We've just been struck by lightning, it's completely blown the tv - we've bought in the spare one but we can only watch the freesat using a scart lead and not the hdmi cable. Does that mean there's been some damage to the freesat box as well?
If it's through scart does that mean we're not getting hd? I'm sorry if I sound dim but to be honest I'm still shaking and we're trying to sort everything out before we explore options for replacement.
Thanks all.
If you are watching via a scart cable you are watching SD pictures which your TV will be upscaling to whatever screen your TV has.
If for example you are watching a HD channel and your TV has a full HD 1920 x 1080 screen.
It works like this the box gets a 1920 x 1080 pixels, it scales the picture down (losing detail) to 720 x 576 pixels (the best scart can do). Your TV then upscales the picture back to 1920 x 1080 by inventing/guessing the detail lost in the downscaling operation.
If you are sure the hdmi port on the spare TV is working it's possible the freesat box hdmi output is not working. To be sure you need to try the TV with another source with HDMI out if you have one.
Before you panic try carrying out a reset to factory defaults on the freesat box. If you are lucky you may get hdmi out back.
That's really helpful. I will check the settings tomorrow and do a reset, I know I'll lose recordings etc but to be honest there's no point running it through a scart anyway. We've tried a new cable and two different tvs and freesat just won't connect through hdmi. Our blu ray runs through the telly via the other hdmi port which makes me wonder... when the tv blew, would it have gone down the cable and damaged the freesat hdmi socket? Or am I just being daft?
Calming down a bit now, never been so scared in my life! Thanks for taking the time to get back to me.
Maybe in the morning we'll get to the bottom of it. Thanks again.
groovyoldwoman - 12 minutes ago »
That's really helpful. I will check the settings tomorrow and do a reset, I know I'll lose recordings etc but to be honest there's no point running it through a scart anyway. We've tried a new cable and two different tvs and freesat just won't connect through hdmi. Our blu ray runs through the telly via the other hdmi port which makes me wonder... when the tv blew, would it have gone down the cable and damaged the freesat hdmi socket? Or am I just being daft?
Calming down a bit now, never been so scared in my life! Thanks for taking the time to get back to me.
Maybe in the morning we'll get to the bottom of it. Thanks again.
You won't lose any recordings, you will lose your recording schedule so make a note of it first. If you have some sort of digital camera, photograph the recording schedule before the reset.
You might want to try turning off the power to the box overnight first, this might also work and save you having to rebuild the recording schedule.
Thank you for your time tonight. Will do as you suggest and see what tomorrow brings.
I'm sorry if I sound dim but to be honest I'm still shaking...
Dear Catinaz
It's actually quite good being this shallow as you don't let the important things in life get to you. Following Graham's very useful instructions I was able to record gogglebox last night and didn't miss the double episode of Corrie.
We can rebuild the rest of the house anytime.
GOW
Or buy a printer and print one.groovyoldwoman - 7 minutes ago »
Dear Catinaz
It's actually quite good being this shallow as you don't let the important things in life get to you. Following Graham's very useful instructions I was able to record gogglebox last night and didn't miss the double episode of Corrie.
We can rebuild the rest of the house anytime.
GOW
Not forgetting the surge protector. 
It's actually quite good being this shallow as you don't let the important things in life get to you.
Not forgetting the surge protector.
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