Ready to say goodbye to Sky or Virgin Media?
Perhaps you’re looking to ditch that tired old ugly box that begins with an H?
Or you might be one of our wonderful customers with a T3 or T3•R and want to know what’s in it for you if you upgrade.
Whatever your reasons, here’s a breakdown of what’s new and improved in our T4 range, designed for telly lovers to enjoy the best of British TV on their terms.
A brand-spanking new TV Guide.
- In addition to our traditional grid-based TV Guide, now called the Grid View, we’ve introduced two new views to enhance your browsing experience:
- We’ve redesigned the Grid View to include a seventh channel, making it easier to browse your favourite programmes.
- Our new Genre View lists programmes by genre in chronological order, so you can find all films, whether on Film4 or BBC One, as well as other genres like Sport and Drama & Soaps, in one place.
- Our new Channel View focuses on a single channel, allowing you to see all upcoming programmes for the next week.
- The new Filter feature lets you show only programmes with subtitles, audio description or sign language, and filter channels by your favourites or other lists.
- In Grid View, matching programmes are highlighted and non-matching programmes are dimmed out.
- In Genre View and Channel View, non-matching programmes are hidden.
- In all views, non-matching channels are hidden.
- You can now add or remove channels from your favourites list directly in the TV Guide by pressing the red button.
- Channel names now appear as text in the main browsing area, making them easier to read than the old logo-based display. A larger, branded channel logo is prominently shown in the information panel at the top of the screen, alongside a heart icon to indicate favourited channels.
- Recording icons have been improved to show the recording status more clearly: red for the actual recording, grey for alternatives (e.g. different time or channel), and yellow for episodes that can't be recorded, with icons for clashes and skipped episodes
- Navigation improvements: Press the BACK button to return to the current time, and press it again to go back to the live channel you were watching.
- Information Panel refresh:
- Programme information now stands out with bold titles and clear, readable descriptions.
- Attributes like start and end times, and icons for Subtitles and Audio Description, are now stronger and off-white, replacing the old blue ones. We also display the programme genre and duration.
- Actions for the selected programme are now clearer and more prominent.
A totally redesigned Featured & Watchlist.
- The Featured and Watchlist menus have been redesigned for ease of use and consistency with the other menus:
- Programme information now appears directly in the menu as you browse, eliminating the need to press OK to open an overlay.
- On Demand programmes can now be played instantly with the OK button, or added to your Watchlist with the Green button, without opening the overlay.
- You can now browse up and down through the category carousels, or press SWAP to view all categories and jump directly to one.
- The new Filter feature allows you to show only programmes with subtitles, audio description, or sign language.
- The maximum number of Featured categories has been increased from 12 to 15, with up to double the number of programmes.
Discover more with our improved and expanded search.
- Search has been expanded to include the entire TV Guide for the next seven days, in addition to all on-demand content
- As with the Featured and Watchlist menus:
- Search results have been redesigned for consistency with the other menus and ease of use.
- The new Filter feature allows you to show only programmes with subtitles, audio description, or sign language.
Smarter recordings and playback.
- The new 'Continue' section makes it easy to resume watching programmes and series you've started.
- When playing back a series episode or split recording, the next recording will automatically start playing when the current one finishes. You can disable this feature in the Settings menu.
- Sections are now shown for each genre of programmes you’ve recorded.
- Recordings sections and series folders can now be independently sorted:
- Sort your recordings from newest to oldest, oldest to newest, or alphabetically.
- Sort your series episodes from newest to oldest or oldest to newest.
- Your sorting preferences are automatically saved.
- The new Filter feature lets you show only recordings with subtitles, audio description or sign language, and filter by watched status: unwatched, partially watched or fully watched. Combine filters any way you like, such as viewing only unwatched recordings with subtitles.
- You can now press the Green button to organise recordings: change their genre, mark them as watched or unwatched, or ‘Keep’ to prevent automatic deletion when space is needed.
- Along with standard Freeview genres, we've added Comedy, Music, and Sci-Fi & Fantasy to help categorise your recordings.
- Recordings and series folders can now be deleted with the Yellow button. Previously, you had to press the record button and then select the delete option.
- The expanded 'Scheduled' section simplifies managing upcoming recordings:
- All episodes scheduled for the next seven days are grouped in a folder. Previously, only the next episode in a series was shown.
