My Review of DTVPal
Here's my DTVPal review, complete with headings.
(This won't be a totally comprehensive review; I'm sure others will cover the areas I miss, but you can browse the bold headings to see what I've covered.)
Two Things I Learned During Setup
First, I'm getting two things out of the way that are not directly DTVPal-related.
1) Our local NBC affiliate, KARE, recently added a subchannel, 11.3. So far, it's just a schedule listing for 11.1 programming with the same audio as the weather subchannel (11.2), so it probably won't reduce 11.1's HD quality much. Ironic that setting up the DTVPal helped me find a new subchannel that I don't have any need for now, because of the guide in the DTVPal! My HDTV was not smart enough to add this subchannel automatically; I found I had to punch in the actual frequency (35) to get the HDTV to add it, much like the Add Channel procedure for the DTVPal (more on that below).
2) I really need to invest in some RG-6 quad-shielded cable. I've got plenty of RG-59 sitting around due to a basic cable setup that dates back to the early 80's. I have a Silver Sensor UHF indoor antenna (under $25) that has worked fine for me. It's very directional, but if I aim it NNW at channels 41.1-41.4 (~40 miles away) I can get those and still pick up all the closer stations, even high-VHF, because their towers are NNE but only 11 miles away. However, after adding a splitter to feed the DTVPal (and HDTV) the signal isn't quite good enough without re-aiming the antenna. Even with re-aiming, I have some problems. I'm sure this is not the fault of the Silver Sensor or the DTVPal, just the 20 ft. or so of crummy old RG-59 coax cables I'm using, and possibly the old splitter.
Analog Pass Thru and Included RF Cable
I don't need the Analog Pass Thru much myself; I don't watch the low power channels. But while I'm on the subject of antenna cable, I thought I should warn folks that the included coax cable is kind of skinny, and is probably intended to carry only the Channel 3 or 4 output of the DTVPal. It may not work well with Analog Pass Thru. It's not a very LONG cable, so it may not cause a lot of signal loss, but I'm pretty sure you'd be better off with a good RG-6Q cable.
Checking Signal Strength
In addition to the RIGHT or "Browse" button bringing up a signal strength meter as part of the current channel info, there is also a strength display when you add a channel (see below), and there's a Point Antenna option in the Setup Wizard. You can revisit the Setup Wizard later (Menu>Setup>System Setup>Installation>Setup Wizard, or Menu-3-2-1-1) and use just the Point Antenna option without repeating the rest of the setup.
Picture Quality
I'll leave most of the nitpicking on this to others, especially to those who have other coupon boxes for comparisons.
On my HDTV, which is good at upscaling, the DTVPal (via composite to VCR line-in, and VCR line-out composite to TV) looks very good. A little "softer" than true HDTV, but that's to be expected. It's roughly comparable to standard DVD quality, which I guess is also to be expected. The difference is most easily noticed with fine print on the screen, where true HDTV is obviously much sharper than DTVPal. The same can be said for VHS tapes made from the DTVPal output, although they, of course, lose a little more resolution and are a still a little "softer" yet.
It also looks good on the 13" set, using RF channel 3 for now. (There is a MONO line-in I could use if I wanted to).
A couple of times I've spotted a line of noise at the top of a letterboxed image, but it doesn't seem to be a frequent problem.
On-Screen Guide (for User Guide, see "Manual" below)
The Guide collects the all the data in a few seconds when you turn the DTVPal on, and seems to go out a maximum of 30-48 hours for the stations in my area. (It's the stations' fault, not the DTVPal's, that more days aren't available.) The remote's SELECT button will take you to a current show, or to set a timer for a future show, and you can then edit and adjust the timer setting however you want; more on that later. You can punch in a channel NUMBER & SELECT to jump to that channel in the guide. INFO will give you the complete show description if the one at the top of the screen is truncated. VIEW TV or CANCEL will get you back to what you were watching. It's been said many times already, but this is really nice. (My 37" HDTV was just purchased in January, yet has nothing like this -- "Now" data only, and title only, no description -- although I'm very happy with the TV otherwise).
Tuning To Subchannels
There's no dot or dash button on the DTVPal remote for tuning, say, subchannel 5.2 or 5-2. There are * and # buttons that COULD have been used for this purpose, but in fact, aren't used for anything. (There's no IR output from the remote when you press them.)
