PVR UK: PVR (Personal Video Recorder) and DVR (Digital Video Recorder) news, reviews and how-tos for the UK (including Sky plus, TiVo, MythTV and Freeview)

Aldi PVR bargain

Aldi have a Christmas bargain for all of you, if you want it! A twin-tuner Freeview PVR with an 80Gb hard disk, timeshifting, EPG, twin SCART sockets, interactive Teletext (MHEG 5) and red button functionality, all for an impressive £99.99. Full details here.

YooMedia delivers Gemstar EPG on Freeview

YooMedia, the interactive entertainment specialist, has signed a multi-year agreement with Gemstar-TV Guide International to deliver its GUIDE Plus+ electronic programme guide (EPG) in Freeview set-top boxes, digital recorders and integrated digital televisions in the UK.

Under the agreement—financial terms have not been disclosed—the subscription-free GUIDE Plus+ EGP will be built into manufacturers' receivers and supported by YooMedia's new datacasting facility on Freeview.

The GUIDE Plus+ EPG offers a seven-day guide allowing viewers to navigate, sort, select, and schedule television programming for viewing or recording.

AIM-listed YooMedia said the agreement with Gemstar-TV Guide—best known in the UK for its VIDEO Plus+ recording technology—would see the companies collaborating on value-added rich-media interactive services, including advertising, integrated with the GUIDE Plus+ EPG .

YooMedia managing director, Neil MacDonald, said: "We are delighted to announce the availability of our datacasting service on Freeview and work in partnership with Gemstar-TV Guide, one of the most significant companies in digital television today, to deliver its industry-leading EPG to consumers throughout the UK."

Gemstar-TV Guide has licensing agreements with more than a dozen consumer electronics manufacturers worldwide.

In April the BBC's Radio Times magazine announced it would offer an EPG in conjunction with Gemstar-TV Guide.

Source: Digital TV Group

Freeview switcheroo

Freeview's EPG is changing it's lineup and you should rescan your channels.

A full listing of the changes follows...

EPG	Current	New
1	BBC ONE (Scot /Wales /N.I.)	BBC ONE
2	BBC ONE (Scot /Wales /N.I.)	BBC TWO
3	ITV 1	ITV1 (additional regional titles)
4	Channel 4 (S4C in Wales on Mux A)	Ch4 (S4C in Wales)
5	five	five
6	ITV 2	ITV2
7	BBC THREE	BBC THREE
8	Channel 4 (in Wales only) / TeleG (in Scotland)	Ch4 (Wales) / Tele G (Scotland)
9	Teletext	BBC FOUR
10	BBC FOUR	ITV3
11	Sky Travel	Sky Travel
12	UKTV History	UKTV History
13	S4C2 (in Wales)	More 4
14	E4	E4
15	ABC1	ABC1 (not in Wales)
16	QVC	QVC
17	UKTV Gold	UKTV Gold
18	THE HITS	The Hits
19	UKTV Br'tIdeas	UKTV Br'tIdeas
20	f tn	ftn
21	TMF	TMF
22	Ideal World	Ideal World
23	Bid TV	Bid TV
24	Price-Drop TV	Price-Drop TV
25	TCM	TCM
26	UKTV Style	UKTV Style
27	Discovery	Discovery
28	Discovery H&L	DiscoveryRTime
29	UKTV Food	UKTV Food
30	CBBC	vacant
31	CBeebies	vacant
32	Cartoon Network	E4 + 1
33	Boomerang	Eurosport
34	ITV3	Setanta Sports
35	More4	vacant
36	Xtraview	Xtraview
37	Quiz Call	Quiz Call
38	Men & Motors	Men & Motors
39	E4 +1	vacant
40	BBC NEWS 24	vacant
41	ITV News	vacant
42	Sky News	vacant
43	Sky Spts News	vacant
44	Bloomberg	vacant
45	BBC PARLMNT	vacant
46	Community	vacant
47	Teachers TV	vacant
48	More 4 +1	vacant
49	Eurosport	vacant
50	Teletext on 4	vacant
51	BBCi	vacant
52	Ch 52	vacant
53	YooPlay Games	vacant
54	Ttext TV Guide	vacant
55	Teletext Holidays	vacant
56	Teletext Cars	vacant
57	Setanta Sports	vacant
58	Toonami	vacant
59	vacant	vacant
60	Television X	vacant
61	Red Hot	vacant
62	vacant	vacant
63	vacant	vacant
64	vacant	vacant
65	vacant	vacant
66	vacant	vacant
67	vacant	vacant
68	vacant	vacant
69	vacant	vacant
70	BBC Radio 1	CBBC Channel
71	1Xtra BBC	Cbeebies
72	BBC Radio 2	Cartoon Network
73	BBC Radio 3	Boomerang
74	BBC Radio 4	Toonami
75	BBC R5 Live	vacant
76	BBC 5L SportsX	vacant
77	BBC 6 Music	vacant
78	BBC 7	vacant
79	BBC Asian Net	vacant
80	BBC World Sv	BBC News 24
81	The Hits Radio	ITV News
82	Smash Hits!	Sky News
83	KISS	Sky Sports News
84	Heat	Bloomberg
85	Magic	BBC Parliament
86	Q	S4C2
87	oneword	Community
88	SmoothFM	Teachers' TV
89	BBC Radio Scotland/Ulster/Wales	vacant
90	BBC Radio n Gaidheal/Foyle/Cymru	vacant
91	Mojo	vacant
92	Kerrang!	vacant
93	Ch 93	vacant
94	talkSPORT	vacant
95	3C	vacant
96	Premier	vacant
97	vacant	Television X
98	vacant	Red Hot
99	vacant	vacant
100	vacant	Teletext
101	vacant	Teletext TV Guide
102	vacant	Teletext Holidays
103	vacant	Teletext Cars
104	vacant	Teletext on 4
105	vacant	BBCi
106	vacant	YooPlay
107	vacant	vacant
108	vacant	vacant
109	vacant	vacant
110	vacant	vacant
111-299	vacant	vacant
300	vacant	4TV Interactive
301	vacant	(BBCi)
302	vacant	(BBCi)
303	vacant	(BBCi)
304	vacant	vacant
305	vacant	vacant
306	vacant	vacant
307	vacant	vacant
308	vacant	vacant
309	vacant	vacant
310	vacant	vacant
311-699	vacant	vacant
700	vacant	BBC Radio 1
701	BBC 701	1Xtra BBC
702	BBC 702	BBC Radio 2
703	BBC 703	BBC Radio 3
704	4TV Interactive	BBC Radio 4
705	LCN 705	BBC R5 Live
706	vacant	BBC 5L SportsX
707	vacant	BBC 6 Music
708	vacant	BBC 7
709	vacant	BBC Asian Net
710	vacant	BBC World Sv
711	vacant	The Hits Radio
712	vacant	Smash Hits!
713	vacant	KISS
714	vacant	Heat
715	vacant	Magic
716	vacant	Q
717	vacant	oneword
718	vacant	SmoothFM
719	vacant	BBC Radio Scotland/Ulster/Wales
720	vacant	BBC Radio nGaidheal/Foyle/Cymru
721	vacant	Mojo
722	vacant	Kerrang!
723	vacant	talkSPORT
724	vacant	3C
725	vacant	Premier
726	vacant	vacant
727	vacant	vacant
728	vacant	vacant
729	vacant	vacant
730	vacant	vacant

