STB recommendation

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E3xtc

773 posts

Ultimate Geek

#90964 4-Oct-2011 14:42

Hello - well I am having to consider the very real option of getting satellite feed for our Freeview :( not impressed.

In any rate - what are peoples recommendations for STB's? I have no idea what to look for etc, so your advice is gold for me.

Much appreciated

Cheers
Troy

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8041 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#529077 4-Oct-2011 14:48

Well sorry you do have to give some thought to what you want from the device.

If it's pure viewing only then I recommend the basic $80 job from the Warehouse. It has the official program guide on it and will auto set itself up. here

If you want basic record to an external USB drive then the very simple $140 Ultraplus 700 hdmi PVR thingy works okay for this. here

From here there is the official twin tuner hard drive unit at around $500 that lets you book programs from the program guide, and because it's the official unit it will record a whole series automatically too. here

To some degree there are issues with all of the units unfortunately, though some are minor and others appear a bit more significant. The best TV tuners I've ever seen are the ones built into the TV's, which is of no use to you if you need to go satellite.

Hopefully however, some of the above is useful to you.
That's the official ones, but there are non official units to allow you to do cooler stuff.

E3xtc

773 posts

Ultimate Geek

#529079 4-Oct-2011 14:54

thanks for the quick response - am pretty disappointed to be honest that I have to be in this position, but such is life *sigh*

I am just viewing mainly - most of these have pretty basic terminals/connections to the TV, is there any point in getting one with HDMI out or is this just an overkill (considering only SD format from Satellite)?

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#529096 4-Oct-2011 15:29

E3xtc: Hello - well I am having to consider the very real option of getting satellite feed for our Freeview :( not impressed.
Troy

Presumably because of your location??

E3xtc

773 posts

Ultimate Geek

#529097 4-Oct-2011 15:33

Yes

Jaxson

8041 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#529147 4-Oct-2011 17:17

E3xtc: is there any point in getting one with HDMI out or is this just an overkill (considering only SD format from Satellite)?

Personally I would say no but if you end up with hdmi on your unit because you needed another feature that it had, then that's cool. Others might have another opinion though.

injuised

256 posts

Ultimate Geek

#529203 4-Oct-2011 21:58

E3xtc: thanks for the quick response - am pretty disappointed to be honest that I have to be in this position, but such is life *sigh*

I am just viewing mainly - most of these have pretty basic terminals/connections to the TV, is there any point in getting one with HDMI out or is this just an overkill (considering only SD format from Satellite)?

Definitel HDMI out with a good quality upscaler , good quality ones now go up to 1080p and very close to HD quality

ajw

1932 posts

Uber Geek

#529330 5-Oct-2011 08:39

If you just want a basic decoder the Transonic is a good product. Bought one six months ago and have had no problems.

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E3xtc

773 posts

Ultimate Geek

#529350 5-Oct-2011 09:07

thanks for the comments/input everyone.

Regarding the upscaler - what should I be looking at here....what sort of price point are we talking about to get something that is a solid unit?

expression

236 posts

Master Geek

#529490 5-Oct-2011 11:40

I got a cheap satellite STB off Trade Me with a USD record function, think it cost me ~$80, haven't had any problems with it, works far better than the rubbish Sommet HD decoder we also have and it can get a few Aussie channels as well as the NZ ones.

Think if you get a DVB-S2 STB you can also get SBS One HD, but you'll have to get somebody else to confirm this.

xarqi

727 posts

Ultimate Geek

#529744 5-Oct-2011 18:56

SBS HD requires only DVB-S. It is GEM (and the other, SD, Channel 9 services) that require DVB-S2.

injuised

256 posts

Ultimate Geek

#529751 5-Oct-2011 19:06

xarqi: SBS HD requires only DVB-S. It is GEM (and the other, SD, Channel 9 services) that require DVB-S2.

SBS HD requires mpeg4 DVB-S SBS1 and 2 only need mpeg2 DVB-S

illicit

553 posts

Ultimate Geek

#529891 6-Oct-2011 07:54

HDMI out is not required, your TV will upscale the picture by itself (and probably do a better job than a $100 STB)

There are some TVs which do not upscale very well, but most do a better job than a STB - In my experience.

Jaxson

8041 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#529900 6-Oct-2011 08:18

Yeah as above, freeview via satellite is only SD.

There is some content available off the 'freeview' satllelite Optus D1 that is HD.

To send HD to a TV you have to connect using hdmi or component video cables. That therefore means your TV must be able to receive HD signals, your unit must be able to receive and decode the HD signals, and the unit is able to send HD signals via one of the two methods mentioned above.

Not all hdmi is upscaled. The Ultraplus 700 hdmi PVR unit is SD over hdmi. Personally I get a better picture on my full HD TV using this approach, ie non upscaled. Your results may vary given different gear etc. In my experience with these things, the upscaling has produced all sorts of irregularities and I prefer to let my TV take the SD signal and work out itself how it wants to convert that to full HD.

As above again, all TV's do this, ie take what signal format you have and convert it to the TV's native resolution to display on itself. If you are 'upscaling' (to the TV's native resolution) first then the TV doesn't have to do this.

E3xtc

773 posts

Ultimate Geek

#529901 6-Oct-2011 08:27

awesome - thanks for the response...looks like I have pretty low requirements then...just viewing required, upscaling done by tv; just get any bog standard stb and I should be away laughing!
Thanks again for the confirmation/responses everyone - I really had no idea what to be considering/looking out for/etc, but this has pretty much confirmed I need not worry too much :)

bfginger

1267 posts

Uber Geek

#529939 6-Oct-2011 10:22

For those not in the Freeview|HD broadcast area the only way you can get TV1/2/3 in HD is with a Sky HD subscription.

HDMI will provide a cleaner signal to the television than analogue. The difference may not be huge but when poor quality SD is involved every little bit may count. Don't worry about a dedicated upscaler until after you've seen how well your TV or the satellite receiver does it.

A double-tuner model will be much better in the role as a PVR if you are interested in recording. The Dish TV SatBox Ultra S7090 and the Ultraplus X-9200HD look like they are the only ones still being retailed.

The SatBox is Freeview approved which means it supports the Freeview MHEG-5 series-link. The last I heard it didn't support the EIT EPG used by other channels and it was buggy. The X-9200HD isn't Freeview approved so it lets you copy off recordings without fuss. Both of these can upscale to 1080p.

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