BT Vision is a new digital TV service that's available to homes in the UK. BT Vision offers digital TV (using Freeview via a TV aerial), a digital video recorder (called a V-Box), and supports TV and video content that's download over a BT Broadband connection.Many see Television-over-Broadband (known as IPTV), or Video-on-Demand as the future of television, and BT is now positioning itself as a big player in this market. BT Vision's offering combines Internet TV with Freeview, a hard-disk recorder (for recording and live pause), plus downloadable on-demand content. BT is now making this new TV service available free to BT Total Broadband customers throughout the UK.

What does BT Vision offer?
The BT Vision set-top box will support reception of Freeview via your TV aerial. Freeview offers over 35 TV channels and 20 radio channels - More on Freeview.
Unlike Sky and Virgin, the BT Vision service is subscription-free. There's no charge at all for the basic Freeview channels or the recording service. If you choose to download movies or TV shows from the Internet, you pay for content that you actually watch
You'll be able to watch a selection of TV shows from the last seven days, sometimes referred to as "catch-up TV".
The BT Vision V-box contains a hard-disk capable of storing up to 80 hours of programming - More on PVR recorders
The BT Vision V-box has a 14 day electronic programme guide, as well as an on-screen guide to allow selection of downloadable content - you can also search for content by by name or actor.
The downloadable on-demand content includes films, music, sports and kids programming, and BT has recently announced deals with a number of big name content providers.

BT Vision Availability
BT Vision is now available across the UK. If you want get BT Vision, you need to sign up or switch to BT Total Broadband if you haven't already. (How to Switch provider )
Cost: The BT Vision service is FREE to BT Total Broadband subscribers. The BT Vision V-Box set-top box is also free to customers. You need to pay a one-off £30 activation fee. You can opt for "self-installation", or pay £60 for a BT engineer to deliver and install your BT Vision box. Provided you're OK to connect the box to your telly and Home Hub yourself, just £30 for a powerful set-top box/recorder, and a subscription-free digital TV service, really is top value.
Requirements: BT Vision requires a BT Total Broadband connection and a BT Home Hub (supplied free with BT Total Broadband Options 2 and 3). For the video-on-demand content, you need a line speed of 2Mb or over. To sign up to BT Total Broadband, or to switch providers, go to www.bt.com/btbroadband

The Radio and Telly Team had their BT Vision box installed in February 2007, and have reviewed this for this site, as well as for Show 12 of FrequencyCast, our podcast. Below, we take a look at the BT Vision set-top box, the service, and what's on offer with the BT Vision On Demand content.
BT Vision's Movies-on-Demand screen
Read on for our review of BT Vision, or listen to our online review
Installation:
Installation was straightforward. The BT engineer called on time, and installed the BT Vision set-top box. The BT Home Hub has to be physically connected to both a phone line (for Broadband) and the Vision V-box. Our Home Hub was already in position close to the TV and connected to a phone line. We were told by the engineer that, in situations where the Hub isn't near the TV and a phone line, the engineer will run an extension socket to somewhere close to the TV set.
The BT Vision set-top box is connected to the TV via a SCART lead, and to the BT Home Hub via a standard Ethernet RJ45 cable. The BT engineer will also set up one PC in the house for wireless connection to broadband via the Home Hub, if required. Our engineer supplied a BT Voyager 1055 Wireless USB Adapter for connecting a PC to the Internet wirelessly. For us, installation took around 45 minutes.
The BT Vision V-Box
The set-top box is manufactured by Philips, and seems very well constructed. It sits well with other AV equipment, and there don't seem to be any obvious design problems surfacing as yet.
The BT Vision v-box. manufactured by Philips
We have a special page dedicated to the V-Box, so if you're interested in delving more deeply into the box, its connectors and the technical specs, go to our BT Vision Set-top Box page.
Using BT Vision:
Again, very straightforward. Using the BT Vision box as a Freeview receiver brings no surprises - standard channel changing and all of the features you'd expect to see on a standard Freeview box. The remote control is slightly chunky, but a good comfy design, and it's a cinch to use. There are three main buttons to use, the 'BT Vision' button to get to the main menu, and your recorded shows, the 'TV Guide' button to get to 14 days of programme listings that are downloaded over the Internet, and the 'On Demand' button that opens the door to the online content available for download and watching from the BT servers.

The BT Vision Remote Control
Accessing the On Demand content was very easy - and BT has gone out of its way to make browsing and searching for content as easy as possible. There's about three ways of searching for everything - searching films by genre, TV shows by TV channel, A-Z listings, and a free-form text search. This latter feature is our favourite - there's one search engine for everything, on demand content, shows in the EPG, even actors and directors. A great way to find what you're looking for and some thought has clearly gone into how to get to the wealth of content available.
Searching with BT Vision
Features and functions
The BT Vision service has got a lot going for it - the built-in hard disk recorder is great for recording off-air telly - the 14 day programme guide, features like Series Link and Programme Search make finding and recording TV programmes a dream - superior even to our favourite, the Sky+ box.
The BT Vision Electronic Programme Guide
Watching On Demand content is great too. Later on this page, we summarise some of the TV shows available to watch "on demand". The selection at the moment (July 07) is perhaps a little small, but this is set to grow and there's already something for everyone. The service we're looking for is only really available from Channel 4 at the moment, and that's Catch-up TV - the ability to watch a TV show that's been on in the last 7 days, and watch it at a time to suit you. Great that Channel 4 are offering it - but we want to see the Beeb, ITV and Five get on board with catchup TV soon too.
Downloading TV programmes from 4oD on a BT Vision box
Review Summary
So far, we've been very impressed, and have nothing to fault on the service yet. We're keen to flesh out this review, based on questions from our regular visitors, so if you have a question, first check out our BT Vision FAQ, then if your question's not answered, please contact us and we'll try to help.
We also have a BT Vision forum and a dedicated BT Vision mailing list, so please feel free to sign up.

