Mvision HD200 Combo

gtg60

Well, somebody really had to start a seperate thread for this receiver :rolleyes:

Doing a bit of research and found some good links for info for those wishing to check specs etc before buying.

Manual http://www.mvision.tv/descarga/utilidades/manual/HD-200_%20web-Manual(R.2.0).pdf
Serial Recovery tool http://www.mvision.tv/descarga/utilidades/HD200-recovery-tool.zip
PVR manual http://www.mvision.tv/descarga/utilidades/manual/HD200_PVR_%20Manual(english).zip
Channel Editor http://www.mvision.tv/descarga/utilidades/HD-200%20Ch_Edit.zip
Remote Control Codes http://www.mvision.tv/descarga/utilidades/Remote_codes_and_setting_MVE+_Universal_RC.zip

Myxomatosis

From glancing at the manual, while recording it seems you can watch other channels on the same transponder, which will be handy for the RTEs.

Can you watch Satellite while terrestrial is being recorded or Vice-versa?

Can you record multiple channels off the same transponder / frequency? E.g. Record RTE1, RTE2, TV3 and TG4 all at the same time, assuming you have a fast enough HDD?.

Does the Mvision have any third party firmwares available which may improve some functionality or user interfaces? Are the official firmwares kept up to date? Any possibility of 7 day freesat EPG appearing in any future firmwares?

Looking to buy a MPEG4 combo box fairly soon which would meet most of the above features.

gtg60

Myxomatosis wrote: »

From glancing at the manual, while recording it seems you can watch other channels on the same transponder, which will be handy for the RTEs.

Can you watch Satellite while terrestrial is being recorded or Vice-versa?

Can you record multiple channels off the same transponder / frequency? E.g. Record RTE1, RTE2, TV3 and TG4 all at the same time, assuming you have a fast enough HDD?.

Trying to establish that at the moment, if this turns out to be true it'll put this receiver in a different league

Myxomatosis wrote: »

Does the Mvision have any third party firmwares available which may improve some functionality or user interfaces? Are the official firmwares kept up to date? Any possibility of 7 day freesat EPG appearing in any future firmwares?

Yes, there is a third party firmware out there based on the current official firmware, as far as I can tell it is supposed to be faster at scanning satellites and has a built in softcam, not sure if I'm allowed post a link but it's not hard to find...

Here's my reasoning on the 7 day Freesat EPG, everybody WANTS it for their FTA receivers, it is available at the moment for the higher end Linux based receivers, IMHO it is only a matter of time before it starts appearing on the cheaper units, I would speculate that once one bunch of 'hobbyists' have done it on one receiver it will find it's way onto most unofficial firmware, here's hoping

gtg60

There's a review here, please note it was pre-PVR firmware:
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/audio-visual/digital-tv-receivers/mvision-hd200-combo-426740/review?artc_pg=1

There are a few places to buy this from, satshop seem the cheapest and will cost approx 210 Euro including postage:
http://www.satshop.tv/en/Digital-Receivers/MVision/MVision-HD200-Combo::1099.html?XTCsid=93b93c30674293604e63cd4282f7ed1d

You can also buy it from SaorTV, worth noting that this guy is in Kildare and items are sent Registered so 99% should get it next day, I have personally dealt with him and found him to be extremely accommodating and helpful, it is approx 230 Euro:
http://cgi.ebay.ie/Combo-Satellite-DTT-HD-Receiver-MVision-HD200-Combo_W0QQitemZ260353479918

STB

I would be quite surprised if the Mvision let you change channel whilst recording, even off the same transponder. All of these PVrReady type combo boxes use the same processor.

The only way you can do this (with the Technomate 6900 and Clarke Tech 5000) is using the lop through on the back to another receiver. Only then can you view something on the same transponder, and only with another receiver.

You cannot switch from DVB-T to DVB-S whilst recording on the Technomates or Clarketechs either.

gtg60

Front:


Rear:


Remote:

gtg60

STB wrote: »

I would be quite surprised if the Mvision let you change channel whilst recording, even off the same transponder. All of these PVrReady type combo boxes use the same processor.

