Bravia KDL-32v40xx - Receiving BBC iplayer

[Forton]

Can Bravia KDL-32v40xx receive BBC iplayer without extra hardware?

If not, what hardware is needed?

Please assume (correctly) I know nothing and can barely recognise a scart cable.  Many thanks

[Catmambo · Accepted solution]

Not this particular model I'm afraid. Easiest way to add it is simply getting one of the current Blu-ray players such as this http://www.sony.co.uk/product/blu-ray-disc-player/bdp-s390 which will give you iPlayer, Netflix, Lovefilm and a host of other services.

Hope this helps

[Forton]

Thank you Catmambo. 

We have resisted Blu Ray feeling it would be giving in to being "done over" again by the media industry when we have a large collection of DVDs and don't want to double up on players & recorders hardware.

But .... our present DVD player is old and due for replacement. 

Could a Blu Ray player such as you mention play our standard DVDs?

Are we stupid not to buy Blu Ray disks for future purchases of films?  (I don't envisage reaplacing alreat owned DVDs with  Blu Ray of hevcsame ites). Am I right the Blu Ray disks price  has come down generally?

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

[Catmambo]

Fair question. Indeed there is no point replacing your existing DVD's to be honest. Not all of them area available on Blu-ray & secondly, you'll likely find Blu-ray players do a very very good job of 'upscaling' (improving) the Standard Definition content, so they will look a lot better than they do currently. You are also then able to switch to a totally digital connection so connecting the Blu-ray player to the V40 TV via an HDMI cable which will also improve the quality of the experience further.

So bang for buck, its a worthwhile investment I think as it will give you iPlayer functionality, as well as making all your existing films look better and allowing you to also play High Definition content via Blu-ray if and when you choose to buy the format for selected 'showcase' titles or rentals as indeed they are normally only a couple of £ more expensive than DVD now.

Hope this helps

[Forton]

Dear Catmambo,

Thank you for such a clear reply.  Very helpful.

Do you do financial advice or marriage counselling?

Last thought... TV is in sitting room which is a long way from D-Link net router and wireless signal is poor/nil when using a laptop in the sitting room.  We use a house ring main/plug-in type internet distribution link with hardwire connection from the router to house ring main, to exit plug/cable link to e.g. my son's PS3 (in his bedroom) which works well.  Do you think this sort of link to TV/Sony Blu-Ray disc player will be OK?

Presently TV receives a satellite feed and signal from UK rooftop TV aerial. (We live in South West UK)

Thank you.

[Catmambo]

Hi

No problem

Yes, Homeplug/Powerline devices work brilliantly for these devices. I'm a big fan of them. You mention you have poor wifi in your lounge so you could always look at getting something like this.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Devolo-1409-dLAN-Wireless-N-Starter/dp/B00472MMC6/ref=tag_stp_s2_edpp_url

Little more expensive, but it would then give you a wired connection to your Blu-ray player as well as a wireless access point for your lounge so you would also be able to use your computer in there to.

One thing to note with homeplug/powerline tech is that the intercompatibility is not always great. I'm not an expert but I'm pretty sure you can't pick and mix homeplug with powerline as they are different technologies and even homeplugs from different brands may not always work together. So I think its recommend to stick within one brand for this kind of tech, but maybe a bit of googling will confirm this.

Thanks