GOING TV DIGITAL BY TED WEBBER

By Ted Webber

We are all aware that our cosy relationship with analogue TV is going to end soon by government fiat. If you are anything like my wife and I, you are quite satisfied with the current offerings on free-to-air analogue TV, particularly on ABC and SBS. The rest of the channels are mainly garbage, and the claim that more channels on digital TV will give more choice is spurious because it will mean only that the intellectually satisfying material will be still more diluted and just spread more widely over the spectrum of many channels. The improved definition available with digital will in no way improve the program content on its own.

However, we do need to come to terms with this so-called technical advance because the analogue signal will be switched off within two years, even if it costs retirees more than they want to pay. Should we go for a large screen with high definition and appropriate tuner costing several thousands of dollars? OK if you have money to burn. Or should we go “lo-tech” and minimum cost with a set-top box (STB) to adapt our existing analogue TV to digital signals? This article explores the second of these options.

The situation is complicated by any wish to record shows or documentaries. We have a hard disk personal video recorder (PVR) for our analogue setup that cost some $800 which is able to record one program while we are viewing another, and to record several hundred hours then dub them onto DVD discs. By careful selection in the dubbing process I can put all the episodes of a particular series onto one DVD, using extended play options. But this machine will not record or playback digital material. Such a machine must have two tuners, and its equivalent digital model in a STB is quite expensive.

Reviews of Set-top Boxes

Several multifunction (i.e. they have some recording functionality) STBs were reviewed in the March 2010 issue of PC User magazine, page 69. They ranged in price from the DigitalView XC-4912 ($49 at Jaycar) to the Strong SRT 5440 ($250) but PC User does not rate them comparatively.

I decided that $49 for the DigitalView (DV) model was not too much to spend on an exploration of this technology, and I have not regretted the purchase. However, the DV manual leaves much to be desired, as we shall see, and in the following writeup I share my experience of setting up and using this particular STB.

The DV offers only standard definition (SD) digital reception, but there is no point in having a high definition (HD) tuner if your existing TV can show only a standard definition picture.

For more STBs and reviews, see http://www.productreview.com.au/c/set-top-boxes-tv-receivers-dvrs.html or http://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and-tests/technology/home-entertainment/digital/hdstb-with-usb-review-and-compare.aspx , though most of these refer to more expensive equipment.

Government Assistance for Pensioners

I should mention here that the Federal Government has instituted a “Household Assistance Scheme” to provide eligible customers with a high-definition STB (see News for Seniors 2010 issue 83 or http://www.digitalready.gov.au/ ) prior to shut down of the analogue signal in each area. This scheme does not appear to include any upgrade of your TV screen or any means of recording programs. Eligibility is limited to those already on a variety of CentreLink approved pensions at the maximum rate. Part-pensioners are excluded.

The Function of a Set-top Box

My expectation of the function of an STB was that it would convert a digital TV signal to analogue and then feed it to the analogue tuner in my existing TV set. This misconception led to a day of frustration when I first connected it according to the diagram in the manual, which nowhere tells you to use an audio-visual input (AV channel) on the TV! In fact, an STB should be viewed as another external tuner which is attached to your TV in the same manner as a PVR, VCR or a DVD player.

The Digital View XC-4912

The DV is a deceptively simple-looking piece of equipment, with just an on/off switch on its front fascia. Note that red is off/standby and blue is on. This switch sometimes did not respond to the remote but a quick touch fixed that. The manual instructs you to insert two AAA batteries in the remote, but this is incorrect: the remote comes with a coin-shaped C2025 battery and all that you need to do is to remove the sliver of plastic insulation from the battery compartment.

External Recording Media

The DV has a USB2 port for connecting an external flash drive or hard disk, so I bought a 1 terabyte (Tb) Western Digital external hard disk (EHD) from the closing down sale of Dick Smith in Horton Parade, Maroochydore, for $79. Since 1 hour of digital recording takes up 2 Gb of recording space, this 1 Tb drive can record up to 500 hours of programs. For just an occasional recording and playback, a 4 Gb flash drive / memory stick was found good for up to 2 hours. I also tried an external DVD drive, but this produced a warning message about unsuitable media.

Antenna

The most fundamental requirement for digital TV is of course having an antenna that receives a digital signal. However, if you receive a good analogue signal already you will probably have no difficulty in this respect. Analogue signals can “get by” with minor degradation which may be apparent as snow on the screen, but digital signals are all or nothing. On the south side of Buderim Mountain, we needed a booster for analogue reception on most channels, some of which still tended to snow. The SD digital reception, still using the same antenna and booster, is much improved.