On Demand Content
The top question we're asked, is "what on demand content is available on BT Vision". In January 2008, here's what was on offer on our BT Vision box to BT Total Broadband customers:
On Demand Movies
When we last counted, over 400 movies. Films priced either £1.99 or £2.99 for a 24 hour rental. Here are some sample titles:
Action & Adventure: 70 films - Including: Jaws, The Matrix, Hunt for Red October, Hulk, Bourne Identity, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean
Classics: 14 films including The God, the Bad and the Ugly, Dirty Harry, Psycho and Pink Panther
Comedy: 124 films - Including: East is East, Lost in Translation, Love Actually, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, The Break Up, Withnail & I
Drama: 190 films - Including: A Clockwork Orange, Dirty Dancing, Forrest Gump, United 93
Family: 43 films - Including: Addam Family Values, Babe, Cats and Dogs, E.T, The Grinch
Horror: 32 films - Including: An American Haunting Friday the 13th Parts 2 and 3, The Gift, Tremors
Romance: 45 film - Including: Blue Crush, Wuthering Heights, Frankie and Johnny, The Wedding Planner
Sci-Fi & Fantasy: 25 films - Including: Dune, Explorers, Back to the Future, Fifth Element, Hulk, Mad Max
Thriller: 94 films - Including: An American Haunting, Hannibal, Eyes Wide Shut, Miami Vice, Training Day, Patriot GamesAlso, around 70 films from Film4
On Demand TV Programmes
When we last counted, over 1,500 TV shows were available. You can access TV content by category, channel, 'TV Replay' and 'Premium TV' categories. Prices between £0.79 or £0.99 per episode, or for £6 a month for the TV Package. Catch up TV (last 7 days) from the BBC are currently free.
Comedy: Black Books Series 1, Spaced Series 1, Red Dwarf Series 1, Father Ted Series 1, Little Britain Series 1 and 2, Trigger Happy TV Series 2, Peep Show Series 1, South Park Series 1, plus classics like Porridge and Open All Hours
Drama: Nip Tuck, Shameless, Queer as Folk, Doc Martin, Doctor Who Series 1, Bleak House, Elizabeth
Documentaries: Battlefield Britain, History of Britain Series 1, Blue Planet, Planet Earth, Monarchy, Conspiracy
Entertainment: Deal or No Deal, Wife swap, Pimp My Ride, Boiling Point
Lifestyle: 10 Years Younger, Jamie's School Dinners, Rick Stein's Food Heroes, Himalayas with Michael Palin, SAS Survival Secrets
TV Replay: BBC: 56 TV shows. BBC on demand shows from the last 7 days are available free
TV Replay 4 on Demand: 34 programmes from Channel 4's on demand service 4oD, including Countdown, Hollyoaks, Dispatches, Deal or No Deal, Relocation, Relocation, Relocation, Skins, The Daily Show, The Hustlers, The Market. Shows are £0.99 each
Premium TV: Desperate Housewives Series 3, ER Series 3, The O.C Series 4, Ugly Betty Series 1
Kids
Content from BBC Hits, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. Last time we counted, around 850 kids shows. Prices for most items are 49p.
Programmes including a good selection of series and episodes of: Basil Brush, Dexter's Lab, Rugrats, Spongebob SquarePants, Teletubbies, Balamory, Bob the Builder and Postman Pat

Music
Music videos, concerts and Music Extras.
Music videos: 32 pop , 34 Urban and Dance, 44 Rock and Indie and 53 Retro Classics videos, priced 29p.
Concerts: around 20 concerts priced at £1.99, including ELO, Heart, Joe Jackson, Madness, Oasis, Prince, Simply Red and The Who
Sport on BT Vision
BT Vision Sport launched in August 2007, with content provided by sports channel Setanta Sports. In the 2007/8 seaon, they will be showing 46 live FA Premier League games, 60 live Scottish Premier League games, live Nationwide Conference games and other European football Leagues. There will also be access to PGA golf and many other sporting events. The BT Vision Sport service will also include BT’s own on-demand sports content. BT already has rights to 242 "near live" FA Premiership matches meaning BT Vision Sport customers will be able to watch 288 Premiership matches in full – 75 per cent of the season’s 380 games. BT Vision customers will also have the unique choice between tuning into the 46 live broadcasts, or watching matches over Broadband at times to suit them.
Cost? BT Vision customers on BT Total Broadband can get the BT Vision Sport service either via monthly subscription (from £4 a month), or per-match pay-to-view. Here are the pricing details for the 2007/8 football season:
BT Vision Standard Sports (£4 a month): 242 Premier League games shown a few hours after kick off (from 10pm). 125 matches from the Coca-Cola Football League and Carling Cup. Plus access to a library of classic sport
Setanta Sports (£9.99 a month): Setanta Sports. Including 46 live Premier League games and live US PGA Tour golf
Total Sports (£12 a month): Both Standard and Setanta packages
Pay Per View: You can watch individual Premier League games for £1.99 per game
To get BT Vision Sport, you must be a BT Total Broadband customer. No news on Test Match Cricket, or other sporting events yet. Consider joining our BT Vision mailing list for occasional updates on BT Vision.
Interactive games
15 games including Pub Quiz, Hangman, Solitaire, Patience, Sudoku. Typically £0.50 for a 30 minute rental

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