Tech
Digital Spy presents an in-depth look at the box powering Top Up TV's new Anytime service.
The Thomson-manufactured box is designed to be a "best in breed" Freeview DVR in addition to its role as the centre of Top Up TV's new cache-based pay TV service.
It sports two separate tuners (because "there is less channel interference between the tuners," explained Top Up's chief technical officer) and a 160GB hard drive. Outputs on the back of the box include two SCART sockets, S-Video, phono connectors for audio, and a digital out. A USB port is also included "for future use" but there is no modem or other network connectivity built into the box for call-back.
The system uses the MediaGuard II (Nagra) with SECA 2.5 for over the air encryption. The data stream is decrypted before being written to disk. All the recordings are then DES-encrypted before being written to disk. Once on disk, therefore, there is no connection to the Top Up TV subscription.
The Anytime service needs to download around 100hrs of programming to the disk, leaving about 20 hrs for the user. The system allows you to select the channels from which to download content, potentially enabling users to save space by turning off downloads from channels they are not interested in. The partition is entirely virtual allowing the user to personalise their use of the space. Programmes may also be moved out of the Anytime cache and into the main library, allowing downloaded programmes to be saved for longer.
The user library screen lists recorded programmes and the ones available from the Anytime library. The user library also shows a video window to permit programme preview.
Setup is entirely automated; once the box has configured itself, the help screen provides technical information. There are a number of remote codes to get more detailed information including one that shows the internal temperature and fan speed.
One of the interesting discussions was the role of MPEG4 and larger disks. Top Up TV's chief technical officer told DS that they would have liked to use MPEG4 but were prevented by a lack of suitable chips. Top Up also wanted to be able to easily bring more manufacturers on board at a later date.
Disk upgrades are a long-standing tradition among DVR owners and, although it will invalidate the warranty, the Anytime DVR is capable of handling a disk up to 500GB. However, unlike in Sky+ boxes, the hard drive caches EPG and other technical data so, post-upgrade, a user would need to use the help menu format and reset options. These are, of course, not actions that we would recommend or suggest.
The Anytime software is in final testing and should be released in the next couple of weeks.
The Thomson-manufactured box is designed to be a "best in breed" Freeview DVR in addition to its role as the centre of Top Up TV's new cache-based pay TV service.
It sports two separate tuners (because "there is less channel interference between the tuners," explained Top Up's chief technical officer) and a 160GB hard drive. Outputs on the back of the box include two SCART sockets, S-Video, phono connectors for audio, and a digital out. A USB port is also included "for future use" but there is no modem or other network connectivity built into the box for call-back.
The system uses the MediaGuard II (Nagra) with SECA 2.5 for over the air encryption. The data stream is decrypted before being written to disk. All the recordings are then DES-encrypted before being written to disk. Once on disk, therefore, there is no connection to the Top Up TV subscription.
The Anytime service needs to download around 100hrs of programming to the disk, leaving about 20 hrs for the user. The system allows you to select the channels from which to download content, potentially enabling users to save space by turning off downloads from channels they are not interested in. The partition is entirely virtual allowing the user to personalise their use of the space. Programmes may also be moved out of the Anytime cache and into the main library, allowing downloaded programmes to be saved for longer.
The user library screen lists recorded programmes and the ones available from the Anytime library. The user library also shows a video window to permit programme preview.
Setup is entirely automated; once the box has configured itself, the help screen provides technical information. There are a number of remote codes to get more detailed information including one that shows the internal temperature and fan speed.
One of the interesting discussions was the role of MPEG4 and larger disks. Top Up TV's chief technical officer told DS that they would have liked to use MPEG4 but were prevented by a lack of suitable chips. Top Up also wanted to be able to easily bring more manufacturers on board at a later date.
Disk upgrades are a long-standing tradition among DVR owners and, although it will invalidate the warranty, the Anytime DVR is capable of handling a disk up to 500GB. However, unlike in Sky+ boxes, the hard drive caches EPG and other technical data so, post-upgrade, a user would need to use the help menu format and reset options. These are, of course, not actions that we would recommend or suggest.
The Anytime software is in final testing and should be released in the next couple of weeks.
More: Tech, Terrestrial TV
Apple News
Microsoft, Cisco back Apple patent callsMicrosoft will not block rival products for infringing on "essential" patents.
Android News
Galaxy S II Android update due in March?Samsung is rumoured to be rolling out its Galaxy S II Android 4.0 update in March.
Satellite TV News
Premier League wins pub TV casePubs showing football on foreign satellite TV decoders 'in breach of copyright'.
Cable News
Virgin Media tops 1bn VOD views in 2011Coronation Street most popular for catch-up, Vampire Diaries more viewed series.
Freeview News
Olympics to bring record spectrum demandOfcom prepares the UK airwaves for the "biggest media event in history".
Video on Demand
Virgin Media tops 1bn VOD views in 2011Coronation Street most popular for catch-up, Vampire Diaries more viewed series.
