Here is our guide designed to help you understand the terminology used when buying a Freeview device.
- What is Freeview?
- What are Freeview +, Freeview Plus, Freeview Playback?
- Equipment – our guide to different types of Freeview devices
- Features – a Freeview related dictionary
- Alternatives – What else can I get besides Freeview?
- FAQs
What are Freeview +, Freeview Plus, Freeview Playback?
Freeview +, Freeview Plus and Freeview Playback are pretty much the same. They all add hassle-free, tape-less recording of the range of digital Freeview TV channels.
As with a Freeview receiver, all you need do is a buy a Freeview Recorder showing the Freeview + logo shown on the left, and plug it in. Both the digital tv tuner and digital tv recorder are combined in one box so there are no trailing cables cluttering up your bedroom or living room.
The Freeview + devices build on the success of Sky’s Sky+ service.
Pause, Record and Rewind on your Freeview Recorder
Recording programs is really easy – most devices have an EPG (elctronic program guide) which allows you to select the program you want to record from a tv guide on your screen. The latest improvements to Freeview + are the additions of Series Link and Accurate Recording.
If for example you want to record every episode of Coronation Street, schedule one episode to record from the EPG and then choose the series link feature. Freeview+ will then record Coronation Street every time it shows, irrespective of day and time it is showing. It even knows when not to record repeats.
Accurate Recording then takes this a step further and automatically adjusts the timings to ensure you dont miss the start or end of your desired recording. This is particularly usefulwhen a program scheduled to start at 8.00pm starts a few minutes early, at 7.57pm for example. Freeview + picks this information up from the Now & Next information and starts recording early. It is also useful if the program you are recording follows a live sports event – these often over-run their allotted time. Again, your Freeview Recorder should be alerted to this, and adjust both the start and end times accordingly.
The vast majority of Freeview Recorders have twin tuners (some even have 3) which means you can record one channel and watch another, or simultaneously record 2 different channels and watch a program that has been previously recorded. Or, if you also have TV with built-in Freeview, record 2 different channels on your Freeview Recorder and watch a 3rd channel on your TV. These features are great when kids and adults clash over who wants to watch what, or when you want to watch 2 programs that overlap each other.
Digital Storage
A Freeview Recorder stores everything digitally, usually on a hard disk drive or recordable DVD, with some fantastic added benefits. Most obviously, by eradicating the need for video tapes, you no longer need think about what is already stored on each tape and worry about having enough time left for your favourite soap.
Freeview Recorders with a hard drive are able to store hours and hours of programs – the exact capacity dictated by the size of the drive. However, it’s not always possible to directly compare devices by the size of the drive – each device uses compression technology to make the most of the space available. So some devices that use high-compression may be able to store more hours of television that a device that uses lower compression rates but has the same size hard drive. That said, you need to consider that the higher compression used, the lower quality the playback will be. For most people this wont be an issue, and some devices even let you choose what compression level you wish to record at.
Playback
Watching the programs you have recorded on your Freeview Recorder is even easier than recording them. Freeview Recorders all have their own way of showing you what is stored – usually in the form of an on-screen media library (or put simply, a list of programs!).
Because the content is stored digitally, there’s no rewinding and forwarding tapes to the right place. Usually, playback starts instantly, or within a couple of seconds at the very least. Some devices allow you to start watching where you last left-off (useful for longer programs where you watch one half one night, and the rest the following day) or alternatively to start watching after a certain number of minutes, skipping the first x minutes of the program.
You can keep programs for as long as you want, or at least until you run out of storage space. For most people this isn’t an issue as recent Freeview Recorders will store hundreds of hours of footage. But when you need to make more space, you simply use the same on-screen library to select the episodes (or series) you no longer need. It is also possible to setup your device so that it automatically records over the oldest programs when it runs out – but dont worry, you can set programs to ‘keep’ if you dont want to lose it.
More features
For a full list of features, read the next section of our Freeview Recorder Buyer’s Guide – Features
