Freeview+ HD PVR group test

3view 3VHD Panasonic DMR-BW880

Digitalstream DHR8205U Philips HDT-8520

Sagemcom RTI90-320 T2 HD Triax T2-HD 217 PVR

Freesat Freeview euro tv skyThe best kit, The best programmes

september 2010Group test: Freeview HD PVRs

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september 2010 What Satellite & Digital TV 3

teSt freeview HD pvrs

buying tipsn:Use the Freeview online postcode checker to see if check which channels are available in your area at www.freeview.co.uk/availability

n:sports fans who want espN will need a CAm and card and a box with a CI slot. However, only top Up tV Dtrs and the bt Vision+ box can be used to get sky sports

n:bbC HD is the only channel to broadcast (partly in) surround sound on Freeview HD. However, a majority of current boxes cannot transcode the AAC codec used into formats (e.g. Dolby Digital) readable by most surround systems

the first wave of Freeview HD pVrs has arrived. We compare six models to see which has the best performance and features

Over half the country can now enjoy the subscription-free delights of bbC, ItV and Channel 4 in hi-def, courtesy of Freeview HD.

there are numerous tVs and receivers available with Freeview HD tuners and some of the latter offer (or will soon have) single-tuner recording to external drives. However, better recording flexibility is provided by a dedicated Freeview HD pVr with built-in hard disc.

every box on test here has two tuners capable of receiving Freeview sD and HD channels and you can record two channels at the same time.

Other features to look out for include bbC iplayer and

media playback/streaming. Automatic series recording is a standard option on all Freeview+ HD certified receivers.

Also useful are the ability to pad out recordings manually and combine or trim recordings.

Copy-protection measures prevent archiving to DVD or blu-ray recorders, but you could push the boat out and invest in a pVr with blu-ray burner built in – such as panasonic’s Dmr-bW880.

Copy protection applied to ItV and C4 restrict the number of HD copies you can make of certain shows, but most bbC content can be recorded on to blu-ray as many times as you wish.

Freeview HD PVRs


ratingsPLUSn Versatile PVRn VoD servicesn Competitive price

MinUSn Uninspiring remote controln Keyboard not suppliedn No fascia readout

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83%

ratingsPLUSn CI slot providedn Menu systemn MP3/JPEG playback

MinUSn Standard-definition picturesn Remote controln No AAC transcoding

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68%

Digitalstream DHR8205U

From the outside this box looks rather old-school with its large dimensions, an unexciting design and a conventionally arranged fascia –

but for the DHr8205U functionality is the priority. It features a large and impressively legible LeD display

on one side of the front while the other houses a CI slot beneath a flap and a Usb socket that can be used to play JpeGs and mp3s. there are two more Usbs around the back but the included ethernet port is inactive.

the menu system looks and works well, with six contemporary icons on the main page, a logical layout and slick interface. the epG is laid over the broadcast.

the Digitalstream is the only box here that offers picture-in-picture during broadcasts, although this doesn’t work with HD channels. Like the triax, depending on the multiplexes being used the DHr8205U can

It’s not Freeview+ HD certified, but this 500Gb box offers an impressive range of features for £300, combining a versatile twin-tuner pVr with

VoD, home networking and even internet browsing. the only notable absentee is a CI slot, but the addition of sky player later this year will make it possible to access sky’s pay-tV channels without a satellite dish.

the 3VHD box is a little large but it’s pleasant enough to look at and seems well built. the uncluttered fascia has a navigation pad and highly useful indicators for recording and standby but there’s no readout. Given the box’s multimedia capability it’s annoying to find both Usbs are on the rear. Otherwise, connectivity is standard, though an optical audio output would have been nice. Under the hood is a 500Gb 2.5in sAtA drive that you can upgrade to 1tb if you don’t mind voiding your warranty.

the remote control looks and feels good but isn’t the most logically laid out. but in general it works well with

the onscreen menu system. setting up and navigating the menus is easy enough but the graphics and swirly background palette feel rather fussy.

the box goes beyond the usual call of epG duty. the seven-day guide is nicely displayed and offers myriad search terms including title, keyword, people, genre, close-captions and HD. the box can be set not to pick up repeats, you can set automatic deletion and add a buffer of one hour before and three hours after a scheduled recording. playback is aided by an onscreen timeline and can be varied between 1/16 and 90x normal speed.

VoD content currently consists of bbC iplayer and web-based activity includes Youtube, Facebook, twitter and various news sites plus Google on the Opera browser. Annoyingly, you need a separate wireless keyboard and mouse to browse most sites.

Image and sound quality are both up there with the best and the box executes its pVr duties without fuss.

