Not my field of expertise, but the tv I bought in 2015 does.
Thank you all for your help
Not my field of expertise, but the tv I bought in 2015 does.
You can certainly buy them - though Iâm slightly surprised that you just happened across one, so to speak, rather than searching one out, if only for the fact that manufacturers donât like giving away extra electronics without charging for it.
Search for " TV avec tuner satellite intégré" - there seems to be quite a few available, certainly more than when I bought our set with Freesat built in when I had to specifically search out such a model and the choice was relatively limited.
@hairbear is right though, if bought in France it will be expecting French services on Eutelsat at 5°W or Astra 1 at 19.2°E - although I think such a set could receive the Freeesat signal it would probably struggle to understand the EPG.
If only I had waited for your next missive already ordered the converter câest la vie
Ah well, never mind, câest la vie as you say - If you bought it from Amazon they are pretty easy to return and get a new Freesat box. I think youâll find itâs worth it if you watch much TV.
I think such a set could receive the Freeesat signal it would probably struggle to understand the EPG.
Itâs probably the other way around. To scan channels, the TV needs to know where the default transponder is and the ONID for the provider. Sometimes there is a hidden menu that can let you set these parameters (Interestingly, earlier Sky boxes had such a hidden menu) but I donât think itâs usual. As far as the EPG is concerned, although the EPG design is of course an individual thing, all the data streams follow DVB specs, so it shouldnât be an issue interpreting and displaying the data no matter which network is used.
Edit: It seems some LG TVs allow you to set the satellite and country and do a scan. Qudos to LG for this. Others may as well, but thatâs the first I found.
As far as the EPG is concerned, although the EPG design is of course an individual thing, all the data streams follow DVB specs, so it shouldnât be an issue interpreting and displaying the data no matter which network is used.
My recollection - though now some years old and more specific to Freeview was that the EPG was proprietary - certainly that impression was born out when I brought the first TV over which was a Samsung UE40D5530 (2011 vintage) - no âProgram guideâ, nor traditional mapping from channel number to channel but it worked otherwise.
The current set - a UE40MU6400U (2017) - was bought for the convenience of the built in Freesat tuner and the fact that the 2011 model was starting to show its age as it lost support for various smart TV catch-up apps, somewhat accidentally it is a 4k display.
I missed a trick to a certain extent as I assumed that use of both DTT and Freesat would be possible - this isnât exactly true, only one of the EPGs at a time is supported so you basically have to choose between satellite and terrestrial and stick with that choice - while you *can* âswitch between the two on the fly it would involve a complete channel re-scan each time so not exactly convenient.
Itâs not the end of the world as we have the Orange decoder for French TV if we wish. As an aside on that front the old one is still working despite warnings that we had to switch to the new box or everything would stop back in Feb. I guess Iâll get round to plugging the new decode in at some point.
In retrospect I should have had a 50" model but thatâs not the end of the world either.
I canât for the life of me remember whether I tried the Manhatten box when the satellite was aligned to French birds, it was a fairly early job to get one of the local antennistes to come and re-align the dish and we havenât really looked back since.
no âProgram guideâ, nor traditional mapping from channel number to channel but it worked otherwise.
Yes, same with my circa 2012 Sony TV. It has Freeview, but no EPG, not even now/next, just a channel list to select from and use of up/down. They could have done a proper EPG (or maybe not enough resource of one thing or another) as all the DVB SI information is in the stream and itâs the same format (with just a few differences) as with satellite.
Most TVs only allow satellite or terrestrial, not both at the same time. This may be because they only have a single frontend in the chip inside the TV, and thereâs a mux that selects which input is in use.
Yes, same with my circa 2012 Sony TV. It has Freeview, but no EPG, not even now/next, just a channel list to select from and use of up/down.
Sorry - I probably wasnât clear - the set supported an EPG with future schedules etc, just not in France.
Crikey, my Sony TV must have been really crap then
Hi @shihtzu - scrap the old sky box and get an Amazon Fire Stick. One off payment and you get all the TV channels you need. Plugs direct into HDMI socket on TV. The Fire Stick connects to the outside world via your home internet.
Hi Chidders alas my modem s about 15 meters away the other side of a half meter stone wall thank you anyway
Hi Chidders alas my modem s about 15 meters away the other side of a half meter stone wall thank you anyway
Even so, have you checked for a signal? Our âboxâ is some 18mts from one of the Firesticks through 2 one metre walls and still receives a signal more than suitable to receive 4K.
A Fire stick is certainly a possibility but it might not be quite what @shihtzu wants and if a UK version is acquired so as to access UK content complicates thing by needing a VPN as well as a good, stable, Internet connection.
If easy, no ongoing fee, access to UK broadcast content is needed and the existing Sky box âfits the billâ in terms of basic function then the logical thing is to get a UK Freesat decoder, which can be bought for very little money, will expand the choice of channels and will be a significant step up in terms of quality.
A suitable Fire stick can always be added at a later date if required.
Itâs proving a bit tricky lol
scrap the old sky box and get an Amazon Fire Stick
That seems like a plan⊠our old Sky box is becoming a nightmare.
get a UK Freesat decoder, which can be bought for very little money, will expand the choice of channels and will be a significant step up in terms of quality.
Will a Firestick bought in France not work UK channels then?
alas my modem s about 15 meters away the other side of a half meter stone wall
There are products available which will, instead of using WiFi, extend the range of the wired network from your Livebox over the house wiring system.
Will a Firestick bought in France not work UK channels then?
Ăa dĂ©pendâŠ
I donât have a Firestick, much less a French one so I can only guess based on a few Internet searches.
Itâs not clear whether you can install, say, the iPlayer app on a French FS, but to use it you will need a VPN - handily you can install Express VPN on the FS itself but, of course, it is a subscription service.
There are products available which will, instead of using WiFi, extend the range of the wired network from your Livebox over the house wiring system.
The best such product being a piece of Cat 5e or Cat 6 Ethernet cable and a long drill
Iâve used the powerline stuff, indeed do so in the UK but the âadvertisedâ speed is something of a fantasy, even between two stations which are on the same circuit.
We bought our Amazon Firestick in France from Amazon.FR. but we use it with NordVPN so can basically watch any TV channel in the world.
Connection to the internet is key to success and decent bandwidth. We get our internet via 4G FREE SIM card in router with external aerial. âŹ20/month for 210gig is more than enough for us. We hardly watch TV, but occasionally Netflix or Prime.
but we use it with NordVPN
if you donât use a VPN (we donât) what is available from the package? French TV (free to air chaines, UK free to air) etc?
We hardly watch TV, but occasionally Netflix or Prime.
Iâm intrigued, why then do you bother?
why then do you bother?
IndeedâŠ
but occasionally Netflix or Prime
NETFLIX is watchable on a smart TV without a Firestick (provided you have an account), is that the case with Prime too?