the RED button - Freeview

soulandy · 13-03-2005, 16:36

I have a GDB2 and can only use the red button interactive service on a few channels. When watching football on ITV or sky news/sports news, why can I not get interactive when pressing the red button? Does it only work with sky digital and not on freeview boxes? Seems a bit strange seeing the boxes are for digital use.

BBC is ok.

Cheers

imno12u · 13-03-2005, 16:42

All because it's for digital use, doesn't mean it supports the same services as that used by a whole different provider and different infrastructure of service.

paulsalter · 13-03-2005, 16:46

You can press text on the Sky channels to get a text service, however there on screen info relates to satelite only.
Pointless having really as Sky dont tell people its there

ITV currently dont have any text/press red service on dtt

Digital Monkey · 13-03-2005, 18:42

It can be a bit irritating if you only have freeview or cable when on most TV programmes it will say "Digital Satellite" viewers can press red.....to get extra video streams, games, vote etc.

Thats one of the best things about Sky Digital.

Even on TV ads for example an advert for the chemical brothers new album was on and you could press red and listen to various tracks from it, all selectable from the remote.

Brilliant.

god_of_biscuits · 13-03-2005, 19:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Digital Monkey

Even on TV ads for example an advert for the chemical brothers new album was on and you could press red and listen to various tracks from it, all selectable from the remote.

I think itv are launching 'interactive adverts' on Freeview soon. Doubt they will have as much content as Sky, but it will be a step foward.

Westward · 13-03-2005, 21:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Digital Monkey

It can be a bit irritating if you only have freeview or cable when on most TV programmes it will say "Digital Satellite" viewers can press red.....to get extra video streams, games, vote etc.

Thats one of the best things about Sky Digital.

Even on TV ads for example an advert for the chemical brothers new album was on and you could press red and listen to various tracks from it, all selectable from the remote.

Brilliant.

It suits Sky to tell Freeview viewers about the Sky News Active service that they are missing out on because it might tempt a few of them to subscribe to a satellite package.

However I think most people who pay £50 for a Freeview box are happy just to watch the basic Sky News service. For this a one-off fee of £50 is a bargain.

John259 · 14-03-2005, 07:20

Each broadcaster on Freeview seems to be able to choose what they do regarding their text services. So things are highly inconsistent. Some don't have any text services, some are linked to their normal tv channels, some aren't. Some can be accessed with RED or TEXT, some only with TEXT. Some include a quarter screen tv picture, some don't. Most now use RED to mean "go up a menu level" (but call it INDEX), while the BBC is the odd man out in using YELLOW and calling it "BACK" (which confusingly does not go back to the previously viewed page like it would on a computer web browser program).

There's a desparate need for some knocking of heads together to standardise these things, I think.

John

chrisy · 14-03-2005, 08:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by John259

Each broadcaster on Freeview seems to be able to choose what they do regarding their text services. So things are highly inconsistent. Some don't have any text services, some are linked to their normal tv channels, some aren't.

Which ones aren't linked to their TV service? Do you mean Teletext? In which case, Teletext Ltd isn't part of ITV and that is the reason it isn't linked (that will change with the launch of Teletext on ITV)

Quote:

Most now use RED to mean "go up a menu level" (but call it INDEX), while the BBC is the odd man out in using YELLOW and calling it "BACK"

It's only Teletext and SkyText using RED for back. The Hits (and other EMAP services) and YooPlay use BLUE.

Quote:

There's a desparate need for some knocking of heads together to standardise these things, I think.

Agreed.

Chris

mmace · 14-03-2005, 09:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Westward

However I think most people who pay £50 for a Freeview box are happy just to watch the basic Sky News service. For this a one-off fee of £50 is a bargain.

where do you shop?
free view boxes are around £35 here (argos & ASDA)

13-03-2005, 16:36	#1
soulandy Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Manchester Services: NTL broadband, GDB2 Freeview Posts: 134	the RED button I have a GDB2 and can only use the red button interactive service on a few channels. When watching football on ITV or sky news/sports news, why can I not get interactive when pressing the red button? Does it only work with sky digital and not on freeview boxes? Seems a bit strange seeing the boxes are for digital use. BBC is ok. Cheers

13-03-2005, 16:42	#2
imno12u Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: London Services: Blueyonder 4MB, Sky+, Freeview, Sony Ericsson K800i Posts: 7,035	All because it's for digital use, doesn't mean it supports the same services as that used by a whole different provider and different infrastructure of service.

13-03-2005, 16:46	#3
paulsalter Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: UK - Bilsdale Services: MacBook, iPhone 3G, Samsung 32" LCD, Sky Digital, Xbox 360 Posts: 11,177	You can press text on the Sky channels to get a text service, however there on screen info relates to satelite only. Pointless having really as Sky dont tell people its there ITV currently dont have any text/press red service on dtt

13-03-2005, 18:42	#4
Digital Monkey Banned User Join Date: Aug 2001 Services: SKY, Freeview and TOP UP TV Posts: 1,598	It can be a bit irritating if you only have freeview or cable when on most TV programmes it will say "Digital Satellite" viewers can press red.....to get extra video streams, games, vote etc. Thats one of the best things about Sky Digital. Even on TV ads for example an advert for the chemical brothers new album was on and you could press red and listen to various tracks from it, all selectable from the remote. Brilliant.

14-03-2005, 07:20	#7
John259 Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Gender: Male Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Services: LG LCD IDTV; Tacolneston TX; Virgin Media ADSL Posts: 5,312	Each broadcaster on Freeview seems to be able to choose what they do regarding their text services. So things are highly inconsistent. Some don't have any text services, some are linked to their normal tv channels, some aren't. Some can be accessed with RED or TEXT, some only with TEXT. Some include a quarter screen tv picture, some don't. Most now use RED to mean "go up a menu level" (but call it INDEX), while the BBC is the odd man out in using YELLOW and calling it "BACK" (which confusingly does not go back to the previously viewed page like it would on a computer web browser program). There's a desparate need for some knocking of heads together to standardise these things, I think. John