- Browse all scheduled episodes, and choose to skip or set reminders for individual episodes.
- Assign a genre to a scheduled recording or series to pre-organise it.
- Recording clash warnings appear when detected and on startup. The scheduled tab flags clashing episodes; pressing OK offers options to resolve.
- The new More Menu lets you browse and play available On Demand episodes for recordings you missed.
- When a recording starts, a notification will appear on-screen. You can disable this feature in the Settings menu.
- During recording playback, you can now pause and resume recordings with the OK button, and use the D-Pad to show or hide the playback banner by pressing up or down.
Brand new Live Pause on T4.
- The T4 introduces the ability to pause live TV for up to 90 minutes, similar to the T4•R's two-hour pause feature.
Shiny new Home Screen.
- The Home Screen has been completely redesigned to make it the perfect starting point for all your menus, apps and channels.
- The new On Now carousel shows what’s currently on TV. Combined with the filter, you can easily customise it to show the channels and programmes you prefer, such as only showing programmes with subtitles on your favourite channels.
Zoom menus for a closer look.
- You can press the new ZOOM button on the remote to enlarge the entire interface – everything will adjust automatically to fit on-screen, so you don't have to pan around.
Superfast hardware.
- Memory doubled to 2 GB DDR4.
- Storage increased from 512MB NAND to 8 GB eMMC.
- Added a front-panel LED to the T4•R to indicate when recording is in progress. You can disable this LED in standby mode via the Settings menu.
- Increased CPU speed from 15000 DMIPS to 16000 DMIPS.
- The T4•R supports 3.5” HDDs as well as 2.5” HDDs, and is available in capacities up to 2TB, all without a bigger footprint than the T3•R.
Redesigned remote control.
- Redesigned for improved ergonomics and ease of use:
- Contoured shape sits comfortably in the hand
- Optimised button layout minimises accidental presses
- Maintains spacious design for easy navigation
- The new Remote Pairing feature allows you to pair your remote with a specific T4 or T4•R. This enables multiple T4 and T4•R boxes to be operated independently in the same room, even alongside older Manhattan models like the T3 series.
Settings to make the experience personal.
Customise Your Menu Preferences
This new 'Menu Preferences' section allows you to customise your T4 or T4•R to your liking:
- Set your default TV Guide view to either Grid or Channel.
- Decide if filters should reset after standby, menu exit, or never, keeping your preferred filtering intact.
- Choose to display channel logos or names in the Channel Browser while watching TV.
- Adjust the transparency of Manhattan menus, or disable it entirely.
- Opt to show the 'Watch in HD' prompt when an HD version of an SD channel is available.
- Decide if channels temporarily unavailable during two recordings on different multiplexes are indicated with an icon.
T4•R Recording and Playback Sections
- The 'Recording & Playback' section has been split into separate sections.
- In ‘Playback’, you can now choose whether to Autoplay the next recording.
- In 'Recording', you can now choose whether to:
- Show a notification when a recording starts.
- Display the white LED on the front of the T4•R in standby during recording.
- Prompt for confirmation when deleting recordings, folders, or both.
Customise Your Channels
- The new Channel Editor in the 'Channels' section makes it easy to manage your favourite channels, hide channels and delete channels.
- Sort channels by number or name, and filter by reception and type.
Settings Explained
- Almost all settings now include an explanatory description to help you understand what they do.
Extra help, every step of the way.
In addition to sections explaining the various icons and how to use the learning features of the T4/T4-R remote control, the Help Menu now includes:
- A ‘Using Your T4/T4-R’ section that explains how to use all key functions and menus.
- A ‘Troubleshooting & Support’ section to help you find solutions to common issues and contact our support team for assistance.
Stay tuned for more.
With the Manhattan T4 Freeview TV box and T4•R Freeview TV Recorder, you're in the driver's seat. From live pause to effortless recording to seamless playback, we’ve designed these features to put you in control, and ensure you never miss a moment of great telly.
Want to find out more about our other great features? Check out:
- Deep Dive #1: Unveiling the redesigned TV Guide
- Deep Dive #2: Search and discover great telly
- Deep Dive #3: Record and pause TV on your terms
Stay tuned for more exciting features, and as always, we'd love to hear your thoughts, views, and telly habits with us via email, Twitter/X or Facebook. Until then, grab your remote, put your feet up, and enjoy the best of British TV on your terms.