Table supplied by Digital Spy.

More4 confirms launch schedule

Channel 4 has confirmed details of the launch lineup for new highbrow station More4.

Fronted by Sarah Smith, the More4 News will air each weekday at 8pm. The bulletin will carry the most important news stories of the day, updated from Channel 4 News, and generate its own coverage of breaking news. A short update will go out just before 6pm.

Following at 8.30pm will be The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, broadcast on a one day delay.  Original talker The Last Word will air Monday through Friday at 11pm.

Regular series repeats include The Sopranos, airing from the start Monday through Friday at 11.50pm, and ER, weekdays at 6pm.

The channel also intends to air movies each weekday at around 4pm.  Launch week titles include British classics A Matter of Life and Death, The Four Feathers, Oliver Twist and The Thief of Bagdad.

More4 launches Monday, October 10.

Source: Digital Spy

BT to launch broadband television next summer

The CEO of BT's recently-formed Entertainment division, Andrew Burke, has announced that BT will go ahead with a full consumer launch of its IPTV service in July or August 2006. The service will be delivered via a set-top box, which will contain a Freeview digital terrestrial television (DTT) tuner and deploy Microsoft's IPTV technology. BT's intention is to provide TV and films on demand, and services such as messaging and VoIP.

Comment: The UK IPTV market, so far confined to a limited launch by London-based Homechoice, has finally begun to stir. With some big players such as Wanadoo aggressively moving into the local loop (it's only a question of when the France Telecom-backed ISP moves into TV) and portals such as Yahoo! starting to place their TV bets, it's the turn of BT to throw its rather large hat into the ring. BT's IPTV strategy beautifully demonstrates just how TV and content, more than any other part of a telco's strategy, must resonate with existing TV and media market conditions, which vary so much from country to country. We think BT has been clever in responding to the UK's market conditions in the following ways:

• strong pay TV competition:
BT is not seeking to match Sky, NTL and Telewest's pay TV offers, but to provide differentiated services. It will compete on VoD (it plans to offer a substantial VoD catalogue) and on TV/PVR (there will be a seven-day PVR service on every Freeview channel), but will aggressively push more interactivity via VoIP, messaging and a richer interface
• strong DTT player:
BT is leveraging Freeview's strong market position (5m-plus subscribers) and brand, through a partnership approach rather than competing directly. As broadcast channels remain on the DTV terrestrial network, sophisticated IP-multicasting techniques are not required in the BT core or access network, thereby reducing current costs
• tougher network topology and broadband access limitations:
the UK lags behind in terms of bandwidth availability (late to market, longer loop lengths), which means most households will have only 1 or 2Mbit/s, which is not enough to launch a full-blown broadcast offering
• explicitly seeking to grow the local/niche content market:
the UK pay TV market is not saturated, but is certainly mature. However, there is considerable room for exploiting demand for content that is not yet available. BT is leveraging the ability of IP to exploit this.

BT has been trialling its IPTV service, code-named Nevis, in 170 homes since November 2004, and clearly wants to go to market with a well thought-out proposition. You can find our more detailed assessment of its wider approach in our Broadband@Ovum report The broadband home: BT's vision. It's important not to underestimate the challenge BT faces though: the UK is one of the most (if not the) competitive TV markets in Europe, and BT will certainly face heightened competition from the big TV hitters when HDTV starts to make an impact.

Source: Ovum News.

