Saorview Connect

Sam Russell · 17-10-2018 07:30PM

Tony wrote: »

I'm a salesman and I do not think that way. Sorry for off topic guys

Tony, I am sure you do not sell overpriced goods and do not attempt to upsell other overpriced goods that might relate to the sale. You always come across as very professional.

I am refering to the selling of waranty extensions of an extra year (but sounding like two years) at a cost of 20% of the sale price or the expensive cables you do not need.

Tigerandahalf · 17-10-2018 07:39PM

I was talking to the user THHB on another thread about the Connect box having a 2.0 usb. This probably means that recordings at one time will be limited in number as usb 2.0 could only accomodate upto 2 HD channels at a time. This is a limitation of having an external drive.

Given that one will need timeshift functions on the channel you are watching this could mean recording is limited to one HD channel or perhaps 2 if timeshift is not in use (a channel not being watched).

I think Saorview in designing the tender had very low expectations of what the box needed to offer.

In truth recordings are not a huge deal to me anyway. Having a player (with very little or short ads) in HD is much more important.

Tony · 17-10-2018 07:47PM

Fair enough Sam

Sam Russell wrote: »

Tony, I am sure you do not sell overpriced goods and do not attempt to upsell other overpriced goods that might relate to the sale. You always come across as very professional.

I am refering to the selling of waranty extensions of an extra year (but sounding like two years) at a cost of 20% of the sale price or the expensive cables you do not need.

tsue921i8wljb3 · 17-10-2018 07:49PM

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

I was talking to the user THHB on another thread about the Connect box having a 2.0 usb. This probably means that recordings at one time will be limited in number as usb 2.0 could only accomodate upto 2 HD channels at a time. This is a limitation of having an external drive.

I think Saorview in designing the tender had very low expectations of what the box needed to offer.

In truth recordings are not a huge deal to me anyway. Having a player (with very little or short ads) in HD is much more important.

USB 2.0 has a theoretical speed of 480 Mbps which would accommodate 48 - 60 HD channels. Obviously you won't get that in real world applications but the limit would be far greater than two.

Tigerandahalf · 17-10-2018 07:59PM

Lincoln Important Syllable wrote: »

USB 2.0 has a theoretical speed of 480 Mbps which would accommodate 48 - 60 HD channels. Obviously you won't get that in real world applications but the limit would be far greater than two.

But that doesn't work out in reality. Best case is 480 Mbps. I'll leave it to the other user to explain better as he knows a lot more than me.

Take it anyway, you won't be recording more than 2 hd channels at a time.

I just checked the humax 1100s specs and it also has a usb 2.0. I wonder how many channels it can record at once. I wonder is the cpu an issue.

I gave a quick check there at the humax specs and it seems to be limited to recording 2 channels as well. I do wonder if it could record more channels on the same transponder.

tsue921i8wljb3 · 17-10-2018 08:02PM

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

But that doesn't work out in reality. Best case is 480 Mbps. I'll leave it to the other user to explain better as he knows a lot more than me.

Take it anyway, you won't be recording more than 2 hd channels at a time.

Two HD channels are probably max 20 Mbps so USB 2.0 won't be the limiting factor if there is one.

You completely misunderstood what he said so I don't need it explained. Thanks for the suggestion though.

STB. · 17-10-2018 08:10PM

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

I was talking to the user THHB on another thread about the Connect box having a 2.0 usb. This probably means that recordings at one time will be limited in number as usb 2.0 could only accomodate upto 2 HD channels at a time. This is a limitation of having an external drive.

Given that one will need timeshift functions on the channel you are watching this could mean recording is limited to one HD channel or perhaps 2 if timeshift is not in use (a channel not being watched).

I think Saorview in designing the tender had very low expectations of what the box needed to offer.

In truth recordings are not a huge deal to me anyway. Having a player (with very little or short ads) in HD is much more important.

The system memory is 1 gig of DDR3. Had it been any lower, recording or timeshifting might not have worked at all.

The SOC on these is an ALi M3733 dual core Cortex A9 processor with a dual core Mali-400 GPU as used on the GoWarrior Tiger Development boards.

The high horse brigade · 17-10-2018 08:37PM

I think you'll find I said the Connect needs to be decent hardware with a fast enough CPU and enough ram to handle 2 or more 1080i writes to a usb drive.

thatwilldopig · 18-10-2018 11:55AM

patsryan wrote: »

In other news did anyone get access to the beta?

Nope..

Treviso · 18-10-2018 02:57PM

Got an email from them this afternoon to say I was included in the testing. Just needed to reply to them with the serial number of my device.

corm500 · 18-10-2018 03:36PM

Yep. I am included in the Beta test.

BowWow · 18-10-2018 05:31PM

Treviso wrote: »

Got an email from them this afternoon to say I was included in the testing. Just needed to reply to them with the serial number of my device.

corm500 wrote: »

Yep. I am included in the Beta test.