I know, sounds unusual and as stated, IF it does it will put this receiver into another league.
I have read the PVR manual a few times and it would certainly seem to imply that this is possible, what I also like about this receiver is that you have Timeshift functions and you can watch an already recorded programme while recording another OR start watching a recorded program before it is finished, if that all works as promised then it certainly is a very functional PVR

Just waiting for fat-tony to do a bit of investigating...

fat-tony

gtg60 wrote: »

I know, sounds unusual and as stated, IF it does it will put this receiver into another league.
I have read the PVR manual a few times and it would certainly seem to imply that this is possible, what I also like about this receiver is that you have Timeshift functions and you can watch an already recorded programme while recording another OR start watching a recorded program before it is finished, if that all works as promised then it certainly is a very functional PVR

Just waiting for fat-tony to do a bit of investigating...

Results just in:
1. You can view other channels on the same transponder while recording:)
(pressing the OK button while recording brings up a list of the other channels and you can select one).
2. Pressing the OK button at any time shows you the current transponder list, with "LIVE" on the channel you're watching and "REC" on the channel you're recording.
3. You have to navigate back to the original channel to cancel the recording.
4. You can't record two channels on the same transponder at once:(
5. If you are recording a DTT channel, you can't watch another on the same mux nor can you navigate to a sat channel:(
6. While viewing a channel you can press the PAUSE button to freeze the action and the box will begin to record (if your USB drive is on!). Similar effect to SKY's "pause live tv!". You get a 30 minute buffer. You can press PLAY to restart the action and skip through the recorded file with the right-cursor key to any point up to where the recording buffer ends, or FF at 2x, 4x or 8x. (the FF function is not great - but then neither is the one on SKY HD!) Using the cursor key is good for skipping through the ads or similar.
7. If you are recording a programme you can pause it also, but you have a buffer of however long you set up initially (e.g. one hour, two hours etc.)
8. Recording from the EPG is dead simple for DTT with 7 days ahead. You just navigate to the programme and press the RECORD button and it will schedule a recording. No "series link" facility, but what do you expect on a basic box?
9. There is a timed recording function for satellite channels where you don't have the full EPG, but I haven't used it.

All in all, I'm very pleased with this box so far.:)

gtg60

Thanks for all the info fat-tony, so basically it actually does do everything claimed in the PVR manual, a little disappointing about the DVB-S vs DVB-T tuner recordings but, like you say, this is a basic box.

jackbauer

probably due to the fact that it uses the same hardware for decoding dvb-t and s. Does anyone know if it will correctly display ntsc sat channels and do proper frame rate conversion?

gtg60

jackbauer wrote: »

Does anyone know if it will correctly display ntsc sat channels and do proper frame rate conversion?

Quoting from the specifications in the manual it states:
Frame Rate 25Hz for PAL, 30Hz for NTSC

jackbauer

that sounds good. If anyone has this on a motorised dish could you please check it will correctly display MSNBC on telstar 12 at 15w on hdmi. Its an fta channel.

gtg60

jackbauer wrote: »

could you please check it will correctly display MSNBC on telstar 12 at 15w on hdmi.

I assume you would want to disply it in it's native 480i over HDMI?

As the manual only states the following:
Video Resolution 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i

But that doesn't mean it won't do it either, we will just have to wait and see once somebody tries it.

jackbauer

yep 480i is what i need. My technomate 6900 cant handle it and they don't seem interested in solving the problem. Probably cos its not a porn channel:D

watty

The TV *AND* the setbox both need to be able to manage it.

Since it is very poor quality low bit rate and low resolution, 480 rather than 576 lines, SCART is not distinguishable from HDMI for it.

All the FTA digital receivers ever I've tried and all my TV sets via SCART can do it. With RGB, if a crt TV can't do NTSC the only issue is height of the picture is off a bit. Actual NTSC support is only needed for Composite Video or RF.

jackbauer

thanks watty. I have a lidl fta box setup via scart and it works fine. The tv can handle it because it changes from pal to ntsc and the picture rolls a bit and sorts itself out. The 6900 reports 480i but seems to be trying to do a framerate conversion. Jumpy picture , sound breakup etc.

gtg60

jackbauer wrote: »

yep 480i is what i need.

