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Most faults are usually going to lead to switch off and switch on again choices but we ought to delay the switch on for a while to help clear out existing memory of the data that isn’t working. Some equipment will offer a reset button or a tiny reset option on the back panel or underneath the equipment. Sometimes there are remote control actions or Menus or SubMenu actions required. A total reset is something to avoid if possible. Google and YouTube will offer us various tricks and tips and even remote control codes such as for Sky remotes and their different version numbers as well as the brand and model of the TV and whatever code or codes might work.
Some gurus on YouTube has offered us incredible workarounds when things go wrong, yet these may be updated later and improved so we need to keep note of what the video description is and the identity of the person offering us such details. Computers can save such content as a complete website web page or bookmark the web page for us as a favourite.
Service manuals are available as PDF files and these can be studied better if we increase the zoom value eg from 100% to 150% instead.
Otherwise, we could spend a fortune on expensive Helpline numbers if no 0800 alternatives exist.
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I have 4K Smart TVs and sometimes need to adjust the settings. So I have explored various ways to help improve the picture quality and one type of picture control is to do with the fast playbacks of certain shows. The speed motion is something that YouTube gurus may have recommended that we switch such controls off. Even so, here’s something that I noticed this week:
EDITED QUOTE:
Turn on motion smoothing to watch the Olympics (and then turn it off)
“Television enthusiasts typically rail against the motion-smoothing feature included in many TVs. I know because I’m one of them. I tell people to turn off the feature whenever possible. However, there is one important exception: live sports. That includes the major worldwide sporting event many people will sometimes watch this summer, the Paris Olympics. Turn motion smoothing on for sporting events. It’s one of the few cases where motion smoothing looks good.”
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Another factor that I’ve been told about is that the High Street stores have TV demo settings for sales purposes so we may need to experiment with the colours that we recognise as correct and set up one of the customised options such as USER or CINEMA or VIVID or SPORTS. I had to do this recently with the tint colour settings for red and green options to match an Internet device’s default colours I’ve seen for years.
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Audio Description, Sign Language, Subtitles and Screen display options.
Our audio and video devices may have extra settings beyond the screen formats 4:3 and 16:9 displays. When we use the set-top boxes for Freeview, Freesat and Sky we use the I for info action to see details for widescreen, sign language and audio description. The settings may be changed so we can customise the displays for sign language or subtitles. The widescreen setting shows the extreme left and right. The 4:3 setting may be displaying well. Otherwise, we try the 4:3 pan and scan options. Or letterbox as a different option, or the zoom option. The central screen area view shows a limited zoom display which could be useful for small text views, maps or order numbers for the shopping TV channels. The 4:3 option also shows a wider view of the central area so it appears as the full widescreen display and the full height display. Sign language may offer us the English language screen view or the original foreign language screen view. Beyond these another option is Audio Description when the action is explained on the screen. There may be sound control settings for the maximum volume instead of anything the original scenes may offer.
So we don’t just have to sit there accepting the current default or customised settings. We can customise yet again for the older films and TV screen views for temporary and yet better displays and we can switch back later when these have ended. So if we have 4:3 or 16:9 TV screens we could test what works before our favourite shows begin. Then we may see different displays for the titles and the credits rather than the main content. So find out what works. One way is to download content using a Sky box and your paid subscription. Some i-for-info key options reveal the HD or SD picture quality, SL for sign language, WS for widescreen, and AD for audio description or if subtitled. Different TV series may have started 4:3 and later became 16:9 so bear these variations in mind. You may not want to see text on the TV screen so choose episodes and their TV options as you require if granted the choice from available films and shows.
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It’s likely that millions here in the UK may buy brand new TVs this Christmas and in 2025. I was surprised to watch a YouTube video about buying from High Street stores such as Currys. Local stores such as Currys may seem convenient for returning faulty items but the 12-month or 24-month warranty coverage is the reason there’s a lower price than other companies and stores offering a 5-year or a 6-year warranty coverage such as John Lewis and Richer Sounds.
Modern Smart TVs may get broken because of a top heavy effect based on weight as well as feeble supports under the TVs. Even my LG and Hisense TVs are not the best support designs. So the YouTube video explained a broken screen costs hundreds to replace if the customer insists on it or the insurance covers that cost and doesn’t offer a new replacement TV instead.
