MagicTV 3600.. my quick impression report (updated)

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118 posts

Master Geek

#331971 19-May-2010 20:14

terryr:

And as for my current issue of the recording jumping around 50-60 min mark, I've done more testing. I can confirm that it indeed happens, almost to the second on every recording that I've made recently at the 59:59 mark. It seems so accurate when the jump occurs that I must consider it to be a firmware issue rather than a HD issue. So I'm wondering if anyone has managed to fill their HD to roughly 3 bars (on the display). This would disregard deleted programmes (which still exist until space required). The fact that other's haven't complained on this forum suggests other environmental factors also come into play other than just the firmware, hence the HD filled level question above.

I have recently returned from 6 weeks overseas and my MagicTV was about 1/2 full. It was reporting approx 70 Hrs remaining at SD. Right now it is sitting at 4 bars full. I have not had any of the issues that you describe. The only pause I get (and I am pretty sure it has been mentioned earlier in this thread) is when I am fast forwarding through the ads. Somewhere around the 3 to 4 minute mark into the fast forward, the picture pauses and then when the HDD or cache catches up, it then jumps forward an amount quite quickly.

RingoTB

118 posts

Master Geek

#331976 19-May-2010 20:29

trevor:
MurrayM: The Consumer Magazine also said:

Playback "skip" or "jump" feature: This lets you skip forward in percentage or time increments during playback - it's more controllable than ordinary fast-forwarding (Magic TV, Homecast, Zinwell, JC Matthew have this).

So from that I take it that it is possible to jump forward a certain period of time to skip ad breaks, and not have to fast forward through them as on the My Sky HDi?

Surely the Consumer Magazine didn't get this wrong too?

Afraid so.
You can jump forwards and backwards, but it's set at 10 minutes (read useless).

Sounds like a very poor review by consumer. I would contact them if I was you.

I have a MagicTV and as Trevor states, the MagicTV can skip forward or backward in only 10 minute intervals. I do not have a Homecast unit so cannot confirm this, but the online Homecast manual states it has 2 modes of skipping forward or backward:

Jump by Percentage in Playback Mode
1. Press a numeric button (0-9) while playing back a recording.
- Press the ‘3’ button to move the play position indicator to a spot which is 30% into the overall file length.
- Press ‘5’ to move the play position indicator to the halfway point (50%) of the file.

Jump by Seconds in Playback Mode
This function is available in Playback and Time Shift mode.
1. You move the play position indicator back or forwards by “x” seconds with a quick press of the </> buttons.
• At the default 2 hour record time setting, the jumps are approximately 30 seconds.
• In a 90 (to 120) minute recording, the jumps are approximately 25 seconds.
• In a 60 (to 90) minute recording, the jumps are approximately 20 seconds.
• In a 30 (to 60) minute recording, the jumps are approximately 15 seconds.

In other words, the Homecast skips a varying amount depending on the length of the recorded program. The Homecast is Freeview certified and it has variable lenght skip forward or backward. I would like to see a firmware update to the MagicTV that would allow the User to set the number of seconds the skip forward or backward jumps. Say an option to set the time in 10 second increments from 10 seconds, to 10 minutes maybe.

katipo

35 posts

Geek

#332926 21-May-2010 13:37

I've updated firmware twice since 3.09 (now on 3.12), and haven't found any improvements to reliability and functionality. If anything, the unit has become more unreliable with more frequent freezes and reboots. FF/FR is still buggy (as is editing which can cause a reboot), no custom skip feature will be implemented, and you won't be allowed to backup even unprotected content. The series recording issue remains the same, where a new series (identically named and at the same time-slot) will not record unless you reschedule it - I assume it's a "feature".

I still have some programs stored on the MagicTV in the futile hope that one day I may be able to back them up. I can't see Freeview relaxing the rules any time soon. If you want to keep a TV recording, you are better off downloading it!

alitom

26 posts

Geek

#333580 23-May-2010 12:56

Has anyone tried using the Hong Kong firmware for the Magic TV?