How come you need it in 480i? Are you feeding it to a Scaler?

Ok, was typing this response when I saw your new post.

snaps

So is there a way for the 6900 to receive these NTSC Channels on Telstar? Because its driving me nuts? I output mine via HDMI?

jackbauer

snaps nice to hear i'm not the only one! I've tried everything. HDMI , component and scart all the same. The response from the shop where i bought it was a disgrace and technomate themselves have promised a software upgrade after at first denying the issue. Thats 6 months ago. Thats why i'm looking at the mvision if it can handle telstar i'll get it.

fat-tony

jackbauer wrote: »

probably due to the fact that it uses the same hardware for decoding dvb-t and s. Does anyone know if it will correctly display ntsc sat channels and do proper frame rate conversion?

My motorised setup is connected to a standard 22" CRT TV which is PAL/NTSC compatible. The Mvision displays the NTSC channels on 15W (NBC feeds and MSNBC) just fine and records and plays back perfectly from the external USB drive. The Superbowl previews looked just great on SCART RGB:) My Manhattan Plaza box with an internal drive is a bit iffy with the NTSC channels - the OSD is not displayed correctly and the hard drive doesn't always record correctly, but the Mvision is fine in this regard.
The only bad thing about the Mvision in a motorised setup is the poor user interface as regards satellite and transponder editing. There is no facility to delete redundant sats and the motor setup seems to work completely independently of the satellite / transponder config. It takes a bit of getting used to. There is an off-line PC editor which I'm playing around with, but that also has no facility to delete sats. It seems to have a fixed number which you rename to suit your own setup.

jackbauer

thanks for that tony. so you reckon its really only good for a fixed dish / terrestrial setup?

fat-tony

jackbauer wrote: »

thanks for that tony. so you reckon its really only good for a fixed dish / terrestrial setup?

I wouldn't go as far as that. It's just awkward - I'll get used to it. Normally, once you've got your sats and transponders set up initially, you don't tend to edit them that often - unless you're feedhunting - in which case you would be using a different receiver anyway.
I'll work away with the off-line editor with the sats and transponders and then it's just a matter of scanning in the channels.

gtg60

fat-tony wrote: »

The Mvision displays the NTSC channels on 15W (NBC feeds and MSNBC) just fine and records and plays back perfectly from the external USB drive.

So, does it display them at 480i through HDMI?

fat-tony

gtg60 wrote: »

So, does it display them at 480i through HDMI?

My motorised setup does not have a HDMI display - only CRT. If you can wait, I'll take the setup down to my living room tomorrow and check- ok?

gtg60

fat-tony wrote: »

My motorised setup does not have a HDMI display - only CRT. If you can wait, I'll take the setup down to my living room tomorrow and check- ok?

I'm just curious, don't worry about it, thanks though.

fat-tony

gtg60 wrote: »

So, does it display them at 480i through HDMI?

Ok - did a bit more experimentation with the box attached to my Panasonic plasma, while playing back stuff recorded from various channels.

With the box set to RGB colour space, you don't get any options as to HDMI output resolution (it's greyed out). You get 480i from NTSC material and it plays back fine without any jitters. You get 576i from PAL material. You can set the TV type to Auto or force NTSC or PAL. My set handles all combinations.

When set to YUV, you can set the output resolution to 576p, 720p or 1080i for PAL or to 480p, 720p or 1080i as you would expect. You can set the TV type to Auto also. Again, any combination works on my TV without jitters.

So - if your TV can only handle NTSC material at 480i (not 480p), then set the box to RGB and NTSC.

jackbauer

many thanks for that tony looks like the one for me so!

snaps

ive just had a phonecall regarding this receiver and receiving the canal + HD channels on 1west. I couldnt answer him as im not familaur with this box. Is there a problem with this receiver receiving the canal+ sport/film HD transponder on Thor 1 west (11.938 25000)??

jackbauer

i gather from fat tony's previous post that there is some issues with adding new transponders.

fat-tony

snaps wrote: »

ive just had a phonecall regarding this receiver and receiving the canal + HD channels on 1west. I couldnt answer him as im not familaur with this box. Is there a problem with this receiver receiving the canal+ sport/film HD transponder on Thor 1 west (11.938 25000)??