I previously tried a Pinnacle USB TV decoder on my computer which gives full HD reception on some channels, but only broken up pictures on other channels, particularly SBS. It appears that High Definition is more of a problem in this respect because it requires a much higher bit rate.

Rear view of Digital View XC-4912 (page 6 of manual)

Legend RF cable Radio Frequency (Co-axial). The PVR/VCR is optional.

CVBS Composite Video Broadcast Signal (Video connector)

(unlabelled) Left and right stereo sound using RCA connectors

S-VIDEO Optional alternative to CVBS

Amplifier (2) For optional hi-fi sound

N.B. Any direct recording device such as an external hard drive is not shown in this diagram because it would be connected to the USB port on the front of the STB.

Also,
the power connections are not shown.

When connected as shown, three tuners may be utilized at any one time, one digital in the STB, one analogue in the PVR/VCR and one analogue in the TV set. So while the analogue signal persists, you could be viewing a current channel on the TV while recording another one on the PVR/VCR and recording a digital channel via the STB.

Installation

After making the connections as shown above, switch on the TV and go to the video channel AV1. Then switch on the STB (blue LED) using the remote or push button and follow the instructions on pages 7 & 8 of the manual. The “Favorites Channel List” is optional; and the sequence in the manual is topsy-turvey – you need to do operation 5 “Channel Scan” before you can select a channel!

Sub-Titles

Being hard of hearing, my wife and I make extensive use of sub-titles when available. On our analogue TV this means selecting 801 on the teletext menu each time we change the channel, and switching it off again before the channel can be changed.

However, this STB makes sub-titles much more convenient: once switched on they stay on across all channels until cancelled. There is nothing about this in the manual, but just use the SUB-T button on the remote. Similarly, the EPG button brings up an electronic program guide for each channel (item 8 in the manual).

Recording with an external USB flash or Hard Drive

With an external USB flash or hard drive connected, you first need to configure it according to “10.3 PVR Configuration”. The Record Type option is interesting for those who are hard of hearing, because when recording sub-titled programs in the analogue system the sub-titles are lost. The TS option in the STB, however, records sub-titles. Unfortunately, the resulting DVR format can be played back only in the STB. I searched the internet for a suitable format converter and found one called DVR-MS to MP4 but it did not work in this case.

Simple recording from the present time for up to 2 hours (default) is achieved by pressing the red dot record button on the remote. For time-shifting, follow the instructions in the manual.

More useful is the facility to record a future program or programs. This operation needs some experimentation to achieve success, and appears to be unnecessarily complicated!

From the Main Menu, select Setup then Timer as at top of p. 10 of manual “7. Timer” and follow the instructions there. A maximum of 8 recordings can be preset at any one time, so “Timer Number” can be between 1 and 8. This number is not related to the sequence number that appears in the list of previous recordings available in “Media > PVR Manage”. Note that the title of each recording in the PVR Manage list is derived from what was on at the moment of starting the recording, and this may be the tail end of the previous program, not the one intended, so it is a good idea to keep a written list of what you have set up for recording.

“Timer Mode” allows you to specify (say) weekly recording of the same program at the same time. Otherwise, set it to “Once”.

Next, set the date and start time of the program to be recorded, set “Auto Record” on, and enter the duration of the program to the nearest minute, perhaps allowing a few extra minutes in case of overrun.

When setting the date or time, use the up/down arrows on the remote to select the item, then press OK before trying to change a digit, which can be done with the up/down arrows or by entering the digit.

The “Wakeup Channel” refers to the channel you want to record and has nothing to do with an alarm, although it could be used as such no doubt.

Playback

The manual has nothing to say about playing a recording. Just go to Media -> PVR Manage, select the recording you want to watch and press OK. It can be fast-forwarded over commercials, paused while you make the coffee or skipped to the next recording just as on a VCR or PVR.

by Peter Daley,

The playback of music in the home is being revolutionized. Forget about using disk based media CDs or LPs for music playback, network music players are the future. These devices let you listen to streamed music from the Internet, or to play back copies of your music CDs or LPs, stored on your personal computer, into your HiFi system. There devices plug into your broadband Internet connection and will stream the music of your taste directly from the Internet, into your home and business.

If you use a network music player for Internet streaming music playback, you don't need to have a computer turned on. These devices will stream the music straight from your Internet connected broadband modem into your home or business sound system. The music will stream down the Internet at about 40 to 60 meg per hour on fast broadband connections, so you need a good download limit on your Internet service.

