Freesat HD v's Freeview HD - what's the best if you can receive both?

itsmeagain

I have a large full HD 1080p TV, freesat(ish) - old sky SD boxes with quad LNB, AND Freeview SD built in to the TV. Living in Brum i get both signals with no problems.

I want to get an HD PVR and have to chose between Freesat or Freeview.

I'm aware there are some channel differences, and Freeview have 1 extra HD channel (at the mo).

Can anyone point me to the roll out of HD channels please? I'm told that Freesat can potentially have more long term, due to bandwidth limitations of Freeview but i can't find what this means in real numbers of HD channels and when?

Is FreesatHD and FreeviewHD exactly the same quality picture and sound?

Why do the Freesat boxes appear to have iplayer but the Freeview ones don't?

What other comparisons between the 2 systems are of consideration assuming you have the kit to receive both?

Thanks!

darkwarrior

As far as I can tell Iplayer is not exclusive to Freeview or Freesat, it requires an internet connection. Its just that it seems mostly HUMAX FREESAT boxes are the ones that come with the ability to use Iplayer.

And Freesat has a lot more channels due to its nature, most of which are on Freeview so you gain a lot of stuff on FreeSat, downside is that you don't get Dave at the minute and there will be some differences in what channels you can get.

Picture should be the same, HD is HD, though it depends on the quality of the box you end up getting and who makes it. For instance you can get a cheap £30 Freeview box yet I've read reviews that say it can't get all the channels because its cheap basically. The more expensive ones have less issues finding and keeping channels.

Freesat has less issues with getting all the channels I believe, like with freeview, because its using a tv aerial, some areas struggle to get channel 5 and some others.

Colin_London

itsmeagain wrote: »

Can anyone point me to the roll out of HD channels please? I'm told that Freesat can potentially have more long term, due to bandwidth limitations of Freeview but i can't find what this means in real numbers of HD channels and when?

Freeview HD will gain one more channel next year when the remaining bandwidth is licenced. It could turn out to be Channel Five even though they turned down the opportunity to launch this year (but they have had a change in ownership since that decision). Then after Digital Switchover is complete there will be further spectrum sold off which could be used for more HD channels.

The future isn't certain for Freesat due to capacity issues. As Freesat is broadcast without encryption the more popular channels have to be broadcast on a satellite beam with a very tight footprint on the UK for rights reasons. These are limited, restricting future launch possibilities.

In both cases it isn't obvious how many more channels will want to launch free HD versions as most new HD channels prefer to launch on subsidised subscription platforms like Sky where they get some income from the platform provider.

Is FreesatHD and FreeviewHD exactly the same quality picture and sound?

Freeview HD has a slightly better bitrate at the moment (about 1Mbps higher), but the quality on both Freeview & Freesat is currently being questioned by some. Both platforms have multichannel sound, but I believe Freesat has Dolby Digital which is recognised by more AV amplifiers than the multichannel AAC format used by Freeview HD.

I have seen more complaints about Freesat pictures recently, but that's probably because of people having had good pictures in the past, and then seeing them being degraded.

Why do the Freesat boxes appear to have iplayer but the Freeview ones don't?

I believe that the Humax Freeview HD+ box will get iPlayer added shortly - currently the service is in Beta.

iPlayer isn't tied to a particular platform as it runs off the internet - I have an integrated Freeview HD TV with iPlayer built in for example. Next year the new Youview service will provide iPlayer and much more IPTV content, but this is focussed on accompanying Freeview HD rather than Freesat.

ukcarper

I have freesat because I can't get freeview but I would say freeview has a better channel line up. It's not only Dave you can't get on freesat Fiver and Five USA are not available also.

itsmeagain

Thanks for all the replies, especially the ones from Colin.

I've decided to go for the Humax Freesat HD PVR 320GB thingy!
Now... i ive fed a 2nd sat cable from my quad LNB to the same area as an existing sat and aerial cable (now 3 cables). My existing single socket sized wall plate has only 1 sat & 1 aerial connections but i now need 2 sat & 1 aerial. The plates i have found have (sat1, aerial, Dab) & sat2. I dont need the 4th DAB part but i can't find a plate with just the 3 connections. It also appears that 1 cable feeds sat2 and another single cable feeds all 3 of the others.

The big questions... (1) is there a SINGLE socket sized plate that takes 3 separate cables? (2) If not and i can squeeze 2 cables into the triple part + 1 cable on sat2, would it work as i guess the signals are very different frequencies on the triple/combined input? OR do i HAVE to use a combiner to enable a single cable for the combined entry connection?

macman

Can't you just use a single (with two F Connectors) for the satellite and a single for the aerial co-ax, placed side by side?

itsmeagain

macman wrote: »

Can't you just use a single (with two F Connectors) for the satellite and a single for the aerial co-ax, placed side by side?

thanks but the idea is to use the current buried box with a new front plate that has all 3 connections on without lots of effort adding another box or a surface mount box hence the question "is there a SINGLE socket sized plate that takes 3 separate cables?"