replacement TV advice

I've just bought a largish LG, and find the sound fine. Obviously it's better playing through the surround hifi, but it really doesn't bother me that much - it's clear, loud if I need it, and the Dolby Atmos (whatever that is exactly) gives some amusing and surprisingly effective pseudo-surround. It even has a good go at bass. So ideal late at night.

So firstly, what is the issue with Freeview? My samsung seems to be able to get a freeview picture on a bit of wet string. Is it a known bad signal area, or could it be an aerial issue? Not much point in changing if the answer is cheaper than a tv. However I'd not exactly say any tv is plain sailing unless you get an el cheapo non smart one. If you have internet and the samsung is smart, you will probably be best getting the streaming service, unless you need audio description which seems a bit hit and miss on streaming services at present. Brian

but Dave (and I) have worked somewhere that sound quality mattered. I've just had to listen to a recording of someone's musical performance ability. I can't get to that through the appalling recording quality,

Surely though, the way the samsungs are set up is very definable, at least mine is. It defaults to the off air, unless there is no off air and then it looks for an hdmi signal. Brian

Why? I see no reason for dumping a sound bar, if you set it up correctly in the first place, and Samsung seems to have loads of ways to do it and indeed on mine I can even control it from a bluetooth keyboard.

Brian

I don't think you can improve it much, really. Does the TV always come on set to the correct HDMI input for the Humax? That's probably the main thing.

Does the sound bar come on automatically? If not, you could simply leave it turned on 24/7. I know that sounds a bit mad. I have a slight refinement on this in two rooms that works OK. Everything in the room that doesn't need to be on 24/7 is on a master switch. So TV set, CCTV monitor, audio amp, CD player, FM tuner, table lamp, are all off when the room is unoccupied. The two PVRs are powered 24/7 though, for obvious reasons.

I suggest you check functionality very carefully before you buy a telly with Freesat built in. Actually I've always preferred to have the satellite tuner/recorder separate from the telly.

Bill

There isn't a telly on the market with decent sound.It's assumed that people either have cloth ears or will buy a sound bar.

Bill

I recently bought a 55" TCL Chinese TV with Dolby Atmos sound. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the sound from the internal speakers. There is not too much bass, but if necessary I can connect my hifi with sub-woofer by optical link. Excellent TV.

Have you tried a Mast head booster? One cured our appallingly bad reception.

Mike

If you want to simplify it so that Freesat behaves like TDTV then you need to get a TV with an integral satellite tuner. Some Panasonic & LG models have this but you do pay dearly for the convenience of having one less box. The odd one has Apple TV or similar droid offerings as well.

I reckon Richer Sounds is one of the more helpful places to go looking but think carefully about what you actually want. You have probably missed the boat for remaindered classic HD sets with satellite now. Almost everything is QD these days...

The other way you might be able to simplify it is to use one of the smart peripheral controlling sockets that slaves everything off the TV on off switch so that it all powers up when you switch the TV on.

That was what I did for my mum and she was able to get the hang of Sky TV quite well (at least to find her favourite channels). It was better than TDTV which in Manchester on that model of TV would sometimes retune (and most importantly Channel 4 Countdown) into Welsh!

It might be better for him to configure it so that if there is an active HDMI input the set always takes its feed from that. I though that *was* the default setting on most modern TV sets now so that when you switch on the Sky box or DVD it pretty much takes control over the TV.

To the telly that has Freesat built in?

OK. How does that connect into the system?

What role(s) is that performing (Freesat Rx for TV, Freesat PVR, DVD/Bluray player, etc, etc?) and how is that connected and to what?

Shouldn't be but it depends on what expectations and roles the kit is fullfilling, what type of connections are used and which things are connected together.

Not a problem, the valves will be warm by the time te TV/Humax etc have booted up, even from standby...

I have an older version of your Humax remote control, RM-F01 instead of RM-F04. I have just been investigating remote control codes emitted to find a reason why I often have to press the Power button twice to make the Humax come on. Do you ever have that problem? The codes don't vary between first and second press like some systems do.

Your control has 'TV Portal' in place of my 'List' button, and some functions are repositioned to other buttons. You have no 'Schedule' button. What does 'TV Portal' do?

Does your Humax do recording? If so, a TV with integrated satellite tuner will not do it.

Indeed. These days, by the time the TV has "initialised" and is ready to actually start showing something (particularly via streaming) an old valve TV would have been running for minutes.

The problem is I have had her a while, so have become quite attached to her!

Mine with record to a USB device (HD or memory stick)

AAMOI, what signal does the Humax record?