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Previous Questions
Claire asked
1st September 2010
I have a HD Ready TV but my digital recorder is not HD Ready what can I do?
In order to be able to record Freeview HD your best option when the time comes is to purchase a high-defintion Freeview recorder box. This will provide you with a Freeview HD tuner (to allow you to watch Freeview HD on your HD Ready TV - the inbuilt Freeview tuner may not necessary be HD) and it will allow you to do scheduled recording of HD programmes.
Jason asked
24th August 2010
I am considering buying a Humax H.D. Freesat recorder, as i only have a Panasonic TXW36D3DP, can i still watch the content recorded on the Humax via scart with acceptable results on this analogue TV?
As you say your television is only standard definition (although a bit of a classic it seems) so there's no benefit in recording in high-definition for you but since the majority of Freesat content is transmitted in standard definition anyway you won't me missing all that much.
http://www.humaxdigital.com/global/products/product_stb_satellite_foxsat-hdr.asp
Claims that the video is output though all three output simultaneously so you may well find you're even able to record high-defitnion programming but watch in standard-definition via the SCART output.
Matt asked
16th August 2010
Not sure if this is a silly question or not. I have recently purchased a Samsung full HD Ready TV but have had a problem with it so have sent it off for repair. In the meantime I had arranged for a V+ HD box to be installed (I currently have the standard Virgin box as I only had a SD TV). As my HDTV is being repaired I have substituted it for a standard defintion TV.
My question is: will I still be able to use the V+ HD box with my SD TV and receive SD channels (obvioulsy I will not be able to receive the HD content) or is it worth putting off the installation of the V+ HD box until my new HD tv is fixed?
The V+ HD boxes have SCART and composite outputs therefore so long as you have one or other corresponding input on your existing television you will be able to connect the two up until your HDTV is returned.
Billy asked
10th August 2010
I have a Full Hd Sony Bravia Tv and a Hard Drive DVD Recorder. What else do I need to see Freeview HD?
If your HDTV is relatively new you may well find it has a built-in Freeview HD tuner, however if it only contains a standard-definition Freeview tuner you will need a separate decoder/set-top box as a standard-definition tuner is not able to decode the high-definition Freeview signals.
The other consideration is to make sure that you live in an area of the country where digital switchover has taken place. Once the analogue TV signals have been turned off this frees up broadcasting capacity for Freeview HD. You can check if/when you are able to receive Freeview HD here:
Chris asked
7th August 2010
I have a new HD Ready TV with built in Freeview but I cannot get or even seem to register any of the HD channels when scanning. I'm plugged in to an outdoor rooftop aeriel although I don't know how old it is... could this be the reason?
If the old aerial is able to pick up standard-definition Freeview successfully it should also be suitable for Freeview HD.
In order to receive Freeview HD you also need a high-definition capable tuner/decoder. If your TV is relatively new you may well find in contains a inbuilt HD tuner, but if you only have a standard-definition Freeview tuner built-in you would need to purchase a separate HD capable decoder box as the high-defintion channels cannot be decoded by a stadard defintion Freeview box.
The final piece of the puzzle is that must also live in an area of the country where digital switchover has already taken place, as that frees up space that can be used to accommodate the new HD channels. You can confirm/check if and when you will be able to receive Freeview HD here:
Frank asked
7th August 2010
Will I be able to get Sky Sports on Freestat in the near future?
Sadly I don't think you can expect Sky's sports channels on Freesat any time soon. While they are on other platforms like BT Vision and Virgin Media these are paid for subscription services, for which a significant proportion of the monthly price is the cost of buying access to these type of channels, in this case from Sky.
While I'm sure some form of billing system could be set up for the Freesat platform I'm not sure there would be a sufficiently high number of potential customers to make it viable initally or that Sky would even allow it, as it would be a very simple downgrade option for their existing customers who only wanted a few specific channels.
Barbara asked
30th July 2010
I have an early Sony LCD TV, which is allegedly HD Ready but doesn't have an HDMI input. It does have a component input instead. My PVR is one of the ones that recently lost its 14 day EPG, so I need a new one and would like to get Freeview HD now it's available.
There are a few HDMI to component convertors around, from a cable for a few pounds, to an HDFury with a mains powered box for over £100. Any ideas what kind of converter will work, and whether HDCP will (now or later) get in the way of me receiving Freeview HD? I'm getting very confused!
My understanding of the specification for Freeview HD boxes is that "Receivers shall not provide any functional analogue HD component outputs", which isn't so say you won't find such a box, but it may be tricky!
An HDFury should do what you need it to but I don't think you can expect to find an equivalent solution for much less as you need need an active device to convert the digital input signal to the analogue output you're after.
Another option that may be open to you depending on circumstances may be to get a HD satellite box and dish as an alternative source of an analogue HD output.
Steve asked
28th July 2010
I have a Sony dvd recorder RDR-GXD360 connected to a PANASONIC TX-L37G10 LCD TV.
The problem is that when in dvd mode the screen is black and white not colour. Any recordings are also black and white with no colour. How do I get the colour back?
Until a few days ago the picture and recordings were in colour. I have rerun seup, but this makes no difference.
It sounds as though your DVD recorder may be outputting video using the North-American NTSC standard rather than the PAL system used in Europe so I'd have a hunt around its menus and see if the setting has been changed accidentally/somehow. Also if there's a 'progressive scan' button on the remote try toggling that, and if it's not that double check the connections are all correct and secure.