I just scanned in 1 W and that transponder is coming in 98% quality (it's snowing quite heavily here on the East coast at the moment). I don't use CAMs/cards so I can't get a picture, but the EPG is telling me there's a match (Sunderland) on at the mo' on the sports channel and Rush Hour 3 is on the film channel:)

fat-tony

jackbauer wrote: »

i gather from fat tony's previous post that there is some issues with adding new transponders.

Transponder adding/deleting/editing is not a problem. It's adding or deleting new sat positions that's awkward - like I said there's an off-line PC editor which you can use for it. It's the lack of attention to detail in the programming of the motor setup that gets me. I was on Astra 2, then I used the motor setup to move to Thor (1W) and fine-tuned the position and stored it in the motor. Then I scanned the transponders to check out the thing for snaps. When I exited the scan menu, the motor immediately started to move back to 28E, where I had been earlier:rolleyes: Then I had to hit the SAT button, select Thor again and then it started back to 1W.... just a little unfriendly!

jackbauer

ah i see. To be honest that has happened to me with the technomate 6900!

snaps

ok thanks guys. ill inform him, he must have settings wrong as he can get all the other HD channels apart from the canal+ ones!

Zonda999

My mvision combo finally came today lads:D
A week after ordering which wasnt too bad and its been well worth the wait. I have'nt had a good fiddle with it yet but i thought i'd give my first impressions.I got the smae shock as tony when i took first opened it. Theres no mention of "combo" at all on the manual and exterior of the box, but sure enough, it said combo on the box so no nasty surprises.

I was amazed at how small it is. It seems well built too. The remote is very good also, gives a reassuring feel in the hand. It outputted automatically at 1080i to my 40" samsung 1080p once turned on. First thing i did was update the firmware to the latest 3.11. This wasnt too hard(For a noob) but you have to do it twice as fat-tony explained. I then did a terrestrial search and sure enough, it tuned in the 4 Irish channels via DTT from Spur Hill. Getting 90% signal quality and they didnt look to bad on the 1080p screen either, i have to say

I have'nt connected it up to my sky dish yet but i will do this in the next couple of days.I cant wait to see the HD channels, in all their glory

I am a bit disappointed at how slowly it changes between the channels, despite the newest firmware. The sound changes straight away but you have to wait a couple of seconds for video to be displayed. I'm sure this is quicker on the satellite channels, though

Another thing that annoying me is the lipsync delay between the tv and my sony HT system(Which is connected to the mvision via optical). This is no fault of the mvision but i would like to have seen some options to deal with this.I'll have to go through the samsungs manual to try and find something to delay the video but i guess its no big deal

Have'nt tried the pvr functions either yet. I have no dedicated drive for this yet but i am going to try it with my 80gb ipod.

fat-tony

Good to know you got it ok. I must say I didn't notice any particular delay in switching between channels over and above that from any other sat box.

If you're getting a delay in the sound through the optical connection you should check your amplifier delay. There's no way the sound should be behind the video. It's normally the other way around! The reason why there's an audio delay setting in the amplifier is to compensate for the video processing delay in the Plasma/LCD panel. If you feed the sound directly (say via HDMI) to the TV and don't use the amp, then the TV automatically delays the sound so that it's in sync with the picture - although you lose the Dolby 5.1 surround that way!

Zonda999

fat-tony wrote: »

Good to know you got it ok. I must say I didn't notice any particular delay in switching between channels over and above that from any other sat box.

If you're getting a delay in the sound through the optical connection you should check your amplifier delay. There's no way the sound should be behind the video. It's normally the other way around! The reason why there's an audio delay setting in the amplifier is to compensate for the video processing delay in the Plasma/LCD panel. If you feed the sound directly (say via HDMI) to the TV and don't use the amp, then the TV automatically delays the sound so that it's in sync with the picture - although you lose the Dolby 5.1 surround that way!

