Why do I see ITV3 HD and ITV4 HD on my mini-box but not on my main EETV box?

[imacken]

On my mini-box, I can see ITV3 HD and ITV4 HD, but they are just not there on my main box, SD only.  Mini is internet only and main is aerial plus internet connection.

Why is this?

[zulu17]

Hi @imacken 

 Your Box Mini has no aerial inputs so receives its Freetoair channels in Ip mode.

Your Box Pro has (optional ) aerial input which if used receives the Freeview transmitter broadcast streams, or alternatively you can  use the iPmode to receive the Freetoair channels.

IP mode  .. fewer channels but more in HD and some better quality SD channels than the aerial Freeview reception, (also in Ip mode BBC recordings  are available  via IPlayer).

[imacken]

OK, but if the main box uses IP for most channels, why can't it see the same ones that the mini box does?

Not sure what you mean by the iPlayer comment. I can see the same iPlayer options on the main  and mini boxes.  Maybe I am misunderstanding what you mean.

[zulu17]

@imacken 

Probably best to have a read of

https://ee.co.uk/help/tv-sport/manage-use/modes

It is your choice (assuming  you have an aerial) as to which mode you set up your Box Pro with.

(Nothing  to stop you putting the Box Pro into IpMode and using your aerial  feed direct into your TV and have an alternative  route to view Freeview  channels directly  using your TVs own tuner).

[imacken]

Thanks, but it makes no sense to me that if I unplug the aerial I get ITV3/4 HD, and if I plug it back in, I can't. The vast majority of channels are coming from the internet and not the aerial, so as the channels are available, why can't they be accessed?

[zulu17]

ITV3/4 HD are not broadcast from the (Freeview) transmitters that aerial reception picks up the signal  from , Most of the [Freeview) multiplexes have SD quality transmissions , the capacity on the HD multiplex is full with the main PSB Channels and other BBC channels.

[imacken]

Thanks. What I meant was why can’t it get the channels from the same source as the mini box. 
Makes no sense to me. I’m sure technically there is a good reason, but logically, no!

[zulu17]

@imacken 

Well you can switch the mode of your Box Pro to Internet mode , that link I posted has a "How to switch  modes option".  ( there should now be a Reset and Keep Recordings option in Factory  reset).

[imacken]

Of course, but the no-skipping ads on Internet mode is why I use the aerial. Total show-stopper for me.

I guess I'll give up trying to understand the logic of why these channels can't be got from the same source as other internet channels on the box, or the mini box.  I mean why can't they be accessed from the Internet if not avaiable on the aerial?

[Midnight_Voice]

@imacken 

A good question, as that’s how Freely do it, with channels available over the internet delivered over the internet, and channels not available over the internet taken from the aerial, if an aerial is plugged in. Developed, like the Box Pro, by YouView.

But EETV doesn’t do it that way, and if they wanted it, they would have to ask YouView to develop it. And as you would perhaps expect, Freely might not be thrilled to lose their USP in that way, so YouView could have a conflict of interest there. So it could be unlikely to happen 😢

The way I work is to have a Box Pro and a Box Mini on the same TV, with Multiroom, and with the Box Pro in Aerial Mode. Then I use the Box Mini, mostly, but switch to the Box Pro for the broadcast channels the Box Mini hasn’t got, and for recordings,

In Aerial Mode, I get real recordings off the BBC iPlayer, and can skip the ads on ITV channels,

If I wanted HD recordings from the internet channels, then I could run the Box Pro in IP Mode, run another earlier YouView box (a DTR-T4000) for broadcast etc., and not bother with the Box Mini; I don’t, but I could, and there are all sorts of permutations of setups possible to get exactly what you want.