Posts by Nigel Whitfield.

Sony Bravia KDL-46EX403 46in LCD TV

MP3, DLNA and grisly incompatibilities

I think there's (mea culpa) an error regarding to MP3; I meant to say it's the same as the other Bravias - ie music only works when transcoded to MP3. Sometimes my brain works faster than my typing fingers.

Regarding AVC HD what I mean there is the format as produced directly from an AVCHD camcorder, eg the MTS files that they spew out. And it was certainly reluctant to do anything with those, whereas other sets I've tested to manage quite happily to play them back. Perhaps some more judicious fiddling with MIME types would solve that.

DLNA configuration is perhaps worth an article on its own; the certification essentially specifies only a couple of mandatory types (like MPEG2 video) and anything above and beyond that is pretty much optional. So, yes, it's far too easy to pass, and the result is that a lot of people who imagine that it means something about compatibility are going to end up finding that things don't play, or that they have to spend ages tinkering about with their media server configuring additional MIME types.

And that, of course, completely goes against the whole idea of DLNA being a simple (for the end user) means of sharing information around the home - it's hardly plug and play if you have to carefully compare brands of servers and TVs to get the result you want, without resorting to manual configuration of MIME types. Unless the DLNA people get their heads round this, many ordinary punters will come to the conclusion that their logo doesn't mean anything useful at all.

I have a feeling that some of this is going to become even more confusing too; with some Freeview HD PVRs planning on offering streaming, and the need to respect the Freeview HD content controls when they do, you'll have a whole extra layer of complexity added on top of the basic question of whether or not your TV will cope with the format that's being streamed to it. A cynic might suggest that, ultimately, the big brands making the TVs would be happiest if you forgot about DLNA and just decided "Sony TV needs Sony streaming server" and so forth.

As mentioned, I have a wide selection of files that I test with; in the time available to test out a TV, it's not entirely practical to also spend hours tweaking the configuration of the server for each one, to see if the attached TVs can be prodded into being more receptive.

Yes, actually

Yes, I tested it. With a Synology NAS; and a large selection of files in Xvid, DivX, AVI, MOV, assorted transport stream formats, MKV, MTS, VOB and a few others - files that I keep specifically for this sort of purpose.

As noted, it will not play many of those formats natively; video support via DLNA is extremely limited, unless you have a transcoding server. Likewise audio.

And, frankly, while you might hgave a PS3 Media Server, many readers will not. Given that a large number of sets do play a wide variety of media using DLNA, without the need for a transcoding server, and the Sony does not, I think that's entirely fair to point out.

There is a world of difference between playing a format directly, and being able to play it only with a small selection of DLNA servers that can transcode on the fly. Many readers would rightly be annoyed with we said "it'll play all your video via DLNA" only to find out that they had to replace their streaming server.

The evidence is in the review; short of filming myself browsing my media server for the benefit of anonymous snipers, I'm not sure what other evidence would suffice.

For example...

The Sharp Quattron that was included in the Freeview HD roundup a little while back didn't appear to suffer quite as badly on SD material.

However, if you're determined to watch lots of SD, rather than HD, in my view you would be better off going for a smaller set anyway - and there are plenty of contenders there. You could always look a the reviews section of the site for more.

Tested with Synology

I tested the DLNA with my Synology NAS, which will transcode the audio to a format that the Sony deems acceptable, but sadly doesn't do video.

Even so, it is pretty bonkers to have a device that will play a format by USB, but refused to do so via DLNA, no?

We've updated a caption to reflect the fact that iPlayer is now available; it wasn't at the time I wrote the review (which, as the astute will gather, was during the Tour de France).

Smartphone buyers want Apple, Android

Because it's America?

The article suggests that it's US punters who were asked, and the presence of Symbian in the US market is negligible (though of course that's certainly not the case there).

And with only one current product using Maemo, and none using Meego yet, it's hardly surprising they don't figure on buyers' radar.

