All posts by Roy
Below are all of Roy's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Hi Chris,
I've spoken to Freeview who subsequently passed me onto Panasonic and I've summarised the situation below, in case anyone else may be suffering anything similar.
Essentially, Panasonic are saying that the sitution is "not fixable". They are saying that it is due to the age of the TV (a 2010 model) - and the technology that they deployed within the TV is "no longer capable of processing or decoding and displaying the EPG data". Thanks. So, I have a perfectly good Panasonic TV, with built-in Freeview and Freesat that is rendered (to a degree) worthless as a result - in other words, I'm out of luck! My choices appear to be: keep the TV and return to using Date/Time information from a "paper" guide to facilitate setting up recordings etc, as per the old days; or junk the TV and buy a replacement....which seems a bit of overkill just to re-instate an EPG !
I think my 30+ years of brand loyalty to Panasonic just ended, because I think it will be more cost effective to buy a cheap set top box, such that I can bin it if/when future EPG issues break the hardware, rather than having to bin a perfectly functional several-hundred-pound TV.
Cheers,
Roy
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Hi Mike/s,
Thank you very much for making the time and effort to consider and explore my issues with your colleagues and for your subsequent advice and responses - all are very much appreciated.
I have followed up on your advice and checked out the firmware level on my Panasonic, and sadly, it is already
on the latest level of firmware available for this TV (even though it is now several years old - as you outlined they clearly don't maintain updates for specific models for too long - not beyond 2012 in my specific case!). Just to be sure, I downloaded the most reccent firmware level available for the TV, loaded it onto USB, and carried out the update process; the TV then identified that it already had the latest level installed so would not proceed further with the upgrade.
Your suggestion about "consider the TV to be a panel" and upgrade the functionality by what you connect to it is very encouraging (for me) as it was a conclusion that I was coming around to - ie: (unless or until there is a
specific reason for me to upgrade the TV itself -ie: size, definition etc) - why don't I just acquire a "cheap sub-30 import set top box" instead of purchasing a(nother) several-hundred-pound branded TV. That way, when software "breaks it again" (as I'm sure it will) I'm only junking a 30 device instead of something more expensive.
Your advice regarding consideration to PVR functionality and the Humax brand is also welcome - thank you, as I now have practical options to consider.
Finally, I do find it frustrating that I have various items of Panasonic hardware that are more than 25 years old
that still perform like new - and it's why I've been brand-loyal to them for many years. The difference is (I
believe) that most modern equipment is now increasingly reliant upon software, and the quaility of the software design, code and implementation/maintainability is far inferior to (doesn't match) the quality of the hardware, thus the software breaks before the hardware does.....I saw this scenario (in a different context) many times before retiring from my 40-year IT career - and I do wonder if the likes of Panasonic (and of course others) will turn out to be the architects of their own demise.
Best regards,
Roy
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Thanks for your help and advice also Chris, and I share your view that major brands have become complacent and not really interested in customer service - hence no firmware upgrade to resolve my issue. Of course, people like me are probably not the sort of customers that they want - ie: someone who keeps a TV for 8 years or more - they want customers who change every year or two - despite that approach contributing to the huge "electrical waste mountain". Ironically, although I tend to keep my tech, alongside it, I buy more/different tech; this has been predominantly from Panasonic, so they have benefitted from me being their customer over many years. I say that in the past tense, because that highway has now turned into a cul-de-sac, and my approach going forward will be vastly different - hence I wonder if they (and others) are ultimately architects of their own demise.
Best regards,
Roy
ps: Thanks for the heads-up regarding LG - I know someone who bought a small (~20") LG for a restricted space in a study, and they have been very, very pleased with it.
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Nice one nmugford....nothing wrong with old technology...it's only new stuff that these days rarely lives long enough to become old stuff!
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I agree largely with JCS Jackson, but not solely from a cost perspective.
I don't have, nor do I want a Smart TV. I have been an IT professional for 40 years and I make use of the internet for specific purposes that suit me. However, I do not want to watch (or listen) to "digital content". I watch broadcast TV and I listen to broadcast Radio. Very ocasionally I will login to the BBC to watch a programme that I have missed and then logout again - usually for many more months. I may be considered "old fashioned" - that's OK, I'm happy with that - but I watch programmes, as broadcast, on a "dumb" TV and I listen to audio, as broadcast, on a Radio, whether at home or in the car. I do not want to watch or listen to content on those "answers looking for a question" devices such as Android mobile phones (which I use for calls or SMS) and Tablets, PC's such as laptops or desktops (which I use for computing activities) - ie: just because you can doesn't mean I want to or that it's a good idea. If or when the BBC stop "broadcasting" and I have to move to "digital" (because there is no other option) then it won't involve the BBC in any form.
I believe BBC is an acronym for British BROADCASTING Corporation and once the broadcasting aspect diminishes or ceases then, in due course, so will the BBC.
I do appreciate that this is just one (my) view and that some will be on the same page as myself and others will have a 180 degree opposite view - and that is the difficulty for the BBC because, ultimately, they cannot please everyone - and at the end of the day they will opt for pleasing the majority rather than the minority. Unfortunately, I think they will venture too far down the digital road such that they lose many of their longstanding supporters/viewers but will not gain the volume of new supporters/viewers that they are aiming for or expecting/hoping to get - because they will simply be unable to compete successfully with commercial providers that are "financially comfortable". In other words, I think they are in danger of "funding their own demise" and it won't be that long coming.
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Cris.SE:
You're absolutely right of course - but that's why I placed "digital" in quotes so that I could respond in the same context as both the originator (ie: digital first) and the person that I was largely agreeing with - JCS Jackson, and of course I do recall the DSO from analog and all of the different experiences that it presented - good and bad. Gone was the "snowy picture" (black, white and umpteen shades in between) that you could still watch when the signal was poor, or you sought to pick up a station out of your area, replaced by digital 0 (off) or 1 (on) pixels to present "blocks of nothing" when the signal was affected by various detrimental circumstances. I agree with you that it will become increasingly difficult to buy a non-smart TV soon (although there is still a plentiful supply currenty), and that it doesn't force you to connect a smart TV to the internet (or indeed connect set-top boxes to the internet). If or when broadcasting does cease, perhaps the mobile blackspot that our area "enjoys" will by then be addressed. It's good to learn that TV Broadcasting is licensed until 2034, and if it were to cease at that point, then it's highly unlikely to be any form of issue for me!
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Page 2
Thursday 29 November 2018 9:43AM
Hi Chris,
Thanks for your reply. Yes, still have the same issue - but only on this TV....other TV's in the house are OK.
Whilst I have no knowledge or understanding on how this (EPG) works, my theory is that (as the TV is quite old - ie: ~7 years) - perhaps the format of EPG data (or possibly the volume of it) has changed and somehow exceeded the capability of the TV to either decode or store it....but as I say, that's just a "novice theory".
I'll take your advice and call Freeview and see what they have to say.
Thanks again for responding.
Best regards,
Roy