No matter whether via satellite or cable – in the TV landscape, the maps are remixed: Slow but surely more and more HDTV channels can be seen. And broadcasters and equipment manufacturers send online content parallel to the TV signal through the cable or via the Internet data line.
Picture gallery
Private HD broadcasters, the hybrid videotext successor HbbTV and online portals with TV apps and TV-friendly websites are no longer a feature for dedicated satellite users.
HDTV recorder talents
In the large cable networks, however, these innovations spread somewhat more slowly. Above all, online content parallel to the send signal could hardly be used by anyone - because of devices that support these HbbTV information.
Comfortable facility
The Humax iCord Cable and the TechniSat DigiCorder ISIO C are among the first Internet-enabled cable receivers. But they have other talents under the hood.
Well sorted
The DigiCorder ISIO C from TechniSat in the version with a 500 gigabyte hard drive costs almost 700 euros (list price) and is thus one of the premium devices in terms of TV reception. For a 50 Euro surcharge, it is also available in a version with a terabyte capacity.
With two cable tuners, it receives digital DVB-C programs and cuts them on the hard disk at the touch of a button or via EPG programming. Whether it's a pause function, watching recordings, recording a program, picture-in-picture, or anything else you might want from a classy digital recorder, the TechniSat can do it.
It is fully set to recording, even the post processing it does with some remote control commands. You can cut interfering advertising blocks from film footage or eliminate the pre and post run.
Also the Humax iCord Cable is a full blood cable recorder. With 500 gigabytes of hard disk space, it costs just under 400 euros, but it has the same features as the TechniSat: record, play, pause TV shows - and all this with two programs in parallel.
In detail, however, the two differ - in favor of the expensive TechniSat: The Humax does not offer any editing functions. Advertising blocks can not be deleted - you can only overwrite them if the sender allows this. And you can pause the current TV program with him, to take a telephone call, for example, and then look forward later. If you switch to another program during the pause, the Timeshift memory is lost.
If you want to record something spontaneously and then change the station, you must use the Record button. It is thus also not possible to permanently store a recording from the pause function. All these are not everyday features for everyone. However, anyone who appreciates a lot and attaches great importance to flexibility in television will appreciate it.
In their TV basic functions, the two receivers are generally well equipped. The initial contact is not a problem: An installation assistant guides the customer on both units through commissioning. At the end, all stations are found, the network connection via LAN cable - the Humax also via an optional WLAN USB stick - and the data for the electronic program guide (EPG) are loaded.
This does not require much headwork for either receiver. The TechniSat DigiCorder makes a sensible channel sorting for the main program list with its ISIPRO remote sorting from the factory in every cable network.
The Humax also sorted out, however, he showed in the test run in the network of Kabel Baden-Wuerttemberg on the places 1 to 100 of the station list again and again the channel assignment of cable the United States and exiled the TV channels of the cable BW network unsorted to the rear positions .
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The result: the first HD landed first, ZDF HD on second place and the other entries up to the channel position 100 were without signal, so the list had to be sorted manually. Who runs the receiver in a cable the United States network, does not have the problem.
From the first start, both receivers collect data for their electronic program guides. The Humax is based on the program service tvtv, the TechniSat on the own SeeFern-EPG. Both are well sorted and clear. Very convenient: The TechniSat can be used to display broadcasts with several stations or all broadcasts of a channel.
Online Tools
Both devices can select program info by genre or favorite, and search for keywords. The TechniSat also looks for broadcasts with a similar title, such as crime scene, and also stores this search for future requests.
At the push of a button, both devices transmit programs from the EPG to the recording timer - either once or as serial recordings. Here, too, both offer comfort - you can set up daily and weekly recordings, or even record broadcasts on weekends or weekends, with the Techni-Sat even on individually select weekdays.
Both hard disk receivers understand the representation of online services on the TV screen. Humax and TechniSat have set up a TV online portal for each of them.
Cable Network Specialties
The TV everyday
Smartcard & Co: Where does the key fit?
Different languages
The thing about the CI-Plus module
The Humax consists of twelve tiles with links to services like Maxdome, the media library of ARD, ZDF and ARTE, YouTube or Flickr as well as to a service page of Humax. This looks clear, but is almost too small for a modern Smart TV portal.
