736 TV & DVD Buying in Italy

I've seen mentioned on another thread that some TV's bought in the UK will work here in Italy.

We've just moved over and are looking to buy a TV and DVD player. Does anyone know if sets and DVD players bought here in Italy will work in the UK (and abroad generally)? If so, can anyone advise on what spec we should look for to be confident they'll be worth taking home with us when we eventually go back?

Category
General chat about Italy

The only difference between UK and Italian TV's is that the sound is delivered to the arial socket in a slightly different way ( to be precise, the Radio Frequency Sub-Carrier is different)
In practice this means that if you receive TV the old-fashioned way - through an analogue arial - the sound will probably not work (although some sets can be easily adjusted by a technician)

If you have a satellite receiver or a digital terrestrial set-top-box, you need to connect it to your TV with a Scart connecter (the big 21-pin plug with a fat cable) and you will have no problems with an Italian-bought TV in the UK or vice-versa. Any DVD you buy should work fine, as long as you connect it in this way. An added bonus is that the Scart connection gives better quality too.
If you're buying a TV in Italy, I'd think about looking for one with 2 Scart inputs, to make it easier to conect more devices, though you can 'daisy-chain' devices through Scart cables.

(This is assuming that 'home' for you is the UK or another European country. If you're from the USA then compatibility issues are a whole different kettle of fish)

You will need to make the DVD player "multi region" if you wish to swap DVD's around too, google for "dvd multi region hacks" it is really quite simple to do.

Thanks chaps. I don't suppose you know of a good store to by tv and dvd players from here in Italy? We're in the Veneto region (Treviso).

I was always a richersounds fan back in the UK unfortunately I can't see mr richer opening a branch in Treviso!

As ridiculous as it sounds, some of the supermarkets have good prices, especially during the sales which are on around now. I do not know the Veneto at all, but, look for the City Per, Sma Auchan malls, you will be pleasantly surprised.
Good Luck
G.

[QUOTE=GeorgeS]You will need to make the DVD player "multi region" if you wish to swap DVD's around too, google for "dvd multi region hacks" it is really quite simple to do.[/QUOTE]

Umm not really, both Italy and the UK are region 2 so no hack required. The only time you ned region free is if yu want to use DVDs from outside the region where you bought the player (USA is region 1 for example).

[QUOTE=action man]Thanks chaps. I don't suppose you know of a good store to by tv and dvd players from here in Italy? We're in the Veneto region (Treviso).

I was always a richersounds fan back in the UK unfortunately I can't see mr richer opening a branch in Treviso![/QUOTE]

I don't know about up there, our local box shifter is Ferri, which seems to trade under the Euronics label.