Right, i had a go with the pvr functions using a 2gb flash drive last night and all seems to be going smoothly. I set it recording a half hour program and it recorded perfectly to the flash drive. That half hour took up nearly 1gb though, so i'll have to get an external hard drive. Put the flash drive into the pc and windows does'nt recognise the recording at all. It simply labels it as a "file" and it didnt play using media player or anything. Still have'nt hooked up the satellite dish yet so i cant say anything on HD recording as of yet

@ Fat-tony, it looks as if my sony HT system has no adjustment for sound delay(from the optical in port that i'm using). It is only a home theatre system(This model btw) after all, not an actual amplifier so i guess i'm snookered. Using the tvs speakers for now

Back on the pvr function, does any one know if the mvision would work with a usb powered hard drive?? As in, it wouldnt limit power from the usb port?? One like this for example

jackbauer

cant comment on the mvision but my technomate 6900 works with a 80gb usb powered hdd no problem. same thing with the recorded files i use videoredo to make em into dvds.

STB

The reason it just comes up with "file" is because that type file extension is not associated with any application in windows.

F2 - rename file to .ts (thats all they are - transport streams)

Plenty of apps if you wanna convert to other format.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=58794744&postcount=2

If you dont want to convert them and just be able to view them on your pc then use VLC.

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

zanardi

There's 3.18 firmware here:

http://www.mvision.tv/descarga/serieHD/HD200C_0318.zip

Has a few bug fixes, might sort out the sync your problems. Changing to mpeg4 channels takes longer than the mpeg2 ones.

fat-tony

I'm using the 3.18 firmware also. Though I thought this was for more stable PVR operation, rather than any fix of the sound sync. I must say I hadn't noticed a sync problem particularly.

The structure of the files output from the Mvision seems to cause problems for most players. The only one I've had success with is KMplayer - you can google for it. This is quite a nice player - will play almost anything. The files from the Mvision have no file suffix - you can stick a ".mpg" or ".ts" on the end and associate this file type with KMplayer. The files don't seem to be in the standard mpeg transport stream (.TS) format used by other machines, which is why VLC won't play them.

Have you tried BBCHD or Luxe HD (or the occasional ITV HD) wth your USB stick? Mine wouldn't handle the bit rate (mustn't be USB-2 compliant).

I use a fairly old 120GB external IDE drive in a USB enclosure and it's fine for SD and HD recording. Mind you, my PC struggles badly with HD material. Am going to try with a higher spec. graphics card.

fat-tony

Zonda999 wrote: »

Back on the pvr function, does any one know if the mvision would work with a usb powered hard drive?? As in, it wouldnt limit power from the usb port?? One like this for example

Zonda - I'm using a powered USB caddy (it's a 3.5" IDE drive). I'm not sure if the mvision would be able to supply enough power on the USB cable to run a 2.5" drive like the one you've highlighted.
Did you use the little USB extension cable supplied with the box? Mine wouldn't work - then I discovered it had an internal short-circuit:eek:

Zonda999

jackbauer wrote: »

cant comment on the mvision but my technomate 6900 works with a 80gb usb powered hdd no problem. same thing with the recorded files i use videoredo to make em into dvds.

Thanks Jack. I might email mvision themselves about this

STB wrote: »

The reason it just comes up with "file" is because that type file extension is not associated with any application in windows.

F2 - rename file to .ts (thats all they are - transport streams)

Plenty of apps if you wanna convert to other format.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=58794744&postcount=2

If you dont want to convert them and just be able to view them on your pc then use VLC.

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Thanks STB, i'll give that a try

zanardi wrote: »

There's 3.18 firmware here:

http://www.mvision.tv/descarga/serieHD/HD200C_0318.zip

Has a few bug fixes, might sort out the sync your problems. Changing to mpeg4 channels takes longer than the mpeg2 ones.

Has this only just been released?? I downloaded 3.11 yesterday and i though that was the most recent then. Will update mine with 3.18 later

fat-tony wrote: »

I'm using the 3.18 firmware also. Though I thought this was for more stable PVR operation, rather than any fix of the sound sync. I must say I hadn't noticed a sync problem particularly.

The structure of the files output from the Mvision seems to cause problems for most players. The only one I've had success with is KMplayer - you can google for it. This is quite a nice player - will play almost anything. The files from the Mvision have no file suffix - you can stick a ".mpg" or ".ts" on the end and associate this file type with KMplayer. The files don't seem to be in the standard mpeg transport stream (.TS) format used by other machines, which is why VLC won't play them.

