1478 replies to this topic

[Tassie Devil]

CarlR, on Jul 14 2011, 12:42 PM, said:

Thanks John and Tober for your info.

Do either of you know if the Network port can be used to export recordings to a computer? The specs say that you can Export recordings via USB   ...but exporting recordings via USB could mean only to an external drive, not to a computer, which then means more handling to get it to a computer.

Does anyone know what format the files will be in? I have read the specs, but I'm not clear on the storage container/format. I guess I'm asking will I be able to play it on a regular media player and/or my Topfield TRF2400?

Carl

Topber might be able to answer better but my understanding is that you can export files to another HDD, a memory stick or to a PC BUT I've no idea of the file format.

I suggest you call Alex at Jumblejumble on 1300 119 915 and he might know.  Nice guy and easy to talk to.

John

[Inego]

John

My dad has been looking at a cheaper PVR and had been leaning towards a Toppro which, form my discussions about his needs, appears fine. From what you've seen so far, does the magic seem a reasonable alternative?

Kent

[Tassie Devil]

Inego, on Jul 14 2011, 01:34 PM, said:

John

My dad has been looking at a cheaper PVR and had been leaning towards a Toppro which, form my discussions about his needs, appears fine. From what you've seen so far, does the magic seem a reasonable alternative?

Kent

Just looked at the specs and, on paper it looks fine.  Only feature I could spot better than the Magic is the higher FF but it has only optical digital audio out (a non issue if using HDMI) and no s-video out (similarly a non issue if downloading to a DVDR is never likely).

Personally I would go for the Magic on price alone but there might be some nice features on the Toppro which make the extra cost worthwhile - owners can tell you more about that.

John

[Inego]

John - thanks!

Dad's connection will be direct to the TV via HDMI, and I can't really see any reason for using s-video. He only has a VCR and older DVD connected atm. His 1yo Sony LCD must have 2-3 HDMI ports. I've looked at the Toppro specs, and can't see any must-haves that the magic seems to miss. I tried to up-sell him to quad recoding, but he can't see the need.

I'll suggest the magic to him.

[Tober27]

Without checking, I don't recall what the file format was, but something probably unique to PVRs.
You can copy to an external drive, or USB stick, provided it's large enough.  File sizes are pretty big, several GB for a 1-hour show.

Playback is fine and smooth through VLC media player, which everyone should have.
As the files are so big, I'm sure there'd be a way to compress/convert them if you want to keep them on your PC (after you've copied them to your PC), but they're fine for watch & delete if you're away from the TV, or someone else is using it, which is what I've been doing.

[Paul55]

I think you'll find the files are MPEG-2 with a .mpg or .ts or some propriety suffix - Topfield used to use .rec.
If they have a different suffix, just rename the file with a .mpg suffix and VLC/KMPlayer should play it.

[Tober27]

Paul55, on Jul 14 2011, 05:47 PM, said:

I think you'll find the files are MPEG-2 with a .mpg or .ts or some propriety suffix - Topfield used to use .rec.
If they have a different suffix, just rename the file with a .mpg suffix and VLC/KMPlayer should play it.

Now I see it, I remember it is .ts files.
As I said, you can play them in VLC player as is, but changing the suffix may make them easier to play with other software, or perhaps to edit, if you prefer.

[heyhey]

cwt, on Jul 13 2011, 08:17 PM, said:

Needed to know about pre padding as well heyhey [as well as source direct for the video;it can be configured for 576i at least] so hunted for the manual.The answer is yes as tober implied Some very nice options that appear to alter the colour space per channel thanks to the pixel magic chip as well  

http://www.freeviewn...rs_Guide_v1.pdf

Thankyou cwt for the manual. It looks like a very nice receiver.

[gawaterman]

Tober27, on Jul 14 2011, 02:59 PM, said:

You can copy to an external drive, or USB stick, provided it's large enough.  File sizes are pretty big, several GB for a 1-hour show.

Can you also play downloaded files from an external drive, or USB stick and if so what formats ?

Edited by gawaterman, 15 July 2011 - 03:17 PM.

[Tassie Devil]

gawaterman, on Jul 15 2011, 11:48 AM, said:

Can you also played downloaded files from an external drive, or USB stick and if so what formats ?

Yes, but I've no idea of the format.

[charlesc]

Tober27, on Jul 14 2011, 03:29 PM, said:

You can copy to an external drive, or USB stick, provided it's large enough.

The ability to copy a large file would not only be dependent on the capacity of the USB stick, but also on the file system it is formatted with.  You may need to re-format it NTFS rather than FAT32, for example.  And the PVR may not understand NTFS.

Tober27, on Jul 14 2011, 04:58 PM, said:

Now I see it, I remember it is .ts files.
As I said, you can play them in VLC player as is, but changing the suffix may make them easier to play with other software, or perhaps to edit, if you prefer.

It sounds like they are some form of Transport Stream (TS) file then.  These are different from Program Stream (PS) files typically on DVDs (within the VOBs). The TS files are structured for transmission, PS files for local playback.
Re-naming a file extension won't change their 'content' format.  A program like Project-X or VideoReDo can make a TS file into a PS (typically mpg) one.

