duffer

Hi TestaRossa,

Do they broadcast the Rai, Mediaset,etc in 16:9 widescreen? I mean, the BBC were broadcasting in widescreen about 5 years ago. Here in Italy you can't avoid but buy a widescreen TV however when it comes to the normal terrestrial signal you get diddlysquat widescreen!

Come on Italian TV: Get out of the dark ages!

TestaRossa

I'll check. We only have a piddling 14" at the moment. Not having had TV as it were for 9 months it's not been a priority to get a decent box, but we are going to shortly - my UK TV packed up just before we came out here and I had been told not to bother bringing my TV's with me anyway! (I'm bringing two old one's out to stick the playstation and a dvd player on in the kids rooms anyway!!). I know the option is available in the setup menu, so I assume they must be.

I know the only way to tell in the UK was when the football was on BBC - then I had 2 black vertical lines on each side of the picture! If I can I will let you know.

duffer

At the moment I have to put up with the picture being stretched to fill the 16:9 screen. So it's really difficult to tell who has a big bum...

TestaRossa

Any ideas where is a good place to get a new TV from? I'm after an LCD about 24 inches tops - a massive screen really don't fit with where I live now! Refined, small and discrete is more the thing !!!

TestaRossa

The choice to switch from 4:3 to 16:9 is there but because of my c****y tv I can't say whether the programmes on Rai etc. are widescreen or not - changing the setting made no difference 'cos the tv is a normal portable! It might say on the Rai website? I know in the UK when it was new thing to show programmes in widescreen it used to, same way they do for HD programmes now.

jdr

I have a 42inch plasma and even with some widescreen dvd`s I cant get them to the right size.
If you get them to fill the screen, you miss some of the picture, but some are ok, strange !
Our cable supply tv it seems like every channel is a different size. ;-(

duffer

There are some rebates on offer at the moment regarding buying new HD tvs. These vary depending the actual cost of the TV. We got ours ages ago from Mediaworld who seem to have a wide choice. Also, we have Elettrocasa nearby who can offer sound advice. Pop into either and ask regarding the rebate but before doing it definitely have a budget and try and stick to it!

TestaRossa

Ha, budget what's one of them!

Last night a prog on Mediaset or Rai (!) was definitely in widescreen as I had the black bands top and bottom.

Thanks for the TV advice. I will check Mediaworld. We have Expert and Euronics as well so I will give them a look too. Interesting there are discounts on HD already - wonder if they uptake isn't so good due to lack of programmes? There certainly don't seem to be as many SKY channels with it as there is in the UK. Mind you what would all the velines really look like in HD?!!

duffer

The discount is actually a VAT/IVA rebate therefore its 20%. I'm not exactly sure how the discount works but it's not only for LCD TVs but all electrical appliances that are energy efficient, i.e. fall into the A or A+ energy rating. The LCD TVS are more energy efficient than your standard CRT.

I presume that you need to be resident or have the electric in your name to claim the IVA back. You'll need to check this out. With temperatures of 37 degrees today I'm thinking of putting some AC into our flat! That 20% saving certainly will help with the cold beers!

duffer

Remember that some DVDs are in 2.35:1 therefore even on a 16:9 widescreen TV you will have the black bars top and bottom. Check the settings on your DVD player, depending on the cabling (i.e. scart rgb, component, composite, etc) you should have the TV switch automatically to the correct format. You will clearly be able to see who has a big bum.

mazi

As it's a rebate - does that mean i can go back with my receipts and claim for all our stuff?

duffer

Depends on what you bought, when you bought it and if it has an energy efficiency rating of A+ or something like that. There is also a maximum rebate amount in any case.

duffer

OK, for those interested:

I finally had my satellite dish installed on Monday.
Paid 150 euro for dish, fittings and installation.
Paid 30 euro for Sky UK free-to-view viewing card from site member dcswiftly.
Received a Pace Sky+ digibox for free from a friend who had this decoder lying about unused because he had upgraded to Sky Hi-Def.

Now instead of watching rubbish on Italian TV there is rubbish on English TV!

But seriously, I can receive all BBC, ITV, C4 and C5 channels including C5 US, C5 Life and Film Four. Didn't have the dish installed in time, unfortunately, for Wimbledon tennis (BBC) or the cricket (C4).

The BBC are showing all England home football matches. Channel 5 are showing live Italian football on Sundays

I am using an 85cm diameter dish and am in Vicenza, north east Italy.

Only concern at the moment is losing the signal for about a couple of hours in the evening on the BBC and ITV channels.

jdr

Sounds like a good deal ;-)
You may get a better reception if you tune it to a different UK area, you get a better signal here from the channel islands apparently.
Have a search on the Spanish forum.

duffer

That's right. For me BBC1 SE works better. But last night all the regional BBC channels were breaking up. I'm concerned because it occurred at round about the same time that England will be playing the match tomorrow