Have you tried BBCHD or Luxe HD (or the occasional ITV HD) wth your USB stick? Mine wouldn't handle the bit rate (mustn't be USB-2 compliant).

I use a fairly old 120GB external IDE drive in a USB enclosure and it's fine for SD and HD recording. Mind you, my PC struggles badly with HD material. Am going to try with a higher spec. graphics card.

fat-tony wrote: »

Zonda - I'm using a powered USB caddy (it's a 3.5" IDE drive). I'm not sure if the mvision would be able to supply enough power on the USB cable to run a 2.5" drive like the one you've highlighted.
Did you use the little USB extension cable supplied with the box? Mine wouldn't work - then I discovered it had an internal short-circuit:eek:

Am still to hook up the satellite dish to the mvision yet so i'm restricted to the terrestrial channels for now

I really do hope the mvision can power 2.5" HD. As i said above, i might email mvision and see what they say. I'm not into this but i though a usb 2.0 port was a usb 2.0 port at the end of the day

Will try KMplayer later too

Funny you should mention about the usb extension lead. I plugged mine into the back straight away and i though my usb port was f**ked. I plugged in the flash drive directly and it then worked. i then tried the extension cord with my pc and no joy either so i guess ours came from the same batch!

fat-tony

Obviously a bad batch of USB extenders - I cut mine up and binned it!
The issue with USB ports is the current draw on the 5V connector. It's obviously enough to power a USB stick or a mouse, but there may not be enough to power a disk drive. Some ports are ok - others not.

gtg60

Ok, here's an idea relating to the PVR hard drive storage and usage.

Suppose I have one of those NAS hard drive caddys and connect the Mvision direct via USB, then I connect it to my network, would all my PC's on the network be able to access the data on the hard drive and play it?

Do you see my idea? Wouldn't this be VERY useful?

In theory this should work, right? But what about files that are currently being written to? Again in theory this should also work.

Actually, couldn't I, for example, convert a DVD to a .TS file and store it on the hard drive and be able to play it on the Mvision??

Just thinking aloud now but wouln't that be interesting...

byte

Some of the USB/NAS drives I have looked at cannot be used as a USB drive and NAS simultaneously. Maybe there are some out there that can though, possibly at the upper end of the market.

gtg60

byte wrote: »

Some of the USB/NAS drives I have looked at cannot be used as a USB drive and NAS simultaneously. Maybe there are some out there that can though, possibly at the upper end of the market.

Thanks for the input, pity it mighn't work the way I wanted

Still think it would be a great feature if I could get it to work, more research methinks

kiki

Received my HD200 Combo unit at the weekend - and got it working. Took a while to figure out how to get output from 576p to 1080i (TV is 1080p). Whatched the wales game on BBCHD - WOW fantastic picure quality - Hadnt seen HD before and now very impressed. TUned in DTT - I live Co Louth, 5 km South of Dundalk - picture 100% on DTT- a big improvement on RTE1 over the analog signal I get from same aerial.

Couple of things I noticed or have questions on.

1. The Info on the Channel shows a signal for "HD" on RTE1,RTE2,TV3 and TG4 - but I dont think they are in HD - why is that ? The info also shows a "$" symbol normally used for encrypted signals - dont think it is encrypted ?

2. EPG works for DTT signals for whole week - on the Satellite Dishes, It shows on current and next programmes and then only fills in the blanks as you change to that chanel on the SAT. Where does this information come from ? Is it in the transmission data on one or more SAT channels or how does box get it ? Can the SAT list be updated via one SAT channel only ?

3. Changing channels on DTT seems slower than on the SAT - can take 1.5 seconds before picture appears on DTT - about .5 seconds on SAT.

4. HDMI cable - none was supplied with box - the price to buy these things is huge - Is this just the celtic tiger prices ? Why so much for a cable ?