Humax launch twin-tuner PVR

Humax's PVR-9200T (or DuoVisio) is a Freeview twin-tuner PVR with a 160GB hard disk (up to 100 hours of recording). Intriguingly, the blurb on the unit says "With USB2.0, Duovisio allows MPEG A/V file transfer between Duovisio and a PC. Duovision allows viewer to enjoy digital photos on a large TV screen or to listen to MP3 files downloaded from a PC", which sounds very interesting indeed. Full details on the Humax web site.

Analogue TV switch off

THE Government has confirmed the timetable for the UK to switch off its analogue TV signals.

It will start in 2008 with the Border TV region, moving on the West Country, HTV Wales and Granada in 2009 and taking in HTV West, Grampian and Scottish Television in 2010.

Yorkshire, Anglia and Central will tune into digital TV in 2011 with Meridian, Carlton/LWT (London), Tyne Tees and Ulster the last to make the switch in 2012.

Review: Topfield TF5800PVR

The Topfield TF5800PVR is a twin-tuner Freeview PVR that has some unique capabilities that make it stand out from the competition. It has 2 Common Interfaces that allow you to plug in a cards for Top Up TV and other services that may become available. Whereas most PVRs are a closed piece of consumer electronics, the Topfield has been designed to allow the user to connect it up to a PC or Mac and copy the video files off, download MP3s onto it for playback and add software modules developed by Topfield and the user community to enhance it's functionality.

I've managed to get hold of one for an extended test, and I'll be posting this review and my experiences over the next few days. Check back for updates as the week progresses.

The Topfield TF5800PVR is available from around £265.

Initial Impressions

The Topfield comes well packaged and gives an impression of quality from the start. The case is a solid-feeling pressed steel construction, and has plenty of ventilation. I've included plenty of pictures in this review - click them for a bigger version.

As you can see, it's a well-connected beast. From left to right we have

• Dual Antennas with a loop through
• Video out
• Audio left
• Audio right
• S-Video
• TV Scart
• VCR Scart
• USB port (for connecting to your PC/Mac)
• RF in
• RF out
• S/PDIF (optical output for digital audio)
• RS232

More to come soon!

BBC open Pandora's box

The BBC have unveiled a PVR project known as Pandora, being developed for them by Promise.tv. It is designed to record all free-to-air TV for a week (yes, you read right, ALL TV), so that you don't need to set the video, you just pick what you want from the library that automatically grows on it's 3.2 Tb of disk space.

Promise TV's Dominic Ludlam said: "This could well herald a change in the way we watch television.

"The freedom from advance programming means that TV programmes need never be missed, even if they are only heard about after they've aired."

The prototype for this magical box of consumer electronics was shown at OpenTech in London this week.

Inverto forums launched

A new website and forums dedicated to users of the Inverto IDL-7000T PVR has been launched, called InvertoForum (unsurprisingly!). It's run by an Inverto IDL-7000T owner, and isn't connected with Inverto themselves, so expect plenty of unbiased discussion and people ready to help fellow owners.

Vestel to launch new Freeview PVR

Vestel, Europe’s largest TV manufacturer, is launching a new OEM PVR (personal video recorder) for the UK Freeview DTT market. The PVR has been developed using Cabot’s Aurora software to provide the interactive TV (MHEG) engine and chip manufacturer ST Microelectronics’ new 5100 MPEG2 decoder. Vestel expects the first re-branded DVR to become available in the autumn.

The new box will contain up to 160GBytes of hard disk space for up to 120 hours of recording. Meanwhile, Cabot’s Aurora software will provide the new box with a range of features, including picture in picture, access to the Freeview 8-day EPG, and two DTT tuners, so viewers can record one digital channel while watching another.

Via idTV.

Living with the Inverto IDL-7000T PVR

Following up on my Inverto IDL-7000T review, I have been using it daily for the last 2 months, and thought you'd appreciate knowing how it's performed. The Inverto continues to work well (in the main), and does so unobtrusively, and most importantly for me quietly. I've had a few PVRs take up residence in my living room, and the only one that's ever matched it for lack of noise is the TiVo. It has remained utterly silent in use from across the room, with the fan never kicking in as it's never got too hot. The hard disk is one of the quietest I've ever (not) heard - certainly quieter than most hard disks in a PC. I never hear a peep (or click) out of it from behind the glass on the front of my video cabinet.

There was a software update for it recently (to version 0.018), mainly to fix a few bugs, but I have also noticed a new item appear in the setup menus - it is now possible to set the VHF output channel, something a few people have asked about.

All is not perfect though. One bug that has not been fixed in this version is the ability to fill the Record List's capacity, even though there is plenty of room left on the disk. I have mentioned this to Inverto who have said they are aware of the problem and will definitely have it fixed either in version 0.019 or 0.020 of the software. For now, however, I seem to be limited to scheduling around 10-15 programmes. Inverto have always made great efforts to get things right so far though, so I will keep you up to date with things.

The other problem I had was finding the display blank and the controls unresponsive one day on getting home. I had to power the Inverto down and back on again to get it working again, and it then seemed to behave perfectly normally. Talking to Inverto, they said a number of units in the same geographical area had experienced this fault, and that it coincided with particularly bad weather conditions and a loss of reception of various services including Sky. They thought it was down to these conditions causing a problem in Freeview transmission. It was a one off problem though, and I am happy to put it down as "one of those things". Everything else has been fine.

One feature I played with was the SP/LP compression, as I have found little time to watch the programmes I have recorded! It works well, with no discernible loss in quality, and a definite increase in the number of programmes I can store.

All-in-all, I continue to use the Inverto every day, and am relying on it to video Dr Who and Desperate Housewives every week, so I must have faith in it!

