come from the fact that UK Broadcast bandwidth is litterally packed with channels (many of them extremely usless) while French TNT only contains around 16 channels altogether. It could also be that cunning broadcasters are keeping HD broadcast for subscription based services (Sky/Virgin).

One can only hope that HD Freeview will become available in the UK at some point, maybe during the final digital switchover.

None of todays TVs will be able to receive Freeview HD. It will be technically diferent to that in France. The standard is not yet fully defined (DVB-T2 with Mpg4). http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/17/freeview_hd_2009/

Some Sonys come with HD decoders that could work over a cable signal (in the US you can buy your own cable box) but not over Freeview

 

[The_Lhc]

alfa_racer: I'm thinking of buying a new tv, but I can't get a satellite dish (as I'm in a listed building) so no SKY or FreeSat,

Are you sure about that? My missus' last house was listed and she had sky. At the very least I think if you have the disk mounted on a pole so it's not attached to the house there's not much they can do to stop you.

 

[Clare Newsome]

We lived in part of a listed building for a while and had the Sky dish out of sight on a flat piece of roof. Our current flat doesn't allow Sky dishes to be attached to the building, either, so we got round that by having the dish attached to a panel on a back extension roof.

I've heard of people having them in lofts and gardens, too.

 

[Dave_]

A pole mounted dish in the garden would be a way of getting sky/freesat, i've done lots of these type of install's in The Northumberland and Cumbrian National Parks to get around planning/listed building reg's. You could even look at a discrete dish like the Sqish wihch can even be camouflaged to blend in with it's surrounding's.