MagicTV 3600.. my quick impression report (updated)

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203 posts

Master Geek

#428547 18-Jan-2011 19:02

there are two main differences which are immediately obvious

external usb storage cool

more powerful processor maybe decent ffw and rewind

but the 7mhz ch spacing means it will only be useful as a player of home movies

bugger !!!!!!

evanh

152 posts

Master Geek

#428668 19-Jan-2011 04:07

The 3600 can do the USB stuff with the right options enabled - country dependant, not device dependant. We should be complaining to our MPs about how restrictive they've made our equipment. This was a government decision made a while back under pressure from USA.

Obviously the 3600 can take a 1TB disc too.

I bet the ffwd/frwd is the same on both. CPU speed is unlikely to have any impact on such functionality since it's really just about having the right data pre-fetched to RAM rather than it's currently broken method of waiting for the HDD to seek for data at the last moment. If there is a difference with the 3700 then it'll be just a less buggy version of the software and there is nothing stopping Pixel Magic from back-porting to the 3600 also. This issue is purely Pixel Magic not getting their act together.

As for the 3D Ready label, any device that has a "Ready" badge just tells you it don't have the feature and never will have it either. "Ready" means, at best, that it can be attached to something that actually does have the feature. "Ready" is pure marketing hype.

fatjulio

90 posts

Master Geek

#428695 19-Jan-2011 09:02

Broadcast 3D is still only 1080i max resolution, so theoretically, present HD receivers could do it with a firmware upgrade, if it has the computational capacity for the format, which I hope the 3600 should be able to handle. Basically, broadcast 3D isn't HDMI 1.4, it's really only 1.1. The trade off is half the horizontal or vertical resolution at 1080i, or full frame size at 720p.

Jimmy22

377 posts

Ultimate Geek

#428755 19-Jan-2011 11:08

I’m suddenly feeling happy with my 3600 again after reading the comments above :)

Here’s hoping someone finds a reliable (risk free) way to get us 1min forward and 8sec back steps and life will be good.

I connected a power monitor on the MTV3600 last night to see if it dropped to a lower consumption than 16w over an extended time of standby, sadly no it didn’t. It looks like the magic TV folks CAN set the unit to power down the drive while on standby for other models so i assume the 3600 can as well if they took the time to do so.

I saw someone mentioned earlier in this thread that other units were as low as 3w on standby so I’m going to send that info to the importer first and then to whoever will listen at a govt level that their claim of eco-friendly standby is false and they need to fix the issue or remove the claim. I assume they will remove the claim in the short term rather than fix the issue but I’m a bit of a sceptic sometimes.

evanh

152 posts

Master Geek

#428839 19-Jan-2011 14:40

fatjulio: Broadcast 3D is still only 1080i max resolution, so theoretically, present HD receivers could do it with a firmware upgrade, if it has the computational capacity for the format, which I hope the 3600 should be able to handle. Basically, broadcast 3D isn't HDMI 1.4, it's really only 1.1. The trade off is half the horizontal or vertical resolution at 1080i, or full frame size at 720p.

I doubt the player has to do anything for this particular feature, hence the Ready label. The 3D is either encoded in the video stream or it isn't. It's up to the TV/monitor to deal with it, not the player.

And on that note I can't see broadcasters ever using the 3D format because it requires everyone that watches to have 3D goggles and 3D TVs and want to use them.

evanh

152 posts

Master Geek

#428842 19-Jan-2011 14:45

3D display of games, on the other hand, is something that can be general purpose as the GPU can render either way no prob at all. The user can choose either on whim and the game makers don't have to make two versions.

evanh

152 posts

Master Geek

#428844 19-Jan-2011 14:50

Jimmy22: ... I saw someone mentioned earlier in this thread that other units were as low as 3w on standby so I?m going to send that info to the importer first and then to whoever will listen at a govt level that their claim of eco-friendly standby is false and they need to fix the issue or remove the claim.? I assume they will remove the claim in the short term rather than fix the issue but I?m a bit of a sceptic sometimes.

Good point. It most definitely doesn't reduce power consumption like it should. I get full power of 22 watts which is nice to see but the sleep mode (HDD spun down) is still at 15 watts so that's only reduced by 1/3 the power. Not good at all.

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Jimmy22

377 posts

Ultimate Geek

#428865 19-Jan-2011 15:51

bit of an update on power consumption in reply to my email pointing out the very high standby consumption :

" Thanks for the input, both here and on the geekzone forums. We will look into it and see what can be done in the software to improve it. The government is moving towards power efficiency regulations for set top boxes with hard drives in, and we will be meeting their requirements. "

I thought i would do justice to those who have contributed to this thread and read the whole 45 pages of it, for those that arent keen , here is a summary of some key points that may save you the trouble.