The Inverto is being listed for around £219.

More Free Freeview channels

Men and Motors is appearing on Freeview channel 38 from May 2nd (must check it out tonight!), and E4 is confirmed to be appearing from May 27th, in time for endless Big Brother.

Humax combined TV/PVR

Humax have announced a combined 32" LCD TV and PVR. The  LGB-32TPVR will cost around £1700 and offer 40Gb of hard disk capacity. The TV's main features include:-

• 16:9 Wide Digital and analog / PVR complex LCD TV
• Digital 2 tuner PVR (Personal Video Recorder) function
• Analog and DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) reception
• USB 2.0 port connection compatibility without extension HDD
• Interactive communication via MHEG or MHP middleware
• Recording digital channel, analog channel and external AV input.
• Multiple Screen - Loaded with PIP and DS (Dual Screen) functions
• Virtual Surround audio: Multi-functional SRS TruSurroundXT
• PC grade WXGA Video resolution support (1280 x 768)
• VESA Standard Wall Mounting Support (not including bracket)

Coming soon: Topfield TF5800PVR review

I have a box (as yet unpacked!) sat by my desk containing a Topfield TF5800PVR for review :-) This looks like it may be the techie's dream PVR, so I am looking forward to putting it through it's paces over the weekend. If you have any questions or specific things you'd like me to take a look at during the review, pop them in the comments here and I'll investigate for you. I hope to have a short preview up after the weekend, with a full in-depth review a week or so later. Mind you, with all the features this unit offers, it may take a bit longer than normal to fully understand the potential of this PVR...

Coming soon: AVerMedia AVerTV DVB-T USB2.0 review

We have received an AVerMedia AVerTV DVB-T USB2.0 Freeview tuner for review. It's an external tuner for Windows PCs that connects via USB 2.0 (surprise!) and provides live TV viewing and PVR capabilities with an EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) on your PC. If you have any specific questions you'd like answering, just add them here and we'll delve into them over the next week or so.

The full spec and press release follow...

Press release

A world of digital TV in the palm of your hand.

With AVerMedia's' new pocket sized digital TV receiver, the DVB-T USB2.0, you can watch digital TV anywhere and anytime.

AVerMedia Technologies Inc. has today announced the launch of the highest quality TV Tuner card on the market - the DVB-T USB2.0.

Digital television is an excellent alternative to cable television - with cable TV, users are tied to one location, but digital television allows users to watch TV on their PC at any location. The AVerTV DVB-T USB 2.0 connects Digital TV with a PC or Notebook, allowing users to watch 'free-to-air' digital terrestrial television channels with no subscription to pay.

The pocket-sized device weighs next to nothing making it ideally suited for frequent travellers to carry around. Alternatively, housed in a sleek silver case, the box looks at home whether in an office or sat next to a home PC.

The new DVB-T USB 2.0 Plus supports HDTV (1080i), the first USB 2.0 TV Tuner on the market to do so, ensuring users are delivered a high-quality, crisp picture standard and better sound quality. Also supplied with a TV Aerial, the DVB-T USB 2.0 guarantees users the highest quality TV Signal on the market whether on the move or in one fixed location.

Offering an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) as standard, you can find out more information about the TV programmes you plan to watch before you watch them and with the introduction of Windows Media Centre Edition to the market, AVerMedia have designed the DVB-T USB 2.0 to be fully compliant with the latest Media Centre Edition software.

Besides the basic functions, such as play back, record, time-shift, etc. the DVB-T USB 2.0 includes the most advanced TV Tuner technology offering a feature that can auto power off a PC (switch the PC into Hibernate Mode to save power) after schedule recording.

"We believe the DVB-T USB 2.0 plus is the most advanced TV Tuner on the market," says Bentley Lo, Business Development Manager, AVerMedia Technologies inc. "The DVB-T USB 2.0 will set a standard for the next generation of Digital Terrestrial TV Boxes."

Availability

The AVerTV DVB-T USB is available now from www.mediaatlantic.com or www.maplin.co.uk. Price £84.99 inc VAT.

Specification. AVerMedia AVerTV DVB-T USB 2.0.

Key features

Watch high quality free-to-air Digital Terrestrial TV on a Laptop or PC
Fully Resizable TV Window (up to Full Screen)
Time Shift allows you to continue from where you pause a live show
16 Channel Preview
Auto-Scan and Full Channel Scan
Create your favourite Channel Group
Support 16:9 widescreen
Electronic Program Guide (EPG)
MCE Compatible
HDTV (1080i) ready

System requirements

SDTV:
Intel Pentium III 1.0GHz for Time Shift and Record in MPEG2
VGA card supports DirectX 9
128MB RAM or above
USB 2.0
Sound Card
Windows 2000/XP
HDTV:
Intel Pentium 4 1.7GHz
256MB RAM or above
USB 2.0
VGA Card supports DirectX 9 and DxVA
AC'97 compatible Sound Card
Windows 2000/XP

Coming soon: Humax PVR-8000T/80 review

We have received a Humax PVR-8000T/80 for review. It's an 80 Gb version of the popular PVR-8000T Freeview PVR (single tuner), and we'll be putting it through it's paces over the next week or so. If you have any specific questions you'd like answering, add them here, and we'll do our utmost to answer them.

Review: Inverto IDL-7000T PVR

The Inverto IDL-7000T is a new twin-tuner Freeview PVR (Personal Video Recorder) that's been eagerly anticipated over recent weeks. Find out if the wait's been worth it in the world's first review!