Amazon browserizes Kindle book samples

Many are much better

My local bookstore (Stoke Newington Bookshop) is very good, and if they don't have what I want, they'll get it in within 48 hours for me.

So, personally, I'd be very sad to see local bookshops disappear. I think it would be a shame if the only way of buying certain types of material (gay, political, and plenty of others, I'm sure) was by handing over credit card, name and address details to a large company.

Net TV to consign Net Neutrality debate to dustbin of history. Why?

Free ride?

I'd hardly say that the BBC is getting a free ride - they pay for their internet connectivity, after all, and it's a pretty hefty sum, getting that data to a place where it interconnects with the other ISP networks.

Of course, after that, yes, it takes up space on the network - just like traffic from every other service.

I don't see a really good argument for charging companies like the BBC or YouTube, but of course it's an attractive proposition to the ISPs, because they get someone to blame, and they can try and dip their fingers in the licence fee pot to prop up their failing business plans.

The real problem, of course, is that for years ISPs have been competing in a race to the bottom, claiming to offer the fastest, most unlimited services, for the lowest price possible, and shedding every bit of cost that they can, in the name of greater shareholder value.

As a result, they have creaking networks that can't serve the needs of some of their users. They should be investing money in those networks, rather than lining the pockets of shareholders for short term benefit.

And yes, perhaps some users will have to pay a premium for a less restricted service. If they complain, the main cause of that is surely not the BBC or anyone else providing IPTV services - it's the fault of the ISPs who pretended they were selling an unlimited resource, with misleading advertising ad obscure 'fair use' limits, when they really weren't doing anything of the sort.

Even without IPTV, the broadband that many people have been sold doesn't match up to the description. Attempting to put the blame at the door of broadcasters is shifting the blame; IPTV is a convenient think to point at, but we'd have reached the same point sooner or later, thanks to the unwillingness of so many companies to take a long term view.

WD Livewire four-port powerline Ethernet adaptor

Not quite

That's a standard PoE switch; what I'm referring to (and presumably the person above) is a PoE unit with HomePlug built in - something like the units available from GigaFast http://www.gigafast.com/OEM/products/ethernet_power_supply_av.html but in a plug-top form factor, rather than the wall or desk mount options they provide.

I've seen one

I was looking for the same thing, but the only one I found was about the size of this unit, which is a bit too big for my liking.

What I'd really like is something the size of a typical single HomePlug unit with PoE - for me, it would be ideal for VoIP, effectively allowing any phone socket to be used for telephony.

I keep nagging the people at Solwise about the idea.

Miliband retains Labour line on DNA and CCTV

Really?

Pausing briefly to snigger at the thought of "CCTV in pubic areas", have there really been many cases where crimes have been solved by CCTV? I'd love to see a decent source for that.

Certainly, many people are of the view that CCTV merely displaces criminal activity to areas where there is no coverage. According to a report in the Telegraph last year, a Met report stated "For every 1,000 cameras in London, less than one crime is solved per year."

Meanwhile, a report this January in the Standard claimed "Met figures show a 71 per cent drop in the number of crimes "in which CCTV was involved" from 416,000 in 2003-04 to 121,770 in 2008-09. The number of these crimes which led to a charge, summons or caution fell from 47,000 to 23,000.

The proportion of all crimes solved using CCTV in London fell from half in 2003-04 to one in seven in 2008-09. "

So, I think many would dispute an assertion that is has solved so many serious crimes that we shouldn't be worried about privacy implications

Nokia E5 Qwertyphone

VoIP on E72

I don't have any problems at all using VoIP on my E72 connected to my WPA/WPA2 network. Nor, indeed when I'm getting it to connect via 3G data and a PPTP tunnel as well, even when there are other network apps running in the background too.

Nor, indeed, do Bluetooth or WiFi appear to be affected by taking the battery cover off - other than by the fact that you need to keep a finger on the battery to stop it dropping out, which would obviously affect the connection somewhat.