VLC will indeed play most things. The problem might come if you are trying to play it on a basic media player.  Typically the TS files don't seek reliably.  Once they are converted to PS files this improves.

[DM Dave]

http://en.wikipedia....ransport_stream

This topic was covered in a now closed thread some time ago.

http://www.dtvforum....showtopic=81015

[Tober27]

charlesc, on Jul 15 2011, 01:31 PM, said:

The ability to copy a large file would not only be dependent on the capacity of the USB stick, but also on the file system it is formatted with.  You may need to re-format it NTFS rather than FAT32, for example.  And the PVR may not understand NTFS.

Obviously the stick/drive needs to be big enough to hold the file.  I believe I did copy a large one to a FAT32 drive, and it broke the program up into several files.  I use NTFS primarily and the PVR does understand it.

charlesc, on Jul 15 2011, 01:31 PM, said:

Re-naming a file extension won't change their 'content' format.  A program like Project-X or VideoReDo can make a TS file into a PS (typically mpg) one.

I haven't tried or seen the need to do this yet.  I just repeated what the above guy said, that if you want to change the file extension in the name, I guess you can, it might help for what he suggested, but they play fine for me as is.

[Hosko11]

Tassie Devil, on Jul 13 2011, 08:40 AM, said:

Video Quality
This appears to be extraordinarily good and first impressions are it is even slightly better than the Topfield at an output setting of 1080P.  I inadvertently set recordings for SD SBS instead of HD but the PQ appeared to be very close to, if not as good as I record from HD satellite.  Recording on SD commercial channel was very crisp and clear.

Hi John,
You mentioned the PQ was great with recordings from the SD commercial broadcasts.  Does this statement also hold when watching the broadcast directly?  You'll have to excuse my ignorance as I'm not sure whether PVR's perform different upscaling when recording versus pass-through (or STB mode or whatever you call it   ).

The reason i ask is because it's been suggested I consider this PVR to achieve better PQ for the SD broadcasts (channel 10, 9, 7 etc) than the poor PQ I'm getting with a Samsung 2011 LED internal tuner.

Thanks,
Paul

[Tassie Devil]

Hosko11, on Jul 15 2011, 01:47 PM, said:

Hi John,
You mentioned the PQ was great with recordings from the SD commercial broadcasts.  Does this statement also hold when watching the broadcast directly?  You'll have to excuse my ignorance as I'm not sure whether PVR's perform different upscaling when recording versus pass-through (or STB mode or whatever you call it   ).

The reason i ask is because it's been suggested I consider this PVR to achieve better PQ for the SD broadcasts (channel 10, 9, 7 etc) than the poor PQ I'm getting with a Samsung 2011 LED internal tuner.

Thanks,
Paul

Yes fine PQ on both broadcasts & recordings.  Note this PVR outputs 1080P where many others stop at 1080i - not that is probably makes much difference.

PQ IS very impressive.

John

[mwd]

Anybody know if this PVR is in the Logitech Harmony Database by this or another name.?

[Tassie Devil]

mwd, on Jul 15 2011, 05:28 PM, said:

Anybody know if this PVR is in the Logitech Harmony Database by this or another name.?

Cannot answer that but I found the codes were easily learned on my HTM Aeros - something not always the case.

Last night I did a direct comparison between the PQ of the Topfield 7100 compared to the Magic.  On the particular program being viewed the skin tones via the Magic were slightly more red (and so a little less natural looking) but those same skin tones on the Toppy were relatively more washed out (similarly not quite natural).  I looked for this more critically later in the evening but differences in the quality of the broadcast material were far greater so it is nit picking to criticise and so is unimportant.  The most natural colour was via the satellite Ultra Plus PVR but none of the colour was consistent from program to program so it is really a non issue.

John

[mwd]

A bit of a web search found Crazy Stu doing the MTV4000PVR at the low price too.Linky

Certainly seems like a good buy at these kind of prices because before they were up in the Beyonwiz territory.

[Tassie Devil]

mwd, on Jul 16 2011, 12:39 PM, said:

A bit of a web search found Crazy Stu doing the MTV4000PVR at the low price too.Linky

Certainly seems like a good buy at these kind of prices because before they were up in the Beyonwiz territory.

Interesting.  Earlier in the week Crazy Stu was asking in the $300 price range for the Magic.  Junglejungle have put the pressure on re prices.

The mind boggles at the profits HN & others must have made on PVRs if units like the Magic can be sold for $299 & a profit is still made.  Unless of course Magic are about to fold and go out of business so are dumping all stock.  Even if this is the case, it is worth buying at that price.

John

[RMF]

Tassie Devil, on Jul 16 2011, 12:50 PM, said:

The mind boggles at the profits HN & others must have made on PVRs if units like the Magic can be sold for $299 & a profit is still made.  Unless of course Magic are about to fold and go out of business so are dumping all stock.  Even if this is the case, it is worth buying at that price.