Firstly though, let me lay my cards on the table: I have been a TiVo owner for nearly 3 years, and I set up this web site as a result of them stopping selling the units in the UK. I knew that one day my TiVo would fail, and I wanted an alternative. In my opinion, the TiVo software, packed with useful features yet at the same time superbly easy to use, is the benchmark against which all new-comers need to be measured. The advent of digital TV with it's higher quality pictures and extra channels has meant I ideally wanted something that could record two channels in the original broadcast quality (the TiVo has a single analogue TV tuner, and although it can accept an external input such as a Freeview/cable/satellite tuner, it is an analogue recording and loses some of the quality in the conversion process). Also, I pay TiVo 10 pounds a month subscription to receive the EPG (Electronic Programme Guide), without which it just becomes a plain digital video recorder, requiring me to set the times for recording manually. As Freeview transmits an EPG free of charge, a Freeview-based PVR should save me 120 pounds a year - not to be sniffed at!

The looks: The Inverto goes for a bold look: it's a plain white box with a black, rubberised panel on the top with "Inverto" on it in raised letters. It actually works far better than I had expected, with many people commenting on it's Apple Mac/iPodish feel. Sat in amongst my other gear, it doesn't look out of place. It has a standby button that's backlit in red when recording (quite funky!) and a large VFD (Vacuum Flourescent Display), with letters big enough to read from across the room while I am sat on the sofa. This VFD is well utilised, giving plenty of feedback. While watching live TV it displays the channel name. rewind through the live buffer or pause and resume playing live TV and it shows "Live - 23" if you are 23 minutes behind the live broadcast. If it's in standby and recording a programme for you, it scrolls "Recording:Desperate Housewives" (or whatever you are recording) across the display. At all times it lets you know what's going on.

The noise: When I first powered up the Inverto, I was met with fan noise, but after a few seconds the fan turned off and the unit has been near silent in operation since. The fan is turned on only if the temperature gets above it's normal operating temperature. I'm not sure what this magic number is, but in my house with the central heating on, it has never needed to run the fan. The only slight noise I have been able to discern is the hard disk while recording, and that's only by crouching down with my ear by the box - not a position I find myself in normally :) It's much, much quieter than the hard disk in my PC, and I can't hear a thing from across a silent living room. This is one of my vital criteria for a PVR, I just can't stand noisy equipment, and the Inverto passed with flying colours!

The connections: As you can see from the rear of the IDL-7000, it's a well-connected beast. We have (from left to right) the aerial connections (the external aerial cable goes into the first tuner, then a provided short patch cable takes it through to the second tuner, then you can feed the signal on to other devices), RS-232 data interface for updates etc., digital audio outputs (both coax and optical), video out (RGB + CVBS, composite, FBAS), audio outputs (L/R), S-VHS, TV Scart, VCR Scart and mains.

The features: The Inverto offers 40 hours of recording at Standard Play, 60 at Long Play and the feature set you would expect from a PVR.

Pause and rewind live TV (you can vary the size of the buffer up to 60 minutes). The playback speed can be from 1/4 to 64 times normal.

You can record two programmes while watching another you've already recorded, or record one while watching live TV.

Choose programmes from the in-built TV guide to record. The EPG is well layed out and while looking at a full evenings' listings on a channel, you can flip across the channels using the left/right arrow keys. The guide stays on the same time, so you can easily work out your evenings' entertainment. The guide is responsive and there are no noticeable pauses unless you go across the midnight boundary - in itself only noticeable because it's so quick the rest of the time. I have used some Freeview EPGs that are sluggish and a pain to use - not this one. Move the cursor onto your programme on the guide and press the record button - a red blob appears beside it and it gets added to your Record List. One thing here - this only schedules the Inverto to record this programme the one time; in order to make it record the programme weekly, you need to go into the Record List screen and change it from single to weekly. It would be nice to have the options available at the point you hit the record button.

You can set up the Inverto to add extra minutes on the front and back of recordings, to take account of programmes starting or finishing early. If you do this then it will default to adding these extra minutes to all your recordings. Alternatively, you can modify the recording start/end time on a per recording basis in the Record List Screen.

Once programmes are recorded, they appear in your Library. This is a listing of the programmes, and it automatically generates a series of thumbnails across the bottom of the screen at 5 minute intervals, so you scroll up and down the programmes, and left/right across the program thumbnails. It's a fancy feature that looks neat - I'm not sure how useful it is though! Note: I have found a use for this, although it's really because of a shortcoming that I need it. When watching a programme on my TiVo, I can back out at any time, and it remembers where I was in the programme. Next time I go to watch it, I can resume from the point I left off. The Inverto doesn't remember where I was, and I have to start from the beginning and manually forward to the point I was at. Hence the usefulness of the thumbnails every 5 minutes.

A correction to an earlier version of the review: chase play IS supported. It works differently from TiVo/Sky+ and the documentation I received didn't mention it. I was expecting the recording to appear in the Library as soon as it started, allowing it to be viewed before it was finished, however it doesn't appear there until the programme is complete. To view a recording in chase play mode, you just switch to the channel it is on and press the reverse button - the programme jumps from live to the beginning of the recording, and you can watch it from the start while it is still recording.

The Inverto also supports "retrospective" recording. i.e. if you have had one of the tuners on a particular channel, and hit the record button, it will retrieve as much of the programme as it has in it's buffer.

