Barbara asked

24th February 2013

I have a Humax HD+ box and I need to connect this to a separate Toshiba DVD player. I have the Humax connected to my Technika TV at the moment but when I tried to connect both the Humax and Toshiba DVD player via SCART neither worked. I think that I can connect the Humax to the TV via a HDMI but where would the aerial lead go into? I could then use the SCART to connect the DVD Player directly to the TV I presume.

An HDMI connection is the way to go for your Humax box because as a high-definition connection it will give you better picture quality than SCART. You can then use the SCART connection on your HDTV for your DVD player and then both devices should work with you being able to swap between the two using the input/source selection your TV remote. Irrespective of the HDMI and SCART connections you need enure that all your devices that have Freeview tuners inside them are connect to your aerial as that signal isn't carried by either SCART or HDMI, it needs to be a separate connection.

Pete asked

22nd February 2013

I wish to connect my Virgin HD Box to my Panasonic DMR-PWT520 Blu-ray Player/HDD Recorder to have the capability to record cable channels not available through the 2 Freeview tuners in the Panasonic recorder . The problem i have is that the Virgin Box has SCART and the only option on the Panasonic recorder is R.F. in. Can I connect from the SCART to the R.F. in using a Modulator box? I've been told that I need to find out if the recorder can record analogue to be able to do this and I don't quite understand can you help? Also if it is possible would this override the function of recording Freeview channels and the use of the timer recording facility.

If the recorder doesn't have any other inputs than the coaxial input it won't have the capability to record anything other than Freeview.

If you want to record cable I recommend you get a HD cable box that's has a built-in recorder. The experience will vastly better than trying to coordinate timer-recordings between two separate devices that will likely only be able to record in standard-definition anyway.

Ryan asked

17th February 2013

I've purchased a 42 inch Polaroid 3D HDTV. It has a lovely picture but no sound when connected to my Virgin HD+ box.

Assuming you've connected the devices together with an HDMI cable you should try: reversing the HDMI cable, changing to a different sockets HDMI if you have them or experimenting with the HDMI settings in the Virgin HD box's set up menu. Failing all that you should probably seek further tailored support from Virgin themselves.

Stephen asked

3rd February 2013

How can I connect my Sky+ box to a Smart LED TV box that does not have a SCART connection?

If your TV has an analogue/component video input you simply need a cheap adapter to split out the analogue audio and video signals from the SCART connector in to phono connections which you can then connect to your HDTV. If for some reason your HDTV doesn't have a analogue video input you'll probably need replace your Sky+ box with a newer model with an HDMI output which you will be able to connect to your HDTV.

Gerry asked

31st January 2013

I have recently bought a Panasonic 47DT50 TV which replaced my old HDTV by just removing the aerial and connecting HDMI cables to DVD recorder and Sky+ HD box. All this was connected to a TV in kitchen and every thing worked. Last week my Panasonic DVD recorder showed a fault U81 and refused to even switch on, I decided to replace it shortly. While I was behind the TV disconnecting and making things tidier I thought there were a lot of unused cables and splitters so clever me decided to get rid of some. I cannot now get a picture in kitchen on either DVD or Sky so I am asking for help.

I will be most likely getting another Panasonic 720, my question is how to connect everything as it was before, my Sky manual says connect aerial to sky box, but DVD manual says connect aerial to DVD and then use cables to connect to RF in and RF out on either box and another to the TV. Which should aerial be connected to? I presume I have to connect the kitchen TV up to both sky box and DVD recorder to get picture, I achieved this before by means of various splitters which by now have forgotten how I did it.

You need to connect your HDTV, Sky box and your DVD recorder to your aerial. This is so the tuners in your recorder and TV can work, and so that the aerial signal gets to your remote TV. Once or more splitters or if your DVD recorder has an aerial pass-though should allow you to this quite easily but you'll need each devices RF inputs connected to your aerial one way or another.

Your Sky box should have an RF output which you should use to feed your remote TV as this output will have the digital Freeview signal for the remote TV's tuner plus the analogue (modulated) output of whichever Sky channel your box is tuned to.

Elsie asked

28th January 2013

We have connected our Humax Freeview+ HD digital recorder to our Samsung LCD TV model LE32D. We have tuned and connected it to the TV but cannot change channels using the recorder remote. The connection is via a SCART lead as using the HMDI cable supplied doesn't work. What are we doing wrong or do we need alternative connection?

An HDMI connection with give you the best picture quality so I would put that back and try again. All you should need to do is change the input/source vai your TV's remote to select the HDMI input to which the recorder is connected. This won't happen automatically like it may have done with SCART, it's a manual step you'll need to do each time you want to swap between using the tuner built in to your TV and the tuner(s) built in to your recorder.

Tony asked

26th January 2013

I have a Sony Bravia TV which can record to a USB drive. The problemis you can only record what you are watching, it doesn't allow you to watchother Freeview channels while this in is record mode. Before the switch I hada Sony analogue DVD recorder connected to the TV which worked for me. Myquestion is if I connect a Freeview box to the DVD recorder will this let merecord and watch a different channel on the TV at the same time. If so couldyou please tell me how to make the connection, the Sony TV has one SCART and the recorder has two SCARTs.

I can't say for sure but it may well be possible. When your television appears to only have a single Freeview tuner hence your only being able to watch and record the same channel simultaneously. The SCART connection is the perfect way to connect up your DVD recorder and assuming that it has one or more tuners of its own you may well find you can switch to the SCART/auxiliary input on your television whist you are recording to a USB device. The idea is to use the tuner in your TV to record to USB and use a tuner in your DVD recorder to watch a different channel. You'll need to connect both devices to your aerial so will either need to use the aerial pass-through on your DVD recorder if it has one or a separate splitter so both devices are connected at the same time.

John asked

15th January 2013

I have a HDTV Samsung 42" model PC42C450, but I cannot get the RTE Irish channel as I live in Northern Ireland. I have tried re-tuning but still cannot get a clear picture. Does my TV have a built in Freeview HD decoder or do I need to buy a Freeview box to receive the channels?

If your TV is a Samsung PS42C450 it contains a standard-definition Freeview tuner only.

I'd suggest checking here for what you may or may not be able to receive at your location:

http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/how-do-i-get-tg4-rte-one-and-rte-two