But there are alternatives to punching 0-0-5-0-2 on the remote, or picking a channel from the Guide, or running through all the channels with UP or DOWN.
What I've found works best for the 5.2 example is 5-SELECT-UP. (5-SELECT gets you 5.1, then UP to 5.2.) Or 6-SELECT will also work; since I have no channel 6, this jumps to the closest channel. Likewise, 17.5 is 17-SELECT-UP-UP-UP-UP or 18-SELECT.
Incidentally, this is similar to what you're likely to do for ANY ATSC tuner device if you are trying to operate it with an old universal remote control that lacks a button that can be used as a dot or dash button.
Interface Nitpick - Why a Blue Ear?
There are several places where you'll see a list of channels to choose from. There are checkboxes, or actually, "checkovals" to the left of these lists. Now, a nice red "X" or check mark would have been clear, but instead, when you make a selection, you get a blue blob. I suppose it's supposed to look like a lovely blue sapphire jewel has marked your selection, but it looks more like someone chopped off a
fake Andorian's ear.
Reception and Deleting or Adding Channels
The DTVPal (despite those antenna cable issues) picked up all 24 subchannels available here. As I'm sure is true in other areas, some of these are just HD and SD versions of the same programming. 9.1/9.2, 23.1/23.2, 29.1/29.2 are all HD/SD pairs here. This means pairs of rows in the Guide that list the same shows, and you see duplicate programming when channel surfing with the UP & DOWN buttons. The point I'm getting to is that you may want to delete some of these duplicate channels. I'm not talking about the "Locks" or parental controls, although that is another option for controlling what channels you see and where. The path for actually deleting channels is Menu>Setup>System Setup>Channel Setup>Channel List>(select one or more channels, then select Delete). The "shortcut" to this is Menu-3-2-2-1. Deleting from the Channel List deletes the channel everywhere (UP/DOWN sequence, the Guide, the Channel List itself). When done, you can escape from this with the VIEW TV button, vs. backing all the way out with CANCEL.
If subchannel content changes, you can add the deleted channel(s) back fairly easily; there are two ways: MENU-3-2-2-2 (Find New Channels) will rescan and add any new channels found (without erasing existing channels). Or, MENU-3-2-2-3 (Add a New Channel) will just add missing subchannels to a single channel. You need the actual frequency to do this; they're available at antennaweb.org or tvfool.com, but I find it simplest to look in the grid at
Titan TV -- the actual frequency is in parenthesis below each subchannel number. After entering the actual frequency, remember to change the Scan from "Stopped" to "Started."
Renaming Channels
One thing I don't like much on the DTVPal is the 5-digit channel numbers. I find 9.1 or 9-1 much more appealing and familiar than 009-01. To make myself feel better, I renamed all the channels on the DTVPal. It's important to keep the new names as short as possible, or they get truncated some places and completely disappear in others. This is also done at Menu-3-2-2-1, the same place you can delete channels.
Note that, as far as I can tell, you can only enter CAPITAL LETTERS, but the names provided automatically may include lowercase letters. You can retain the lowercase letters that were already there if you edit around them using the "<" and ">" keys on the on-screen keyboard.
I used "-W" to indicate an HD channel. If it were just for me, I'd use "-H" or "-HD", but I think "W" for "Widescreen" will be more meaningful to others here.
Here's my complete renamed channel line-up (Original channel names are not shown, but they weren't too different; basically I added the 00.0 numbers and "-W", and removed "-SD" and "-HD"):
045-01 | 45.1 KSTC
041-04 | 41.4 Worship
041-03 | 41.3 IONLife
041-02 | 41.2 qubo
041-01 | 41.1 ION
029-02 | 29.2 WFTC
029-01 | 29.1-W WFTC
023-02 | 23.2 WUCW
023-01 | 23.1-W WUCW
017-05 | 17.5 TPT Wx
017-04 | 17.4 TPT C
017-03 | 17.3 TPT Kids
017-02 | 17.2 TPT MN
017-01 | 17.1 17
011-03 | 11.3 KARE III
011-02 | 11.2 KARE Wx
011-01 | 11.1-W KARE
009-02 | 9.2 KMSP
009-01 | 9.1-W KMSP
005-02 | 5.2 KSTP II
005-01 | 5.1-W KSTP
004-01 | 4.1-W WCCO
002-02 | 2.2 TPT HD
002-01 | 2.1 TPT 2
By the way, I understand why the DTVPal always lists the channels from highest numbered to lowest. That way, the UP button really goes UP, and DOWN goes DOWN.
