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Hi Gers32 - To receive French terrestrial channels you need SECAM (as opposed to  PAL). Some (modern) TVs receive both types of signal. Look at the specification page in the manual to find out which yours is.

Electrically speaking, any TV will work with a DVD or video player.

Hope that helps you a bit.

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Hi,

A UK tv, operating under the PAL system will show sound and pictures under the French SECAM system. It will NOT however display colour pictures, only monochrome. Otherwise everything else works okay.

French digital tv can be seen in colour with a UK tv as the signals are broadcast in PAL. Hope this clears up your query.

Pete  

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Oh dear, there ought to be a sticky on this, although the situation will finally resolve itself end 2011.

To pick up French analogue terrestrial transmissions (ie the sort of TV we've known since WWII) a set has to be capable of receiving "SYSTEM L" signals with SECAM colour. A set that can't display System L (and many British sets can't, although moderner ones often can) will not even display a black and white picture, (mainly because the sync pulses are the wrong way up and the picture modulation is +ve in France, not -ve as in Britain).

Britain uses SYSTEM I with PAL colour.

You have to get the "system" right first, the colour (PAL or SECAM) is a bolt-on to the system.

I labour the point (and have done for many years) because you may be disappointed to lug a British TV all the way to France thinking that it will work on French analogue signals when in fact there's a good chance it won't, not even in black and white. It's important because there are British-sold sets around that can decode SECAM when a base-band (AV) signal is fed to the SCART socket, but cannot "tune " correctly for French TV when confronted with an aerial.

However, if you live in an area covered by digital terrestrial TV then a DTT box or integrated TV will almost certainly function in France (picking up French TV of course) unless it's a very early model (pre-2001 or has an OnDigital badge, some of these early ones can't cope with the 8k symbolling in use on French TNT.)

If analogue French TV from an aerial doesn't interest you then you don't have to worry at all, a British set will work with a Sky box.

If you must bring a TV over from Britain, want to watch French TV, and don't have TNT coverage, then a glance at the manual (specifications section) will tell you which systems the TV can cover, look for I/PAL or PAL/I (which is the British system), and then check that there's also a mention of L/SECAM or SECAM/L.

Sorry to nit pick.
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I bow to your greater technical knowledge Martin [:)]

I had quite forgotten that we have never connected to the French Secam system via the aerial socket. Our analogue box was always hooked up to the tv via a scart and it worked just as I described.

I guess things have moved on so much since 1978, the last time Iworked on a TV!!

Pete

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Well I realise that it's a fine distinction, but it can mena the difference between a TV working and not working on French signals. But depending on the size of the TV (this one sounds huge!!) a second set can be jolly useful, even if it's only detined to be used on Astra 2 and other digital fare.
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