New Freeview SmartVU streaming device: Chromecast, 4K HDR, Android TV

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BDFL - Memuneh
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#2262193 21-Jun-2019 19:53

mattwnz:

Interesting how lacking information the Freeview TV NZ website is, on what streaming live boxes and TV are available. It doesn't do prime. The big issue I have with it, is that you can't really use it as an aerial replacement if you have a PVR. A PVR still needs an aerial feed into it, so it is hopeless for recording, unless that feature is built in and you can record to a USB stick or card. But they are generally not as user friendly as PVR such as a tivo, or panasonics PVRs

These devices are usually for where you don't have terrestrial coverage so a recorder would be useless in any way. For that you use the on-demand feature - except obviously for programs such as news. But as I said if you have a PVR that needs an aerial feed, but you don't have coverage...

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mattwnz

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#2262761 23-Jun-2019 00:02

freitasm:

mattwnz:

Interesting how lacking information the Freeview TV NZ website is, on what streaming live boxes and TV are available. It doesn't do prime. The big issue I have with it, is that you can't really use it as an aerial replacement if you have a PVR. A PVR still needs an aerial feed into it, so it is hopeless for recording, unless that feature is built in and you can record to a USB stick or card. But they are generally not as user friendly as PVR such as a tivo, or panasonics PVRs

These devices are usually for where you don't have terrestrial coverage so a recorder would be useless in any way. For that you use the on-demand feature - except obviously for programs such as news. But as I said if you have a PVR that needs an aerial feed, but you don't have coverage...

Thanks. We live in an area where on bad weather days, the freeview UHF reception deteriorates and pixelates, and this was after a professional TV aerial install. So this type of device would be good for those occasions, plus it does give the tv some smart features as a benefit.

Gordy7

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#2262790 23-Jun-2019 10:33

I wasn't going to let a little hot Smartvu stop me from binge watching a TV on Demand video.

After getting through half of the video my Smartvu started freezing (stalled video)... repowering my Smatvu only prevented the freezing again for a short while.

So it was out with the pocket knife and off with the covers.... Now I can see what is inside too.

Freezing did not happen for the rest of the video. Lounge temperature 18C.

Click on each thumbnail for a full size image.

Gordy

My first ever AM radio network connection was with a 1MHz AM crystal(OA91) radio receiver.

Dratsab

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#2262830 23-Jun-2019 12:17

Gordy7: So it was out with the pocket knife and off with the covers.... Now I can see what is inside too.

Freezing did not happen for the rest of the video.

Classic! Cooling is definitely an issue with these wee beasties.

eracode

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#2262868 23-Jun-2019 13:54

Gordy7:
I wasn't going to let a little hot Smartvu stop me from binge watching a TV on Demand video.

After getting through half of the video my Smartvu started freezing (stalled video)... repowering my Smatvu only prevented the freezing again for a short while.

So it was out with the pocket knife and off with the covers.... Now I can see what is inside too.

Freezing did not happen for the rest of the video. Lounge temperature 18C.

Click on each thumbnail for a full size image.

Was it freezing because it was too hot?

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

Gordy7

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#2262936 23-Jun-2019 15:44

eracode:

Was it freezing because it was too hot?

I did recognised the conflict of terms... That is why I added that the picture stalled.

The assumption is that the Smartvu picture was freezing because of an over heating issue.

Removing the covers allowed me to continue watching TV yesterday without the picture freezing.

Have been using the Smartvu without covers today for about 5 hours without problems.

There appeared to be spongy double sided tape from an IC and from a shield can that was maybe a conductive thermal coupling to the case covers.

I am surprised that with just air flowing over the Smartvu circuit board that there has been no issues today.

I had started collecting info on small stick on heatsinks to attach to the module. Adding any heatsinks does not seem necessary today, but may be required next summer.

Gordy

My first ever AM radio network connection was with a 1MHz AM crystal(OA91) radio receiver.

mattwnz

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#2263116 23-Jun-2019 23:53

Is this a common issue with these? I just ordered one from the warehouse , so I hope it isn't a known defect with some, as I don't want to have to deal with flaky hardware.

eracode

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#2263156 24-Jun-2019 08:18

Gordy7:
eracode:

Was it freezing because it was too hot?

I did recognised the conflict of terms... That is why I added that the picture stalled.

The assumption is that the Smartvu picture was freezing because of an over heating issue.

Removing the covers allowed me to continue watching TV yesterday without the picture freezing.

Have been using the Smartvu without covers today for about 5 hours without problems.