(Also note that we're lucky enough to have two PBS stations here, 2 and 17, both called TPT, so we get a good PBS HD channel, not one that's over-compressed to squeeze in more subchannels. I HIGHLY recommend searching your DTVPal guide for "TRAVELS TO THE" -- You're looking for Art Wolfe's "Travels to the Edge" program. It's better on an HDTV, of course, but it still looks good via the DTVPal.)
Picture Format, a.k.a. Aspect Ratio
This is NOT adjustable on an SD, 4:3 show. On an HD, 16:9 show, the options are NORMAL (letterboxed), FULL (anamorphic squeeze to fit), and ZOOM (display 4:3 [=12:9] center region of 16:9, cropping off left and right sides).
This might sound like it's bad for use with a 16:9 TV, but most 16:9 TVs can easily make the adjustment with their own "Format" or "Aspect" controls. Just as an anamorphic DVD image (coming from a DVD player set up for use with 16:9 TVs) is stretched out by a widescreen TV to fill its width (1.78:1 = 16:9), the DTVPal in FULL mode is sending out an anamorphic image that can be stretched back to widescreen on a 16:9 TV. In my tests, H-to-V image proportions and amount of overscan (if any) appeared to be about equal for true HD and DTVPal FULL format output stretched to widescreen. This is great for recording widescreen shows on an old VCR, if you have a widescreen TV available to play them back.
Of course, if you will be playing back tapes on a non-widescreen, 4:3 set, you may not want the skinny-looking people you'll see on a tape recorded from FULL mode. Your other choices for recording a widescreen show would be NORMAL (letterboxed) or ZOOM (cropped off sides). You probably already know which you'd prefer based on whether you prefer your DVDs to be Widescreen or Full Screen. One difference here, however, is that in some cases the cropped off sides are just blank black bars, and you would be losing nothing significant (when a 4:3 show is being broadcast on a 16:9 HD channel).
Timers and More About Using With a VCR
It's true there's a limit of 5 timers. I held out hope for awhile that it might be a scrolling list of timers that only showed 5 at a time (On the other hand, you can save up to 10 Guide searches; that list shows only 7 slots, but it scrolls when over 7 are saved. More on Guide searches below under Bugs.)
You can create a timer from scratch by going to Menu>Setup>Timers, or Menu-3-4, but if you create one by selecting an upcoming show in from the Guide, it is fully editable. You can change the frequency (Once/Daily/Weekly/Mon-Fri), channel, start time, and duration. There's also a "type," but apparently ALL timers on the DTVPal have the type "AUTO" (for Auto Tune). (The DTVPal DVR, a.k.a. TR-50, will probably have other "types," such as "REC.") The duration is only used to detect timer conflicts; the DTVPal won't change channels or turn off when the duration time runs out. (Before you can edit a timer, you have to select and mark it with an Andorian's ear.)
Note: If you adjust the timer to start a minute or two early (you'll want to make sure it switches before your VCR starts recording), the timer screens will show the name of the show airing EARLIER, of which you are only going to be recording the last one or two minutes.
There is a two-minute countdown timer that pops up before the channel change, and no way to disable it during unattended recordings. But it will never get recorded, if, say, you are recording a 1-hour 7:00 show and a 1-hour 9:00 show. It would only appear between back-to-back recordings, where you often risk missing something anyway, e.g., if the first show runs late and/or the second show starts early. The countdown icon is about the same size and position as a station logo, except that it's in the lower left corner while most station logos are lower right.
My first attempt to actually record with the timer was with the DTVPal left on, and the Inactivity Standby (at Menu>Setup>System Setup>Inactivity Standby, or Menu-3-2-2-3) set to make sure it wouldn't turn off before the timer was triggered. (It worked.) I also tried the timer once in Analog Pass Thru mode just to see if that would work, although I think the energy savings would be limited, since the DTVPal is still "on" in that mode. That test failed -- the timer brought the sound on but left the screen blank. So, use caution in switching to Analog Pass Through if you have a timer set. Some have said the timers will work when the DTVPal is turned off, and others have said no. I haven't done enough testing yet to be sure. It failed to turn on in one test, but I had set the timer to just a few minutes after I turned the DTVPal off, and failing to turn back on in those circumstances may be by design. I'll do an overnight recording test tonight with the DTVPal turned off.
