Freeview recording restrictions

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Rikkitic

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Topic # 151895 9-Sep-2014 12:19

Can anyone tell me what restrictions Freeview-approved boxes place on recordings? I just saw a comment on Trade Me about a Freeview box encrypting recordings so they can only be played back on the same box. How exactly are FTA recordings restricted?

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CraigHumphrey

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Reply # 1124956 9-Sep-2014 12:25

Assuming that all Freeview certified boxes are the same/similar...

My MagicTV MTV3700 encrypts all HD recordings, so they can only be played back on the same device, or thanks to a recent update, another MTV3700 on the same network.

Because the likes of TV3 broadcast in 1080p all the time, this means that even non-HD programs are recorded in HD and encrypted.

On the flipside, it also means that the likes of the +1 channels and Prime are never HD, so are never encrypted.

Disclaimer: It's been a while since I specifically tested this. And at the time confirmed that there didn't appear to be a way to decrypt the recordings.

B1GGLZ

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Reply # 1124981 9-Sep-2014 12:49

Ive had 2 different Panasonic Freeview Recorders over the last 4 years. First one was a BW880 and later a BWT720. Up until April 2013 I was unable to transfer full HD recordings to my PC although I could burn them to Blu Ray disc and transcode to SD on DVD disc. They showed as encrypted in the menu and non-transferable. Programs transmitted in HD format that didn't have HD content were OK to transfer and SD recordings were no problem. Since April 2013 I've been able to transfer to PC for editing and also burn to disc and no longer see the encrypted Icon in the menu. I don't know what changed but I'm happy. Any external USB HDD connected to the Recorder are registered (up to 8 of them) to that particular recorder and will not play any recordings to PC or any other machine. Strange logic when the recordings can easily be transferred to PC from the internal HDD.

Rikkitic

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Reply # 1125018 9-Sep-2014 13:28

Thanks for the info. This is exactly the kind of thing I want to know. I have had a non-approved PVR box for years and it records everything with no issues at all. I usually edit and keep HD content as transport stream files and play back off the USB drive when I want to. Unfortunately, the STB is now becoming unreliable and I am looking for a replacement. A couple of people suggested HTPC but I don‘t want to go that route at this time. Things I hope to avoid in a new STB are FAT32 recording, which splits films into multiple files, and the 2-hour EPG. I have found a couple of STBs that work with NTFS drives but so far nothing with Freeview EPG that doesn’t also have recording restrictions. I don’t know if such a thing even exists so that is why I am trying to find out as much as possible about it. If I have to choose, I will go for another box without usable EPG but of course it would be nice to have the EPG as well.

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sbiddle

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Reply # 1125023 9-Sep-2014 13:31

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FYI TV1, TV2 and TV3 broadcast in 1080i. There are no 1080p broadcast, and will probably never be due to the bandwidth used.

CraigHumphrey

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Reply # 1125028 9-Sep-2014 13:46

sbiddle: FYI TV1, TV2 and TV3 broadcast in 1080i. There are no 1080p broadcast, and will probably never be due to the bandwidth used.

My bad, I'm just used to typing 1080p and don't particularly distinguish it from 1080i, as I don't usually need to.

Rikkitic

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Reply # 1125088 9-Sep-2014 14:41

So are there any HD boxes that have the mheg5 epg but not the recording restrictions that go with Freeview approved?

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B1GGLZ

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Reply # 1125246 9-Sep-2014 19:00

Rikkitic: So are there any HD boxes that have the mheg5 epg but not the recording restrictions that go with Freeview approved?

Yes. As I said, the Panasonics don't seem to have any recording restrictions now other than with external USB HDDs. If you have Windows 8.1 then the recorder will show up on the network as another device so not necessary now to transfer files using a Media Server such as Twonky which I had to with Win 7.