The Libray allows you to change a programme to Long Play (around 60 hours of Long Play recordings can be stored). This happens in the background while the Inverto is getting on with other things. The quality isn't noticeably different from Short Play. It would have been nice if you could set the SP/LP mode at the time you schedule the recording, as that would have saved another step to remember to do. One point to note is that the Inverto can record subtitles, but you can only convert non-subtitled programmes to Long Play. You can choose whether to record subtitles from one of the setup menus.

You can also choose to archive programmes from the Library screen. This simply plays the program back to your VCR so you can tape it. You can schedule this to happen any time, so set it up to work in the middle of the night if you like - another neat touch. On modern VCRs, the Inverto can use the SCART socket to turn the VCRs recording on and off.

One thing to mention - the picture quality is excellent. I normally use a Goodmans GDB3 Freeview tuner, and it's noticeably better than that. The Tuner screen is showing a Signal Strength of around 60% and a Signal Quality of around 80%.

The Inverto has PIP (Picture-In-Picture), so you can leave the current channel in a corner while you flip around the others. I'm not much of a channel flipper myself, but I know plenty of people who like to do this while the ads are on, and they would love to be able to see when their programme comes back on.

Inverto have said that they will issue any updates/upgrades via the Freeview OTA (Over The Air) broadcast system. i.e. they can send updates via the Freeview signal, and even if your box is in Standby it will turn on, download the updated software and restart itself. As easy a way of doing this as is possible, I think.

The manual (pre-release) that I currently have has obviously been written prior to the current software. There are quite a few features available that aren't covered. Speaking to Inverto, they are doing a complete re-write for the UK launch, and going by the effort I have seen them make so far, I would expect it to be well thought out and comprehensive. I shall be getting an updated one soon, and will let you know how it is.

Conclusion: The Inverto IDL-7000T is the best twin-tuner Freeview PVR I have seen. It was totally reliable in operation, with no lock-ups or missed recordings. Both the hardware and the software are well designed. However, the software isn't quite up to the useability standards of my TiVo. The really big thing that I miss is Season Passes (Series Links in Sky+ terms). On my TiVo, I can choose a programme by name, and the TiVo does the hard work of finding and recording it whenever it is on. I can also choose to ignore repeats. This is a liberating feature to have, as it means that it will record new series of that programme whenever they come on, something I can easily miss otherwise. Freeview PVRs cannot do this yet, as it requires extra information in the EPG that TiVo and Sky put in, that Freeview apparently does not carry, so the Inverto is no worse than all the other Freeview PVRs in this respect. It does try to make things as easy as possible within the limits of the Freeview EPG though, so thumbs up for trying. Now that hard disks are cheap, the Inverto gives you a useful capacity of 40 hours in standard play, and the responsiveness of the menus and EPG make it a pleasure to use.

The bottom line - would I say goodbye to my TiVo and have an Inverto? It's a very close call, but if I can discipline myself to look at what's coming up on TV instead of leaving it to my TiVo, yes, I could. As well as being able to record two channels of digital quality TV at once, I can save myself 120 pounds subscription a year. I will live with my Inverto IDL-7000T exclusively for the next couple of weeks and let you know how I get on. If it's a success, look out on ebay for my TiVo.

Screenshots of the Inverto IDL-7000T user interface are available here.

The Inverto is being listed for around £219.

If you want to know anything I haven't covered, or have any other questions, just add them here and I will do my best to answer you. I'll add some screenshots of the menus later today.

It's here...

The Inverto IDL 7000 has arrived and is now sat stacked on my TiVo. I am running them both in parallel, so I can make some comparisons. I'll post an update later with some pictures - it's a nice looking beast.

Inverto IDL 7000T PVR on it's way

Good news for those interested in the new Inverto IDL 7000T, due to be launched in March. We will have our hands on one of these twin-tuner Freeview PVRs shortly, and will be posting a very detailed and comprehensive review asap after it arrives! Meanwhile, you can get more info over at the Inverto website.

Dual-tuner Freeview PVR comparison

DigitalSpy forums user emsee has produced a handy chart of the above, including the yet to appear Inverto IDL 7000 (of which more later). Check it out here.

A bumper Christmas for digital TV

The BBC reports that Christmas has been good for digital TV, with an additional 192,000 satellite subscribers in the three months to December 2004 for Sky (its best performance for two years) and Freeview now being received in nearly 5 million UK homes. By the end of the year they are expected to be neck-and-neck with nearly 8 million viewers each. In 2004, for the first time, viewers spent more time watching digital, cable and satellite channels than either of the two most popular channels, BBC One and ITV1. This has had a knock-on effect on PVRs, with Sky+ and Freeview PVRs seeing increases in sales.

Pace to stop making Freeview boxes

Pace has decided to pull out of the Freeview market as it is now unprofitable for it to continue making set top boxes, with rival products costing under £50. There is no suggestion that this will affect it's Freeview PVR product, the Pace Twin.

Freeview PVR comparison

Russelelly has provided a handy PDF chart comparing the Pace Twin, Humax PVR-8000T/PVR-8000T-80, Fusion FVRT100/FVRT150 and Thomson DHD 4000, so if you are thinking of getting a FreeView PVR, it's worth taking a look at. There's further discussion on these models over at the Digital Spy forums.

Humax upgrade PVR-8000T

Humax are launching an updated PVR-8000T, the PVR-8000T-80, which is essentially the same as the old model, but with a bigger hard disk (80 Gb instead of 40 Gb) and updated software. The new features include:-

- Digital radio recording
- 7 Day Electronic Program Guide support - use the EPG to set recordings up to 7 days in advance with Humax's easy to use "one-touch" recording feature
- Instant record can now be set for 30 mins, 1 hour, 2 hours or 3 hours by repeatedly hitting the key - and can be extended while a recording is being made
- "overlap recording" allowing the end time of one recording to be the same as the start time for the next - a much-requested improvement!

