BT Ultra HD YouView Box UHD DTR-T4000/500GB with Twin HD Freeview and 7 Day Catch Up TV

Product Information

My BT DTR T2100 stopped working (it froze so I switched it off and now it won’t power back on) so I need a new PVR. We’ve seen such great feedback since launching our flexible TV plans and now the award-winning platform is about to enter the next generation of viewing. Having checked out some of the matches broadcast in 4K, we can say the extra resolution proves captivating, especially when compared with the HD feeds. Their condition is so perfect that you probably wouldn’t be able to tell them apart from brand new ones.

The box is easy to get to grips with, with an intuitive onscreen menu system that makes you more inclined to explore the on-demand content than before. The good news, as hinted last year ( here), is that BT’s new STB finally appears to be catching up with some of their rivals, at least on the technology front. This additional detail allows the camera to zoom out wider, so you see more of an overview of the action.PayPal Credit and PayPal Pay in 3 are trading names of PayPal UK Ltd, Whittaker House, Whittaker Avenue, Richmond-Upon-Thames, Surrey, United Kingdom, TW9 1EH. I also have a Humax Freesat PVR which gives me better reception for the channels broadcast on the temporary low power Freeview MUXes such as BBC4 HD but since that has joined the Digitalstream in no longer being supported by BBC iPlayer then Youview is the go to device for watching the free catch up services on my main TV (casting from my tablet or HDMI from my laptop are other options especially for subscription services not available on BT Youview such as Now TV for sport and MotoGP Video Pass - which I am trialling for the off season test sessions as a potential alternative to staying with BT TV / Sport). What would be the compelling reasons to take their packages and the new STB, compared to subscribing directly to Now TV and BT sport and then streaming on the likes of Apple TV box? Large amorphous areas such as the turf still look like a solid carpet rather than lawn grass, especially when the camera pans.

I tested it with a Premiership football match and the improvement over HD was clearly visible: grass was full of texture, the ball was easier to see and the players looked clearer and cleaner. 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. Talking of the router, if you’re not using the Home Hub 5 then there’s a chance that you might run into some problems getting the internet channels. Wonder why nobody else picked up on this and BT support for HDR10 support only being mobile phone driven, or lack of 4k programming.Sky (Sky Q HDR) and Virgin Media (Virgin TV 360) have both issued upgraded versions of their kit in the past year or so, which is something that BT can’t ignore. They mention that the instructions are good, the product is simple to connect, and the remote control is easy to operate.

I’m NOT SAYING BT are going to drop YouView, but by the looks of it, it’s on it’s way out as the standard UI for free to air TV.

Apparently, the USB port enables you to connect a keyboard to the box, but no other uses are mentioned. The PVR is highly responsive apart from taking its time to boot up (a real annoyance) and re-tune channels. It takes just two button presses to launch iPlayer, and a few more to scroll along and select Netflix (and yes, this is the UHD version of Netflix). This may be the only Freeview box on the market with 4K at the moment but is the Ultra HD YouView box’s main selling point any good?

Currently, WiFi functionality on the BT TV Pro box does not deliver that exceptional experience, so we have decided to switch off that functionality while we work on a fix. We actually expected this kit to surface last year, but COVID-19 is believed to have caused some development delays.It also has a completely redesigned interface for BT TV, which is BT’s streaming offering and rival to Netflix. I suspect that if your already on the VIP deal- let it expire by a day and ring them up to get put back on with a new box. The benefit of the YouView system is that internet channels appear in the YouView guide alongside broadcast channels and you can even record them. That all changed when the Humax DTR-T4000 turned up, the UK's first set-top box to cater for 4K TV owners, as part of the BT TV ecosystem.