There are lots of companies starting to produce network music players, http://www.logitech.com, http://www.netgear.com or http://www.linksys.com, are a few. The Logitech transporter seems to have very good reviews at present. Logitech make two models of network music players, Sqeezebox and Transporter, and they work on all operating systems, Linux, Windows & Apple Mac!

The squeeze box sells for US$249, while the Transporter,  is the Audiophile version, and is a no holds barred assault on producing the best sound possible, it costs US$1999.

Other companies have network music players models under US$100. As with all technology, they will become more feature rich and powerful, and prices will drop with more competition as manufactures vie for market share.

Plug a network music players into your broadband Internet connection, and directly connect it to your computer speakers or home stereo. Being able to play back the music through a good home stereo system makes a tremendous difference to the musical enjoyment.

You can also program the network music players to stream music directly from your favourite Internet radio station, or sites like,

http://www.pandora.com/,

or

http://www.rhapsody.com/

If you join Pandora or Rhapsody you can customize your network music playback so it will stream your style, and taste in music through your home or business stereo system.

No more waiting for the song you like to play on the radio. Not only that, they can send it wirelessly, into different rooms! With these network music players, you can also copy your CD or LP music collection onto your personal computer, and send them directly through your network music player, into you stereo system.

No more changing CDs!

Plus there is now technology that can be used to create better sounding music from your original CDs, or SACDs. Yes you heard me correctly.  Incorporate this with a network music player  and you will get unprecedented sound quality!

© Peter Daley 2010

by Peter Daley

It is very easy to set up an exciting home entertainment centre on your personal computer, plus you can do it for little cost, or for free. Why purchase all those extra boxes, eg DVD player / recorder, Video Recorder, Desktop High Definition TV box, Radio, CD player, and HiFi system, plus have all those messy cables lying around, when you can do everything neatly in one box, your computer?

Yes, you can go and purchase a dedicated home entertainment centre computer if you want, but why would you, when all you need is a modern computer system, no more than two years old, with a reasonable video card and 80 GiG or larger hard drive, with a minimum of 512 megs of RAM, and install one of the excellent free home entertainment software packages, that will turn your computer into a sophisticated home entertainment centre.

For Windows based systems you install the free home entertainment software program, Media Portal, http://www.team-mediaportal.com/

For Linux use Myth TV, http://www.mythtv.org/

Both these programs will turn your home computer into an advanced home entertainment media centre. They will organize and play all your media files, music, radio, and allow you to watch your stored video, and DVDs, even display the local weather report. They also turn your computer into a recorder for your TV and Digital video.

To use the Radio, TV or scheduled TV recording features, you will need to install a High Definition or Analog TV/Radio tuner card into your home
computer, or use an external USB TV High Definition or Analog tuner plug-in device. These cost from $100 upwards. Dual tuner cards will allow you to watch one station, and record another at the same time.

(Tip: If you are using Linux, make sure you check out which TV tuners will work with Myth TV before purchasing a device.)

I personally prefer the USB tuners, because you can move them from one computer to another, with ease. If you have multiple computers in the house,
you can turn any one of them into a High Definition TV player/recorder, by simply installing the USB device's software on each machine, and then plug
in the USB tuner into the computer you wish to use as a TV set at that time.

(Tip: make sure you purchase a TV Tuner card, or USB TV, with good signal sensitivity.)

In most areas  you will need to plug the TV/Radio tuner device into an external roof mount aerial, to get good reception. An important point that will greatly improve the enjoyment and usability of your home entertainment centre, is to have all your entertainment media, music and videos, organized
in a logical sensible fashion, in your computer filing system, before you install the media centre software.

(Tip: Make sure you do regular backups of all your multimedia files!)

During the installation process, these programs will search your hard drive and index all your stored media files as you have organized them on your computer. So it doesn't matter how good the media centre software is, it's ease of use will be determined by how logically you have organized
your media files on your computer.

© Peter Daley 2010

Blue Ray

Blue Ray is the latest disc movie technology that promises a great improvement in picture, and sound quality. Blank Blue Ray disc are available at present for data storage that can store 25 GB per single layered, and 50 GB per dual layered. This format is open-ended, with a possible storage limit of 200 GB. So it could become the next high volume storage media replacing DVD discs.

It main purpose at present is to act as a medium to distribute the latest high definition moves, (High-definition video is 1920×1080 pixel resolution / 60 frames per second / 24 frames per second). If you buy a dedicated stand alone Blue Ray player you just put the disk in and play it. Getting Blue Ray to work on an computer can be whole lot more involved.

