MagicTV 3700TD - Opinions

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1330 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 191

#696519 4-Oct-2012 23:06

Can anybody confirm that the Magic TV 3700 does not do 576p50 over YPbPr / component?

grant_k

3539 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 124

Trusted

#696529 5-Oct-2012 00:33

wklie: Those interested in finding out whether a PC can access the files inside MTV3700 may try to google "Magic TV NFS mount" and use google translate. Keep in mind that since HD recordings are encrypted by MTV3700, they cannot be played back on PC.

This sucks! Yet another "enhancement" courtesy of FreeView. I can play HD files on my PC quite happily with a Vu+. And watch HD over Component without any restrictions. FreeView approved ... pfffttt.

Jimmy22

377 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 40

#696617 5-Oct-2012 10:01

in another few years there will be not such a big need to be freeview approved and the boxes will go nuts allowing whatever we want and we will vote with our wallets. at the moment people are buying freeview approved as a guarantee of compatibility making them much more popular but one we get used to the new standard something will surface that is an obvious successor .

wklie

191 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 5

Trusted

MagicTV

#696822 5-Oct-2012 15:10

bfginger: Can anybody confirm that the Magic TV 3700 does not do 576p50 over YPbPr / component?

Right. MTV3700TD only does 576i50 or 480i60 for component output. HD resolutions are only available via HDMI with HDCP.

nigelb999

37 posts

Geek

#696841 5-Oct-2012 16:10

I'm getting a really frustrating audio issue at the moment and I'm fairly sure it has something to do with the Dolby Digital setting in the MagicTV box and how it's interacting with the TV sound.

At present I have a Panasonic HDTV but I don't have a surround sound theatre - so I am using the inbuilt speakers on the TV. I know, I know... I'm aware it's never the best audio reproduction to rely on inbuilt TV speakers. When I watch The X Factor USA I find that any voice dialog sounds extremely quiet to the point that I have to turn the volume up quite high, but any music is really loud! Any combination of both music and voice being played at the same time during the show is extremely frustrating to listen to because I can hardly hear the contestants and judges talking because the music drowns them out.

In my attempt to fix this issue, I go into the MagicTV Audio settings and try switching it to MPEG and ACC instead, and also I switch the Audio playback setting via the remote control to Standard English instead of Dolby Digital Surround, but this doesn't sound much different and I still can hear the notable imbalance between voice dialog and music.

It's extremely frustrating as I have to sit there constantly turning the volume up and down throughout the whole show. When the commercials starts up it's even louder still!

Any ideas? Anyone had the same audio issues?

Jimmy22

377 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 40

#696850 5-Oct-2012 16:47

had this issue with hdmi BUT i used optical output from MTV to amp and sorted it out :) with a bit of delay tweaking.

modern equipment has so many settings i use stereo as my default and if it sees dolbly it shifts up a gear , else it sounds like sh#t trying to up scale the sound by being cleaver. i think tv3 outputs AAC ? i just tried both on diferent shows and settled on one of em . hope that helps

Mighty Ape

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wklie

191 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 5

Trusted

MagicTV

#696859 5-Oct-2012 17:19

nigelb999: It's extremely frustrating as I have to sit there constantly turning the volume up and down throughout the whole show. When the commercials starts up it's even louder still!

Magic TV preserves the raw dynamic range of the source material and does not make unnecessary adjustments to degrade the audio quality. This is a feature of high fidelity audio, although I understand it is a problem to many people, especially with poorly made source material.

A solution is to use an A/V amplifier and turn on its Night Mode or Dynamic Range Compression.

Another thing that you may experiement with (although I doubt it would work well), is to turn down the Magic TV volume from Settings -> Audio -> Volume (or use the remote control if its volume buttons are not programmed). Also make sure Sound Level is Normal. Then increase the TV volume to compensate. See if the dynamic range is decreased this way.

bfginger

1330 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 191

#696923 5-Oct-2012 19:45

HD resolutions are only available via HDMI with HDCP.

Correct, but 576p is enhanced definition not high definition. A DVD player requires HDCP for upscaling to HD resolutions but 480p/575p over component is allowed.

wklie

191 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 5

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MagicTV

#696942 5-Oct-2012 20:33

May I ask why it is useful to have 576p component output?

bfginger

1330 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 191

#697494 7-Oct-2012 15:09

576p would give a better quality picture as it maintains more motion resolution than 576i when downscaling from the 1080i resolution used by TV1, 2 and 3. And the way the Magic TV downscales 1080i to 576i leaves alot of moire which isn't there when it scales to or from a progressive resolution.

