SmartTV

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Digital TVs offer you far far more

What about HD? - Click here

Just interested in FreeSat - Click here

DLNA Home networking - Click here

Smart TV / Internet TV - Click here

Set top boxes, IDTVs and PVRs are now becoming available for consumers to receive the new Freeview HD service, if your existing equipment doesn't have a Freeview HD tuner you will need to upgrade or have a Freeview HD set top box, this will give you BBC HD and ITV1 HD on the platform, and Channel 4 HD should also be available

So what about High-definition TV's?

High-definition (HDTV) is the biggest thing to happen to the television since colour.

A few years ago a 26" TV was a big set - but now 26" is a relatively small TV and the more you stretch this out the worse the picture becomes:

i.e. This is the same picture stretched to bigger sizes:

Modern large screen sets try to overcome this by upscaling the the picture, this works quite well however it's not anywhere near as good as having more pixels (dots) in the first place.

This is what HD brings - more pixels of information to the display thus a far superior picture on large screen TV's

HD comes in various levels
Good HD 720p – 1280x720 pixels progressive
Better HD 1080i – 1920x1080 pixels interlaced
Best HD 1080p – 1920x1080 pixel progressive
p=Progressive / i=interlaced
NB all will be better than the old PAL 625 line signal we were watching since the 1960's - before that we had 405 line signals as TV's were even smaller, also remember the smaller the screen is the less important the need for full HD as the images will be sharper anyhow, i.e. It would be pointless having a full 1080p 15" LCD.
Interlaced – refers to the scanning system. In an interlaced format, the screen shows every odd line at one scan of the screen, and then follows that up with the even lines in a second scan. Since there are 50 frames shown per second, the screen shows one half of the frame every hundredth of a second. For smaller screens, this is less noticeable. As screens get larger you could experience interlace flicker.

Progressive – scanning shows the whole picture, every line in one showing, every 50th of a second.
This provides for a much smoother picture, but uses slightly more bandwidth.

However: HD TV's can only display HD from a HD signal and as most tv transmissions and DVD players are designed to work on the old system, to make the most of your HD TV you will also need to consider a Blue Ray DVD player or a HD TV channel - otherwise you will still only be watching a up scaled signal.

What is Freesat?

Freesat is a digital satellite TV service - a joint venture between the BBC and ITV - as TV advances with many more channel choices, interactive services and high definition TV, these broadcasters want as many viewers in the UK as possible to have access to their new services, without paying a subscription. For a one-off payment for a digital box, satellite dish and installation, freesat will offer you more than 80 TV channels. If your TV is HD – ready freesat will also give you access to the world of High Definition programmes…subscription free!

Will there be any ongoing costs?

No! That's the beauty of freesat – no subscription and no contract – not now, not ever.

Will I be able to get freesat?

Most people will be able to get freesat (including many that struggle with freeview reception), you will however need a satellite dish so some people may not be able to, for example those households whose dish can't be positioned to see the satellite properly - usually if your satellite dish is blocked by a tall building or other obstruction near you, also some properties may not be allowed to have a dish fitted (IE Flats or in conservation areas)

For the technically-minded amongst you, although the freesat service uses Astra 2 at 28.2° East, a similar 45-60cm dish pointing at the nearby Eurobird at 28.5° East, ought to also be able to receive freesat. Note that these satellites are also already in use for existing UK digital-satellite television platforms.

What if I already have a satellite dish on my house?

If you currently use this dish to receive services such as BBC Three and ITV2, your existing dish is suitable for receiving freesat.

What about interactivity/red button?

The BBC offer a wide range of red button services on freesat such as to read the latest news and sport stories 24 hours a day, check out what's happening in the world of business, enjoy entertainment news and quickly access the official lottery results. You will also be able to get a wide range of news in video at any time you want it, with weather information for where you live. During sporting evens such as the Olympics, you will be able to choose between coverage of different sports and highlights to get the whole BBC package.

Also enhanced coverage of many other sporting and music events, children's games, plus all of the interactive content you have come to expect from your BBC digital TV channels including services such as the ITV player & BBC iPlayer (TV on demand - subject to connecting to your home router internet)

DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) is a standard used by manufacturers of consumer electronics to allow entertainment devices within the home to share their content with each other across a home network without a complicated configuration process.

The cross-industry collaboration of consumer electronics, computing industry and mobile device companies. Members of DLNA developed the concept of wired and wireless (although wired we believe is superior if you want to stream internet TV as below) interoperable networks where digital content such as photos, music, and videos can be shared through consumer electronics, personal computers, and mobile devices in and beyond the home.

Search & enjoy your music, video and photo content from your PC via your dnla TV

Smart / Internet Web Apps

These products have the ability to connect to the internet through your router giving you access to a whole host of internet content

The BBC iPlayer & ITV player are now available on selected product giving you TV on demand - and the best bit is - it's FREE - assuming you already have a home broadband internet connection. NB. It's recommended you hard wire where you can for these type of services, we do have mains adapters to assist with this, wi-fi can work but hard wiring is normally a safer bet.

Already have a new TV?

These new types of service are also now available via selected Blu Ray Players, Recorders & AV-Kit << Look for this symbol

Call in for a demo of what's available now - but one thing is for sure - the internet and your TV will merge more and more

How to connect your internet enabled devise to your router?

Forget the old cardboard 3D glasses and poor 3D effects of old

This is a new exciting age for TV

Active 3D Glasses are the best in how they function and in what they allow you to experience, the technology works as follows: When you put them on and look at the screen, the technology first blocks the left and then the right lens. It happens faster than the blink of an eye – so your eye won't notice it. But when images are shown to each eye separately this "staggered" effect achieves far more lifelike 3D images.
Passive 3D Glasses are the type you currently get at the cinema or local Pubs for sporting events, the reason being the glasses are just lenses and not powered therefore much cheaper to produce and give out to the masses, although not as good as the active type they are cheaper and still much better than the old cardboard glasses with coloured lenses you used to get

Sky are broadcasting 3D TV channels
3D Blu Ray players & movies are now also available

and probably the biggest market will be the 3D Games consoles

You may think it won't be that good and who wants to wear glasses?
It's stunning, you need a proper demonstration to appreciate it.
They are also designed to fit over spectacles if you wear them?

Don't dismiss until you have seen it - or you may regret it

And what for the future?