UPDATE: The timer did NOT work overnight after I'd turned the DTVPal off via the remote. There's one hope left -- that it will turn back on after it turns itself off. But to test that takes over 4 hours for each test! Watch for more updates. . . eventually.
If you have to keep the DTVPal on for timers to work, and you only want to record one program, you can just set it to the channel you want to record in the first place, and skip setting a timer, just like any other coupon box. But the DTVPal timer will still be useful for the 2nd thru 6th recordings on different channels. And you could set the timer for the 1st recording just so you don't have to worry about remembering what channel the DTVPal should be left on at the time you leave it unattended. But regardless, you will still have to remember to leave it on and, if necessary, to deactivate the Inactivity Standby.
This is looking like a MAJOR MAJOR Bug, much bigger that the Major Search Bug I described below.
Software Version
Both of my DTVPals show the "F101" software version, and I live in a digital TVGOS area (4.1 WCCO), if indeed those stations are transmitting firmware upgrades, but that's pure speculation at this point. This fact may be more relevant after tonight's overnight timer test.
Using With Old "Pre-Blue-Screen-of-No-Signal" TVs
One of my DTVPals is in the kitchen on an old 13-inch TV that was made about one year before they started including those nice, quiet "No Signal" blue screens in almost all TVs. The problem here is that, even with DTVPal volume up all the way, the volume on the TV has to be fairly high. And when you shut off the DTVPal first, you get LOUD snow on this TV. So, you have to remember with TVs like this one, the rule is: TV ON last, TV OFF first.
Using With a Universal Remote
You may have trouble using a DTVPal in the same room with other DISH equipment. While we knew that in TVGOS mode the DTVPal uses Scientific Atlanta codes, in its normal mode it uses an Echostar code. One solution I've seen proposed involves buying used DISH remotes to replace the DTVPal remote. I don't have this problem, because I have no other DISH equipment, and the DTVPals are separated (one DTVPal is in the kitchen, and the other is elsewhere connected to the HDTV through a VCR).
I've already programmed my Sony RM-VL600 8-device learning remote (under $25) to operate the DTVPal, and it's working fine. Echostar code 3010 from the Sony manual set the 0-9, UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, OK (=Select), GUIDE, MENU, POWER, and TV/VIDEO (=Analog Pass Thru) buttons for me.
VOL +, VOL -, and MUTE were automatically set to control the volume through the TV.
Via learning mode, I set INFO = Info, EXIT = View TV, TOOLS = Cancel, CH+ = Page Up/Picture Format, CH- = Page Down/CC. (Following the lead of the DTVPal remote, the UP and DOWN buttons in the ring around the OK/Select button are the ones I'll use for CH+/CH-.) I also set three other spare buttons for the DTVPal's VOL +, VOL -, and MUTE, although they weren't really needed since I can control volume and mute directly on the TV. I didn't set any button for "Sys Info"; pressing Menu twice goes to the very same screen.
I used other spare buttons for TV Power and VCR playback, although the TV and the VCR each have their own full set of buttons, being two of the other devices on the 8-device remote.
Bugs - A Minor One and A Major One
While the DTVPal is a pretty nice device that apparently went through a fair amount of testing, it's not perfect. Here are a couple examples of bugs. It will be interesting to see how firmware updates are accomplished and if these things get fixed.
An example of a minor bug (this actually takes more explanation than the major bug below):
When the countdown timer appears, you can press SELECT on the remote to get some options. . .
The text in the pop-up message says: Select "Confirm" to watch the event now or "Cancel" to remove the timer.
However, the the on-screen buttons are actually labeled "Confirm" to watch and "Stop Timer" to remove the timer.
Lastly, the instructions in the manual say the options are to select "Watch" to watch now, and "Stop Timer" to remove the timer.
So that's three different takes on what the on-screen buttons say. . . And only the manual tells you what will happen if you select the OTHER button, the one on the left that shows the time counting down. (Selecting it dismisses the pop-up message, but the timer continues.)