Philips 32PFL9705 Ambilight 32in LED backlit TV

Bonkers remote

That remote control is absolutely mad - and amazing they can get Freeview certification with it.

Where are the Text and Exit buttons? With channel change via the navigator, you lose the ability to jump straight from interactive to another channel by using P+/P-

WD debuts four-port powerline boxes

Clutter

A switch is going to need a power supply too; and often they're cheap plug-top efforts, which may spew out crap that affects the powerline network.

If you're using something like this to bring the network into the living room, then you may well have rather more aethetic considerations (and a partner to nag about the mess) than you would in the study.

Ten unlikely iPhone insurance claims

Fortunately...

... the toilet had been freshly flushed.

Besides, anyone who's seen the photos on my Roomba and Navibot reviews here will know that a little bit of dirt has never scared me.

Down the pan

I once dropped my Nokia 8310 down a toilet in the Reichstag. A couple of days in the airing cupboard, and it was right as rain.

UK set for eBook pricing showdown

Average book under a megabyte

Of the books that I've bought, I think the vast majority are well under a megabyte, and typically around 600k. My Digital Editions folder of 39 books comes in at 35.9MB.

So, in storage terms, you're right that there's not much needed. But I have a sneaking suspicion - and I'd love to find out for sure - that licensing something like the ADEPT system is a fair chunk of money. It really would be interesting to see a complete breakdown, and find out where the costs crop up.

Paid for books have typos too

Probably because book publishers, like other publishers, have started to believe the business consultants and other policy wonks who tell them that jobs like sub-editing can be removed from the process, or sent offshore.

There really are some howlers in books I've read lately, to the extent that even the names of one of the main characters were misspelled in a book I bought from the Waterstones ePub store. I shall have to pick up the paperback and see if that too suffers in the same way.

Reducing cover art to thumbnails?

You'd be surprised how many of the eBooks I've bought don't even do that.

There are 39 books sitting in the copy of Digital Editions on my Mac; that includes the 36 that were used in the price comparison for this article. Of those 39, 19 have no cover art worth speaking of. Essentially, it's a text page with author and title.

In one or two cases, they might have turned the typeset title of the book into a graphic, and used ordinary text for everything else. The Harper Collins books have a blue graphic stripe down the left with their logo, then text for the rest. Random House has a generic grey background image of a book, with text on top of it, and Hachette Digital doesn't even stretch the budget to a logo on some of the Iain M Banks books in my library.

The proof reading in some books is of a quality that makes me wince, though I suspect that's the same for the printed editions too.

Good question

I'll go back to my spreadsheet and see how much it would have cost to buy the physical books as well - though as I've mentioned on my blog, when I do buy real books, price isn't my main concern, and I go to the local independent bookshop, rather than buying online.

I would guess that that tends to skew the prices I pay for books upwards, compared to someone who buys exclusively from Amazon, say, or even from one of the major chains.

I honestly don't know to what degree I'm typical or atypical in that regard. Do those who read more always go for the lowest price, or are they also more likely to be concerned with things like the range of bookstores available, or technical issues like DRM, and format lock-in?

Is the local independent bookshop doomed?

Nokia C3

I think the point ...

... is that they don't need modifiers to access them.

It's always struck me as decidedly odd that the Blackberry, that most e-mail-centric of devices, requires a modifier key to get at the @, which shares a key with P.

Panasonic DMR-XW380 Freeview HD DVR

No

It's not a PC. Like virtually every PVR out there, it uses dedicated chips to do most of the donkey work, rather than general purpose ones.

Re-encoding

If you're re-encoding, it's done in real time; it seems to me that it's pushed through the encoder chip in much the same way as, say, analogue video would be, rather than doing it on a main CPU (and the CPUs in things like this tend to be pretty slow compared to PCs). So, you have to wait while the re-encoding happens.

GuidePlus remains a pointless mystery to me; I've just published a statement from Panasonic about it on my own blog (GoneDigital.net)

Ten Essential... Symbian Apps

Screenshot

I use Screenshot for Symbian:

http://www.antonypranata.com/screenshot

Works fine on all the devices I've used

Gravity, Profimail, Handy Profiles, and more

I don't think I have any of these on my E72.