The somewhat recent Sales of Goods Act has to be reconsidered as customers out to get TVs that last 5 years and even more. However, some TVs are deliberately sold with substandard parts and some TVs had to get withdrawn.
Another factor is energy usage and costs as well as changing the default ECO-settings on some TVs. We may need to reconsider what we pay for our customised settings that require higher costs than the default settings.
It’s possible that the electricity and gas standing charges may be revised with energy companies ordered to provide tariffs without these charges. The companies would simply charge more per energy unit anyway, but very low users could save some money and perhaps even more if using a fast microwave than the gas oven taking longer.
The 4K Smart TVs have efficiency ratings for energy usage but people may be more interested in the other specifications and apps. Even some some YouTube videos question if Smart TVs are really worth the extra money and that could depend on any freebie or home trial discounts the TVs display which could save customers money.
The horrible TV Licence Tax increases by £5 in 2025 so no chance of a cancellation for tens of millions of customers who hardly ever watch BBC shows or use the BBC iPlayer online.
As for extra TV channels the Internet access provides, I use the Netgem Netbox 4K model as it lets me add over 100 Netgem Internet channels when I retune the Freeview channels so a secondhand purchase on eBay proves very helpful to get even more channels and apps.
YouTube has several tutorials and tricks and tips and TV settings advice so that’s another app for our TVs and devices to access.
In any case, I look for 4K Smart TVs with the little circle input for satellite TV and Radio channels as I’ve got spare satellite dish cables to receive Sky and Freesat frequencies. However, the ultra picture quality receivers for Sky Q and Virgin Media’s 360 box don’t let me record content via a SCART output or HDMI output to my DVD Recorder. Both receivers had to be taken away and I was switched back to Sky+ cables instead. I don’t recommend Sky Glass or Sky Stream either. I’m staying with my 2TB storage Sky+ box instead so with my Sky subscription I can store content and download it, too.
As for Sky, I prefer NOW TV for Sky Cinema and cancel that every now and then rather than get Sky’s long 18-month contract at a discount price yet hardly ever watched… Sky Entertainment is worthwhile because of the extras at a discount if you’re lucky…
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In the consumer electronics topics for YouTube videos we may see advice about TVs to buy or not to buy or settings to customise or to switch on or off. The Smart TV 4K TVs are probably good enough if we start at over £300 but these may be the medium sizes from 32″ to 50″. Our TVs are meant to be viewed in room sizes fit for them but the TVs may not display small text or links that well. So we should think about 4K Smart TVs at the 50″ and above sizes. Basically, we really ought to buy when the sales are on rather than at the full prices. Sometimes we need to visit the stores to really get firsthand access to what the TVs can display. At home, we adjust settings and may study YouTube technical advice for specific TV makes and model numbers.
However, I prefer to buy from Richer Sounds to get a full 6-year warranty coverage as well as a discount deal. I want a TV that offers the satellite cable input known as S2. That way, I can use a Sky dish cable to get the single satellite access on a Sky+ HD box and its scart access using any AV input option I can use via a scart to AV adapter. I like several HDMI cables if I can get these, too. I believe there’s a new higher standard quality HDMI cable available for 2025. Even so, such TVs cost a lot and may last for 6 years and even more…
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Technology costs way too much in the first 2 years it gets introduced but we may get special discounts such as from eBay and its selected sellers’ items or new companies offering discounts. Sale events happen and switch between 10% and 25% off so we may wait for the 20% discounts but we can at least view the 10% and 15% discounts to see if we like anything for future orders. NB if delivery is free then we get that discount at a better level rather than paying separately for it.
The new HDMI 2.2 standard offers so much more for general displays but even better for gamers and their TV displays. Even so, some Smart TVs may require a minimum of 2 Mb or 5 Mb Broadband speeds anyway. For faster access we switch off other Internet streaming devices if we can and we use Ethernet cables rather than wi-fi connections.
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http://www.ebay.com
http://www.ebay.co.uk
http://www.ebay.iehttp://www.picclick.co.uk
http://www.grelly.uk
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http://www.youtube.com for HDMI 2.2 standard cables regarding specifications and TV settings and extra video tutorials and AV accessories.
