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All posts by MikeB

Below are all of MikeB's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.

M
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Sunday 14 July 2013 9:35PM

keith: The BBC is now stopping the very limited amount of 3D programming it did show, so unless you have a full Sky package, 3D programmes are not a reason to buy a TV.

However, as I keep telling my customers, 3D TV's are a very good buy, but its nothing to do with 3D.

A decent 40/42 inch main room TV can be had from one one of the four big manufacturers for £499 - Buy LG 42LN575V LED HD 1080p Smart TV, 42" with Freeview HD online at John Lewis - this will have 100hz screen (OK - how thats calculated is open to discussion, but its still a good spec), it will be smart, it will have wifi built in, and 3 HDMI's (the Sony has 2). The Samsung 5500 is the same price (although not best in class any longer, I think the LG is slightly better, but its just my opinion), while the very good Panasonic E6 is £579, as is the Sony W635. Its interesting to note that LG makes the panels for Panasonic and Sony as well. I'm happy recommending any of them.

The 100hz is important - the higher that number, the better the picture (its called the refresh rate, and a screen will always be at least 50hz). Have a look in a TV showroom - an 800hz screen will look fantastic - but will be around £1400 in a 40/42in.

The basic difference in the price is largely made up by the quality of the panel. If you look at 100hz screen when there is a lot of movement, or when the credits come at the end of a film, it will 'smear' slightly - the screen can't render the picture quite fast enough - you might not notice it, but I do!

A 200hz screen will cope much better, a 400hz much much better still, and 800hz will be perfect (plasma is calculated in a different way). Get the best you can for your money - I assume you'll be having the TV for a while, so the extra cost of the better panel is money well spent - its pretty much the only thing you can't improve on a modern TV once you've bought it.

The thing is that an LG 42in TV with a 200hz screen (the 620) is only £100 more than the 2D TV - so excellent value - its also 3D. The 200hz is the important bit, 3D is just there for free. Since they don't make 100hz screens with 3D, 3D signifies a better picture. Thats the reason to buy a 3D TV.

The sermon now endeth... (PE12QN)

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Will: Unfortunately, you havn't supplied a postcode, so there isn't a chance to check your signal etc.

However, one thing did stand out - you said ' I was unable to plug the TV into the wall connection as the incorrect socket had been fixed'

Do you mean that it has a 'screw in' socket, rather than the normal push in TV aerial type socket? If it is a screw in type, its called an F connector - like these Wall Plates faceplatesscreened sockets

and they are normally only used for satellite and cable TV. Which might mean that the socket is actually attached to a dish...

Now normally connecting a Freeview TV to such a socket would obviously not work (even if you get an adaptor to turn it into a normal TV socket), but I'm wondering if the coax from the socket is actually working as some sort of primitive aerial!

You can do one of a number of things. Ask your neighbours how they are using that socket. If they are using it with Sky, etc - that confirms it. If so, get yourself a cheap Freesat receiver, and attach it to your TV.

Secondly, split the signal from the aerial socket which works fine (presumably, from an aerial), and run a lead to the other room - this sounds like a pain.

Thirdly - Buy a cheap indoor aerial, and see if it works. Normally they are a bit rubbish, but if your possibly getting a signal from wiring, who knows?

I'd be interested to see what the socket is actually attached to! (PE12QN)

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Charles Stuart: £150 seems to be average, and the 'rigging' part of this site might be of help.

For more info about aerials, etc (particularly if you want to do things yourself) - see A.T.V (Aerials And Television) FM DAB TV Aerial, plus poles and brackets (PE12QN)

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M
Want BBC Three, FOUR, CBBC, CBeebies and BBC News in HD? You
Tuesday 16 July 2013 10:49PM
Peterborough

David: I've never seen a TV which is 'Freesat only'! All TV's I've seen for the last five years have as standard a Freeview tuner, and from about three years ago, Freeview HD has largely become the norm.