The TechniSat lists its online services in two menu levels. A page shows news and a link to the TechniSat service page. The second online menu currently lists over 25 other online offers for the TV screen - including Maxdome, for example, a second online video store called Cloud7 and offers like AUPEO! Or Putpat.
This list can be expanded: Pressing the Internet button on the remote control once more allows you to access any website, such as the HbbTV directory HBBig.com. If necessary, you can also add such pages as favorites to the previous online list. This makes the TV online portal easy to assemble according to your own wishes. However, this does not look as smart as the Humax.
Both devices are pure cable receivers: They receive free-to-air SD and HD channels in all networks. The Humax iCord Cable brings a card slot for Nagravision Smartcards from Kabel Deutschland and Kabel BW.
The TechniSat, on the other hand, has a Conax card reader with which, for example, the encrypted offers of KabelKiosk can be activated via smartcard. KabelKiosk supplies many small cable networks with encrypted private HDTV stations and other pay TV packages.
For the reception of encrypted transmitters in other networks, the TechniSat has two, the Humax a CI-Plus slot for the card readers of the respective provider. However, the CI-Plus modules in the recorders do not just delight.
Otherwise, there were no secrets. Both devices offered an uncomplicated operation in spite of their extensive functions. In the TechniSat, the help function was positive which, by means of the blue button in all menus, banned manual texts on the screen. The TechniSat also shone as a multimedia player. Whether the DivX AVI, MKV, Quicktime MOV or iPad-typical M4V videos, the DigiCorder ISIO played almost anything.
The iCord was somewhat more selective. After all, he played DivX AVIs and MPEG-2 and -4 movies.
There was no receiver in the picture test. The Humax reckoned HD and SD broadcasts only up to the interlaced format 1080i high, but also with it offered a perfect performance. The TechniSat sometimes provided a little more picture space, especially for high-speed SD programs, but the differences can be neglected - as seen from a normal distance.
The sound was synonymous: By digital output or HDMI both devices sounded great. You should not use it any other way.
With the cable reception in the digital age is such a thing. In each network, different rules and encryption systems apply to the beautiful new world of HDTV and private TV. This is why the large cable network operators always offer their own devices. However, if you want to use a recorder like the devices in the test, you have to consider a few points.
In the network of Kabel Deutschland, as well as Kabel BW and Unitymedia, parts of the free TV service are transmitted encrypted. This means that if you want to see the private HDTV stations - if they are fed - you need a smartcard from the provider, on which the relevant channels are enabled.
This requires the appropriate smartcard reader in the device. Either the receiver is ready for the decryption system of the cable network, or you have to retrofit it with a CI or CI Plus interface card reader.
Kabel Deutschland and Kabel BW, for example, use the encryption systems NDS Videoguard and Nagravision in parallel. The latter is also used in the Unitymedia network. Nevertheless, devices from one provider do not necessarily work for the other. The reason is that there are several versions of Nagravision that do not interrelate.
CI-Plus has been developed so that receivers can be used in all networks. However, the current CI-Plus modules in recorders block the recording of many encrypted stations. In most cases, Timeshifting with playback within 90 minutes is allowed.
This applies to encrypted broadcasters of the cable operators as well as to the pay-TV station Sky. Devices such as the TechniSat or the Humax receiver in this test become "lame ducks."
The solution: Instead of the official CI-Plus module, the cable provider uses a free CI card reader such as the AlphaCrypt module from Mascom. With a certain, older firmware it decrypts the Nagravision versions of all American cable networks.
If you have a newer NDS Smartcard from Kabel BW or Kabel Deutschland, you need a module that also understands NDS. This practice does not correspond to the business conditions of cable network operators and is a thorn in the eyes of the private sector. Dealers offer such unofficial solutions, however - especially gladly together with high-quality recording devices.
If it does not matter to a few euros, you should look closer at the TechniSat DigiCorder ISIO C: it is the epitome of a mature, flexible HDTV archivist. However, in order to take full advantage of it in the large cable networks, unofficial measures on the AlphaCrypt decryption module are advisable.
The Humax is ideal for viewers in the cable the United States network. It offers a simple recording of all stations, apart from blocked pre-recording functions when recording private HDTV channels.
Download: Table
Conclusion
Table of test results
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