Nearly all CRTs sold in NZ don't have HDMI and it's the same situation for older flat panel televisions as HDMI was introduced late by some brands so there're alot of TVs around without HDCP. CRTs sold in the 2000s usually accept a 576p signal and either display it natively or scale to 540p or 1080i.

While someone could buy a HDFury or some other converter I don't see the average person doing.

wklie

191 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 5

Trusted

MagicTV

#697988 8-Oct-2012 16:27

wklie: New BETA firmware 6.0 beta1 for testing only, may be buggy:
http://www.magictv.com/nz/downloads/mtv3700_6_0NZbeta1.zip

Major feature:
- Support EXPERIMENTAL Network sharing

In Magic TV Gadgets -> Network HDD:
- Use Network HDD will let you play recorded programmes from other MTV3700 running network server on the network. This will slow down the access of Recorded Programmes List due to network access.
- Network HDD Server will run a server to provide recorded programmes to other MTV3700 that uses Network HDD.
- This feature is primarily intended for LAN connection. Although WiFi should work to a certain extent, it is not likely to be fast enough for some programmes with higher bitrate.

Those interested in finding out whether a PC can access the files inside MTV3700 may try to google "Magic TV NFS mount" and use google translate. Keep in mind that since HD recordings are encrypted by MTV3700, they cannot be played back on PC.

As an experimental beta firmware, this firmware may be removed at any time without notice.

Firmware 6.0 beta2
http://www.magictv.com/nz/downloads/mtv3700_6_0NZbeta2.zip
- Support 576p/480p component output if video output format is set to 576p/480p

HP

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BS

70 posts

Master Geek

#712116 5-Nov-2012 11:12

So this firmware doesn't inprove the stability of the playback when the transmission has pixalated video, have others had the problem, if the video isn't perfect the player will freeze and fail to pass over some glitches, I have to jump back 10min then play it for a couple and then jump forward 10min to see if I can get past the glitches. it seems strange that other machines just play the bad patches with all the pixalations and just keep going, but not the Magic TV 3700 it seems to need perfect video.

CraigHumphrey

61 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 22

#712131 5-Nov-2012 11:20

BS: So this firmware doesn't inprove the stability of the playback when the transmission has pixalated video, have others had the problem, if the video isn't perfect the player will freeze and fail to pass over some glitches, I have to jump back 10min then play it for a couple and then jump forward 10min to see if I can get past the glitches. it seems strange that other machines just play the bad patches with all the pixalations and just keep going, but not the Magic TV 3700 it seems to need perfect video.

I see the same thing on my 3700TD, though I can't confirm that it's pixelated video that causes it, as sometimes it just seems to freeze in the middle of perfectly clear playback. Generally it's after I've fastforwarded through ads.

BS

70 posts

Master Geek

#712350 5-Nov-2012 15:24

Hi Craig, Yes it can occur in what appears to be a perfect video and there is no way of getting the machine to pass over it, only by jumping forward or back and trying to play a few minutes so the 10min jump brings you to clear video is how I have get past it, but even then I have found I am in pixilated video and it will sometimes freeze again with pixilation showing it's corrupt code.

I wonder if the free view is still in it's development phase and will improve once the other channels are switched off.

I still like the machine I don't have the conflicts on the HDMI I had with the Panasonic, that never had a problem with corrupt video just kept right on regardless, it just missed recordings and switched itself off when it had a conflict with other HDMI players using other ports.

Bryan

nigelb999

37 posts

Geek

#712858 6-Nov-2012 13:03

(I posted this comment in the MagicTV 3600 forum as well just to get ideas from 3600 owners on this topic as well...)

At the moment I keep my MagicTV 3700 on all the time, but I'm now thinking about turning it off each night before I go to bed in order to save power and give the unit a rest (cool down period).

When I read the manual it says there are 3 standby modes Fast Startup, Energy Saving, and All Off. I want to keep it on Fast Startup mode - that way it will display a picture a few seconds after powering up.

If I turn the unit off via the remote control before going to bed, will MagicTV automatically start up and record programmes that have been scheduled for the early hours of the morning (while the unit has been switched off) and is there any advantage in turning it off (i.e. less power consumption) given that it's in Fast Startup mode?

Does anyone have any experience of that, or any known advantages of leaving it on all the time instead?

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