Goodmans GDB2 and GDB3 fix for constant resetting problem

Ever since the Freeview 7-day EPG data has been sent out by my local transmitter, my Goodmans GDB3 Freeview receiver has been resetting itself (others find it freezes or locks up) on a frequent basis. Now, watching most of my programmes on the TiVo, which records from the analogue TV signal, it's not been too much of a problem, but tonight I wanted to watch something on Freeview while my TiVo recorded something else, and it was driving me up the wall - the box was resetting every 10 minutes or so.

The problem is due to the 7-day EPG data and the version of firmware in the units:- it's simply a case of the shipped firmware (3.2) not being designed to cope with the 7-day EPG data. Goodmans have fixed this problem, but they aren't sending it out as an OTA (Over The Air) update for "around 6 weeks" (information gleaned from Digital Spy Forums). However, the software is available on the internet, and you can download it and update your GDB2 or GDB3 box yourself. Here's how:-

You will need a straight-through serial cable (note: this is not a "modem" cable, it's equivalent to a serial extension cable), and a terminal program with 1k Xmodem file transfer capability. I used Hyper Terminal, as supplied with Windows XP.

First, decide which version of the software you want to install. I installed version 3.11 (that's three point eleven, not three point one one, as the observant amongst you will notice that this is an upgrade from the factory-installed 3.2!). 3.11 just fixes the problems with resetting. There is also a newer test version called test 0.4 which will display the 7-day EPG data, but I didn't fancy being a guinea pig. 3.11 for the GDB3 can be found here, test 0.4 for both the GDB2 and the GDB3, along with 3.11 for the GDB2 can be found here.

1. Connect the RS232 cable to a spare com port on the rear of the PC (COM1 or COM2 ).
2. Connect the other end of the cable to the RS232 Port on the rear of the GDB2/3.
3. Open up Hyper Terminal usually found in the Communications section of the windows start menu.
4. Click on new enter a name e.g. ping and select an Icon from the available choice.
5. At the next prompt select the port you are connected to from the drop down list.
6. Press OK.
7. On the next screen select 115200 as the bits per second from the top drop down menu.
8. Then on the bottom option Flow control – select “None”.
9. Press OK.
10. Then press the reset button on the rear of the GDB2/3 (near the mains cable).
11. In the white box in HyperTerminal you should see “ back up sw exists “ and underneath Enter IR code (N.b. not on the GDB3).
12. Then underneath “CC” should appear indicating the box is connected and talking ("CCC$$$BB0" on the GDB3).
13. From the top menu select transfer then send file.
14. In the dialogue box use the browse function to locate the downloaded file and select it so it appears in the filename section.
15. Under protocol use the drop down menu to select 1K Xmodem.
16. Then press send.
17. A grey box will then appear showing various data and nothing will be happening.
18. IMPORTANT – now press the RESET button on the rear of the GDB2/3 again , the dialogue box will spring into life and will show the upgrade progress as number of packets sent etc.
19. Once it is complete the grey screen will disappear then you need to wait until “SW compressed successfully” appears in the white box. ("OK" on the GDB3).
20. Now you can shut down HyperTerminal and disconnect the GDB2/3.
21. Before using the box either unplug or press the reset.
22.Once the box is reconnected to the TV you can check the software version by going to the configuration menu. It should now read v 3.11 or whatever version you installed.

So far, I've had my GDB3 on for a couple of hours without it resetting!

Thanks the Digital Spy Forums, Freddy's Utilities and Andy Gasking for supplying information.

Pace Twin software update

The Pace Twin has just had an OTS (Over The Air) update, from 23/08/04 10 a.m. to 26/08/04 9 a.m., details as follows:-

Product LPUTPGFTD_01_08
Software Master:1.7.61 Aug 13 2004 11:55:50
Slave: 1.761 Aug 13 2004 12:00:25
Resource 1.1.15
Boot 1.42 (Master) 1.47 (Slave)

The main improvement seems to be the 8-day EPG.

V-stream Xpert DTV

The Inquirer has looked at a Freeview PCI card for the PC, which includes PVR-style capabilities:-

Freeview is fast becoming a must for many households. Basically, you pay for one receiver and you can enjoy many digital terrestrial channels and radio. Jetwat has introduced a PCI card which allows you to do that without having to buy a dedicated freeview box. The V-stream Xpert DTV DVB-T PCI card allows you to watch Digital TV with an ordinary UHF/VHF antenna without any ghosting. The killer app though is the Scheduled recording in Power On mode which will power on your computer to record a programme which you have chosen before even when you are not there. A fully featured remote control is also provided - it can be used to power off your computer.

Other features include compatibility with 16:9 wide format display, auto Channel scan and name recognition, multiple channel preview and TV video. It also supports timeshift and playback live TV program simultaneously as well as Digital Real Time Video Recording in MPEG2 format. Picture in Picture and still image capture in JPEG or BMP is also available. You can also connect other video sources as the card provides with four inputs.

A DVD burner software as well as a MPEG converter and editor is provided. At £46.21, it costs less than many freeview boxes which do not allow the essential PVR - personal video recorder function. Though it comes with some shortcomings like sticky remote buttons or some softwre bugs, it is still the cheapest digital terrestrial TV card available in UK and as such deserves a pat on the back. The card is also available under the brand K-World.

