Twin Tuner for both FreeSat and Freeview in a 40 or 43 inch 4K TV

jiminternational

Hi folks,

I'm currently looking at TVs for my new house. The house most probably has terrible terrestrial reception as it is at the bottom of a hill and all my neighbours have trouble and most have given up and switched to satellite. However, I may find the terrestrial reception is fine... The trouble is, the only way of finding out is to buy the TV! Let's assume its rubbish though.

Now if all I was worried about was having FreeSat capability, there wouldn't be a problem - I'd just buy a TV with a FreeSat tuner. It is with my next requirement that the problem lies.

I want to avoid having a separate set top box for recording TV. I would like to be able to plug a hard drive in and use the TV's recording capability instead.

I understand that the only way of doing this is to have a "twin" or "dual" tuner. Is this the case?

If so, I'm struggling to work out which TVs have this feature.... and whether they have twin FreeSat or twin FreeView tuners.. or twin FreeSat and twin Freeview tuners... or just single tuners.. or a different combination of the above.

The information is often not included in listings and even in the shops its difficult to tell. The guys in Currys invariably haven't got a clue, getting muddled between twin and dual tuners. Some say that I'm overthinking things and that I can just plug a hard drive in and it will just work. Others say that I need to have two sockets for both FreeView and Freesat in the back.. Others even say I need special dual core cables to bring two feeds down from the dish to allow me to watch one channel and record another!

If I am forced to use FreeSat by the hill at the back of the house, I also want to make sure I have an EPG facility for this, as I have heard that some with satellite capability don't have this feature which would be pretty suboptimal.

Anyone know of a model which does all the above?

Sorry for such a specific request. I've Googled quite a bit and most threads are from 2006 or before, and irrelevant now.

Ta
Jim

KeithP

Have you seen The Phones & TV Board?

burnsguitarman

jiminternational wrote: »

Hi folks,

I'm currently looking at TVs for my new house. The house most probably has terrible terrestrial reception as it is at the bottom of a hill and all my neighbours have trouble and most have given up and switched to satellite. However, I may find the terrestrial reception is fine... The trouble is, the only way of finding out is to buy the TV! Let's assume its rubbish though.

Now if all I was worried about was having FreeSat capability, there wouldn't be a problem - I'd just buy a TV with a FreeSat tuner. It is with my next requirement that the problem lies.

I want to avoid having a separate set top box for recording TV. I would like to be able to plug a hard drive in and use the TV's recording capability instead.

I understand that the only way of doing this is to have a "twin" or "dual" tuner. Is this the case?

If so, I'm struggling to work out which TVs have this feature.... and whether they have twin FreeSat or twin FreeView tuners.. or twin FreeSat and twin Freeview tuners... or just single tuners.. or a different combination of the above.

The information is often not included in listings and even in the shops its difficult to tell. The guys in Currys invariably haven't got a clue, getting muddled between twin and dual tuners. Some say that I'm overthinking things and that I can just plug a hard drive in and it will just work. Others say that I need to have two sockets for both FreeView and Freesat in the back.. Others even say I need special dual core cables to bring two feeds down from the dish to allow me to watch one channel and record another!

If I am forced to use FreeSat by the hill at the back of the house, I also want to make sure I have an EPG facility for this, as I have heard that some with satellite capability don't have this feature which would be pretty suboptimal.

Anyone know of a model which does all the above?

Sorry for such a specific request. I've Googled quite a bit and most threads are from 2006 or before, and irrelevant now.

Ta
Jim

Take a look at LG TV's most have both tuners, even though it dosent tell you. Look at he back and you will see 2 aerial connections 1 being an F type connection for the freesat tuner. The other for the coax DVB tuner.
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/lg-4k-ultra-hd-tvs/televisions/televisions/301_3002_30002_256_ba00011146-bv00309067-ba00004464-bv00298762/xx_xx_xx_xx_6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-criteria.html

psychic_teabag

jiminternational wrote: »

I understand that the only way of doing this is to have a "twin" or "dual" tuner. Is this the case?

You don't *have* to have dual-tuner, but with only one tuner, you would not in general be able to watch one program and record a different one. (When programs share a multiplex, such as all the BBC ones, or the original set of commercial ones, it is technically possible to receive two, but it depends on the software whether it will actually allow you to do so.)