In addition, you can buy TV's which have a Freesat tuner as well, the current ones being the Samsung 6 series upwards, high level Panasonic's, and in theory, many LG's (even the LG reps are unclear as to whether the F fitting on the back is actually for Freesat!).

If you've got a Freesat equiped TV, you will have Freeview. If it did not have a Freeview HD tuner, then a seperate box or PVR should solve that, which means you can get the new HD channels. Of course thee BBC might use Freesat as well...

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M
Want BBC Three, FOUR, CBBC, CBeebies and BBC News in HD? You
Wednesday 17 July 2013 10:03AM
Peterborough

David: You didn't make a mistake - you bought the right thing from what was available at the time.

By the sound of it, your TV (odds on its a Panasonic) was bought about 4 years ago, which is before t2 recivers were even built into TV's, and the first year they were, the TV's were generally high level models only. You've enjoyed watching HD on Freesat since you bought it, some time before it was ever available on terrestial TV.

It seems, as I suggested, that the BBC will put the new channels on Freesat anyway, but even if they were not, a modern HD PVR (fully smart, etc) is a pretty reasonable price, and is incrediably useful anyway.

Mike Dimmick: I never mentioned Sky once, but anyway...

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trevorjharris: It isn't true that 65% of BBC1 programmes are repeats - its about half that Does the BBC show too many repeats? | Television & radio | guardian.co.uk - the average over the whole of BBC TV is 65%, and of course this is often Daytime programming, plus channels such as CBBC/Cbeebies.

The BBC certainly isn't perfect, but for £145 a year, you get two full time channels, the excellent BBC4, and the increasingly good BBC3, the godsend that is CBBC/Cebeebies, a huge range of radio: local, national and international, plus an excellent website. And Iplayer.

Remember that it was the BBC which saved digital TV, its the BBC which supports the Proms, BBC radio produces a huge amount of drama and comedy which has launched a massive amount of talent (who occassionally make stuff for Sky...), its the BBC which produces a large amount of homegrown programming (vastly larger than Sky) and its the BBC which makes original childrens programming, unlike pretty much everyone else.

If you look at Sky 1, it would be interesting to compare the percentage of repeats to BBC1. Looking at the daytime schedule, both fill the fallow periods with repeats.

Sky has far larger revenues than the BBC, yet the bulk of its output is sourced from the US. There are increasing amounts of home produced stuff, but its still a very small amount when you look at the number of hours filled.

Overall, the BBC should be congratulated for increasing the amount of HD programming, and I suspect that many will be watching them on Sky.
(PE12QN)

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M
Emley Moor (Kirklees, England) transmitter
Thursday 18 July 2013 3:10PM
Peterborough

Dave Lindsay: I find that my HX995 is also very sensitive, and at least once I found the multiple 800 BBC1's (from belmont and sandy heath as well as waltham) recorded, rather than the 001 which I selected. The irony is that the tuner is also very stable, so it does not break up easily.

I'd start by 'hiding' the 800's using parental control - it at least means you can't record accidently, and things have improved. I'm thinking of using rubbish leads, just to bring down the strength a little (Scandal did break up a bit in recording), but i think that an attenator might be a good idea for you.

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Emley Moor (Kirklees, England) transmitter
Thursday 18 July 2013 3:12PM
Peterborough

Sorry, I meant to say a more powerful attenator.

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M
Waltham (Leicestershire, England) Full Freeview transmitter
Friday 19 July 2013 9:57PM
Peterborough

Is anyone having a problem with Sony PVR's/TV's on Waltham channel 49 tonight?

My HX995 seems to be without a signal, yet is on 83% strength, and flicks up a normal signal for perhaps a second. Its not the cable or the aerial, since the Goodmans digibox is running fine at around 65%, and they are split.

The only thing I can think of is the extreme sensitivity of the tuner, and its having a problem tonight, perhaps with a tempreture inversion. But why it hasn't done the same thing to the cheap digibox, goodness knows. - See how it is tomorrow.

If anyone is having a similar problem with a PVR, at least you'll know its not just you.

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