It is to do with the fact that you need a fairly fast computer, and have a Blue Ray player installed plus several layers of Content Management & Digital Rights Management (DRM). The computer Blue Ray player looks just like a DVD player, some are multi players that can read older technologies like CD /DVD discs. Some more expensive players can read and burn Blue Ray data storage disks as well as play Blue Ray Movies. Price ranges for Blue Ray Players are $200 to over $500 depending on what the player can do.

If you are looking at getting Blue Ray movies playing on an older computer, most of you should just forget the idea. Because of several layers of Content Management & Digital Rights Management (DRM), getting all the hardware parts to work together can be a nightmare. See all the hardware has to be certified to be Content and DRM certified and even then it may not work together. You also need Content and DRM certified software to play Blue Ray discs.

Blue Ray video movies have encryption to prevent copying and the Content and DRM looks to see if the hardware or movie disc has been tampered with. In other words to see if the Blue Ray content is being pirated.

It can,

1. See if a player's keys have been changed.

2. Patch an insecure Content and DRM certified system.

3. Stop the viewing of Blue Ray content if any of the hardware, or software is not compliant.

Even if the hardware and software you are using is all legal, and you have installed Content and DRM compliant Blue Ray software, disc player, video card, and Blue Ray compliant monitor it may not work. All the bits may not talk to each other for some strange technical reason! So after many hours of technical support and research you may be faced with more expense, and have no choice but to purchase and try another compliant video card, different software, or monitor to get it all working happily together.

Alternatively you could purchase a computer that is already set up with everything, content and DRM compliant, and ready to play Blue Ray movies out of the box.

In reviews of Bue Ray movies reviewers have been complaining that the sound and video quality has not been up to the Blue Ray standard on lots of movies. This is because some content creators are capitalizing on the Blue Ray hype, and supplying movies with second rate video and sound quality. They then get top dollar for second rate material.

There are some very well made Blue Ray movies. I suggest reading reviews before purchasing any movie. There are no where near the number of movies available in Blue Ray format compared to DVD, which most people are happy with. Now the industry is pushing 3D as the next big thing! It is all about getting you to spend money on new technologies.

© Peter Daley 2010

By Peter Daley

I decided to do a positive tutorial on the benefits of using modern technology. Leave all the dire security warnings behind. Something fresh, and positive about modern technology. Do I hear a sigh of relief out there?

Recently, I was going to do a tutorial at the Sunshine Coast Computer Club Inc. meeting, on Internet TV. I was going to demonstrate how to access all these great free legal TV programs and documentaries. Just before I started, a member approached me with a recommendation of a Internet site his relatives where raving about. I quickly typed in the address to see if it was worth recommending to club members. Well, this was a presentation computer I set up so it has all the software I have recommended people use in my recent blogs, plus more. Who said I was paranoid! As soon as the site came up, a large red warning sign popped up. “This site is trying to drop malicious code into your computer!” A little bit of paranoia sometimes pays off!

Well, what was I to do? I couldn't pass up an opportunity like this. So I left the warning sign glaring into the room as members sat down for the tutorial. A chance to get back at my detractors. It certainly reinforced all that I had been saying about the state of Internet security!

There are lots of TV media sites popping up all over the Internet. A considerable percentage of these are using free media as a lure to people, in order to hook their computer for hacking. Another trick in my opinion is false advertising. Sites that state for a one off fee you can have life time access to services offering thousands of free satellite TV programs and documentaries. What you are actually paying for is not a service, but a piece of software that correlates all the freely available Internet media content. It does save you from having to spend days trying to find it all.

Equally, there are free software programs available that do this, like Miro.

http://www.getmiro.com

Programs like Miro allow you to easily organise, and customize the media you want to watch. Unless you have a very fast connection, it is generally smarter to download the content first, and watch it later. This is so you can watch it in peace without the picture breakup, and sound screeching cause by Internet traffic congestion.

Yes, there are great sites where you can safely download or stream Internet TV and documentaries. Most National public broadcasting TV networks have free TV content. The Australian ABC has a new Iview service. Missed this weeks Doctor Who? You can go on to the ABC and watch it. So, I am a fan.

Australian ABC

http://www.abc.net.au

BBC service UK

http://www..bbc.co.uk

Some ISPs in Australia will allow you to watch the ABC TV content without it going onto your download limit. Great, because watching TV, movies and documentaries can add GiGabytes to your downloads.

Yes, there are tens of thousands of TV programs, documentaries and satellite programs to watch for free over the Internet, just be careful where, our how you source it!

© Peter Daley, 2009