But I do have others that I regard as essential; no idea if they're on the Ovi store, since you can of course buy Symbian apps from anywhere you like.

Profimail: a very good email client, with support for multiple POP3/IMAP accounts, full support for IMAP folders, message rules.

Gravity: Twitter client; apparently also supports Facebook for people who use that

Handy Profiles: An improved profile manager, which supports rules such as switching my phone to a 'private' profile overnight that means only family and some friends can wake me up, or other profiles based on calendar entries or even which cell I'm connected.

An honourable mention to Telexy's SymVPN too, which provides a PPTP VPN (couldn't get on with IPsec) and allows me to use the built in Nokia SIP client to connect to my home PBX from wherever I am.

Android surges past iPhone in smartphone sales

Umm, no...

The 3310 certainly doesn't run Symbian.

It's not a smartphone, was never sold as one, and doesn't even really qualify as having the Series 40 interface, as far as I can see.

Even if it did, that still wouldn't make it a "not-smartphone -but-Symbian" device, because Series 40 isn't Symbian either.

Series 60 is Symbian, and I still can't think of any phone that's powered by Symbian that doesn't qualify as a smartphone, certainly not in the range today, nor indeed in past years.

Intrigued...

Which Symbian phones aren't smartphones, then, by any broadly accepted criteria?

I'm struggling to think of any, unless you pick some fairly arbitrary rules.

MS Office for Mac 2011 out in October

Tricky with software

The DSRs will only be applicable to a purchase of software (or certain other things including CDs and DVDs) if the packaging has not been opened.

Polaroid 300 instant print camera

No headless snaps?

For some reason, when people talk about Polaroids, I always think of the Duchess of Argyll. Definitely nostalgic.

UK population to be guaranteed mobile 768Kb/sec service

Nice to know...

... that there's to be "generous compensation" to the entertainment industry.

How generous will be very interesting indeed. As generous as the amount needed to fund pensioners' bus passes? Or as generous as a school building programme?

Isn't the entertainment industry, or at least parts of it, meant to be a great British success story? So why can't the wealthier bits of it help the poorer bits out with new radio mic.

Police chief: Yes, my plods sometimes forget photo laws

Works both ways

"Wanted: Busy police force seeks PR team. Willingness to lie about the recently deceased an advantage. Apply New Scotland Yard"

The police and their apologists - one such sent me a link on Twitter last night, suggesting that essentially Tomlinson had it coming, for walking so slowly - will claim the press build all this up.

And in doing so, they'll neatly forget how often the police are willing to use the press to spin and smear when they've done something wrong. Just as important as the inquiry into the physical attack on Tomlinson, in my view, is a full inquiry into the way the police encourage these incidents to be reported.

Who authorised the statements that Tomlinson had no contact with the police, and that medics had been pelted with missiles? Who conveniently leaked suggestions about a rape allegation, and immigration status in the de Menezes case? Who came up with the kiddie porn wheeze to smear the targets of the bundled Forest Gate raid?

That sort behaviour is, frankly, pretty much par for the course, and probably goes some way to explaining why people don't complain about the police more often, not to mention the sheer stress and expense of it.

When the police are so happy to use the press to put their side, and to make sure they get their version of events out there first, they really shouldn't be surprised when the fact that it's a crock of shit is highlighted.

With the increasing number of high profile police blunders in recent years, like the ones I've mentioned, they surely can't be surprised when the less prominent mistakes are highlighted as well. The solution is to get their house in order, not to claim the press is making a mountain out of a molehill.

There should be zero tolerance for officers who harass members of the public, making up (and breaking) laws in the process. But there won't be.

Culture of impunity

As others have mentioned, problems go way beyond photography. When the police do something wrong, there is little or no redress. They close ranks, mislead and lie about people they have harmed, and to an outsider, that certainly gives the impression that they can get away with whatever they want.