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http://www.google.com for the latest updates
http://www.search-here.net for extra search engine options.
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USB devices can be used by the latest TVS and the USB ports are an important part of when buying a new TV. So if there are several USB ports then customers can get better us because of these. This article explains that the USB 3 devices transfer data quicker. We can save media such as the TV transmits live based on the TV GUIDE display and the option to watch or record to USB. We can stop a recording as soon as a show ends rather than record the following TV adverts. We can search the TV GUIDE for the HD channels and record those instead.
Some external devices can record to their internal hard drives or to external USB devices. Some devices recommend the FAT32 format option for 32GB USB drives rather than the hard drives with extra storage such as 1 TB or 2 TB.
Even the Sky+ HD set-top boxes can store TV shows and download these if we are Sky customers. Otherwise, we could try to subscribe to non Sky channels and pay Sky to use the Sky+ Planner and Timeshift and download just the free to air channels. The Sky+ HD can send out content to a DVD Recorder via the scart output cable.
The latest HDMI standard could help improve the picture and sound quality, too. Just as the fully shielded 1″ thick scart cable with gold connectors help improve quality.
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IF AT FIRST, YOU DON’T SUCCEED!
My DIY poem got a video overview thanks to notebookLM.google.com and this is on YouTube:
Mr Denis Martindale YouTube Video link
Filename
The_High_Cost_of_Winging_It.mp4
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Over the last week, I have battled my way across various Internet websites using the computer, the 4K TV and Android devices that can access the Internet. Shopping became a very aggravating experience because low prices switched to almost double even before I could get to the checkout. I had to switch to different products and the available items and start again. I had to switch on the Amazon website between Morrisons, the Co-op, Iceland and Amazon sellers. Even when I completed the final orders, I had nothing like my first attempted order.
When I cancelled Amazon Prime membership, the web page didn’t have the cancel NOW option but tried to keep me as a member for a full month instead. I learned that the CHAT service was another mystery tour until I got access to a callback option when Amazon phoned me. Eventually, the human being option cancelled the membership on my behalf.
I followed that my getting a better membership deal for 3 months. Then came the switch from the original email to the new one and signing out was another peculiar hit and miss situation. Then came the time to sign in and use the new profile and set the account with the Smart TV. Then came the next situation to get that working with the Android device. Finally, I had access and could view the films and TV shows.
Finally.
I learned that an Android device still needs a computer to get Amazon Prime access. I learned how to save images and videos using the Android device with different web browsers and File Manager apps and different video players and image apps. Without YEARS of doing all this stuff I couldn’t have been overcoming the strange and the stupid situations.
The thing is, I don’t expect things to improve. So don’t trust all those buyer reviews for the really complicated situations we may deal with later. Without the tricks and tips and workarounds I know that things won’t improve and thousands of the Internet devices will be rejected. The Amazon Fire Stick began well until the repeated Amazon blitz updates to wipe out every customisation out there. YouTube is now pitching alternatives to try instead. Well, GOOD LUCK WITH THAT!
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Check http://www.youtube.com for topics such as TV repairs for Hisense, Panasonic, Samsung and so on. The repairs are explained to confirm what works, what doesn’t, what can get repaired, replacement parts or scap and not much more.
The TV and DVD Recorder repairs are explained and repeatedly tested as to any visible faults such as loose connections, capacitors, failed backlights or software upgrades and so on.
Some parts are regarded as causing more faults even in the first 2 years of home use.
Extra tips for TV settings to customise the playbacks using Settings and Menus and Submenus to adjust the controls. Extra tips for security measures to maintain customer privacy from TV cameras or audio recordings.
Some repairs are too costly or too fiddly to get right. Customers may not agree to such high repair costs. Many TVs can be repaired by qualified repairers, but the TV makers may offer additional Helplines or Support or we switch to TV manuals websites and service manuals.
Loose connections are so common due to damage in transit, so that aside, the hot weather can also sabotage our TVs. The use of antisurge electric sockets could help prolong TVs to overcome power spikes or surges or lightning weather affecting sensitive equipment…
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Take Note of a Font and how it can improve your way to get and keep info even on the Internet but remember to make some email copies, too.