There appeared to be spongy double sided tape from an IC and from a shield can that was maybe a conductive thermal coupling to the case covers.

I am surprised that with just air flowing over the Smartvu circuit board that there has been no issues today.

I had started collecting info on small stick on heatsinks to attach to the module. Adding any heatsinks does not seem necessary today, but may be required next summer.

I have noticed that ours does run hot but no issues with it.

Maybe you could put it in a larger enclosure - with vent holes etc - to protect it, keep out dust etc.. It does seem that the two sides of the original case are hard up against the internals.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

Gordy7

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#2263218 24-Jun-2019 09:20

When the Smartvu picture freezes I see a static picture on my TV.

Is the Smartvu still sending a static picture to my TV? i.e Is the Smartvu HDMI still working?

Does my TV (Sony Bravia ~2016) just capture and hold the last picture received?

Gordy

My first ever AM radio network connection was with a 1MHz AM crystal(OA91) radio receiver.

LisaM77

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#2263237 24-Jun-2019 09:55

They definitely run hot. I was leaving mine turned on with the remote but when, at one stage, nothing was working, I gave it a few minutes switched off and it was fine after that. I switch it off with the remote when I'm not using it now. I think someone else had a similar experience earlier in this thread.

I noticed the heat very early on and wondered how it would pan out. It seems that as long as there is some airflow and it's not on 24/7 it's fine, just gets very warm when in use. It's definitely not ideal but doesn't seem to be a safety issue (dare I say, yet!).

eracode

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#2263238 24-Jun-2019 10:03

LisaM77:
They definitely run hot. I was leaving mine turned on with the remote but when, at one stage, nothing was working, I gave it a few minutes switched off and it was fine after that. I switch it off with the remote when I'm not using it now. I think someone else had a similar experience earlier in this thread.

I noticed the heat very early on and wondered how it would pan out. It seems that as long as there is some airflow and it's not on 24/7 it's fine, just gets very warm when in use. It's definitely not ideal but doesn't seem to be a safety issue (dare I say, yet!).

Ours is powered from a USB port on the TV - so when the TV is off, it’s off.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

Lovebug

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#2263925 25-Jun-2019 11:44

These things run hot, I'm not sure how many of the problems are attributable to that, but as a roundup of issues i've seen with these (And experienced myself):

Wifi connection will drop periodically, but display as connected: Fixable by restarting the wifi connection, or power cycling the unit.

Netflix playback will have garbled audio output when watching a stream: Fixable by pausing and stopping the playback.

Free-view app will freeze, and not respond to input shortly after startup. (I suspect this one is a software issue, but honestly who knows, this thing is toasty)

Playback of video will start to jitter and will not resolve until power cycling. (Seems like this is directly attributable to thermal throttling)

To be frank they are pretty buggy little things, the only thing stopping me installing the apk freview app on a more robust bit of hardware is thinking of how many passwords I will have to input with a remote again. That and the prospect that the freeview apk will be even buggier on non-native hardware.

Senecio

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#2263928 25-Jun-2019 11:49

The Freeview APK works fine on an nVidia Shield. Starts off at pretty low bitrate but within 10s its streaming fine.

askelon

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#2265186 26-Jun-2019 17:44

Got myself one of these Monday. So far pretty impressed. Netflix works flawlessly, YouTube too. On demand, well never really use it but that works fine too. Plex on the other hand glitches quite regularly. Haven't tried kodi yet so will be an interesting comparison.

mattwnz

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#2265393 26-Jun-2019 22:18

Been trying one out for the last day.

It is okay, but the freeview live system has some annoying problems

-Firstly some of the freeview channels being displayed don't match the EPG channel it says it is on. So Duke may display when the small EPG saying it is on Three life. Quite a few of the channels are mixed up. 1,2 and 3 ...up to Maori seem to be okay, it is the channels after that.

- Sometime pressing the freeview button, it will fail to load at all, just a black screen. You have to then go back home and try it again, until the red loading circle appears

- If you press the freeview button when it is already playing freeview, it will load another copy in the background, and you get two audio streams, one slightly delayed. Then pressing it again you get a third audio stream. Going home , the audio continues to play. Only way to fix it is to restart it.

Anyone else have the problems with it?

Also as others have noted, it gets very hot. Overall though it is good for things like lightbox and netflix,and there are also some other video apps you can download from the play store. The freeview stream quality is also pretty good, and at least it isn't pixilated. The full EPG though is very slow to load up, but faster than freeviews old EPG system

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