To an insider, I would have imagined it must do something similar; they know that they can say "this is the law" from a position of ignorance, because the chances of both the person they're harassing knowing they're talking rubbish, and then of the police actually being reprimanded as a result are close to zero.

Some years ago, a mini-cab I was in was pulled over; talking to me, one of the officers involved started "have you ever been in trouble with the police before" which is an odd opener, considering that being in a mini-cab isn't an offence. So I said "no, not unless you count the time my twin brother died in police custody" which elicited a request for an explanation.

I gave him one - chapter and verse; it's not a pretty tale. And the mere telling of it prompted one of the other officers to say to a friend who'd also been in the cab with me "If your mate carries on about stuff like that, we'll nick the lot of you"

Charming, eh? No, I didn't bother complaining. What would be the point?

Officers who make up the law, who cover the numbers, who hit passers by, who restrain people illegally, or who confiscate cameras should face serious consequences.

Organisations like ACPO and the Police Federation should speak out and say "this is not acceptable" instead of waffling, or avoiding the issues. If moderates in the police force will not unequivocally condemn the actions of a few extremists in their midst, they will all be tarred with the same brush.

Panasonic DMR-BW880 HD DVR

Guide Plus

They can manage to knock up a different EPG - their Freesat units show that. But I suspect that somewhere along the line, someone lumbered them with a contract to use Guide+ which they can't easily get out of.

Somewhere I have a pretty meaningless statement that they gave me about it, which I suspect is the result of many calls over the years. I'll try to post that on my blog sometime this weekend.

Freeview reaches out to EPG-less DVR owners

A matter of months

The proprietary EPG and the first 4TV machines arrived only a matter of months before the standard Freeview EPG started, which was sometime in 2004 by my recollection.

Meanwhile, there were still boxes based on the 4TV kit being launched as late as 2006 - notably the Sony, which was essentially a rebadged Beko, with the 14 days cut back down to seven.

Virgin eyes legal challenge to Canvas

Just as well ...

... that Canvas has said they'll have to work on non discriminatory principles, that costs will be set as low as possible, and that other people will still be free to provide their own services if they want.

Reading some of the comments from people who don't like Canvas, you'd get the idea that somehow the BBC are trying to ban the sale of all equipment that doesn't use Canvas. They're not. Even one of the main manufacturers that's on board with the project, Humax, envisages that they'll have Canvas equipment, and other standard Freeview equipment, some of which will have various on line services. Canvas isn't a monopoly.

Project Canvas doesn't necessarily push Virgin and Sky to the back of the EPG. Just like other services, the EPG will have to operate on FRND principles, and most likely comply with the Ofcom code relating to EPGs. Of course, what with Virgin not having any channels any more, they don't need to worry about being on the EPG at all anyway.

Renault DeZir: 'leccy sex machine

A lovely pair

There were two Bristols parked outside the garage where I take my Citroën DS to get serviced when I last popped in.

A lovely pair, they were...

Amazon.co.uk takes on Tesco

Ewwww....

Viscous? Really?

You should see a doctor about that...

iRobot Roomba 581 robot cleaner

Not quite ...

It's a combination of the price, and the need to keep a standard vacuum cleaner for the really dirty jobs (of which, naturally, I have quite a few).

Sagemcom RTI90-320 Freeview+ HD recorder

Freeview HD

The Ethernet port is part of the spec for Freeview HD equipment, just as it is for Freesat HD equipment.

That allows all kit to take advantage of the MHEG return path that's also included in the specs, which is how the iPlayer, for example, is delivered as a 'red button' application on Freesat. It could also be delivered the same way on Freeview HD in future, too.

It would be possible for other broadcasters such as ITV or Five to do something similar, or indeed for someone to buy a small amount of space for a Freeview data channel, and operate some sort of pay per view option via that.

