Freeview - Five Ways Improve Viewing Experience

Freeview boxes might give the British public great TV with no strings attached, but the chances are that even if the aerial and exterior cable has recently been upgraded users could still improve their viewing enjoyment further by following a few handy pointers from connectivity specialist, LINDY Electronics. Senior Product Manager, Andrew Ingram gives his top five tips to help Freeview users get the best picture possible from their TV.

• Upgrade internal connections. The Aerial cables typically provided with a TV or Freeview box are usually low quality, budget cables that enable the user to get the installation up and running quickly, but frequently provide disappointing results in overall image clarity and depth. Upgrading the coax lead to one with gold connectors and made from foil wrapped Oxygen Free Copper can greatly improve signal transfer and reduce interference ensuring superb clarity, definition and detail. It needn’t cost the earth, a 1m Freeview Coax Cable costs under £10.00 from LINDY.
• Make sure settings are set to RGB and not lower picture quality composite. Obviously if an HD connection is available this should be used instead as it provides the highest quality. However, in cases where a set-top box is used and connected to the TV via a SCART lead, check that the cable used is specified as 'all pins wired' – this means it will support RGB signals – and ensure that both the TV and the Freeview box are set to RGB.
• Optimise TV settings. Most TVs today include several factory-preset picture settings, but often the default out of the box setting isn’t the best for the average home, it’s been set to look good in a typical store display environment and can sometimes be too bright. Have a play and see what looks the most natural in the room, often "cinema" or "theatre" settings provide the most pleasing picture.
• Sit at the right distance. Many people sit too close to a smaller TV or too far away from a larger screen, both diminish viewing pleasure. As a basic guide aim to be about 1.5 to 3 times the distance of the size of the screen, sitting on the closer side if watching from HD sources or the further distance if viewing is mainly non-HD.
• Keep it clean! The TV is often one of the most expensive components of an AV set-up and yet users frequently clean them with inappropriate cloths that leave smears or worse, damage the screen. Look for a cleaning solution that reduces static electricity, but does not contain isopropyl alcohol or other additives that are harmful to sensitive screens. LINDY’s cleaning kit including microfibre cloth and spray starts at £7.99.