John

And therein lies the problem we have with so many retailers in this country.  Gouging the customers.  
No wonder Gerry Harvey was crying recently about online retailers 'stealing' his profits.

OT, but another example is car pricing in this country.
For example, Mitsubishi's little i-MiEV.
Pricing here for 2011 model is $48,000.  If you think thats bad, the 2010 model was $15,000 more!  

Now Mitsubishi have just announced their pricing of this car in the US, and its larger (100mm wider) with more features.
Price in the US is AU$27,000, and with govt incentives can be had for as little as AU$16,000.

Now you tell me who's ripping who off?    

Rant over.

[mwd]

mwd, on Jul 15 2011, 05:28 PM, said:

Anybody know if this PVR is in the Logitech Harmony Database by this or another name.?

well could have answered myself by investigation. Do not have the 4000 in database but 3700 and a 7000 is there and it looks like they all use the same remote so should not be much of a problem. Saves the learning remote rigmarole.

Order placed cannot resist as my Homecast 8000 is not playing very nicely these days.

[Zxdan]

mwd, on Jul 17 2011, 05:05 PM, said:

Order placed cannot resist as my Homecast 8000 is not playing very nicely these days.

Mwd, as a fellow Homecast owner, keen to hear your opinion on the Magic. Even though I use a Harmony to operate the Homecast, the multitude of button presses required to enter the recording list, switch on subtitles or delete a recording, is very annoying. I would have never bought the Homecast had I known how much button mashing is required with it.

Anybody else, what sort of cooling does the Magic have? Passive or fan? If fan, is it noisy & does it operate even when the unit is off?

Edited by Zxdan, 18 July 2011 - 10:28 AM.

[Tassie Devil]

Zxdan, on Jul 18 2011, 10:27 AM, said:

Mwd, as a fellow Homecast owner, keen to hear your opinion on the Magic. Even though I use a Harmony to operate the Homecast, the multitude of button presses required to enter the recording list, switch on subtitles or delete a recording, is very annoying. I would have never bought the Homecast had I known how much button mashing is required with it.

Anybody else, what sort of cooling does the Magic have? Passive or fan? If fan, is it noisy & does it operate even when the unit is off?

No fan and it is not noisy.  Yes it gets quite warm but nothing to worry about.  I've put quiet PC cooling fans on top of the Toppy and other PVR but will probably not bother doing likewise with the Magic.

The button pressing demands on the Magic are overall simple and good but not always.

THE GOOD:  You play a file, when you stop it the window appears for you to immediately delete.  And immediately delete IS what is does if you choose this - no check box so care is required.

THE NOT SO GOOD:  You set a timer using EPG - it automatically adds 10 minutes.  Maybe good, but bad if you want to set a program immediately following as it then can show a conflict.  You can get around it by removing the 10 minute addition but that requires more surfing through menus.  And so far I have not found the menu to alter the start time of an EPG setting.  It is probably there, but I've yet to discover it.

And I am conscious of an extra shade of red on complexions sometimes. Haven't nailed down why or when this occurs yet as it is not always the case.  This colour is not apparent with the same program on either of the other two PVRs.  Not a big negative and nothing to get paranoid about but odd just the same.  All other colour is fine, just the complexions come out a bit ruddy at times.  Anyone else detected that?

John

[Tassie Devil]

Confession: I have read the Magic TV Owner's Guide  - something all self respecting DTV posters assiduously avoid, but there, I've done it!     

And what do I find?  The first important piece of info: There is no danger of any firmware being inadvertently installed which will cause it to revert to crippled FREEVIEW status.  
What happens is that if connected to the net either hardwired or by dongle etc, it will download any updated freeware but not install it without permission.  So we can relax on that score.

And yes, it will do lots of other clever things -
* If you are viewing live, all you need do to start a recording is to press the PLAY button - neat and simple
* Yes it does have options to alter an EPG setting to start earlier - just not so simple for me to find the appropriate menu without the Guide
* Editing recordings is possible and looks simple - it is a function I only use on a DVDR before burning and I cannot see much purpose for it on a PVR, particularly as it only hides, rather than deletes unwanted sections, so no gain in HDD space is made unless you copy the edited version and delete the original - a fair bit of messing around. With a good skip function I see little point in editing on the PVR. If you download to a DVDR or a PC editing there would normally be an easier proposition anyway.
* You can move recordings to folders already set up.  Not sure yet if either the file or folder can be renamed (there are limits to how assiduously I'll study the Guide  )  but having folders to move heaps of files into is important if you intend using the HDD to archive (and I suppose editing could be useful then).  The 1 TB HDD capacity does make archiving more of a proposition.
* There are heaps of settings available - listed in Chapter 8 and too boring to go through here.

Bottom line is it is a good PVR provided you are not looking for something with external input.    And, at $299 + a few more dollars for Australian Post freight (rather than expensive courier) it is a steal.

John

[DrP]

Tassie Devil, on Jul 18 2011, 03:45 PM, said:

Confession: I have read the Magic TV Owner's Guide  - something all self respecting DTV posters assiduously avoid, but there, I've done it!

I am contacting the moderators to have you expelled from the forum!