But there's nothing too unusual in having a few bugs like this. For example, the manual for my Sony universal remote has a few minor errors that are apparently due to revisions being made to the firmware that never became revised instructions in the manual.
The MAJOR bug I found is this:
When searching the data collected for the Guide grid (Menu>Event Search, or Menu-2, or shortcut: LEFT button), there are options you can choose that are supposed to determine where to search. The options are Title, Description, or both ("Title/Description"). However, no matter how I set that option, the search function ONLY searches in the titles, as far as I can tell. I've tried searching for words that I KNEW appeared in one or more of the show description paragraphs. Since that failed, I've questioned what is really meant by "description" and tried searching for channel numbers and names, start times, ratings such as "TV-G," and so on, but I never get any results unless the search text appears in the TITLE. So, there's functionality that's supposed to be there, and just ISN'T.
Not Necessarily a Bug, But Room For Improvement
When you select a show in the search results, a title and a truncated description appears at the top of the screen, similar to what you see when you select a show in the Guide grid. However, unlike the Guide where the remote's INFO button gives you the full description, when used on a search result, INFO only gives you a "Help" screen on how to use the search feature. This is completely unnecessary, because there's already an on-screen Help button on the search screen. In fact, when you "return" from using the INFO button, the Help button is highlighted as if that's what you had used to get to the "Help" screen.
On the other hand, here's a well-designed, nice touch: When you are simply watching TV and press the INFO button, you get a translucent screen with the full program description. If you can't read that easily, press INFO again, and it becomes opaque. A third time, and it goes away.
Freezing Up
Once I had the picture freeze up on me, and the DTVPal was not responding to the remote control (light on, but no blinking when buttons were pressed). I unplugged it and plugged it back in. There was the usual start up procedure, including a few seconds of no picture, followed by a few seconds of loading guide data, then everything was back to normal, including all my customized channel names.
The Case Design and Heating Up
By the way, there's only one light on the thing. I thought it looked like two lights in all the pictures, but the left thing is the IR sensor. Only the right thing is a green LED.
I thought the DTVPal on my Kitchen 13" TV was getting hot. Then I realized it was because the 13" TV itself gets pretty hot. I moved the DTVPal off of the top of the TV to protect it from the heat of the TV!
The Manual
I've decided not to do a separate review of the manual, or the "TR40.book" as it was titled when written in FrameMaker 7.1 by David Floro. Suffice it to say that, while it may not be perfect, it is well-written and better illustrated than any other coupon box manual I've seen, based on several PDF files I looked at.
The bottom of Page viii is worth quoting, however:
Upgrade to DISH Network
Although the DTVPal is a great digital-to-analog converter box, you may not be able to receive any or all digital over-the-air signals. Get over 100 or more of the most popular national channels, such as Discovery, CNN, and ESPN, and your local channels* by getting your programming through DISH Network...
<phone no., etc.>
*where available
In other words, don't try getting a better antenna or anything, just give up and call us!
(To be fair, there is the standard info about choosing an antenna using antennaweb.org at the bottom of Page vii.)
One odd thing: All the screenshots in the manual appear EXTRA wide, even wider than a widescreen TV.
Captions, Including Digital To Analog Conversion
The captions are smaller than they needed to be. They're way too small on the 13-inch TV, but that would probably be true for any coupon box. You can customize the captions, but they are still small, even on the largest font and size setting. The good news is that the conversion of digital captions to analog captions appears to work fine, so you can leave the captions turned off on your DTVPal and turn them on on your TV, assuming your TV handles analog captions. (The 13" is too old to have its own caption decoder, but the HDTV can display them, of course.) It is possible to have them turned on on BOTH the TV and the DTVPal, and of course, the TV captions appear on top of the DTVPal captions, higher and further right, and considerably larger (wider characters). The TV's captioning characters are wider even when the DTVPal output is being stretched wider to fill a 16:9 screen.
I hope the smooth conversion of digital captions to analog captions is also an indication that there will be smooth digital TVGOS to analog TVGOS conversion for those of you with "Guide devices."
END
So, is it too late for me to be a beta tester of the DTVPal DVR (TR-50)?
Apparently this is just a screw-up and they somehow missed the tax on the 2nd box. But I hope it doesn't get "corrected," since they are overcharging on tax anyway (see my previous post). I'll confirm this when I receive the paperwork.