5. had to switch output type from RGB (I think) to get HD in anythinks more than 576p - Should I use the output in 576p, 736p or 1080i (TV is Sharp 46" 1080P). Which is best let the box do upscaling or let the TV figure it out ?

gtg60

Firstly, I am still awaiting delivery of mine (should be here today, c'mon postie!)

kiki wrote: »

1. The Info on the Channel shows a signal for "HD" on RTE1,RTE2,TV3 and TG4 - but I dont think they are in HD - why is that ? The info also shows a "$" symbol normally used for encrypted signals - dont think it is encrypted ?

I would speculate that because the transmission is in MPEG4 (which is only used for HD on sat) then the box 'thinks' it is in HD

kiki wrote: »

2. EPG works for DTT signals for whole week - on the Satellite Dishes, It shows on current and next programmes and then only fills in the blanks as you change to that chanel on the SAT. Where does this information come from ? Is it in the transmission data on one or more SAT channels or how does box get it ? Can the SAT list be updated via one SAT channel only ?

This is pretty much normal, if you are used to Sky then this is a big change all right.

kiki wrote: »

3. Changing channels on DTT seems slower than on the SAT - can take 1.5 seconds before picture appears on DTT - about .5 seconds on SAT.
?

Apparently there is a non genuine firmware that is supposed to be faster at channels changes but I have no experience of it

kiki wrote: »

4. HDMI cable - none was supplied with box - the price to buy these things is huge - Is this just the celtic tiger prices ? Why so much for a cable ?
?

Which, the Mvision is expensive or the HDMI cable is?
Because just over 200 Euro for a combined DTT and FTA HD sat receiver ISN'T expensive IMHO

kiki wrote: »

5. had to switch output type from RGB (I think) to get HD in anythinks more than 576p - Should I use the output in 576p, 736p or 1080i (TV is Sharp 46" 1080P). Which is best let the box do upscaling or let the TV figure it out ?

Not 100% what you mean but you'll problably have to leave it in 1080i to allow you to watch the HD channels anyway.

kiki

Cable price for HDMI seem large - box price is good. cable was over 50 EUR !

The question re 1080i is based on idea that BBC HD is not 1080 as far as i know so why use 1080i when perhaps a slightly lower res setting in Progressive may allow for more information to TV per scan - then just allow the TV to upscale 720p to 1080 does this make sense or is my thinking off ?

Also I have found the files for firmware update - is there a programme to download it ? and where is that ?

Unooffical firmware - hmmmmm. extra feaures perhaps ? where and what ?

slegs

kiki wrote: »

Cable price for HDMI seem large - box price is good. cable was over 50 EUR !

The question re 1080i is based on idea that BBC HD is not 1080 as far as i know so why use 1080i when perhaps a slightly lower res setting in Progressive may allow for more information to TV per scan - then just allow the TV to upscale 720p to 1080 does this make sense or is my thinking off ?

Also I have found the files for firmware update - is there a programme to download it ? and where is that ?

Unooffical firmware - hmmmmm. extra feaures perhaps ? where and what ?

You got screwed on the HDMI cable. You can buy top quality HDMI cables on eBay for around 10eur

gtg60

kiki wrote: »

Cable price for HDMI seem large - box price is good. cable was over 50 EUR !

Argh, don't tell me you went somewhere like DID for it, you can get HDMI cables for less than a tenner in Argos, Powercity or the like.

kiki wrote: »

The question re 1080i is based on idea that BBC HD is not 1080 as far as i know so why use 1080i when perhaps a slightly lower res setting in Progressive may allow for more information to TV per scan - then just allow the TV to upscale 720p to 1080 does this make sense or is my thinking off ?

No, I see where you're coming from. First off BBC HD is in 1080i and you are best feeding this signal direct to your TV as 1080i and you are right, feeding your TV a 576 signal will probably result in your TV producing a better picture, is there an 'Auto' choice in Output resolution?

kiki wrote: »

Also I have found the files for firmware update - is there a programme to download it ? and where is that ?

Unooffical firmware - hmmmmm. extra feaures perhaps ? where and what ?

You just put it on a USB stick and follow on screen instructions.
Unofficial firmware usually includes something called a softcam and if you've only got your Mvision connected to a Sky dish then it's of no use anyway.
Just get the latest genuine firmware to enable PVR and stick with that until somebody else (me) tests the non genuine one to see if there's an improvement.