Download pdf - TEST REPORT DVB-T Mini Receiver Panodictele-audiovision.com/TELE-satellite-1207/eng/panodic.pdfThe Panodic HDT-127A is a PVR receiver and that is why a dedicated menu item is available

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Panodic HDT-127A

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TEST REPORT DVB-T Mini Receiver

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06-07-08/2012

www.TELE-satellite.com/12/07/panodic

36 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 06-07-08/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com

Space-saving and Elegant DVB-T Receiver

TEST REPORT DVB-T Mini Receiver

The Panodic company slo-gan is ‘Digital World. Simple Life.’ and the HDT-127A lives up to that promise. We’re talking about an elegant DVB-T set-top box that is small yet easy to use and filled to the brim with useful features.

Measuring only 190 x 120 x 35 mm it will fit into any TV cabinet and blend in nicely thanks to its unob-trusive overall appearance. But don’t be deceived by its small size: With all the func-tions it has in store it will please even the most dis-cerning users.

A four-digit segment dis-play on the front panel shows either the channel number of the currently selected

station or the time when in standby mode. In addition, an LED indicates the oper-ating mode of the receiver which can be changed with the On/Standby button that is located right next to it.

During our test we came to appreciate the USB 2.0 interface right on the front panel – this way it’s much less hassle to connect and disconnect a USB storage medium.

If we now turn around the receiver to have a look at the rear panel we can find the RF input as well as loop-through output, HDMI for high-definition video and audio output, a scart euro-connector for hooking up standard-definition TV sets,

as well as three RCA jacks for stereo audio and CVBS video. A coax digital au-dio output for digital sound rounds off the connection options. The only thing that is lacking is a mechanical power switch to fully dis-connect the box from the mains.

The remote control that is shipped together with the receiver comes with clearly labelled buttons offering a very pleasant pressure point. Like the receiver it-self the remote is very small in size and it should be used within a three metre radi-us from the receiver if you want to make sure the box listens to all of your com-mands.

The level of workmanship of the HDT-127A is rather high, but we would not have expected anything less from Panodic.

Most receivers these days feature an installation wizard that guides users through the initial set-up routine, and the new Panod-ic HDT-127A is no exception. What is new, however, is the user experience offered by this box: While most manu-facturers lead users to a number of windows in which individual settings can be adjusted, Panodic has ar-ranged the four most im-portant sections (region, language, video resolution, video aspect) in a single window.

Panodic HDT-127A DVB-TPerfectly equipped DVB-T

mini receiver

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Depending on the region you select the receiver au-tomatically suggests the corresponding language for the on-screen display, which we found rather conveni-ent. It goes without saying that this selection is not set in stone and you may of course choose French as your language of choice even though you use the receiver in Germany, for ex-ample.

In terms of video out-put resolutions, the follow-ing options are available: 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p, which makes HDT-127A a perfect match for fu-ture transmissions with full HD resolution as well.

Whenever you change the resolution you have 15 sec-onds to confirm the new res-olution, and if you fail to do so the box goes back to the previously set video format. No more despair in front of a black screen, caused by a resolution that is not sup-ported by your TV panel. A small step in terms of tech-nology, a giant leap in terms of user-friendliness, so to speak.

In addition, you can set the video output to either 4:3 (pan & scan or letter box), 16:9 or Auto, which means the receiver adjusts the aspect ratio automati-cally.

Once all parameters in the four sections are set by the user the next step is an automatic channel search across the entire VHF and UHF bands. In our case the HDT-127A took slightly more than 90 seconds and de-tected all active DVB-T fre-quencies. As soon as that process is completed the receiver switches to the first found channel. Now, let the viewing pleasure begin…

Contrary to satellite TV reception with hundreds or even thousands of channels the DVB-T offering usually hovers around a dozen or so stations, with some re-gions boasting more variety than others. Nonetheless, Panodic has chosen to im-plement the entire range of

channel management and editing functions. It is pos-sible to delete, move, re-name or PIN-lock individual entries or to mark channels for skipping. With a total of eight favourites list all members of your family are guaranteed their own per-sonalised channel line-up.