3view 3VHDn www.3view.com n 0844 848 4700 n £299

n www.digitalstreamdirect.co.uk n 0208 391 9806 n £300

sometimes record two channels while showing a third. You can’t pad out or edit recordings but the ability to bookmark them is certainly useful.

the remote control is a major source of frustration. Its titchy little buttons are hard to see in gloomy light but it does have a handy Function+ button that offers shortcuts via a pop-up screen depending on what menu you’re in. Also useful is the excellent info banner that tells you if anything is being recorded by the two tuners.

the DHr8205U doesn’t transcode AAC audio but its Freeview HD pics are excellent. the fly in the Freeview ointment is the quality of sD broadcasts and recordings which look distinctly below par, exhibiting a higher level of mushiness than any other box. sound quality, albeit in stereo, is well up to scratch. Generally, playing back recordings is a smooth process.



ratingsPLUSn Blu-ray burnern Editing functionsn Excellent operating system

MinUSn Adverts in EPGn VoD lacks iPlayer n Expensive

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80%

ratingsPLUSn Designn Menu systemn Rock-steady performer

MinUSn Limited recording managementn No CI slotn EPG design

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70%

Although the Dmr-bW880 proudly wears the Freeview+ HD badge on its fascia, time-shifting and recording are just two of its many talents.

panasonic has managed to cram in several cutting-edge technologies including internet video, AVCHD camcorder video editing, home networking and a blu-ray drive. topping even that impressive list is the ability to record blu-ray discs so that you can make high-definition copies of your favourite shows to keep for good. bbC HD programmes can be copied on to blu-ray multiple times in HD while those from ItV and C4 can be copied once (and you can make further limitless standard-definition copies of all). Unfortunately, the VieraCast video service doesn’t include iplayer or any other catch-up tV service, nor is there a CI slot for espN.

the Dmr-bW880 may be a complex beast, but it’s surprisingly easy and enjoyable to use as both the menu system and remote control are well laid out. One big

panasonic DMR-BW880n www.panasonic.co.uk n 0844 844 3852 n £800

Looks-wise, this philips-branded box (actually made by UK set-top box specialist pace) is streets ahead of the competition, offering an

appealing yet pragmatic design. the finish is high-quality plastic but it’s the almost

square footprint, embossed philips logo on the top and completely unnecessary white light that runs round the top edge of the box that give it a real cutting-edge feel. the light is purely for effect and while the default setting is to come on as you power up and down it can be left on whenever the box is on too. thoughtfully, the ‘front’ Usb has been placed just round the side so as not to spoil the look. the 16-digit alphanumeric display has a professional feel about it and is a useful visual aid, as is the presence of a red record button.

there’s no CI slot or media playback and strangely, two

philips HDT-8520n www.philips.co.uk n 0800 331 6015 n £300

of the fascia’s five buttons are for selecting the resolution (576i, 576p, 1080i or 1080p) and video output (scart or HDmI). but for the most part, this is a delightful box to use. the menu system looks pleasant and works well and the remote control is also better than most others.

the epG is pleasant enough to look at but crams three hours’ worth of shows onto the screen (most boxes have two-hour windows) so that long titles have to scroll when highlighted. even worse is that you can set the recorder within the epG but can’t change channels, which is done via the channel list (called up in conventional fashion by pushing the OK button).

You can’t do much editing, aside from sorting and locking recordings. Crucially, image and sound quality are up there with the best of them with live and recorded HD and standard-def shows.

source of irritation, though, is the Guideplus+ epG, which exits both sound and picture of the live broadcast and then subjects you to shoddy-looking poster adverts on the left side of the screen.

At least you can switch between list and grid view and filter by genre. You can also directly view the channel or set a recording timer. A nice touch is that the epG tells you if a standard-def show is also available in HD and you can pad out recordings manually or change the title.

the programme banner info shows now-and-next info, what the audio format is (audio is sadly output in stereo only) and what else is being recorded at that time.

performance is fine across the board. the Dmr-bW880 makes it a joy to view and edit sD and HD recordings. Chapter marking, splitting, changing the thumbnail and renaming titles are all possible and making blu-ray copies is easy but you must convert HD recordings to a lower bit-rate mode before archiving them.


ratingsPLUSn EPGn Ease of usen Recording management

MinUSn Ugly menu systemn Sloppy designn Basic specification

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69%

ratingsPLUSn Excellent instruction manualn Ease of usen Attractive design

MinUSn Lacking versatilityn Feature-lightn Imperfect playback

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70%

triax T2-HD 217 pVR

triax is a fairly small name in the Freeview stakes but the brand has been a successful satellite and aerial business for over 50 years.

the t2-HD 217 pVr is a sturdily built box with a minimalist and attractive design. the reflective fascia sports only a single Freeview+ HD logo, channel transport and standby buttons and a thin blue LeD light that pulses during operation. Visual information such as channel number or recording in progress is only available onscreen but this lack of helpfulness is more than compensated for by a superb instruction manual printed in full colour on quality glossy paper with excellent labelling and screen shots. A rare treat.

socketry on the box is average, featuring both optical and coaxial digital audio connections, but no stereo phonos. the ethernet port is mothballed for now and the Usb is for servicing only. the remote is well laid out and

to our knowledge this was the first Freeview HD pVr to go on sale, when in early June sagemcom was clearly hoping to cash in on

demand for HD time-shifting during the World Cup. but the rtI90-320 t2 HD’s performance was as

lamentable as the england team’s, prompting sagemcom to issue several software updates in an effort to speed up the box’s incredibly annoying menu system and address a number of minor faults.

