At the minute the T4000 is the best box BT have but we are expecting a new one out sometime in the first half of next year with wireless capability and a few other bells and whistles - see this thread for more All set? The final thing you’ll need is patience. Only certain events are being filmed and broadcast in UHD. It’s mostly football – Premier League, UEFA Champions League and FA Cup matches. Thanks, not really seeing anything in there that i'd miss apart from padding and even then i haven't had to use that in the last year or so. The software is where the fun is. YouView’s interface is full of features, lovely to use and nice to look at too. For newcomers, YouView is a free service that uses the internet to bring Freeview and on-demand services under a single roof.

On another note the HDR10 streaming via ORF (via VPN) app on my android box, far superior to BT HDR10 for the Premier League etc. Version 2.1 of the HDMI specification supports a new signalling system called FRL (Fixed Rate Link) to enable higher bandwidth. With lossless compression (DSC), HDMI 2.1 supports up to 120 Gb/s bandwidth for 8K/120FPS, within the 48 Gb/s specified. All the YouView boxes come with all the standard features: Over the air channels (some in HD), 7-day catch-up on selected channels via the Electronic Programme Guide, the major broadcasters’ catch-up apps, and the ability to pause and rewind a live broadcast. You can also add premium (paid-for) channels via BT, TalkTalk and Plusnet.The T4000 is the 4K box. The more recent ones have changed from a 1TB disk to a 500GB one so in that respect there is no difference BUT the T4000 is a far superior box in processing speed to the 2100 and the 2100 can not output at 4K resolution. You may or may not need 4K depending on what your TV is but I certainly wouldn't be replacing a T4000 with a T2100. When viewed live or in replay the quality of the UHD pictures (in this case on a Samsung UE55JU7500) is truly spectacular, with those additional pixels paying rich dividends in terms of definition and clarity. And, from my early viewings, it's clear the event director is choosing shots that take advantage of this, with hunting out wider angles that allow you to see more of the pitch and stadium. Is it worth it? Yes if you’re a sports fan with an existing BT Infinity subscription. Yes even if you’re not, but desperately want to watch UHD TV right now. Meanwhile TalkTalk’s Pay TV platform, which is currently based off a similar YouView ( IPTV) solution to the one adopted by BT, appears to be moving away from their current setup. The provider’s future TV STB kit – a Technicolor UZW4054TTG using JADE– looks set to be based off the Android operating system ( here).

The need for a new STB is perhaps further underlined by developments elsewhere in the market. For example, Virgin Media are preparing to launch their next generation Virgin TV 360 service, which is already in UK trials, and that looks set to arrive before Christmas ( here). We have many different YouView boxes, because they are all slightly different, we have different instructions for them.

BT TV offers great content access, but could do with more of it in 4K

Similar to its predecessor, BT TV Box Pro comes with integrated search – helping streamline viewing and removing the need to remember which show is on which platform. BT TV’s set-top box also offers pause, rewind and record functionality. This was resolved in Manufacturer Software 32.35.0 and all of the boxes should have upgraded to this version now. Then there are boxes that come without the BT/TalkTalk branding, arriving directly from Humax and Huawei.

BritBox: The streaming service from ITV and the BBC with classic British programmes. Again, only available on some YouView boxes. Considering how complex the content offering is, the box itself is pretty easy to get to grips with. Do note that a broadband connection is a MUST – you can’t even setup the boxes without connecting them to the internet first. If that’s an issue for you, you might want to look at getting a Freeview Boxinstead. While live 4K football is shown simultaneously in HD and Ultra HD each channel has its own cameras, commentators and studio support. And both require a lot of equipment and manpower to capture and deliver the picture. Any Ultra HD screen will be equipped to show off the extra detail with motion resolution holding up pretty well thanks to a 50fps frame rate.Colour fidelity and contrast of the 4K content were first-rate. Looking at the same game on the non-4K BT Sport HD channel, it was as if someone had smeared vaseline on the screen. You can get a YouView box in one of two ways – either as part of a bundle from BT or TalkTalk (combining broadband, YouView, and optional extra TV channels), or by buying the box directly from a retailer. As a cord cutting advocate, I of course prefer the retail route, which comes without any contracts or monthly subscriptions – but if you get your broadband from BT or TalkTalk, it might be worth at least taking a look at the prices they’re offering for the bundle. Then you’ll want a compatible 4K TV. That’s a set of 2160p resolution, with an HDMI 2.0 connection that supports HDCP 2.2 content protection – many older sets won’t cut it. Of course, you can watch downscaled 4K on a regular HD TV, but you won’t get your money’s worth.

Truth be told, there aren’t a lot of YouView boxes out there, so making a choice is – for good and for bad – not that complicated. Still, because the boxes aren’t cheap, you should still look carefully at the different features they offer (which is what we’re here to help with.) The 1TB capacity of the internal hard disk is perhaps a bit mean as you can only record 60 hours of UHD material, but it is sufficient for around 250 hours in HD, 600 hours in standard-def, or somewhere in between for a mix of the three. Recording two live UHD football matches (five hours and eight minutes in total) filled nine per cent of the hard disk, according to the onscreen info. For watch-n-wipers all this won't be an issue, but those who like to hoard TV series and are planning to gorge on as much 4K fare as possible, it could be.

John you mentioned on 5th June “You can even get 8k30fps content over HDMI 2.0 with DSC.”, so you know about FRL/DSC. Do you or anybody else disagree with Pete’s info about the specifications for HDMI 2.1. We’ve seen a huge growth in 4K HDR content and we’re excited that the new BT TV Box Pro supports such an immersive way of viewing. I just bought a Humax DTR-T2000 Youview box - to replace my Toppy 5810 which seems to be on the blink. Its not to be confused with the similar-sounding HDR-2000T!!!! A major benefit is how well defined nearly everything is. Large amorphous areas such as the turf still look like a solid carpet rather than lawn grass, especially when the camera pans. The frame rate of 50fps combined well with my screen’s motion processing to keep everything supremely smooth, although the shape of the ball did slightly distort sometimes. Note that you could partner this PVR with a Full HD TV (the HDMI output can be set to 720p and 1080p) and still enjoy those 50fps broadcasts.