If you want both freeview and freesat, then maybe it's sufficient to be able to watch freeview while recording freesat, so one tuner of each would do.

Others even say I need special dual core cables to bring two feeds down from the dish to allow me to watch one channel and record another!

There may be some element of truth in that. I don't have satellite, but I believe that part of the tuning is done on the dish itself, so if you want two separate multiplexes, you'd need a dish and wiring capable of doing that.

https://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/lnb.html

DavidFx

jiminternational wrote: »

Others even say I need special dual core cables to bring two feeds down from the dish to allow me to watch one channel and record another!

Satellite channels are either horizontally or vertically polarised. A single LNB can switch between the two but if you want to receive two channels of different polarisations then you need a twin LNB dish.

almillar

I want to avoid having a separate set top box for recording TV. I would like to be able to plug a hard drive in and use the TV's recording capability instead.

Set top boxes (yes, two if you want Freeview and Freesat) will give much better functionality than a TV plus hard drive. Any I've ever seen have poor interfaces, mightn't be able to record one/watch one, and will often format the drive so that it can only be used on the TV.

Others even say I need special dual core cables to bring two feeds down from the dish to allow me to watch one channel and record another!

Absolutely true for satellite. So that's dual satellite cable (called shotgun cable), plus a single aerial cable.

lammy82

The built-in Freesat tuners on TVs are less well featured than the standalone Freesat boxes and dual satellite tuners are very rare (beware of them using 'dual tuners' to refer to 1 x Freeview and 1 x Freesat). I did look into this a while ago. Some of them need to be set into either Freeview or Freesat mode, it's not easy to switch back and forth and use both tuners for recording/watching from both sources simultaneously. The catch-up functionality tends to be disjointed (i.e. must launch the specific app rather than just scrolling back in the TV guide and playing directly from there).

I know you've got your heart set on having everything built into the TV (as did I) but the reality is that having a separate Freesat box with a dual tuner and storage will give a much better experience and flexibility to upgrade it in the future separately from the TV.

My Humax box's remote controls the TV on/off and volume so I don't have to actually faff around with multiple remotes.

And yes you definitely need a dual feed from the dish to be able to watch one thing whilst recording another, or record 2 different things simultaneously.

Hope this helps.

DCFC79

As well as the option to upgrade in the future if you have a Freesat box, you would also be able to use the TV if the Freesat box were to develop a fault whereas if the built in tuner didnt work for some reason you would have the tv sent for repair and be left without a tv.

macman

In the first place, why expect DSG staff to give you any sensible or accurate info? The Richer Sounds website gives the technical spec for every TV it sells, and that info lists the number of tuners and their type. And you'll get a better price and a 6 year warranty.
The Samsung UE40MU6400, to give just one example, has dual Freeview and Freesat tuners
If you've had any Sky system which offered recording facilities (just about anything in the last 15 years), then you will have had a dual feed from the dish.
Finally, why can you not first test the Freeview reception using your existing TV, assuming the property has an aerial?

lammy82

macman wrote: »

The Samsung UE40MU6400, to give just one example, has dual Freeview and Freesat tuners
If you've had any Sky system which offered recording facilities (just about anything in the last 15 years), then you will have had a dual feed from the dish.

This is what I mean. "Dual tuners" doesn't mean two of each. Assuming, as the OP says, that the terrestrial signal is 'rubbish', this TV is not suitable. It only has a single satellite input. So if it supports recording to USB then it's only going to support one satellite channel at a time.

psychic_teabag

jiminternational wrote: »

I want to avoid having a separate set top box for recording TV. I would like to be able to plug a hard drive in and use the TV's recording capability instead.

Is recording going to be a common thing, or an occassional thing ? We never watch anything live, preferring to record everything and watch (or just delete) it later. So we really wouldn't want to have make do with a limited interface.

But if recording is only something you'll do once in a while, maybe a TV's limited interface would be sufficient.

Like others, I'd generally go with a modular system rather than all-in-one. When you come to upgrade to a bigger TV, for example, you don't really want to have to replace the PVR at the same time.