TV live

[sdenham]

New tv customer..Engineer installed TV box yesterday, all seemed fine until service started freezing and pixelating later when using ‘live tv’. Apps seem to work ok.

After several hours in chat room and on the helpline today, factory reboot etc problem remains. Everything is ok, although it isn’t.

I can live with just viewing through the apps…except that I have a Sony Bravia tv and I am unable to view ‘live’ on ITVX. (I have done my utmost but it won’t have it).

I wish I could return to satellite but I have a community dish which isn’t being upgraded so I’m stuck with a pixelated Wi-Fi service.

I might encounter similar problems if I return to Sky and try Stream or Glass…so, can anyone advise if I try Amazon Fire Stick, will I be able to get ‘live tv’ on ITVX or will I encounter the same problem because it’s a Sony tv ( I haven’t chosen Fire Stick randomly, it apparently allows me access to Racing TV which I lost when changing from Sky to EE). I suspect that I will encounter the same problem that I have when trying to view ITVX via the Sony app or the EE app but logic went out of the window several hours ago.

Sorry for long post, any advice appreciate 

[Chris_B]

@sdenham  Are you get a error message on the screen of ITVX. Does it say program not available?  

[Midnight_Voice]

@sdenham 

In general (though there are honourable exceptions like my LG GX) apps on TVs don’t come with the Live TV option, on the grounds that the TV already provides this via broadcast. Of course, depending on circumstances, this is likely fallacious. And the BBC don’t do a version of the iPlayer without Live TV, as far as I know.

YouView boxes, as conduits for broadcast, regard themselves as like TVs in this wise 😢

But streaming devices, having no terrestrial input, generally come with apps that do have the Live TV option, for the channels put out by the authors of those apps, e.g. itv, Channel  Four, My Five, UK TV Play and others. And the BBC iPlayer, of course.

I always advocate that everyone should own at least one streaming device per TV, to provide the apps that the TV and anything plugged into it don’t offer at all, or offer incomplete as above, or that are painfully slow in operation.

My choice is the Roku Express 4K (even if you only have an HD TV),  which can be had for £39.99. Amazon Firesticks serve a similar purpose at comparable prices, though personally I prefer the simpler UI of the Rokus. There is also the Google Chromecast, though last time I looked it didn’t support the Channel Four app live, so I have discounted it.