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Aerial or internet for TV?

JohnHatter — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 11:17:14 GMT

New ProBox owner, is there any difference is signal quality for Freeview TV when using aerial or internet ? I assume they are both 1080i but wanted to check. Thank you

Re: Aerial or internet for TV?

moonie2014 — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 12:38:21 GMT

Picture quality is far superior in IP mode, more channels in HD, even the SD channels are better quality. However, not all Freeview channels are available in IP mode.

Re: Aerial or internet for TV?

NigelB72 — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 12:49:30 GMT

I agree with @moonie2014 .. SD quality is much better in IP Mode and HD channel quality is better as they're 1080p rather 1080i

Re: Aerial or internet for TV?

phil_allen — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 23:15:30 GMT

Agreed, much better quality, fewer channels (Dave & Food Channel were biggies for me). I had a problem where whenever network connection was lost, it was never recovered without rebooting the box and any recordings scheduled didn't happen so I swapped back to aerial.

Such a shame really, I know it would have been a bit more difficult technically but a blended solution that used IP when available, aerial when not would have been ideal - don't forget that even under an aerial solution, there's a good few channels higher up the channel numbers that are already delivered over IP.

Re: Aerial or internet for TV?

JohnHatter — Sat, 25 Feb 2023 10:16:05 GMT

Interesting, I have a a good aerial signal from Crystal Palace, I set it up both ways, couldnt see much difference on HD channels which is all I watch. So opted for aerial, partly because I didnt want to be relying on Broadband connection, and because I can record 4 programs at once.

Re: Aerial or internet for TV?

NigelB72 — Sat, 25 Feb 2023 10:25:53 GMT

@JohnHatter interesting because BT push the terrestrial IP channels out at a higher bitrate, lower compression and higher resolution than Freeview so technically it is better.

Re: Aerial or internet for TV?

JohnHatter — Sat, 25 Feb 2023 10:34:12 GMT

I’ll have another look, maybe it’s my eyesight 🙂.

Re: Aerial or internet for TV?

JohnHatter — Sat, 25 Feb 2023 11:06:24 GMT

Another question...if the ProBox is set up to receive Internet (better) signal, does it put the same “better” signal out through the RF pass through to the TV?

Re: Aerial or internet for TV?

David500 — Sat, 25 Feb 2023 15:05:26 GMT

No. The RF pass through to the TV only passes the aerial signal, if an aerial is connected to the STB, to the TV.