In case not all channels were found by the receiver during the initial automat-ic search or new channels have become available, it is possible at any time to ac-cess the installation menu and repeat the search – you may even choose whether or not to look for encrypted channels as well.

If need be, a manual search is available too, which lets you enter either the required frequency or the channel number in the VHF or UHF band.

There is even a dedicated menu item for antenna ad-justment, which calls up two signal bars (indicating qual-ity and strength) in order to move the antenna until the two bars show the best pos-sible values. Use this menu item to also select whether or not the coax cable should provide 5V current to the antenna, which is required for an active antenna.

All remaining set-up op-tions of the main menu con-sist of the usual parameters such as audio language, teletext, subtitles and digi-tal audio output in either the BS or LPCM format.

The internal clock of the HDT-127A can be set manu-ally, or the receiver can read out the correct time from the DVB-T data stream. To make sure the right time for your location is shown it is not necessary to indi-cate the time difference to GMT (as is the case with many other manufactur-ers) but only to select your region from a list. The re-ceiver even shows a number of major cities in each time zone, so that you couldn’t possible get it wrong. Talk about user-friendliness!

The Panodic HDT-127A is a PVR receiver and that is why

a dedicated menu item is available for PVR functions. Here you can permanently activate timeshift viewing, select a partition of the ex-ternal USB storage medium for recordings and request the receiver to automatical-ly add the timeshift buffer to a recording that is start-ed manually. In our opinion, this is a particularly conven-ient feature as it makes sure you can save an entire pro-gram even though you only initiate the recording some time into the broadcast.

Once all settings are tak-en care of and the receiver is hooked up to all existing equipment it is finally time to do what that neat lit-tle DVB-T box is made for: watch TV!

As usual, pressing the OK button on the remote calls up the channel list. Not so usual is the fact that the left/right buttons can be used to access and switch between the favourites lists, a feature that we truly came to appreciate during our test.

A cleverly designed and easy to read info bar pops up every time a new chan-nel is selected, showing the title of the current and next events if this information is provided by the channel.

The HDT-127A takes ap-proximately one second to switch between chan-nels, which puts a lot of fun into zapping. We were im-pressed with the video and audio quality delivered by this DVB-T receiver: If you make use of the HDMI con-nection you’ll be spoilt with crisp and sharp images and

true-to-life colours, while the coax digital audio output offered a flawless sound-track to our DD 5.1 home theatre receiver.

While the HDT-127A only supports DVB-T and cannot process DVB-T2 signals, it is nonetheless capable of dealing with HDTV broad-casts transmitted in MPEG4.

Such signals are not avail-able at our location, which is why we decided to convert the signals of two satellite transponders to an MPEG4 DVB-T frequency so that we were able to check the box’s worth in terms of HDTV functionality.

To that end we used His-panTV from EUTELSAT 7A 7° East and the Saudi Sports transponder from BADR 26° East. HispanTV uses MPEG4 SD as transmission stand-ard, while Saudi Sports channels come in MPEG4 HD. As expected, all chan-nels were processed by the HDT-127A smoothly and without any glitches what-soever.

Picture this: You’re relax-ing in front of the telly after a busy day at work only to find out that your significant other has thrown away to-day’s paper with the TV list-ings. Not a problem at all – simply press the EPG button on the remote and let your receiver spell out every-thing that’s on TV tonight. Detailed program informa-tion for up to five channels is displayed in a grid layout.

It is possible to jump back and forth in steps of two hours or one full day, up to a maximum preview for sev-en days. If you’re aiming for

1. Installation wizard of the HDT-127A2. A new resolution needs to be confirmed within 15 seconds, otherwise the receiver will switch back to the last working resolution3. Automatic channel search4. The channel list can be managed and edited in numerous ways5. Entering the frequency number for a manual search6. The Panodic HDT-127A can even assist with correct antenna alignment7. Language selection8. Setting the correct time9. Timer entries can be created for daily, weekly or monthly recordings10. A total of eight timer entries are available and can be assigned individual names

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40 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 06-07-08/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com

11. Software updates make sure the receiver stays up-to-date12. MP3 jukebox13. Picture viewer14. PVR options15. Teletext decoder16. The remaining recording capacity is shown every time a new recording starts17. Channel list18. EPG information for five channels19. Reception of Hispan TV in MPEG-4 (SD)

convenient features such as creating timer entries right from the EPG and record-ing daily, weekly or monthly events, then you need not look further.

