If you're able to, make a note of all your preferred settings and scheduled recordings as you will lose them once you've completed a Maintenance Mode reset. Dolby Atmos is different from standard surround sound in that the sound comes from above as well as all around, and BT’s system delivered the effect convincingly in the demo I was given, where I was shown the opening moments of an early-season Premier League match at Anfield. The noise of the crowd did appear to be coming from all around, but more impressive than this was how easy it was to place the PA announcements, which appeared to be coming from directly above my seating position.

Note that the IP content including BT Sport will not work if you use a different make of router, and that the Humax box isn't wireless. BT does supply a 10m Ethernet cable, but you could try a Powerline connection. A TV Aerial –The free channels are broadcast over the air, so you need an aerial that can intercept those signals.It can either be an outdoor aerial (usually on your roof), or a cheap indoor aerial. Take a look at our guide for buying the best indoor aerials.

BT's Ultra HD service gets a makeover and some sports events will have Dolby Atmos sound, too

Note that some of the very old YouView boxes no longer support some of the mentioned apps – ITV Hub, for example, was removed from some last year. 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. Happily, the IPTV stream is outside of your internet service, so watching a broadcast won't affect simultaneous streaming or web browsing elsewhere in the home on a computer. Also, the IP stream is user-agnostic so your speed won't be affected by the number of other users in the district.

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. 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. I got my sister a retail Youview box last Christmas from Currys I went for the one with the 1tb that's a little dearer.There’s also Aviva Premiership rugby and the NBA basketball match from London. In between, you get endless adverts for UHD and for BT. Verdict 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.

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. 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.An Ethernet Connection: The catch-up and on-demand features of YouView work via your broadband connection. The boxes, however, do not support WiFi – so you need to connect the box directly to your broadband router (or via a Powerline Adapter– see our review of the best ones) Even though Freeview (the service offering free-to-air channels via a tuner and an aerial – see our full guide) was already around for years, the companies were looking for an “upgraded” service – one that’ll offer both free channels, a catch-up service, and the ability to pay for TV “add-ons”. With no compatible studio cameras, the half-time bit is done by the commentator up in the stands, which gives the game away that BT has yet to put resources in to the overall presentation. But when the actual live footage is so impressive, that hardly seems important. The bottom line is that UHD is here, and not before time. Those already signed up for BT broadband are advised to book an engineer in for an install as soon as possible. Related Articles: Ten years ago I wandered into the Tokyo equivalent of Currys and saw an HD broadcast for the first time. The clarity blew my mind and I’ve never forgotten the moment. Since then nothing that’s been broadcast has had the same impact. 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.