Freeview reception...

Okell

We have a 14 year old bog-standard, non-smart, 26" Toshiba "Regza"(?) TV picking up a terrestial Freeview signal via a bog-standard, old fashioned TV aerial stuck on the chimney.

Over the last few months we've noticed what seems to be a really significant improvement in the quality of reception and picture definition.  

Does anybody have any explanation for this or know any reason why this should have happened?  Or are we more likely to be imagining it? 

Heedtheadvice

What is the significant improvement in quality?

Neil_Jones

Okell said:

We have a 14 year old bog-standard, non-smart, 26" Toshiba "Regza"(?) TV picking up a terrestial Freeview signal via a bog-standard, old fashioned TV aerial stuck on the chimney.

Over the last few months we've noticed what seems to be a really significant improvement in the quality of reception and picture definition.  

Does anybody have any explanation for this or know any reason why this should have happened?  Or are we more likely to be imagining it? 

Most likely you were watching SD channels and found the HD equivalents in the 100's, assuming your TV is HD capable which it probably is, since that was introduced in 2007.

Okell

Heedtheadvice said:

What is the significant improvement in quality?

Clarity of image, sharpness of image, picture definition.

I'm watching Tremors - a picture I've seen on Freeview at least a dozen times and we also have the DVD - and the above characterisitcs are (or appear to be) better than I've ever seen before.

I was watching an episode of The Prisoner (which I must have seen hundreds of times since it was first broadcast) on Rewind  last week, and I was astonished by the quality of the image.  It was more "immediate" than when I first saw it on original broadcast.

This is a change we've noticed over the past few months on films, series, documentaries - everything

Okell

Neil_Jones said:

Okell said:

We have a 14 year old bog-standard, non-smart, 26" Toshiba "Regza"(?) TV picking up a terrestial Freeview signal via a bog-standard, old fashioned TV aerial stuck on the chimney.

Over the last few months we've noticed what seems to be a really significant improvement in the quality of reception and picture definition.  

Does anybody have any explanation for this or know any reason why this should have happened?  Or are we more likely to be imagining it? 

Most likely you were watching SD channels and found the HD equivalents in the 100's, assuming your TV is HD capable which it probably is, since that was introduced in 2007.

Not that I'm aware - unless all the Freeview channels where I live near Norwich are broadcast in HD.

So far as I know we're watching the same channel numbers we've always watched - except where channel numbers have changed because the broadcasters want a "better" channel number.

Now that Tremors have finished I've just checked our programme guide and there are no HD channels listed

(FYI  -  I have posted on here previously as our Freeview reception can be quite patchy and tempremental  -  several channels can drop out in rain and other bad weather)

Okell

Also more vibrant colours.

We ahave two digital tuners: one built into the TV and another in a Panasonic DVD player.  We mostly use only the Toshiba TV tuner, but so far as I'm aware the quality has improved on both.

And because or Freeview reception is generally a bit flaky, both the two tuners are re-scanned between one and three times every month.

Heedtheadvice

Hmm not much of an idea as the digital signal should not have changed. Maybe the TV.......brightness and contrast changes can make the picture appear better as can a change of room lighting conditions .......otherwise at a loss

Okell

I wondered if I'd changed the brightness and/or contrast settings but checking them I don't think I have.

thanks anyway

Murmansk

My understanding is that with digital TV you either get a picture or you don't get anything much so perhaps what's happened is you are now watching high definition channels when you weren't before as that might explain the significant improvement you seem to have?

TELLIT01

I don't know if the TV being Toshiba is relevant, but we have a Toshiba TV and a few months ago the 'standard' BBC channels changed to HD.  It only stayed that way for a few weeks and then reverted to normal.  I guess it's more likely that the broadcaster was playing around with the broadcast standard for a while.

Neil_Jones

TELLIT01 said:

I don't know if the TV being Toshiba is relevant, but we have a Toshiba TV and a few months ago the 'standard' BBC channels changed to HD.  It only stayed that way for a few weeks and then reverted to normal.  I guess it's more likely that the broadcaster was playing around with the broadcast standard for a while.

BBC channels have been in HD on Freeview in some capacity since 2010 (the main two were at that time) and the other BBC channels that are HD followed a few years later (exception of BBC Parliament and BBC News which is only HD on cable/satellite and Alba/BBC Scotland, both HD on satellite but only on Freeview in Scotland).  The "old" BBC One HD (which had the red slide every time the regional news/opts came on) was closed earlier this year.