At long last the rtI90-320 t2 HD is on an equal footing with its rival models, as many of the early failings have been eradicated. What hasn’t changed is the basic spec, which includes non-functioning (for now) ethernet and Usb (servicing use aside) sockets. Also absent is a CI slot and despite the Dolby Digital logo on the front it outputs in stereo only.

Looks-wise, the flashy fascia is marred by the Usb

socket and an LeD display that’s OK when showing channel numbers but looks amateurish when spelling out words such as ‘menu’ and ‘init’. Also unattractive is the combination of drab colours, ugly fonts and clip-art style icons that make the menu system seem awfully dated. Otherwise, the epG excels – a small window shows the live broadcast and numerous display options abound.

As a pVr the rtI90-320 t2 HD works nicely. It offers twin tuners, series linking, manual scheduling, live pause and a one-hour HD buffer (two hours for standard definition). recordings can be merged, manually renamed and moved into folders. You can fast-forward and rewind at 4x, 10x , 60x or a blistering 300x.

the box’s tuners do an excellent job. Native HD content is impressive, matching Freesat and sky for detail and clarity. skin tones are as accurate as you could expect.

Sagemcom RTI90-320 T2 HDn www.sagemcomdigital.co.uk n 01932 572900 n £250

n www.triax.co.uk n 0845 601 0578 n £280

easy to get to grips with. the t2-HD 217 pVr is easy to set up and use. the user

interface lacks the panache of the box’s exterior but is pleasant enough to look at and, more importantly, is logically laid out. Navigation is reassuringly fast.

press the OK button on the remote control and the triax shrinks the broadcast to around 60 per cent in size, lists 10 channels and has options to view and save favourites. the eight-day epG itself reads nicely with nine channels listed in 2hr and 24hr jumps. recordings can be manually padded via the main setup menu. pointlessly, all HD shows are flagged as HD in the epG and to find out which ones are upscaled you must press the info button.

the box serves up impressive high and standard-definition images but while recordings are equally solid our early sample did falter a bit playing back – returning to the start when paused – so reliability may be a worry.



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3view 3VHD

£299 500Gb - - 7 l l

JpeG, tIFF, mpeG-2, mp4, AVI, WmV, AsF,

mKV, mp3, AAC, WAV, FLAC,

OGG

l 1 l - l - - l 83

Digitalstream DHr8205U

£300 500Gb l l 8 l - mp3, JpeG - 2 l l - - l l 68

Panasonic Dmr-bW880

£800 500Gb l - 8 l -JpeG, mp3,

DivX, mpeG2, AVCHD

l 2 l l l - l l 80

Philips HDt-8520

£300 500Gb l - 8 l - - - 2 l l l - l l 70

Sagemcom rtI90-320 t2 HD

£250 320Gb l - 8 l - - - 1 l - l - l l 69

Triax t2-HD 217 pVr

£280 500Gb l - 8 l - - - 2 l l l - - l 70

verdictThe group test winner is the 3view 3VHD. Although it doesn’t have the nicest-looking menu system it nonetheless fulfils its PVR duties admirably well. It also boasts diverse multimedia compatibility and jumps confidently on the VoD wagon. And all for a relatively bargain price.

conclusion and the winner is...prices of Freeview HD recorders seem high, with about £300 the average for a 500Gb model. expectations then, are

also high and given the fairly consistent levels of performance, choosing which to buy could hang on the provision of one or two vital functions.

sadly, none of the models tested was capable of outputting surround sound where broadcast.

the Digitalstream may well have won this test if its standard-definition tuner hadn’t been so poor. Its operating system is the slickest and if espN and multi-media playback are on your agenda it could still be worth a go as possibly retail samples will be better than ours.

the triax box was let down by playback issues that marred an otherwise decent performance. Again, we hope the problems are limited to our review sample. It sets a high standard for user-friendliness and is a cool-looking piece of kit.

Like the triax, the philips boasts a cutting-edge design including an LeD. Despite a quirky epG and a rather ordinary spec it’s a joy to use,

serving up top-notch broadcasts and recordings – so despite a middling score

it should be considered as an expensive but basically solid buy.

If you can live with the basic spec and unattractive, clunky menu the sagemcom does an

excellent job serving up sparkling

HD and standard-definition recordings. the panasonic’s editing and copying

capabilities are as good as its epG is bad but, overall, it’s a sensational, if expensive machine – albeit one that can play blu-rays and make HD copies n Adrian Justins

Documents

Freeview+ HD PVR group test