WHICH FONTS WORK FOR YOUR TEXT?
I discovered a website that lets us download free fonts and gives us a text demo and different colours for the font and the background as well.
Test images using font demo displays on fonts.download and also notebook-online.co for extra help converting text input there into an image…
Free fonts and text demos: http://fonts.download
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A very helpful online text editor: http://notepad-online.co
The free website service offers us a notepad website featuring plain text or rich text that maintains the text layout as saved in the RTF files on our computers.
It’s useful because the notepad-online.co website keeps the file available if we don’t clear the web browser cache files for websites and their images.
To test the resources for my text, I used an earlier Wordpad file’s text and pasted it to a different website that featured free fonts.
http://fonts.download/font/lora-4
NB Click Image Generator.
When I had downloaded the zip file it downloaded the LORA fonts, so all four were installed for the Wordpad Classic program. When reaching the final stages of the text copied there I noticed I could add an image stored on my computer if I used the website PNG image download for the text I had edited. So I saved a few copies for later.
Once I had tested the notepad-online.co website, I wanted to add the image created by the font website as it displayed the text in a certain size and green colour and dark green background colour. As I had already downloaded the image on the font website, I checked my downloads and found the image URL was a data style image URL and I copied it and the image appeared in the notepad test display. So as long as we know the image URL we can copy it and add it in the Rich Text display.
The font display image shows LORA using bold and italic as my favourite font choice because it uses customised versions of several letters and numbers in their combined styles.
Then there is an EXPORT option such as saving the whole web page as an HTML web page or as a PDF file or as a complete image instead. So I edited the HTML web page title to show the notebook website name and the extra info at that time.
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When we visit the http://www.pinterest.com website, we may see computer and Internet tips and even more options using accessories such as external hard drives and USB drives.
If we click VISIT SITE, we could end up on useful websites.
https://www.blifaloo.com/computer-tips/#credit
This one had a tip about using a mouse MIDDLE scroll and the Ctrl key. Slow movement up makes the zoom magnification start at 100% and increase, and slow movement down decreases the percentage. These are similar to the NUMPAD version of Ctrl and + or Ctrl and—, and that’s helpful to know if one way doesn’t work for us for different web browsers and their actions.
NEXT…
Search text within any Web page
Ever end up on a site from a search engine, but can’t find the exact words you are looking for? The answer is:Ctrl + f
Go ahead and hold down the Ctrl button on your keyboard and press “f” — you should see a search box appear on your screen. (Usually near the bottom of the window). Now you can type any word into that search box, and your internet browser will find and highlight each instance of that word as it appears on the page. You can also click the “next” button to allow the page to auto-scroll to the next word.
ALSO…
https://www.blifaloo.com/interesting-information/android-resource
AND NOW…
https://www.blifaloo.com/no-boot-error/
Shortcut way to remember it:
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TVS may have an Internet browser and if that works then…
When we visit the http://www.pinterest.com website, we may see computer and Internet tips and even more options using accessories such as external hard drives and USB drives.
If we click VISIT SITE, we could end up on useful websites.
https://www.blifaloo.com/computer-tips/#credit
This one had a tip about using a mouse MIDDLE scroll and the Ctrl key. Slow movement up makes the zoom magnification start at 100% and increase, and slow movement down decreases the percentage. These are similar to the NUMPAD version of Ctrl and + or Ctrl and—, and that’s helpful to know if one way doesn’t work for us for different web browsers and their actions.
NEXT…
Search text within any Web page
Ever end up on a site from a search engine, but can’t find the exact words you are looking for? The answer is:Ctrl + f
Go ahead and hold down the Ctrl button on your keyboard and press “f” — you should see a search box appear on your screen. (Usually near the bottom of the window). Now you can type any word into that search box, and your internet browser will find and highlight each instance of that word as it appears on the page. You can also click the “next” button to allow the page to auto-scroll to the next word.
ALSO…
https://www.blifaloo.com/interesting-information/android-resource
AND NOW…
https://www.blifaloo.com/no-boot-error/
Shortcut way to remember it:
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