So you have to purchase a box to be part of their Beta test? I always thought that if testing a product for a company, that the company would supply the product to you. (I was supplied with a DTT box when doing the original DTT testing for RTE.)

fman · 18-10-2018 05:43PM

Lol this is RTE. You pay us for the box and you do the unpaid testing of it for us.

corm500 · 19-10-2018 04:15PM

Biggie for me.....No Rewind from live TV!!!!:cool:(

SETUP:

In addition to an aerial connection and broadband connection for your Saorview Connect box, you will need a USB 3 storage device with a minimum capacity of 64GB. Devices with larger capacity can be used to allow increased storage time. Please do not connect the USB device yet. Note that some SSD devices may not be recognised by the device due to their unique ExFAT formatting. If using an such an SSD, please reformat it using your PC before inserting onto the USB socket of your Saorview Connect box.

When you switch on your Saorview Connect box, you may see an on screen prompt to advise you of an upgrade. If so, please follow the on screen instructions to download the upgrade.

If the prompt does not appear, please click Home >settings>System settings>Software upgrade>check for online software update. You will see a prompt to advise that the box will update to the new software version. The version number is 20.9.

Do not remove power or press any key until the download is complete.

NOTE - the new software will erase your existing channel list. This is necessary in order to activate the recording tuner.

Please complete the installation process. You will note that nothing has changed in the HOME menu, this is normal at this stage.

Connect the USB storage device to the USB socket at the rear of the Saorview Connect box. You will see an on screen prompt asking if you wish to format it. NOTE - formatting will erase all previous data on the storage device, so please ensure that your drive does not contain any important files or they will be lost.

Once formatting is complete, press the HOME menu again. You will see an additional 'Recordings' tab in the left hand menu.

NOTE - If for any reason you need to remove the USB storage device, or to disconnect the box from the power outlet, please go to Home>Settings>REC>Manage storage>Safely remove

NOTE - if you receive additional channels via satellite, you will need to connect cables from your satellite LNB to both SAT1 and SAT2 inputs at the rear of the box, in order to fully utilise the recording features.

FEATURES:

The Beta software update adds the following features:

Pause live TV - pause TV until you are ready to resume viewing in either Saorview or satellite modes.
Record one channel while watching another - you can record either a Saorview or satellite programme while watching another Saorview or satellite channel.

Series Link on Saorview.
Timer recording on Saorview and satellite.

Set a recording from the Guide.
Record from Search or Spotlight.

Recording clash warnings.

Playback previously recorded content while recording a TV programme.

Recording system controls in Home >settings>REC

Set automatic padding time before or after a recording
Set Auto delete feature for when the drive is nearly full
Manage storage - see remaining storage capacity, format a drive, safely remove a drive.

Recording menu -

Access Recordings menu from HOME menu or from RECORDINGS button on remote control
View lists of most recent recordings,
Recording listings by A-Z
High definition recordings
Planned recordings list (from which you can set a timer recording)
Series recordings listing
Still to watch
Kept recordings*
Deleting soon*
*the box can be set to automatically delete recordings when the drive is nearly full. You can view recordings that will delete soon, and you can mark a recording as 'Kept' meaning that it will not be automatically deleted.

Limitations:

Pause live TV takes up the recording tuner, so if you try to access this feature during a recording, a clash warning will appear.
No 'rewind live tv' buffer; you can view paused content and rewind back to the pause point but not beyond it.
Recording more than one programme at a time is not possible.
Recording of On Demand Players is not possible
Recording of Roll Back EPG content is not possible.

Known bugs in this release (we're working on a fix for these before the public launch):

Setting a reminder for a programme blocks future recording of that programme
Reminder not cancelling until event starts
Sound 'stutters' when HD paused content is restarted
When satellite channels are tuned in for the first time, you may not hear sound. To get sound back, go to Home > Settings, Picture and Sound > and change Audio Type to Stereo.
Series recordings not listing within the Recordings menu (although series recordings are working)
Bug setting some sequential recordings on satellite
Unexpected removal of power or USB storage device from box during recording can make operation unstable.
Random reboot when changing from satellite to Saorview

Tigerandahalf · 19-10-2018 06:16PM

Software update is available for those on the beta trial.

Tigerandahalf · 19-10-2018 06:57PM

STB. wrote: »

The system memory is 1 gig of DDR3. Had it been any lower, recording or timeshifting might not have worked at all.

The SOC on these is an ALi M3733 dual core Cortex A9 processor with a dual core Mali-400 GPU as used on the GoWarrior Tiger Development boards.

Just on this again.
The ram on the humax 1100s is the exact same as this box.

I would presume freesat would have informed saorview of what specs the Connect box needed in order to operate the metaphor software to its potential.

The only difference that stands out is that the hard drive is external and usb connected. This must be a big issue for the box.