Magic TV is a well liked unit that has some quirks.

to resolve the most evil quirks do the below:

* get a signal strength of about 75% to 90% and quality over 90% on all channels or get your UHF sorted
* 100% signals CAN also be problematic so atenuate the strength down IF you are having any problems.
* disconnect your VHF and avoid looping the UHF signal if possible.
* turn off instant rewind OR set it to 5 hours (turning it on uses more power )
* Dont install betas unless your a geek who understands the meaning of Beta, wait for full updates
* get the most up to date full update but wait a month or so after its released
* dont delete any stations off the list of stations and do a hard reset every Monday or when the moon is full ;)
* if a new series comes out DELETE the old series record that faithfully found it for you and reinstate it freshly when you notice the series is back.

if you follow those instructions you should have a pretty good Magic TV that gets all channels, doesnt have any go missing and doesnt lock up recordings after an hour and skip hours etc.

Many thanks to you guys for coming up with this stuff, about 1/3 i had worked out myself so it has helped quite a bit, if i have missed anything feel free to add to the list or correct it.

RingoTB

118 posts

Master Geek

#428925 19-Jan-2011 18:51

Jimmy22:

I thought i would do justice to those who have contributed to this thread and read the whole 45 pages of it, for those that arent keen , here is a summary of some key points that may save you the trouble.

Magic TV is a well liked unit that has some quirks.

to resolve the most evil quirks do the below:

* Dont install betas unless your a geek who understands the meaning of Beta, wait for full updates

If you want one of the best improvements with the MagicTV (the 10 minute forward jump and 6 minute backwards) then the best firmware is the 3.13 beta 6.

2lostkiwis

67 posts

Master Geek

#428931 19-Jan-2011 19:01

Jimmy22: I’m suddenly feeling happy with my 3600 again after reading the comments above :)

Here’s hoping someone finds a reliable (risk free) way to get us 1min forward and 8sec back steps and life will be good.

I connected a power monitor on the MTV3600 last night to see if it dropped to a lower consumption than 16w over an extended time of standby, sadly no it didn’t. It looks like the magic TV folks CAN set the unit to power down the drive while on standby for other models so i assume the 3600 can as well if they took the time to do so.

I saw someone mentioned earlier in this thread that other units were as low as 3w on standby so I’m going to send that info to the importer first and then to whoever will listen at a govt level that their claim of eco-friendly standby is false and they need to fix the issue or remove the claim. I assume they will remove the claim in the short term rather than fix the issue but I’m a bit of a sceptic sometimes.

When I took mine apart I noted some components that were not fitted to the PCB:
FC1 - super cap
X6 - 32kHz crystal
U32 - clock calendar IC

MagicTV missing RTC

I believe these parts are required to be fitted so the processor can set an alarm in the clock calendar IC to wake it up a few minutes before scheduled recording is supposed to start. Sadly I don't think we'll see a firmware in the future that allows a reduced standby power level if these parts are not being fitted.

Cheers,
Ian.

evanh

152 posts

Master Geek

#429046 20-Jan-2011 01:44

Jimmy22: * dont delete any stations off the list?of stations and do a hard reset every Monday?or when the moon is full?;)

Hmm, I might be falling foul of this one. I delete 16 of the current 22 stations. And I get lockups while channel surfing or occasionally afterwards.

evanh

152 posts

Master Geek

#429047 20-Jan-2011 01:59

Jimmy22: bit of an update on power consumption?in reply to my email pointing out the very high standby consumption?:

" Thanks for the input, both here and on the geekzone forums. We will look into it and see what can be done in the software to improve it. The government is moving towards power efficiency regulations for set top boxes with hard drives in, and we will be meeting their requirements. "

Jimmy, be sure to follow up on their promise to look into it and let them know we are all waiting for the findings. :)

Jimmy22

377 posts

Ultimate Geek

#429508 21-Jan-2011 12:40

so its unlikely we will get a 100% solution seeing what MTV have to work with , then how about a 33% solution ....

16w x7 hours = about .5 kwh per day so i think one of these might pay for itself with in a year

http://jaycar.co.nz/productView.asp?ID=MS6110&keywords=timer&form=KEYWORD

basically having the linked unit switch off the box between 12am and 7am in my case. its a start and i can begin today awaiting another possible solution.

I have kept the reply regarding Hooks intent to solve the issue and submitted the Energy Star document NZ uses to certify set top boxes to them to "set the bar".

Someone can check, but i think the Magic TV is 4x the consumption required to meet energy star currently but it was a quick head calc so feel free to correct me. There is a bit of work for them to do currently and its fair to give them a bit of time to work it out, at least its some where in the process now. It may only result in the next model being sorted properly ?

latimers

54 posts

Master Geek

#430134 23-Jan-2011 10:45

Tried to record both sessions of the cricket yesterday on Prime.

I chose the first session, hit the record button and then chose to series record. Both sessions showed an [S] next to them on the EPG. Checked the Menu in between sessions and the second session still had an [S] beside it. Went to watch the second session later and there was no sign of it anywhere. Damn!

Thought I would set next Saturday's cricket to record as two separate recordings. Chose the first session, pressed the record button, replied "no" to the series record and both sessions had an [R] placed by them.

Another software bug?

evanh

152 posts

Master Geek

#430175 23-Jan-2011 14:06

More likely a meta-data bug set by whoever does the EPG data entry. Would need to confirm with another EPG based recorder.

I've been suitably impressed with how smart the EPG seems to be but it wouldn't surprise me if it has all been dependant on someone hand entering the right details about what is the next episode vs what is a repeat.

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