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Starview SV-9600HD CACI January 2011
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n www.starviewuk.co.uk n £179 (with free Red Hot TV card at time of writing)
Starview SV-9600HD CACI The Opposition Technomate TM-6900 HD Combo Super n More expensive, but you do get an additional DVB-T tuner. Multicam card reader, bind search and hassle-free USB recording, but no networked multimedia
There are a few sub-£200 DVB-S/S2-compliant receivers doing the rounds now. The SV-9600HD CACI, the lower-rung model of Starview’s current range, has two unusual features of note. First, it is capable of streaming multimedia content from a PC via your home network. Although this feature is available on a handful of top-notch units, it’s good to see it at the budget end of the HD market. Second, the 9600 supports Starview’s Easy Find LNBs (Wizard sells one for £8). These are equipped with an LED that indicates the status of the desired satellite, and can aid initial dish configuration. All of the usual HD receiver features are also supported; you get HDMI and component connectivity, full DiSEqC compatibility, PVR operation via USB storage devices, two CI slots and a card reader that works with an embedded programmable CAM.
Build and connectivity This midi-sized receiver is smart in appearance, although only the bare minimum of front-panel controls – volume, channel-change and standby – are incorporated. So don’t lose that solidly built and pleasant-to-handle remote, because it’s essential for all but these basic operations. Amidships is the fluorescent four-digit display, which indicates channel number (or the current time, when the box is in standby). To its right resides the card-reader, two CI slots and a convenient front-panel USB port. All of the latter are neatly hidden behind a flap, which can be closed unless a USB device is plugged in. Connectivity is largely as expected, the LNB input being complemented by a loopthrough output for other receivers. Hi-def video (up to 1080i) is available from both HDMI and component ports – it’s good to see the latter,
Interface
Micro M150 HD n This HD-capable receiver is portable, offers USB PVR capabilities and supports Easy Find LNBs, but lacks networking and multimedia playback. One CI slot only, and no card reader
Another single-tuner HD sat box with USB recording – but this one has an interesting extra
Barring the odd quirk, the menu system is well organised, offering many configuration options for TV watching, networking and media playback
All forms of DiSEqC switching and motorisation are catered for alongside the USALS system. Add an Easy Find LNB to make locking onto sats easier
Search options are comprehensive, with options to scan for a network, a transponder, or a blind search mode for which step size can be specified
Test satellite ‘A large switch-mode power supply will cope with the demands of driving a dish motor via DiSEqC’
which is fast-disappearing from other equipment. If you’ve run out of HDMI ports on your TV this is a useful substitute. As is usually the case with receivers of this type, you cannot have RGB Scart and hi-def HDMI or component active simultaneously – the choice is made via a menu option. In HD mode, though, a composite output is always available. Also welcome are both optical and coaxial digital audio outputs, a second USB port and an RS232 port for firmware upgrades (which can also be done via USB). Internal construction is busy but neat. A large switchmode power supply will cope with the demands of driving a dish motor via DiSEqC. Next to this is the main circuit board, which harbours the capable STi7101 ‘jungle chip’ responsible for most of the receiver’s functionality, plus a Samsung tuner and the two CI slots. A third board, meanwhile, is responsible for the card reader. Despite the lack of a cooling fan, the receiver runs cool in normal use.
Setup A no-nonsense battery of menus configures the receiver. On the left of the screen is a vertical column of five main categories. To the right of these is another five-strong column of sub-menus, the contents of which depend on which of the five main ones have been selected – simple but effective. The first main option, ‘installation’, looks after dish setup and searching. Basic fixed-dish installation is easy. Select your LNB type, the satellite you’re after, and – if desired – the currently tuned preset transponder. You can – in search – specify whether this transponder or the entire satellite should be scanned.
LNB loopthrough
Component output
Composite video and stereo analogue audio
TV and VCR Scarts
Optical digital audio output
Other options available here include free/all, network scan or – if you’re after everything or are working with a new satellite – blind scan. Here, you can change the step size from 2MHz to 10MHz. Reducing the step size increases search resolution, but at the expense of speed. In the installation menu the handset’s coloured buttons access related functions, such as the ability to add or edit transponders, manually specify PIDs or tell the receiver an ‘Easy Find’ LNB is being used. Channels that the receiver finds can subsequently be deleted, edited, moved or added to one of eight favourites lists with a ‘channel manager’. Moving to more complicated outdoor setups, simple four-satellite switch (1.0) and motorised (1.2/USALS) flavours of DiSEqC are covered by additional menus. All of the expected functions are here, including dish movement and limit-setting for DiSEqC 1.2. In all, the search functions are comprehensive – the only thing of note missing is an automatic multi-satellite search. Video output modes and aspect ratios, clock/time, parental control and PVR/USB settings (e.g. FAT32 drive formatting) are the province of the installation menu. All straightforward, although the digital audio outputs are configured – for reasons best known to Starview – in the sub menu that looks after onscreen graphics.
Tech Data FTA scan, Astra 1: 3m 43s 0
5 mins
FTA scan, Hot Bird: 4m 50s 0
5 mins
Full scan, Astra 1: 3m 36s 0
5 mins
Full scan, Hot Bird: 4m 53s 0
Basic use
5 mins
Blind search, Astra 1: 25m 28s
Channel lists for each satellite can be sorted by frequency, definition (standard or high), provider, encryption status or alphabetically. The blue key selects a neat ‘tab’ function related to the current sort mode. If you’ve sorted channels alphabetically, for example, a series of tabs shown on the left of the screen gives you an opportunity to list and select channels beginning with each letter. This isn’t perhaps as neat as the rival system that allows you to home in on a channel by entering the first few characters of its name. The EPG is a fairly simple ‘timeline’ affair that can display the schedules of up to six adjacent channels simultaneously. Above this information is live video from the currently selected channel, alongside a description of the programme currently highlighted in the guide. Now-and-next and seven-day schedules are both supported, as is the ability to program the seven-event timer directly (manual timer setting is also allowed).