Note the mention above of 'recording tuner'. Is one of the tuners solely for recording? The other tuner is used for viewing?

corm500 · 19-10-2018 07:42PM

Ok having downloaded the software the box has updated and is now recording. Very easy to use if you are used to the Freesat interface. A scroll through the TV guide allows you to set up future recordings and series link at the touch of a button. Live tv pause works ok but the picture is slightly pixelated when paused. There is no rewind feature from live tv which is a pity as I use it all of the time on Freesat. Both Saorview and satellite recordings appear in the same my recordings section. If what you are recording from satellite is a now or next recording then the name of the programme shows.
Very happy, apart from the lack of live rewind

corm500 · 19-10-2018 07:47PM

Just to add, the Saorview remote is far superior to the Humax Freesat one

Tigerandahalf · 19-10-2018 08:05PM

corm500 wrote: »

Ok having downloaded the software the box has updated and is now recording. Very easy to use if you are used to the Freesat interface. A scroll through the TV guide allows you to set up future recordings and series link at the touch of a button. Live tv pause works ok but the picture is slightly pixelated when paused. There is no rewind feature from live tv which is a pity as I use it all of the time on Freesat. Both Saorview and satellite recordings appear in the same my recordings section. If what you are recording from satellite is a now or next recording then the name of the programme shows.
Very happy, apart from the lack of live rewind

The lack of 'rewind live tv' is crazy for me. Again it points to one tuner being used to watch tv and not being able to use it for recording to the hard drive (needed to rewind live tv). The other tuner then is for recording. It seems a strange setup.

Something has clearly gone wrong in this project and we now have a sub standard product.

My saorview app hasn't updated to do remote recordings. I presume this won't arrive until they update the app.

Very disappointed.

Ten Pin · 19-10-2018 08:16PM

So it works as a 2 tuner box with just one recording at a time or can it record 2 channels at once? ie can it record 2 Saorview at once?

Tigerandahalf · 19-10-2018 08:23PM

Ten Pin wrote: »

So it works as a 2 tuner box with just one recording at a time or can it record 2 channels at once? ie can it record 2 Saorview at once?

No

thatwilldopig · 19-10-2018 08:35PM

With the beta.... Can you set a reminder on a Satellite channel now? If you have a reminder set on Saorview and watching Satellite will it alert you?

Tigerandahalf · 19-10-2018 09:18PM

Sam Russell wrote: »

The box has two identical tuners, controlled by software. If recording is not enabled, then neither is the second tuner.

Each tuner can be DVB-T2 or DVB-S2, and is set by software. It follows, that the first tuner is used for viewing or recording, while the second is used for recording.

I pointed this out quite some time ago.

It looks like you were in the know Sam!

FRIENDO · 20-10-2018 11:54AM

Just wondering if anybody is using this box with Saorsat, it's advertised as Saorsat approved, thanks

Tigerandahalf · 20-10-2018 12:20PM

Just a note - the tg4 player will be out of use for trial users for the next while. You will see 'coming soon' on it.

patsryan · 20-10-2018 06:02PM

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Just a note - the tg4 player will be out of use for trial users for the next while. You will see 'coming soon' on it.

According to Saorview this was a technical issue on their backend and Should be corrected within a few days.

corm500 · 20-10-2018 06:57PM

No internet connectivity on it for me tonight, even though it says wireless strength is excellent

Tigerandahalf · 20-10-2018 08:15PM

corm500 wrote: »

No internet connectivity on it for me tonight, even though it says wireless strength is excellent

The wifi was an issue for me at an early stage.
I ended up using homeplugs to provide an ethernet connection. No problems since.

A long list of bugs.

Tigerandahalf · 20-10-2018 10:01PM

For those running the Connect box with a Humax Freesat box -

I played around with recordings on the Connect box this evening. I am using the Connect remote for both.

If I press the Recordings button on the remote it goes into that section on both boxes. If I set a recording on saorview it also sets a recording on the freesat box. Similar if you delete a recording.

However, if you go into Recordings through the Home button on the remote and then scroll to recordings, the order is different on both boxes. So possible to set/delete recordings without affecting the other. Granted not ideal.

Once the saorview app is updated with recordings setting, one will be able to set recordings on the apps so you won't have overlap issues. I don't think the apps will allow you to delete recordings though but you could always switch off one of the boxes while deleting recordings.

For me I think I will keep using the single remote to control both boxes. Able to record on both boxes now and full 7 day epg with series link. Access to players on both boxes too.

Edit: you can now delete recordings on the freesat app so likely the same will come to the saorview app. It makes it easier to use the 1 remote.

Actually the apps can also be used to turn on/off the box.

Rosser · 21-10-2018 04:47PM

Sorry dumb question but are you using both boxes to get a 7 day epg on Freesat? I’m presuming the new software still just gives ‘now & next’ for the Sat channels are there are no plans to develop this?

I’m going to drop Virgin tv so for anyone with experience of both would you recommend Saorview box over a Tiviar?

Saorview Connect

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