I see you can jump forward and back by 1-9 minutes: http://www.magictv.com/hk/en/support_faq.html#shortcuts and on page 24 of the manual that you can also save to an external hard drive, including edited recordings. Link to the manual:

http://www.magictv.com/hk/downloads/MagicTV_owners_guide_english_v3.0.pdf

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Hong Kong also have MHEG-5 for their EPG?

Tom

terryr

33 posts

Geek

#333858 24-May-2010 08:02

13 Dec 09 (pg8 of this thread), someone else asked the same question. It was answered on 11 Feb 10 (pg12) when some did try it and failed. It is suspected that there is some internal flag which denotes area possibly and the HK firmware won't stick to the NZ model.

Let's just hope that these restrictions eventually get loosened somewhat!

Mac2008

121 posts

Master Geek

#334574 25-May-2010 15:28

safboy: Can you turn off the 'auto record' feature? ie when watching live tv, if i miss something, i can rewind and rewatch it - can i turn this feature off?

Hi safboy, yes you can. It is called Time Shift and Instant Rewind on the MagicTV. Just go Menu-> Settings->Timeshift Setup-> Instant Rewind ->Off

This lets the HDD rest up if you don't need this feature.

Mac

Mac2008

121 posts

Master Geek

#334608 25-May-2010 16:21

yellow15:
shouston: Its the the title of the programme.
Ie "All New 2 and half men"
And 2 and half men

"All New big Bang..." and "Big Bang..."

I assume they are thekeywords Magic Tv is looking for.

hm i think it's not the title.
for example "friends" are almost always just "friends" (apart from a few exceptions like "celebrity friends")

and some of the kid shows i record for my daughter like "hi-5" always have the same name but everytime a new season (maybe should just call it a new series) starts i need to re-add it.

When recording TV programmes showing on some of the smaller TV station, series link almost never work. So I have a feeling it all come downs to how the TV station setup the "series" info.

Hi yellow15, you are correct, it is not the title but rather deeper code within the Mheg-5 software that you can not see on the EPG. When the broadcaster (not Freeview) enters the program into the EPG, they enter in a Program ID and a Series ID. These are what the PVR looks at when you are booking a program. Unfortunately, often (but not always) each "series" of a show will have a different ID, and so the PVR books the current series you asked for, but will not 'notice' the new series that comes out later. Freeview is looking at fixing this with a complete Show ID, but there are issues with this.

With older TV series like Friends, that get repeated often, this would mean that the PVR would record all shows, even ones you have seen before. Would this be an issue? I have started a new Topic for this at http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=83&topicid=61886 so feel free to comment on it and I will direct Freeview to the contents of it.

Just one other thought with this info above. As annoying as series linking issues are, they are rarely the fault of the PVR. With the broadcasters entering the details and then changes/updates happening to the overall Freeview system, it is easy to have mistakes in the Mheg-5 software. The PVRs are forced to use this as best they can.

Mac

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).

yellow15

134 posts

Master Geek

#334622 25-May-2010 16:40

Hi Mac,
thanks for your explaination. What you said is exactly what i was guessing. I was expecting most of the series link problem are introduced by the broadcasters.

With the current system (i.e. without introducing a "show ID"), I personally think technically each series/season are separated and should be treated separately. Therefore if you ask your PVR to record the current season, it should not automatically record the next season or previous season (replay) for you.

Mac2008

121 posts

Master Geek

#334632 25-May-2010 16:46

yellow15: Hi Mac,
thanks for your explaination. What you said is exactly what i was guessing. I was expecting most of the series link problem are introduced by the broadcasters.

With the current system (i.e. without introducing a "show ID"), I personally think technically each series/season are separated and should be treated separately. Therefore if you ask your PVR to record the current season, it should not automatically record the next season or previous season (replay) for you.