This doesn't necessarily mean that Canvas will be available by these boxes, however - that's a more detailed spec than the MHEG return path. However, essentially all Freeview HD boxes are IPTV capable to some degree. Some manufacturers (like i-Can and Humax) are taking advantage of that already, by adding extra software to make use of the Ethernet connection. Others are just sticking it in there because they have to, and someone might implement an MHEG app at some stage.

WTF is... Project Canvas?

But ...

You said consumers don't want different and competing interfaces, but that's exactly what happens when you let commercial companies compete with each other. And a single interface that works well for connected TV is exactly what Canvas will provide.

It's going to be a long, long time before anyone delivers content OTA in 1080p - there really isn't the capacity (nor, I suspect, beyond a few people who like the look of big fancy numbers, the consumer demand).

The EBU isn't an organisation that has the technical resources itself to do research and development of this sort - it's a collection of the member broadcasters. So when an EBU paper appears, you'll see it's authored by people who work for organisations like BBC R&D.

When world standards like DVB-T2 appear, again, a lot of the work has come out of places like Kingswood, alongside other people working elsewhere around the world.

And indeed, some countries do follow, or modify, standards like the UK D-Book in drawing up their own. So, the process may not be quite as obvious as when the BBC worked on ideas like RDS or Nicam, which found their way to many other countries, but their R&D team is still very much a big part of creating standards.

UK specific ...

Being a UK-specific standard doesn't necessarily preclude global players; that, in my view, is an entirely spurious argument.

The D-Book (and if you don't like secrecy in specs, try getting a copy of that!) is a UK specific standard. So is Freesat. So is Freeview+. So too will be the Connected TV specification in D Book 7.

And guess what? You can buy equipment from lots of global manufacturers that works with Freesat's EPG, or the Freeview+ system, or that adheres to the guidelines (like logos in EPGs) laid down for FreeviewHD certification. You'll almost certainly find plenty in future that will support D-Book 7 (which is likely to have a lot of common ground with Canvas).

The idea that, somehow, we'll be bereft of cheap kit because someone's created a UK spec is bizarre. It hasn't happened with Freeview so far, and surely it's more likely that volume manufacturers like Vestel will think "We can take this more or less off the shelf system, and make kit at a decent price, without spending millions on R&D"

The Trust has said the bar has to be set pretty low for people wanting to do compliant kit.

Will it be lower than the minimum £5,000 membership of the DTG necessary before you can even get sight of the full Freeview specs in the D Book?

Who knows - but it's certainly not the case that every other spec in this area is just sitting there, ready for anyone to download and make a box without worrying or finding cash up front.

BBC grabs stock photo of own building

Not their fault

The BBC didn't just wake up one morning and decide "let's contract everything out."

They were told they had to, with quotas imposed, and more recently the new rights regime, all in the name of greater competition (which, as we know, is always an unalloyed good and works for the consumer's best interest. What's that? You need to know a phone number...)

And, indeed, introducing another 'internal' market for services within the corporation didn't help, either.

As other have said, since the BBC sold their picture library to Getty, they very likely to have a deal for use of images. Not, of course, that will stop the usual suspects having a go.

BT boss brands Britain illiterate

Perhaps ...

... if some of these big companies didn't spend so much time and effort finding ways to avoid paying corporation tax, we'd have more cash to spend on better schools.

Giving poor kids computers, internet makes them stupider

It's not computers

As alluded to by others, the big difference is not about computers. It's about attitude - and especially that of the parents.

If the parents view education as something that someone else will do to their children for them, rather than as a process with which they should be engaged, then the children will inevitably suffer. A few may persevere, with the help of an inspirational teacher. But faced with parental indifference, many more will just struggle.

Of course, that raises other interesting questions about why parents don't participate more, which are probably far beyond the scope of El Reg.

Utah Attorney General tweets execution go-ahead

With such dignity ...

... has the execution been carried out, that all those involved are to be given commemorative coins.

And no, that's not satire:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700027698/Corrections-creating-commemorative-coin-for-Ronnie-Lee-Gardner-execution.html

BBC wins go-ahead for Freeview HD content controls

The ITC, then Ofcom

The BBC doesn't get to dictate the terms any more.

