Play TV for those that don’t know is an add on for the Sony Playstation 3 that gives it the functionality of a Freeview PVR i.e enables you to watch and record Freeview.
I decided I would probably get one the first time I heard about it back in probably spring last year. I think it was originally supposed to be released in the UK in June or July but of course the release date slipped (as it often does with these things) to September.
I already had a Humax Freeview PVR but what drew me to the Play TV module is that if you have a Sony PSP you can also watch live tv or a previously recorded programme via the Remote Play function (as long as you have a wireless internet connection available for the PSP).
A few weeks ago I eventually picked up a Play TV in the (very unfortunate) Woolworths sale. Play TV consists of a little black box with a standard tv aerial connection and a USB connection to connect to one of the PS3′s USB ports and a disc to install the software on the PS3. The setup was very straight forward – first of all connect the aerial and USB cable, then power up the PS3 and insert the disc to load the software. The software installation is via an on screen wizard which basically just checks that the cables are connected and then gets on with installing the software.
Once this is done you simply access Play TV on the PS3′s main menu, then go to the setup option within the Play TV screen and scan for channels. This is where I had my one and only problem. Only a couple of channels could be found even though the aerial being used was the same one from my Humax Freeview box which gets just about every available channel. My TV aerial is quite small and old and not really suitable for Freeview but being in a strong signal area it does the job on the Humax box. The only conclusion to draw from this is that the Play TV’s tuner is just not as good with a weaker signal as the Humax.
Yesterday I got round to fitting a new aerial. The new aerial is bigger, newer and designed for Freeview however it is not in an ideal location. The reasons for this are living in a thatched cottage and not wanting people up on the roof if I can help it and not having a good line of site from anywhere else on the house. In spite of this the new aerial placed at single story height, obscurred behind roof tiles (we have a single story extension) and with next doors huge two story house in line of site of the transmitter is good enough with a 43% signal strength (according to Play TV) to get 67 channels on Play TV.
It’s not going to get much use due to already having a Humax Freeview box and a recent purchase of the new Humax Foxsat HD DTR (more on that later) but if you have a PS3 and need a new Freeview box or want the option of being able to watch some UK TV when you’re away Play TV seems to be a good option as long as you have a reasonable signal strength. I just need a Sony PSP before I next go away.
If you have Play TV let me know how you’re getting on with it especially if you have used the Remote Play feature.