They also have a USB version.

Fusion FVRT200 snippet

Asked for more information on the release date of the Fusion FVRT200 and if it was possible to connect the expansion discs to a PC to archive the material to DVD, Fusion have responded with a date of "early 2005" and that "the type of link will be usb2, but due to the nature of the proprietary file system of the expansion discs, archiving to dvd is not likely to be possible."

In case you missed it, Fusion are going to launch an external hard disk so that the capacity of the FVRT200 can be increased without opening the machine up. A smart move, as the reason most people started modding their TiVos was to add a bigger hard disk.

Freeview epg scuppers Goodmans GDB3 receivers

Every silver lining has a cloud, I guess, and for me the excitement of the EPG finally going live is tempered by my Goodmans GDB3 Freeview reciever rebooting itself every 10 minutes or so last night. Apparently this is because of incompatibilities with the new EPG data, so I wonder if any other models are going to suffer problems too? My GDB3 has software version 3.2, and there's an updated version 3.11 (that's three point eleven, not three point one one) around on the net, so if I get time tonight I'll try updating my unit and see if it fixes things (apparently it should). I'll let you know how it goes and the procedure to follow ASAP.

Freeview 7-day epg roll-out commences

Starting this week, the long-awaited 7-day epg is starting it's roll-out across the UK. At last, Freeview PVRs will have all the required services to take on Sky+ and Tivo.

Which DTT receivers can handle extended SI?

Initially, only a small number of digital terrestrial receivers can display extended SI. These have been developed before the profile of the transmitted data was decided and these receivers may function slowly or fail to display complete schedules. In due course, manufacturers may issue software upgrades for existing products, but this is the decision of individual manufacturers.

The following receivers are known to attempt to decode the schedule information:

Humax F2-Fox T
Humax PVR-8000T
Pace Twin Digital Recorder
Pace DTVA
Sony VTX-D800
Sony IDTVs (integrated digital TV sets)

Other receivers are believed to be in the market with extended SI capability, but very little is known about their behaviour.
However, following launch, we would hope that more manufacturers make their boxes capable of displaying extended SI – either through over-air software upgrades or by marketing new ‘schedule-ready’ receivers.

Some PC products – e.g. Nebula, Hauppauge WinTV Nova – also decode the extended schedule information with possible issues similar to those above.

Will extended SI make it easier for people to record programmes using a PVR?

Currently, only the Pace Twin Digital Recorder and Humax PVR-8000T are marketed as offering this facility. However, we would expect other manufacturers to produce PVRs, once SI is launched across the digital terrestrial platform, to make fuller use of the improvements we are making.

Analogue switch-off postponed

The analogue switch-off, which was originally proposed for 2010 has been put back until 2012, although some regions may lose their signal as early as 2007. Ofcom are to investigate the effect of the switch-off on vulnerable sections of society, such as the poor and the elderly, who cannot afford a freeview box.

In a speech last month, Mark Thompson, the BBC's new director-general, said that he did not believe that a 2010 date was achievable.

In its digital switch-over report, submitted to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport two months ago, the BBC warned the government that the analogue switch-off would be impossible unless it took action to accelerate the public's conversion from analogue to digital TV sets.

The government will also be announcing a switch-off date for analogue radio later this year.

New Fusion PVR on it's way

The Fusion website is carrying details of a new PVR soon to join it's product line-up, the FVRT200. It builds on the features of the FVRT100, with a bigger hard disk (80 GB) and will also allow a range of external hard disks to be connected for increasing the recording capacity and archiving. Fusion also list it's "enhanced features" as including Selective Recording Edit, Video Jukebox (programmed playout) and Personalised Folders. Although we can make an educated guess as to what these features will do, I am trying to find out some more on them. I'll post more once I find out.

Oh, and it looks good too :)

Fusion FVRT100 "a welcome addition to any home"

Charlotte Ricca-Smith of The Independant includes the Fusion FVRT100 in her Gadgets & Gizmos column :-

After living with Sky+ for a few months, I can't imagine going back to antiquated VHS. However, the downside is that you need a dish and a subscription to enjoy all its benefits. Which is what makes Digifusion's digital video recorder so fantastic - for a one-off fee you get all the free digital TV channels (via Freeview) as well as a 40-gigabyte hard disk recorder.

But unlike other Freeview boxes, it has an on-screen electronic programme guide for the week ahead. (Fusion broadcasts its own EPG, though viewers in London and parts of Wales should now get an official one too). You can record up to 60 hours of programmes (20 hours more than Sky) if you opt for the lowest-quality recording option, and as with other hard disk recorders it lets you pause and rewind live TV.

It has two tuners, so you can watch one channel while recording another, or record two channels simultaneously while watching a previous recording. The icing on the cake is that while recording it takes a screen grab of the programme every five minutes, which is then displayed in the library screen (like DVD menus) for fast and easy navigation. A well-thought through product that would be a welcome addition to any home.

Freeview in 4 million homes

The BBC has released figures showing that Freeview is now available in an estimated 4 million homes, ensuring that the BBC's digital television channels, radio networks and interactive services are available in over 13 million UK households.

In total, there are now nearly 4 million more homes with digital than before the launch of Freeview in the autumn of 2002.

Full BBC press release.

Sky's free satellite vs Freeview

As Sky prepares to launch a new digital satellite TV and radio service with no monthly subscription, BBC News Online examines how it will compare with Freeview's existing free-to-air digital terrestrial service. Read the article here.