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TVonics DTR-HD500 December 2010
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Test freeview hd
n www.tvonics.com n £250 approx
TVonics DTR-HD500 TVonics’s first Freeview+ HD PVR has dramatic designer looks but is it just as classy on the inside? TVonics often errs on the adventurous side of receiver design and this is certainly true of its first Freeview+ HD PVR. Its unusual shape makes it a shame to squirrel it away on a shelf beneath the TV. Peer beyond the TVonics logo and purple-tinged black plastic casing and you can make out the components laid out inside, which include a 500GB hard drive. On the fascia sit recording and power LED indicators and a classy blue vacuum fluorescent display that can be set to show the channel and programme name in scrolling form or the time, or switched off altogether. Most connectors are confined to the rear, though a USB port appears on the right-hand side. There’s a UHF loopthrough, single TV Scart, and optical S/PDIF audio output. Also present are three HDMIs, one for your TV and two inputs which, while labelled ‘DVD Player’ and ‘games console’, can be used to attach pretty much any HDMI source – allowing the PVR to act as an HDMI hub (you’ll need to have it switched on for this, though). Data ports comprise Ethernet and a second USB port, the former unused, the latter (and its sibling) allowing for JPEG display with sideshows and software updates using external drives. The remote is functional and user-friendly, although some buttons such as record and library could be more prominent. Buttons are included for switching between each HDMI source and it can be used to control equipment from other manufacturers. The mainly green-and-black menus remain pretty much unchanged from recent TVonics models, especially the EPG. TV and radio channels are accessed from a main list but there’s no provision for favourites lists. The EPG is overlaid on the current programme with data for nine channels at a time in a timeline grid. This can be browsed page by page and in four or 24-hour chunks. Pressing Info reveals synopses. The information bar also displays data including synopses up to seven days in advance for the current
channel and others without needing to zap to them. Recordings can be instigated from the information bar, by hitting record when watching a channel, using a manual timer or from the EPG and you’re asked if you want to record a series. If broadcasters support it you can schedule a recording by pressing the green button when prompted by a trailer. You can record two channels while playing back a recording. You’re notified of clashes and given the option to record repeat showings. Recordings can be sorted by age, PIN-locked and playlisted. You can timeshift and the HD500 constantly caches what you watch (up to four hours) so you can rewind as you go. Pressing Record commits what you’re watching to the hard drive from the point you changed channel. For recordings and timeshifting, a progress bar shows where you are and you can fast-forward and rewind at three speeds up to 128x indicated by onscreen arrows. However, with timeshifting we regularly experienced brief jerkiness and sound dropouts after doing this. SD and HD shows can be upscaled to 1080p via HDMI and the receiver does a great job with SD, giving a discernible detail boost without looking too artificial. Native HD broadcasts look as good as we’ve seen on some of the better recent Freeview HD PVRs. The HD500 can transcode Freeview HD’s HE-AAC surround sound broadcasts to Dolby Digital and both this and stereo sound vibrant via the S/PDIF output n Grant Rennell
Verdict The design many be a turn-off for some, but there’s a lot to like in the HD500. It’s relatively inexpensive, performs well in general and is easy to operate. Yet, HDMI switching aside, it’s notably lacking in distinguishing bonus functionality – in particular more extensive media format support.
Features Freeview HD: Yes MHEG-5: Yes Common interface: No Teletext: Yes EPG support: 8-day DVB Upscaling: 576i/576p/720p/1080i/1080p UHF modulator tuning: None Hard drive: 500GB Timer: Unlimited Software upgrade: OTA/USB Data ports: 2x USB, Ethernet AV outputs: HD out: 1x HDMI out, 2x HDMI in SD out: 1x Scart (RGB, composite) Audio out: Optical S/PDIF Media formats: JPEG
Ratings PLUS
n Looks good n Great picture and sound n Easy to operate
Minus
n Design may not suit all setups n Minor timeshifting glitches n Limited bonus features
Build Setup Searching Performance Features Value
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80%