A review into the terms of trade for independent producers was conducted by the ITC; it recommended changes which form part of new codes of practice, laid down by Ofcom following the Communications Act 2003 and discussions between the broadcasters and PACT.

Like other Ofcom codes, broadcasters have to abide by these; they also (under the 1990 Act) have to have a minimum percentage of material commissioned from independents.

So, far from being balls, there are indeed regulatory constraints that dictate the terms on which the BBC and other public broadcasters are able to commission programmes.

But then, I did actually say that in the original article.

Urban legend, indeed

There were, at one time, suggestions that specific skip functions might be blocked (eg 90 secs forward) in Freeview+ equipment. That was ultimately dropped, but manufacturers are not supposed to promote such functions as a way of skipping adverts - a typical British fudge.

The Ofcom letter to the BBC regarding this specifically states that the licence for the Huffman tables "must not contain any conditions other than those required to ensure effective content management"

It would, therefore, be pretty hard for anyone to use this to force equipment to do any of these mythical things, even if the content protection system included flags to indicate when adverts are on, which of course it doesn't.

Not quite ...

Your TV licence has nothing at all to say about recording (other than the fact that obviously there's a tuner in the recorder, for which a license is needed).

The ability to record programmes has always been governed by UK copyright law, and the 'fair use' term is more generally used in the US than the UK, where the more usual term is 'fair dealing.'

You don't have an automatic right to make a backup of a TV programme. What you do have in the UK is not a right at all, but a limited exemption from the Copyright laws for the purposes of timeshifting.

This is what the Intellectual Property Office has to say (www.ipo.gov.uk), which is essentially a more user-friendly version of section 70 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988:

"A recording of a broadcast can be made in domestic premises for private and domestic use to enable it to be viewed or listened to at a more convenient time.

This time-shifting exception does not however cover the making of recordings for placing in a collection for repeated viewing or listening. The making of a recording for purposes other than to time-shift a programme for your or your family is likely to be illegal."

Backup copies of material are mentioned only in section 50 of the Act, specifically in relation to computer programs. I don't quite see how that could be applicable to TV recordings, and I suspect a lot of confusion arises from people reading things on the internet that are written in English and assuming they refer to UK copyright law.

Personally, as a general rule of thumb, I work on the principle that if someone's talking about 'fair use' instead of 'fair dealing' then they are very probably basing their information on US law and anything they say about the UK situation should be taken with a pinch of salt

Excuse me?

If you think "the legal system will have you only able to watch a recording one or two extra times" then I think you've read a different report to the one I just wrote here.

There is absolutely nothing at all in any of the proposals, nor has there ever been, that will stop people watching a programme as many times as they would like. It would indeed be rubbish if that were the case. But it's not.

Nor is there an absolute prohibition on being able to transfer a programme by making a copy of it; indeed, the guidelines say that the 'copy never' flag should not be used, and everything should be allowed to be copied at least once.

Even with those boxes that do allow copying of SD - like the Toppy 5800 - my experience suggests that the vast majority of people don't actually do that. And the vast majority of those that do won't actually be inconvenienced because they'll be able to copy it once.

Samsung LE40C650

I'd love to

Really; I'd love to have managed to get the same size sets from each manufacturer, but with a brand new technology like this, if I had to wait until everyone could get the same size to me, I'd still be waiting for boxes to be delivered, and the editors at Reg Hardware would still be wondering when they'd get their copy.

If we start out wanting a particular size, but then all we can get from one major manufacturer is a different size, what would you prefer? Omit big brand X and having readers say "Why didn't you look at X, this is a crap review?" or wait until everyone can get all the kit to you and have readers say "This has been out for ages. You should have reviewed it months ago"?

If we'd set out to look at, say, 40 inch sets, that's the situation we'd be in. So we set out to give an overview of some of what's available for Freeview HD, and there will be other product reviews in future.