I moved my reply to http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=83&topicid=61886&page_no=1#334631 to keep the topic on track.
Mac

Gemini

429 posts

Ultimate Geek

#334753 25-May-2010 20:20

terryr: there was a recent conversation in this thread suggesting that the copyright issues might be relaxed shortly in conjuntion with a copyright flag being sent with broadcasts. It would give the facility to deny copy, copy once or copy many I think. So at that time I would think a firmware upgrade for Magic Box would be available to give us that option via menus.

Rumour has it the new Panasonic BW880 recorder will allow HD recordings to be copied to DVD/Blu-ray! Will be interesting to see Magic TVs response

http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/gadgets/3626024/Three-years-of-Freeview-TV-so-what-next

Mac2008

121 posts

Master Geek

#334755 25-May-2010 20:26

Gemini: Rumour has it the new Panasonic BW880 recorder will allow HD recordings to be copied to DVD/Blu-ray! Will be interesting to see Magic TVs response

Yep Panasonic is going for Freeview approval so they will fit in with the copy once, copy never, copy freely, format, which is based on what the content providers allow or whether it was broadcast in SD or HD. The info as to what the box can allow will be sent with the program when recorded. Expect Magic to move quickly to allow all unprotected (copy freely) content to be removed via USB and network, but the update to allow all the features may take a little longer as it has to be done with certain content protection software that does require some licenses.
Mac

katipo

35 posts

Geek

#334760 25-May-2010 20:40

Turned on my MTV today and it had forgotten all stored channels apart from TVNZ 1,2,6,7. So none of scheduled recordings for other channels worked. I shut it down, cycled the power, but it still had no memory of any other channels. I did a channel re-scan and it then found 18 channels total. I can't remember seeing C42 (Alternative Music TV) channel before. So maybe a broadcasting reshuffle of channels? Strange and annoying.

Gemini

429 posts

Ultimate Geek

#335013 26-May-2010 12:30

Mac2008:
Gemini: Rumour has it the new Panasonic BW880 recorder will allow HD recordings to be copied to DVD/Blu-ray! Will be interesting to see Magic TVs response

Yep Panasonic is going for Freeview approval so they will fit in with the copy once, copy never, copy freely, format, which is based on what the content providers allow or whether it was broadcast in SD or HD. The info as to what the box can allow will be sent with the program when recorded. Expect Magic to move quickly to allow all unprotected (copy freely) content to be removed via USB and network, but the update to allow all the features may take a little longer as it has to be done with certain content protection software that does require some licenses.
Mac

Do Magic monitor this thread? Any way we can find out what they might have in store?
Would be great to have some sort of jumping forward feature as well as copying to USB.

Mac2008

121 posts

Master Geek

#335297 26-May-2010 22:41

Gemini: Do Magic monitor this thread? Any way we can find out what they might have in store?
Would be great to have some sort of jumping forward feature as well as copying to USB.

I don't know if they still monitor this thread like they did in the beginning, but I have had some answers from them on a few things.

FFwd - they are working on making it better, expect an update.

FFwd Jumping - they can't, Freeview restrictions, if/when this is lifted or changed/reduced, Magic will change it. Freeview limits it because the broadcasters demand it so that they can still have the advertisers paying for us to watch free programs - advertisers do not like ad skipping. Its kind of hard to find a balance in this. We want to skip ads, but we don't want to pay Sky, and ads mean we don't pay for TV channels. Freeview has no more choice than Magic does, both have to comply with what is demanded of them. Of course an entire topic could be made ranting about the political annoyance of this, but these are the facts for the moment.

Copying to USB - they intend to release a firmware update to allow USB copying of any "copy freely" tagged content as soon as the system of tagging content is in place. Although I would give them a bit of time to get the test streams and engineer the process before we see an update. Again although we would love to blame Freeview, it seems this comes back to the broadcasters again. Even with this new system of tagging the content, it is the broadcasters who will decide what tag is given to what content, and so therefore what we can do with it.

Mac

richms

28172 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#335299 26-May-2010 22:44

How about changing to non approved firmware to remove them from needing to adhiere to crazy limits on what you can copy and what you can skip?

IMO having freeviews name on the box is more of a warning than a feature.

Richard rich.ms

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