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Question

Getting BBC 3D transmissions on LG 47LW4500-ZB

Dec 27, 2012 12:04AM PST

I have an LG tv model number 47LW4500-ZB. This tv is supposedly 3D ready. However when I try to show the BBC 3D transmissions (via Freesat) the tv does not seem to recognise them as 3D. The side by side picture appears but the only option I have in the 3D menu on the TV is '2D-3D'. The 3D side-by-side option is not accessible. Can anyone help please?

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Answer
Getting BBC 3D transmissions on LG 47LW4500-ZB
Jan 27, 2013 3:45PM PST

This is just a long shot based on a recent similar experience. I have a Humax HD PVR (Freeview) - OK, I know that's not a freesat version but bear with me.

A pal of mine has the same PVR, except that he has a Samsung smart TV and mine is an LG model.

The notable difference is that I AM able to watch the BBC's 3D offerings in side-by-side format from over Christmas in proper 3D, whereas he gets what you're getting; i.e. the only option not 'greyed out' being 2D>3D conversion.

I had a long read of his .pdf file manual, and the only thing I could find that would stop the viewing of 3D formats from an external source, i.e. via the HDMI inputs was that maybe the picture quality has been set at source to less than maximum. That is to say, if you've accidentally got your Freesat box set to output at, say, 576i or 576p, you can't have 3D but once it's set at 1080p, the extra 'real 3D' options reappear.

(I'm not sure if my pal has sorted his outputs from his Humax box yet, as curiously it's a wholesale reinstall, involving losing timers and a needing a retune. I was amazed to find that nowhere in its everyday settings can you change the HDMI output resolution. Maybe that's to prevent someone locking themselves out by selecting a resolution higher than the TV can stand, thereby leaving themselves with a blank screen!)

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Getting BBC 3D transmissions on LG 47LW4500-ZB
Feb 4, 2013 5:10AM PST

Thanks for this. But I don't think this is the problem. I spoke to the Humax helpline and, without actually seeming to know the answer, they suggested that the software on my PVR might be out of date. Apparently a software update is planned for 'the New Year', though I have seen no sign of it.
To be honest I have owned this PVR for a few years but I also have a more recent one. So I might try with the newer one next time there is a 3D transmission from the BBC. Unfortunately there does not seem to be any way of knowing far in advance when they plan the next 3D transmission...........
Thanks anyway.

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Getting BBC 3D transmissions on LG 47LW4500-ZB
Feb 4, 2013 3:23PM PST

Sorry it didn't work out. It's difficult to see what the software version of the PVR has to do with it though, as all it has to do is record the two 'side-by-side' pictures as if they are one, which is how they are transmitted - it's the TV that does something clever with the images. Even the non-3D telly I had during the Olympics could show the two images.

I've found that a better source of help and information comes from the UK site www.hummy.tv which as its name suggests is dedicated to Humax PVRs. There's a section specifically for your for your FOXSAT box.

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Update to the 3D query
Jun 26, 2013 4:42PM PDT

In my quoted case, it was, as suspected, having the PVR set to too low a definition that was causing recorded 3D programmes to only come out as side-by-side images that the TV refused to do anything with.

As soon as we managed to get my mate's Humax Fox HDR-T2 Freeview PVR set to 1080p, it was fine.

Incidentally, the custom software and on-line server provided for this PVR thanks to the bright young things at hummy.tv allows for searches way off into the future based on text to be found in the programme notes. Hence, if you get it to look for 'James Bond' or '3D' in the notes, as soon as the EPG finds such a thing, it sets a timer for it the next time you PVR logs into the server (which is daily in the wee small hours even if you're away on holiday).

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Getting BBC 3D transmissions on LG 47LW4500-ZB
Jun 26, 2013 6:36PM PDT

The simple reason that 3D did not work was that the device was not connected to TV via HDMI.

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Getting BBC 3D transmissions on LG 47LW4500-ZB
Oct 24, 2013 4:42PM PDT

Well since the BBC has decided to wind down its 3D screening, this topic has rather gone off the boil. But I did discover that my Humax box resolution was set to 576i. I have changed this now (I hope) and we will see with the special 3D Doctor Who screening in November whether it has worked.
Thanks for you help anyway.