The PVR functions of the HDT-127A are on a par with the best on the market and make sure you’ll never miss your favourite show again.

If you’re still not entirely

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DATATECHNICAL

Manufacturer Panodic

Address 12/F, Grentech Building, Keji.C. Road 3rd Hi-Tech Industrial Park, Nanshan District Shenzhen, China

Tel. +86-755-8659 0230

Email www.panodic.com/Contact.aspx

Internet www.panodic.com

Model HDT-127A

Function Small HD PVR Receiver

Input frequency VHF (177.5-226.5 MHz) UHF (474-858 MHz)

EPG yes

Supported standards

Video resolution 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p

RS232 no

Ethernet no

USB 2.0 yes

HDTV yes (via )

MPEG4/H.264 yes (via )

Supportes languages/regions English, French, German, Spanish, Italien, Greek, Portugiese, Russian, Polish, Croatian, Slovenian, Australian

DIAGRAMENERGY

Active Power

Apparent Power

Mode Apparent Active FactorActive 11 W 7 W 0.63StandBy 2.5 W 0.5 W 0.2

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Thomas HaringTELE-satellite

Test CenterAustria

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20. Saudi Sports 1 logo (HD)21. Reception of Saudi Sports 2 (HD)22. Technical parameters of the currently received channel23. Info bar24. List of existing recordings

satisfied, the following list will definitely win you over: There’s a built-in teletext decoder, selection of audio tracks and subtitles (if pro-vided by the channel) and dedicated button for chang-ing the video resolution on the go. What’s more, thanks to a specific Timer button on the remote you can imme-diately access and edit up to eight timer entries of the HDT-127A.

Even though the model name does not immediately give it away, the Panodic HDT-127A comes with a USB 2.0 connection on the front panel and can therefore easily be turned into a ful-ly-fledged PVR receiver by simply hooking up an exter-nal storage medium.

When tested, all PVR func-tions performed smoothly, but we should mention at this point that only one re-cording can be made at a time. It is, however, pos-sible to watch a different channel live, as long as it is transmitted on the same frequency as the recorded channel.

We did like the remaining recording time that is shown whenever a recording is started. This way you easily find out whether or not the entire recording will fit on

your storage medium, par-ticularly when you use USB sticks or the like with limited storage capacity. We creat-ed a total of eight timer en-tries, all of which were com-pleted and recorded with absolute reliability by the new Panodic mini receiver.

We have come to expect that a modern PVR receiver can play back MP3 and WMA files, and it goes without saying that the HDT-127A easily meets this require-ment and can be used as a jukebox without further ado.

JPEG and BMP images are also supported, so why not use the tiny Panodic box for your next slide show when friends are over at your place?

If you’re a movie buff you can even download AVI, MPEG, TS and DivX movies from the Internet and play them back with the HDT-127A. We tried that feature with SD and HD content and can confirm that both were processed flawlessly.

Panodic is always look-ing to maintain its cutting edge, which means their firmware and operating software are subject to con-tinuous improvement. New software can be copied into a USB storage medium and installed on the receiver

Active use with channel switching, recording, playback etc. during the first 15 minutes, followed by 15 minutes in standby mode.

fully-fledged receiver with built-in PVR func-tions comes with integrated EPG and teletext decoderfast channel switching for zapping funintelligent adjustment of region/language and local timetimeshift buffer can be added to a recording

only eight timer entries for recordings

Expert Opinion

thanks to its USB connec-tion.

And if those commercial breaks seem to be dragging on forever, why not kill time with Othello or Sudoku, two built-in video games?

The Panodic HDT-127A is

a small yet elegant DVB-T receiver that will please the whole family no end while offering top-notch features and functions. It passed our test with flying colours and turned out to be an abso-lutely reliable performer.