English TV in France

[cherries]

Please can anyone tell me if it is possible to receive French television through an English TV, someone told us it was if you had the right make of TV but I don't know which make !  Is there any type of  modern gadget that can make this possible - Please can anyone help ? Many thanks 

[Dog]

Do you mean in France or UK?

Either way it is possible - whatever your TV as long as it's less from this century.

[cherries]

Just realised what I'd put ! Yes I need an English TV to work in our home in France, the other thought I've had is, will we need a new aerial ?

 

[AnOther]

You're confusing the matter even more now cherries.

You ask about receiving 'French television through an English TV' then decide that you do need an English TV to do it so what exactly is that you want to do [8-)]

If taking standard analogue signals off air, think the equivalent of traditional BBC, ITV etc. in UK, then most TV's made in the last 10 years or more will be multi standard so you can choose between English PAL or Franch SECAM. Will you need a new aerial, depends what, if anything, you've got and again, what you want to do.

[Ron Avery]

Its easy to get the French TV stations 1 to 6 if you have a modern UK or French TV with AV sockets.  You just get an analogue satellite kit from your local brico, "install it" and use that on the AV2 and the UK Sky if you have it, on the AV1 or vice versa.  It gets more complicated if you have a DVD or video player.

[Martin963]

Oh dear oh dear how ever many times I say it.......

Most modern  (but not all),  British sourced TV's will work in France for French off air analogue TV.    Most older ones from Britain  (ie pre 2000) won't.

It's quite simple:   find the instruction book and look under Specifications.

The British system is system I with PAL colour,  sometimes abbreviated to I/PAL.

The French system is L with SECAM colour,  abbreviated to L/SECAM

For example,   the Germans use B/G with PAL,   and the old east block used D/K with SECAM.

It isn't JUST the colour system,  more fundamental is the letter designation,   ie L.    So if the book says L/SECAM you'll be OK,  provided you have a working aerial of course.   It has to be said that many so called multi-standard TV's were just that,  but with the notable exception of the French (!!) system,  which in earlier times was harder to accommodate using standard electronic components of the day.

As Ron says,   an analogue sat system will sort out the L problem,   but an older set may still not respond to SECAM colour.   We have four TV's scattered about that won't handle SECAM,  all bought since 1991.

If you have TNT digital French TV broadcasting in your area,  then a "Freeview" box or integrated set should work as the systems have effectively converged in this domain.   You probably need a good aerial though unless you're favourably situated.

There is no problem using a digital sat box (either for basic French TV or for British TV) as the standards problem vanishes here too.

[Clarkkent]

I think that it is worth adding to the excellent summary above that in the next three or four years it is likely that all analogue signals will be switched off, after which it will not matter whether the tv is PAL or SECAM.

Any new tv should have an integrated digital tuner (Freeview), which will work in both countries. An older tv will need an appropriate set-top box.

[Martin963]

Good point Clarkkent.    Last areas to switch off still scheduled for 30th Nov 2011,   although many areas change earlier.  

As you say,   in the digital domain there is no problem (there are "problems" of other kinds,   but not the colour coding). 

I shall really miss SECAM,   it's given me a lot of interest over the years,   and when it's working well it's superb (as witness the quality of the pics on AB3).

Less robust than PAL in the real environment though.

[Ron Avery]

Have I missed something?  Why will you mis SECAM in France Martin?  As far as I know there are no plans for France to go over to 100% digital.............  are there?

[Clair]

[quote user="Ron Avery"]Have I missed something?  Why will you mis SECAM in France Martin?  As far as I know there are no plans for France to go over to 100% digital.............  are there?[/quote]

Ron, you may have missed this thread: http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1577534/ShowPost.aspx

[Ron Avery]

Thanks Clair, so suggesting the OP gets a satellite and analogue box might not be the best idea,[:$]

Mind you if they fork out for an aerial for French TV and possibly a signal amplifier as is needed in a lot of places, the whole satellite kit could still be cheaper and they can use the dish and LNB for the digital system.

[Martin963]

I shall only miss SECAM in the sense that I'm a bit "contrary" and it's been interesting battling with an alternative (and earlier of course) colour system.

It would have been far easier if the French had adopted PAL,  but hey where would the fun in that have been?

And their decision (along with system L) did keep Japanese imports out for years.    I've read that it was de Gaulle himself who decided they'd stick with SECAM even when there was still the opportunity to adopt PAL (ie the various colour systems were still undergoing engineering tests) even though by that time the advantages of PAL under noisy and phase-compromised reception conditions were self evident.

In the end both systems were improved in performance by better more stable electronics and clever tweaks so that today there's little to choose between them.

[Martin963]

I think for some people (particularly if they want TF1 and M6) the analogue sat route (at €35 all in for the equipment) is still perfectly sensible,   as long as they know their TV can handle SECAM.    Ron's advice is sound with the proviso that it will only last for another 32 months or so.    I'm beginning to think that life as we know it may only be around for about the same length of time,   so analogue closure may well only be a minor irritation compared to all our other hardships!!

AB3 sat analogue will stay (as far as any of us can tell) until 30th Nov 2011for the reasons outlined in the accompanying thread Clair pointed too.

If you're happy with just France 2/3/5/Arte/Parl then AB3 digital is a better bet,   although even that feed has (had) a sword of Damocles hanging over it until last October.

As was pointed out elsewhere,  yet another digital version on sat has been mooted by the government which they've propsed should be freely available,   but I and others are of the opinion that the government haven't really thought that one through properly.

We shall see.....