With the newly supported Freeview Play function you will be able to watch TV programmes from the last seven days. You can watch drama, news, sports and other programmes that you missed while you were away from home, without even having to record them. They're ready for you to watch when you're ready to watch. As a Freeview PVR, the PWT550 is a perfectly capable twin tuner entry with all the usual features you would expect, including season records, simultaneous recordings and chase-play capability. There are some operational limitations such as not being able to access the settings while recordings are taking place, the inability to view the guide effectively while watching a recording and some general sluggishness in loading the guide and pausing action but definitely no showstoppers and the PWT550 is very reliable. As you'd expect from Panasonic, the DMRPWT550EB offers a detailed and natural picture quality. 3D compatibility lets you view 3D Blu-rays on your 3D TV, plus there's 2D-3D conversion. 2D-3D conversion allows you to watch any 2D material up-converted to glorious 3D.

Before deciding on whether, or not, you should avail yourself of the multiple capabilities of the Panasonic DMR-BWT850, you first need to ask yourself the question – do I plan to keep, or later archive, the recordings made from the Freeview HD tuner on disc? If that answer is in the negative, move on to something else as really this box is overkill – and expensive – for your needs. On the other hand, if that is one of your requirements, the BWT850 is probably the leading contender on the market. By registering TV programmes such as dramas with the TV Series Recording function, they can be automatically recorded and stored each time they are broadcast. This eliminates the possibility of forgetting to record each programme, and lets you watch the programmes at any preferred time. The supplied remote is hardly chic but it’s designed with functionality in mind and delivers by way of a well-planned layout and some really useful dedicated buttons. Those include dedicated options for Netflix and the Freeview Play suite of catch-up players – iPlayer, ITV Hub & All 4 – and a couple that are invaluably useful for skipping through recordings with ease. With the newly supported Freeview Play function you will be able to watch TV programmed from the last seven days, that you missed while you were away from home, without even having to record them. They're ready for you to watch in your free timeThis is an issue that isn’t going to go away, but as we’re being pushed into streaming here in the UK, both for live linear TV viewing and catch-up, the mess is only going to get worse. A TV, for a lot of people, is a serious investment, and when they buy nowadays, it’s a given that the device will be ‘smart’. But when an app. is discontinued or is updated such that the new version no longer runs, manufacturers hide behind the fact that the apps. are nothing to do with them. That may be so, but they’re quite happy to sell their products emphasising ‘smartness’.

The DMR-PWT655 will treat your old standard definition material with a good degree of reverence. Scaling is excellent and the player is fully able to detect the necessary film cadences and is equally fine at deinterlacing any video material you send its way. There is no apparent detail suppression or nasty ringing artefacts and when the source is good – particularly with high quality animated titles – the output of the PWT655 is about as good as you could hope for without getting a costly outboard video processor involved.

Features & Apps

Requires broadband internet. * May not work over unstable networks or with some content. * Only works on one device at a time outside the home. ITVX coverage certainly isn’t universal. There’s no native app. on my 2022 Sony Android TV, but there is on my 2019 LG. It’s also there on my 2019 Panasonic TV. Take control of recording, even when you're hundreds of miles from home with Remote Recording. Provided your device is connected to Broadband Internet, you'll be able to set recording functions remotely via your Smartphone or tablet. With Panasonic's TV Anywhere you can also stream recordings and live TV directly to your Smartphone or tablet (excludes BBC content). Now there's no excuse on missing out on your favourite programme. With the newly supported Freeview Play function you will be able to watch TV programmes from the last seven days. You can watch drama, news, sports and other programmes that you missed while you were away from home, without even having to record them. They''re ready for you to watch in your free time. Since it has two tuners, the PWT-550 can record two different programmes at once. So there's no need to worry about missing anything when two programmes overlap.