Distribute Now TV in HD to 2+ remote TVs

[GoodDIYjob]

I currently use the sky + HD rf out to distribute to about 3 TVs in total.

Sky costs have gone up so much. I am considering dropping it, and replacing with Now TV which is far more pay as you use orientated.

Anyway, one issue, is that because the Sky+HD box had an RF output with a modulated signal for STB channels, you could watch on any TV in house with an analogue tuner. Obviously, quality is not amazing and it was mono but very useful none the less especially for small sets or children who aren't as fussy as me when it comes to picture quality...

So, in looking at Now TV smart boxes there is very limited outputs if I am reading correctly, - 1 single HDMI if I am following. So I would need an active HDMI splitter - 2 way and a digital tv encoder like the Labgear EM1000. I already have an active 4 way splitter to distribute. I use high quality coax mostly WF100.

I think it should work and you should get HD and stereo sound compared to the old disribution of the Sky+HD rf out.

Any issues? One thing I have in the back of my mind is if the two way HDMI splitter would cause any issues with the Now TV output especially if there are any copy protection algorythms etc. applied to the signal?

Thanks

 

[Lucid]

The main one to catch folk out is that the remote TVs need to have Freeview HD tuners. It's no good if they have ordinary Freeview tuners (DVB-T). The TV encoder sends out a DVB-T2 signal, and only TVs or set top boxes with a DVB-T2 compatible tuner can pick up that signal.

If this or any other reply was helpful to you, on each one please press the THANKS button which appears when you hover the mouse pointer near the Quote Multi-quote buttons.

 

[GoodDIYjob]

Good point. I had thought about a freeview box for the one old LCD panel we have with an analogue only tuner but probably would have forgotten about the HD tuner requirement. Thanks.

 

[winston1]

The main one to catch folk out is that the remote TVs need to have Freeview HD tuners. It's no good if they have ordinary Freeview tuners (DVB-T). The TV encoder sends out a DVB-T2 signal, and only TVs or set top boxes with a DVB-T2 compatible tuner can pick up that signal.

If this or any other reply was helpful to you, on each one please press the THANKS button which appears when you hover the mouse pointer near the Quote Multi-quote buttons.

Wrong. The EM1000 is a DVB-T HD modulator, not DVB-T2. Most modern HD TVs should work, Freeview HD is not a requirement.

 

[GoodDIYjob]

Thanks v much for the input and clarification. It an easy oversight to assume the spec of transmission, or sometimes, as I have found in the past only after purchasing something, published or advertised details are wrong. And there are lots of products on the market, so I don't hold that against Lucid quickly reading my post and providing an immediate free response.... It has made me think about it a bit more.

So, looking a bit wider there is a Triax Mod 103T which has HDMI pass through (so no need to buy HDMI splitter) and it says requires either DVB-t or DVB-T2 receiver.

With Winston1 and Lucid posts, I can see my understanding of DVB-T2 is not correct. I thought DVB-T was for SD and DVB-T2 was for HD, but now I don't believe it is as simple as that. Can DVB-T carry HD, and if so would the modulator also encode SD simultaneously with HD?

The triax includes the funny statement Requires a "DVB-T or DVB-T2 compatible TV (must be 1080p or 4K UHD and not Youview and not so called HD ready)**

So not sure you could use a Non HD STB or even HD ready TV without the DVB-T2 on the Triax, basically as Lucid's first response suggested?

Many thanks

 

[winston1]

DVB-T can be HD (as in Ireland, France etc), or SD. Likewise DVB-T2 can be either. Some DVB-T2 channels in the U.K. are SD.

I would avoid the Triax as the spec implies 1080p only which some TVs may not support.

A popular one is made by a company called Edision.

 

[foxhole]

Now tv box are Very cheap , stick one on each tv , more choices .

 

[GoodDIYjob]

Thanks Winston1 and foxhole. I may go with the Edison then, a quick looks like it doesn't have HDMI pass through which is a bit of an annoyance but I suppose I could just resort to the encoded HD digital signal via coax. On a non 4k TV how much worse could it be. I am hoping line ball...

A now tv box or three! is a possibility, but they ony allow 2 simultaneous streams?

 

[foxhole]

Netflix allow up to 4.

 

[GoodDIYjob]

Ok, so here is a little brain teaser for you on a Friday night. I bought an Edison HDMI modulator. Set it up, used the default broadcast channel 43 frequency. On my new Samsung TV downstairs, no problem picks up the digital freeview channels and the HDMI distributed feed, although it comes up on assigned channel 828 which is a but bizarre - the LCT in the edison says "1".

Anyway, the more annoying problem is the set upstairs an old Sony 19" flat panel - probably 12 years old and I need to use a digital STB. So no problem, but after it scans it asks to choose a network, i.e. Edison or London. If you choose Edison, only the HDMI dist channel is stored. If you choose London all the Freeview channels are strored. But there is no manual tuning or assignment so I can't have both!!!

I even tried renaming the network off the HDMI mod from "EDISON" to LONDON but it did not merge with the London freeview network, the STB still asks to tune to 1 network.

Any other way round other than a different Freeview HD STB.....

 

[winston1]

On the first problem you must set the LCN on the modulator to an unused one. 1 is BBC 1 so not good. Maybe 7 or 8 is clear in your area or 52 or 150. Also you must select the correct ONID in the menus which is 9018 for the UK.

The second problem is more difficult but maybe the correct ONID will fix it as well. If not it's a different STB.

 

[GoodDIYjob]

Thanks for your reply - on a Friday night too. I did wonder about all those identifiers etc. I changed the ONID 9018 but it doesn't seem to have made any difference. I also tried changing the LCN first of all to 052 but it didn't seem to take as when entering the menus the number kept flashin on the modulator like the change didn't take. Then I tried changing to 152 and that seems to take but the channel still appears on 828 on the Samsung and still 2 networks on the philips STB! Looks like it may be another second hand STB! Thanks.

 

[GoodDIYjob]

So just to close this out, I could not get around the problem on the Philips STB. I bought a used Humax Fox T2 HD box and no such problem. It doesn't ask to confirm the network at the outset and it has manual tuning but scanned and saved the distributed channel anyway.

It saved it on channel 800 cw 829 on the samsung and I have changed LCN on the mod to Ch 52! Work that out?

Thanks