Coaxial output
HDMI port
RS232 port
Ethernet port
USB port
0
30 mins
Blind search, Hot Bird: 17m 46s 0
30 mins
Power consumption: In use14W, standby 13W (no deep standby mode) Common interface supports: Viaccess, Irdeto, Nagravision, Conax, Cryptoworks, AlphaCrypt
Features No. LNB inputs: 1 LNB loopthrough: Yes DiSEqC: 1.0/1.1/1.2/USALS No. channels: 8,000 radio and TV Selectable FEC: Yes Symbol rate: 1-45Ms/s (DVB-S); 10-30Ms/s (DVB-S2) Blind search: Yes Linux: No CAM: 1 card slot; emulation possible Common interface: 2 Teletext: DVB decoded EPG: DVB now-and-next and 7-day Timer: 7-event Hard drive: None; can add storage via USB UHF modulator tuning: N/A Software upgrade: USB or RS232 Data ports: Ethernet, USB (two, one of which is front-panel), RS232. SD out: TV Scart (composite/RGB), VCR (composite), composite, component HD out: HDMI, component Audio out: Optical/coaxial digital audio, HDMI (Dolby Digital bit stream-compatible)
Test satellite subdirectories, and thus your attempts to organise media, are ignored. So too are .mkv files. If you rename the latter with an .avi extension, they’re recognised but any attempt to play them rewards you with a ‘this format will be supported later’ message. Transport-stream recordings, such as those made with DVB Viewer on a PC and compatible digital tuner, will play if they’re bestowed with a .mpg extension. Unfortunately, cue/review doesn’t work – and neither subtitles nor alternative soundtracks can be selected. This is a pity, considering that the hardware is obviously capable. The cue/review functions don’t work for (standard-definition) DivX/XviD files either; the only ‘trick play’ function available is still/pause. That you can play them at all is, nevertheless, an impressive ‘bolt-on’ for what is an inexpensive unit. As an added bonus MP3 audio and hi-res JPEG still images can also be enjoyed. Compatible multimedia content can also be loaded via USB. The 9600 is on its way to becoming a fully fledged network multimedia player, provided that Starview can go the extra couple of feet. A front flap conceals two CIs and a card slot
Ratings PLUS
Other standard features include teletext, and buttons dedicated to soundtrack and subtitle selection. This receiver may lack the mosaic or picture-in-picture facilities of some, but the zoom is quite powerful. You can define not only the magnification, but also the position – a white square in a box denotes the area currently being viewed. There is also a game (Tetris) and a calendar.
n Fast scanning, effective blind
PVR and multimedia
n Networked multimedia n Good performance from HD
Plug a USB storage device into the 9600 and you can schedule recordings, timeshift (pausing live TV) and manually record. What’s also cool is that you can view and record different channels, provided that both are on the same transponder. Less cool is that the receiver is very finicky about USB devices. Only a few of our portable HDDs and flash drives would work successfully. We recommend buying one that’s guaranteed to work from the receiver supplier. To be fair, the manual suggests that not all USB flash drives are compatible. Rather more positively, recordings (transport streams with a .trp extension) can easily be transported to a PC for editing and authoring to DVD or conversion to DivX, etc. The last contents of the timeshift buffer are also available. Homeshare is an interesting feature that allows you to stream certain types of multimedia file from a PC over the network. A simple program downloadable from the Starview website, this gives you the opportunity to specify the directory in which your candidates for streaming are stored. Unfortunately, this server software only recognises files in the directory’s ‘root’; any
search
and SD channels
Minus
n Very fussy about USB devices n Not energy-efficient in standby n Multimedia playback could be
more flexible
Build Setup Searching Navigation Performance Features Value
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Key to a receiver’s capabilities is its core chipset, and the STi7101 forms the basis of other well-liked receivers and PVRs. So it should come as no shock to learn that the picture and sound quality available from the 9600 is very good indeed – especially if you’re watching HD channels via HDMI. The only caveat with the latter is that some HD channels were displayed with unwanted bars and a squeezed aspect ratio. Setting the control panel’s ‘screen control’ menu option to ‘ignore’ can mercifully solve this. SD channels of a high technical standard also look good, even when upscaled to HD. Scanning speeds are reasonably fast, and blind scan – even with the default 8MHz setting – found more channels on the key satellites than regular full scans, although this discovery could also point to transponder databases that need updating n Martin Pipe
Verdict This basic HD receiver is capable of a high standard of performance, although the unpredictable USB device capability is a downside if you plan to harness those worthwhile PVR capabilities. Our advice is to stock up with devices that are known to work; USB flash memory is cheap enough nowadays. We sincerely hope that Starview makes the most of the networked multimedia playback, as this feature more than anything else distinguishes the SV-9600HD CACI from its immediate rivals.
Interface
83%
Performance
The EPG follows the tried and tested ‘timeline’ design. Showing data for six channels at a time, it can be used to schedule recordings
You can timeshift TV and record one channel while watching another if on the same transponder, but the receiver doesn’t work with all USB drives
Networked media playback is welcome but control is limited and playing some files proved tricky. We hope that a software update will fix this