
- #SMART RECORDER WILL NOT ALLOW PLAY AND VOICE 1080P#
- #SMART RECORDER WILL NOT ALLOW PLAY AND VOICE TV#
We’re also seeing models that are designed to work at 4K resolutions, although there’s one big caveat here.
#SMART RECORDER WILL NOT ALLOW PLAY AND VOICE 1080P#
It’s now virtually impossible to buy a Freeview box that doesn’t support Freeview HD broadcasts at a 1080i resolution over HDMI, so they’re perfect for Full HD 1080p TVs. Luckily, most now include built-in Wi-Fi. To use these features – and the catch-up services – you’ll need a connection to a wired or wireless network. What’s more, Freeview Play has rolled out new features that recommend programmes from across different channels in a range of genres or find shows through a universal search.
#SMART RECORDER WILL NOT ALLOW PLAY AND VOICE TV#
Freeview Play boxes also provide apps for streaming services, including YouTube, iPlayer, All 4 and Amazon Prime Video, though Now TV and Netflix support seem to have fallen off the menu in the last 12 months. READ NEXT: The best media streaming stick Are there other features I should look for? Note that some receivers now include recording features, enabling you to record programmes from the EPG to an external hard disk. Recorders also give you two or more receivers, enabling you to record two channels at once or watch one programme while recording another. However, recording programmes keeps you in control unless you’re short of hard disk space, you won’t find programmes suddenly disappearing from your set-top box when you’re halfway through a series, and you can keep a favourite programme or film on the box for years. There’s one line of thinking that recording is no longer a must-have feature in an age of catch-up TV. For a recorder, prices start at around £100 and climb up to £250, depending on the hard drive capacity. Luckily, Freeview Play boxes have now come down a lot in price, so you’re looking at £50-100 for a much more capable box.

If you just want to watch Freeview HD channels, you can pick up a receiver for less than £30, though these tend to be old or sometimes discontinued products. BT supplies customers for its BT TV services with a 4K-capable Freeview HD recorder, while TalkTalk has a choice of boxes for its own TalkTalk TV customers. There may also be other options to get Freeview HD TV through your aerial. Even those TVs that support recording can often only record one channel at a time. All the same, having a Freeview tuner doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t want a Freeview HD set-top box the EPG you have might be slow, ugly or unstable, or the tuner may struggle to deliver a decent HD picture or upscale SD content to HD. If you’ve bought a TV within the past year or so, it might even have Freeview Play built-in.

Best basic Freeview box for under £40: Manhattan T1 Freeview HD Receiver.They’re easy to work with, too – all you need is a spare HDMI port on your TV and a cable to connect the two.

The same set-top boxes are also integrating streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, enabling you to switch from The Bridge on BBC to The Crown on Netflix without changing source or remote control. While basic Freeview HD is still the entry-level option, you don’t have to pay a whole lot more to get a supercharged Freeview Play unit, which moves catch-up TV services into the regular electronic programme guide (EPG). In that case, a new box could transform how – and how much – you enjoy your favourite programmes. You might be stuck with an old one with a slow, flaky interface, or that can’t handle HD channels or provide built-in catch-up TV. They also underestimate the convenience and control of having a Freeview HD box, particularly if you’re not willing or able to splash out on a subscription TV package from Virgin or Sky. These people have never missed the end of a six-episode whodunnit because the BBC has dropped it from iPlayer.

Some say the days of broadcast TV are over, and that catch-up TV services have made the PVR unnecessary.
