Irish television channels have always been available through uhf/vhf aerials or analogue to the trade.This analogue service will cease to be on 24 October 2012 (analogue switch off or digital switch over) This date also applies to the UK analogue channels. This service is being replaced by Saorview which is still available through a traditional uhf aerial (decoder or mpeg4 tv required) and also in spring of 2012 it will be available by satellite (saorsat ,saorview by satellite) This satellite will require a special lnb and will be available on Ka-sat@9E.
An approved Saorview dtt box is recommended.These boxes have mpeg5 for teletext and interactive services however there are many non approved boxes that do the same job and are cheaper.
Update 27 feb 2012
This week triax have lauched a Saorsat/Satellite combo box that is approved by Saorview. Te Triax TSC114.This box is full hd and has a few more features than it’s predecessor and is a lot more expensive retailing around €189.(see products)
There are a number of ways to receive the service
- An MPEG4 Digital Ready Television
- NB: Digital Ready Televisions manufactured for the UK market will not work if they don’t have mpeg4
- A dedicated DTT box
- Best Option: A DTT satellite combo box which will combine all your channels on one menu
- In the majority of cases any wide band UHF aerial properly aligned will receive the service
- Saorview by satellite special lnb required(see recording sectin on homepage)
