John asked

1st December 2010

I have a Samsung HDTV with a V+ HD box why do I recieve a small picture on a few channels?

What's happening is you are seeing standard-definition content being displayed at its original resolution but contained with in a higher resolution picture frame so you see a black border all around to make up the difference. You can probably adjust the picture size on your remote to compensate but this will simply stretch the content to fill the screen, it won't improve the picture quality/definition at all.

Colin asked

30th November 2010

Could you answer me the question of how to connect a Hitachi hdr165 recorder to a sony 37" 403 with built in Freeview HD tuner? I currently have the recorder linked to a Toshiba LCD but non HDTV and control the TV through the recorder. Is it possible to still use this recorder with a new set, to record in SD and operate the TV independantly to gain the Freeview HD? I don't want to have to use the recorder as the control source as the facilities on this model are a bit basic. ie poor epg etc.

I think all you need to is connect your Hitachi recorder to one of the two SCART inputs on the Sony HDTV and simply swap between that input and the built in HD tuner 'sources' depending on what you want to watch or do. As you say you won't be able to record in high-definition and will still have to use the recorder's EPG to schedule recordings but for live TV you will be able to use the functions of the TV itself which sound like they may be more user-friendly.

Tony asked

30th November 2010

I have a terrestrial aerial which receives freeview channels satisfactorily on my modern HD ready 1080 TV, do I only need a freeview HD receiver with the standard RF cable to receive HD television?

If so, where/how do I connect the HD receiver when I have a DVD recorder (I know I can't record HD on it) and cinema sound system.

Is freesat using a satellite dish a significantly better quality picture than a terrestrial aerial mentioned above?

If you're receiving standard-definition Freeview successfully now and you live in an area of the country where high-definition transmissions have commenced all you need is some form of Freeview HD decoder and you stand a good chance of success. This could be either a set-top box or recoding device and you can simply connect it to the same aerial you presently use.

How to connect depends very much on which devices you have but in principle it sounds like you would want to connect the HD receiver direct to your television so you can watch in HD but also to your DVD recorder so you can record regualr Freeview too.

Freesat and Freeview are broadly comparable in terms of the picture quality they offer as they use similar/identical picture formats.

Helen asked

27th November 2010

We live near Liverpool in the Granada region. At the moment our freeview TV picks up a a better picture(less interference/blocking) on the welsh channels than the Granada channels and the TV always retunes to the welsh channels in preference. This doesn't bother us particularly as we can always switch over to the Granada programmes when necessary. However I am thinking of getting HD freeview and am concerned that we will struggle to get a good enough picture if the Granada signal is weak and I don't think the welsh channels will be in HD.

Although you don't say exactly where you live I think it's safe to say you live in area that's able to receive either of both of the Granada and Welsh TV regions. In fact both regions have already completed digital switch-over so Freeview HD is available in both. If you stick with the local Welsh transmitter you will get the usual BBC and ITV HD channels with addition of S4C on channel 53, so you probably don't really need to do anything.

If you wanted to watch Granada regional programming in high-deftion where it's available you would probably want to adjust or move your aerial for better reception from that transmitter and a local independent retailer should be able to give help and advice on do that,

Kevin asked

27th November 2010

I live in Fowey Cornwall PL23 area. We have a new digital aerial which is loft mounted and has a direct feed to the Hitatchi Digital Recorder model HDR163. We have a Panasonic plasma TX-P50X10B which is freeview HD enabled. The Freeview box is connected via a HD lead to the television. On doing a scan closely followed by another rescan we do not receive any HD channels.

As far as I can both your television on hard-disk recorder only contain regular-Freeview rather than high-definition decoder/tuners. Freeview HD transmissions are not compatible with standard-definition Freeview devices so in order to watch in high-definition you will need a new inbuilt or separate decoder/tuner. Rather than having to buy a new television your more cost-efficient options are either to buy a separate Freeview HD box if you don't think you will want to record much HD or to replace your existing standard-definition recorder with a high-deftion equivalent.

Carolyn asked

27th November 2010

We are about to move house and our V+ box has 80 taped hours of TV we havent yet watched. Virgin have told us the earliest they can come to set up the new place is in 2 weeks, and when they do we will need a new box configured to the new area. In the meantime, can we attach our V+ box to our TV as normal and watch what is taped without it being connected to the cable (both HD and non HD taped programmes?). This means we wouldn't have to panic watch the content over the next few days before we move and we will have things to watch during the 2 week hiatus of no cable service?

I'm sorry to say it looks like you will be without your recorded programmes for a couple of weeks, in order for your V+ to start up it requires, for whatever reason, to be connected to Virgin's cable network and so it pretty useless when disconnected and won't allow you to watch the recorded content on it.

Tony asked

27th November 2010

If I buy a TV with integrated HD and it is not yet available in my area I want to know this. If it does become available does it tune automatically or do I have to pay someone to do it? Meaning should I wait till it is available before buying?

If you purchase a TV with Freeview HD it will work fine with both standard definition Freeview now and high-definition when it becomes avaiable to you. The high-definition channels are separate from there equivalent standard-definition ones (when they exist) so until Freeview HD begins to be broadcast in your area they simply won't show up in your channel list. Once digital-switchover completes it should simply be a matter of rescanning for new channels and the HD ones should show up.

Roger asked

22nd November 2010

Will a tv with an integrated Freeview HD tuner receive Freeview SD signals?

We are in an area (GL55 6Xx) where Freeview HD is not likely to be available for quite some time but are loath to go down the Freesat route as we understand our existing aerial network through the house would need replacement.

The answer is yes this will work fine and you will be able to revive both standard and high-definition Freeview channels depending on their availablity at your location. The Freeview HD channels are on different channel numbers to their standard-definition counterparts (where they exist, eg. BBC1 HD) so all that will happen is you won't see them in your channel line up initially. Once digital-switchover completes in your area it should just be a matter of rescanning for new channels and they should appear.