Question Medium Sized TV with Dual/Twin Tuners?

jezston

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Looking for a new TV to get my mum to replace her ageing 28" Sony TV and Pure DVR.

Been looking at the LG 43UJ670V as the UI is nice and elderly mother friendly, it's a reasonable priec and not too big - to be honest I'd rather find something smaller than 43" but it seems this is the smallest size you can get before you start getting massive compromises.

However, she'd still like to be able to record stuff whilst watching something else. The catch up tv services may help (she uses iPlayer a lot, which is the only one the Pure DVR ever got round to supporting, despite their promises) and the LG only has a single tuner.

I'm finding it rather difficult to find TVs that have dual tuners, they often aren't listed on store's available spec list, and googling has proved immensely difficult - generally I only seem to be able to find TVs that are way, way too big (i.e. 55"+) or came out 2 years ago and are no longer available.

CRITERIA SUMMARY:

- Dual tuners
- 43" or under
- Fast, simple UI

Thanks!
 
Recording functionality on TVs even with the simpler, easier to use freeview play or youview app is incredibly limited.

For example there is no scheduled recordings or series record functionality or anything like that. Apart from one off recordings they rely completely on on demand TV for catchup, this can be a good or a bad thing whichever way you look at it.

That coupled with the fact lower sized TVs don't have dual tuners means a separate solution would still be easier to use and more functional. I would aim to find a PVR that supports HDMI CEC so she can use only the PVR remote when it comes to using the TV.

The best buy TVs, provided she views the TV head on are listed here: Guide: My best value TVs, 2017 Edition

You may notice there are no LGs listed, this is because they use IPS type panels which don't match the others with PQ unless you need wide viewing angles.
 
Cheers for the reply - few questions if you don't mind :

1. So are there no smaller TV that have dual tuners at all, or just none that you happen to know about?

2. Having a Google about, it does seem some smart tvs do have options like series record, but is it perhaps very rare?

3. What makes IPS displays bad?
 
Cheers for the reply - few questions if you don't mind :

1. So are there no smaller TV that have dual tuners at all, or just none that you happen to know about?

2. Having a Google about, it does seem some smart tvs do have options like series record, but is it perhaps very rare?

3. What makes IPS displays bad?
IPS have poor black levels compared to VA which have much better black levels.
The best LCD TV's are all VA panels.
 
So are there no smaller TV that have dual tuners at all, or just none that you happen to know about?
It's not so much that smaller TVs don't have them, it's that it's a feature only high end TVs tend to have and there's no high end TVs at smaller sizes anymore.

Having a Google about, it does seem some smart tvs do have options like series record, but is it perhaps very rare
They may but only in their own implementation. Samsung for example who don't use freeview play or youview may but then you lose any on demand TV integration. Some TVs have a separate guide for recording functionality and rely on an app for freeview play or youview which in my opinion is more complicated. Nonetheless if you want a good, reliable, functional solution you still need to go for separates. You have to add a hard drive to the TV anyway to use built in recording so you'll gain a second box anyway.

To be honest in this day and age I'd encourage her to avoid recording and to just use on demand TV. Recording shouldn't be needed unless she watched the few channels not covered by catch up.
 
Being able to record series and view much later, and be able to record other stuff than what she is watching is apparently a showstopper for my mum. Catch up TV apparently is no good for her when stuff like iPlayer only keeps the last episode or two online. She likes recording whole series.

So, alternative idea, if such a thing is possible - smaller but decent display with crap or no smart functionality that is cheap (do such things exist?) and a new Humax box?
 
Ok maybe this thread is dead now, but I'll try asking this anyway - are there any PVR freeview recorders that output 4K? Wondering if I use this TV as a dumb screen and do everything through the PVR, whether I can watch UHD content from YouTube, BBC iPlayer etc.

From a brief googling about all I could find were BT's Humax PVRs, but I don't know if they only work through BT's sport streaming service or they can just be also used as a regular freeview PVR.
 
Most catchup is available for 30 days, so if she wants to keep things beyond that period then she is going to take a hit in usability to retain both good recording functions and good smart TV.

Because there are no terrestrial broadcasts in UHD yet there are no PVRs that output UHD for Freeview.

I would not worry so much about UHD, its not a big deal like they lead you to believe. Just get a FHD model and pair it with a PVR that has smart TV also. Anything she watches in SD on an UHD TV is going to look awful (especially up sizing from a 28" TV), they really do a poor job upscaling that content.

When there are only 5 HD TV channels on freeview and only the iPlayer supports HD resolution streaming its really not a good idea to buy an UHD model for this kind of use anyway.

If you want a simple, none smart TV with HDMI CEC to use with a designated recorder the Sony 40RE45 will get a nice high contrast panel without the smart stuff.
 

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