TopTV functions and features

Dolby

Dolby

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Haven't seen this asked yet - but features such as :

EPG (now/next)
EPG 7 day advance
Reminders of programmes (auto tune or message)
Interactive services (weather etc)
Aspect ratio/sound? (guessing 4:3 and stero?)

TopTV decoder have them?

What I gathered from an earlier post is that the decoder doesn't offer *any* video out option other than composite ... which, considering this is 2010, is a little stupid!
 
How many does DSTVs standard definition decoder have? And its cost is more than Toptvs. Plus Toptv has a USB port so there is a world of possibilities.
 
I assume speaking about the video outs?

You are right - but then perhaps a larger/better decoder option?

With MC you get the R400 cheapy without the decent ports - but there's an option to get PVRs which have decent video outs ... albeit at a cost.

Perhaps its not so much a TopTV issue as the decoder manufacturer that make stupid choices?
 
It's definitely not a TopTV decision as to what ports (and how many) are available on the device. That's decided by the manufacturer. (UEC)

However, UEC have multiple decoder options and this is one of the cheapest.
It makes sense, really. TopTV, in order to grab as much of the market share as fast as possible, opted for the most cost effective solution to ensure a quick rollout.

Basically it boils down to money. It would have been silly for TopTV to release an expensive decoder off the bat as the sales would not have been as high and it would have taken longer to infiltrate the market.
Obviously their logic paid off. Using the cheaper option allowed them to completely sell out their initial stock of 50,000 units in less than a day. That means that they already have 50,000 paying customers.
For a day's work, that's not bad.

As time goes by, they will release better and more functional units.
 
Could I source my own decoder from UEC?
 
Garyvdh said:
But it is non-functional... just like many of the DSTV Decoders which ALSO have a USB port. And we saw how useful those were huh? :D
Click to expand...

The primary difference is the fact that Multichoice said outright that they would not be making use of the USB functionality whereas TopTV have already stated it will be utilised once they have their PVR infrastructure up and running.

Dolby said:
Could I source my own decoder from UEC?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately not. The firmware running on the actual TopTV device is proprietary. So unless you can figure out how to flash a different UEC decoder with the TopTV firmware, it's unlikely.
 
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Ah - well hoping that in the future they bring out a decent decoder :/
 
Dolby said:
Ah - well hoping that in the future they bring out a decent decoder :/
Click to expand...

To be honest. The one they have now is more than adequate for my needs.

PVR as example. It will be enabled on all current decoders in future via firmware update. The decoder has no hard disk, therefore we will be able to use any USB compatible storage to record our shows onto, flash, external hdd, hopefully SDD if those are out by then and so on.

Just looking at the current input/output options available on the unit I'm definitely pleased.

Again, I don't own an HD Tv Set and I won't during the next few years in any case.

My aim: get my dish installed by ODM installer and decoder activated. Beg and plead for another cable to our room as well so that I may purchase a TV Card in future that we may bring the decoder here an hook it up to my pc and lay in bed and view TV on my Rig ;) :D :p
 
Toptv

Hey,the demand is huge!!! I went to pep in Heathway centre(which is pretty hidden away) close to cresta mall.I went at 9am and there were loads of people buying decoders.I eventually got through to the call centre at 19:40.So im organised.Its about time nochoice got some competition.I will support them them 100%!! Im a rocker and asked nochoice years ago for mtv2 or kerrang!,so f@ck them.Ttv can defnitley compete.Nochoice has made profit margins unheard of any country,trust me I know.I have seen their accounts.
 
The *only* issue I have with the current TopTV decoder are the video connecters.

When we got DSTV about 10+ years back, we had 4:3 CRT TV with SCARTS etc. The Pace decoders back then also had SCART - which supported composite, S-video and RGB - and I played around with different connections the TV. The composite and S-video were reasonably close - but the RGB was far superior to the other connectors ... and that on a normal SD CRT. Everything we bought from then on had SCART (DVD, VCR) and the connectioin were streets ahead of composite.

I can live with composite for a while though ;)
 
Kheiron - you seem in the loop ... what about my other questions? 7 day EPG, reminders and interactive services?
 
Dolby said:
Kheiron - you seem in the loop ... what about my other questions? 7 day EPG, reminders and interactive services?
Click to expand...

Well, they are using an NDS solution (a customized NDS EPG as well as the NDS MediaHighway middleware solution, which by default does allow for Interactive Services. However, based on the user manual and the channel reference guide, it doesn't seem like they are launching any interactive services just yet. (On a side-note, this solution also allows for VOD, PVR and networking.)

Reminders are possible but are slightly more limited than the EPG in use by DSTV. For instance, by changing the settings of the TopTV EPG, you can either have all reminders as pop-ups or all of them as auto-tunes. There's no way to choose which one you want. (So you can't set an auto-tune for one show and a pop-up for another). Future firmware upgrades may change this though.

Regarding the 7-day EPG, I can confirm that TopTV allow you to view the guide for at least 24 hours ahead. The NDS solution being used allows for an unlimited amount of days' guides but obviously bandwidth overhead (as well as onboard memory) determines how far ahead they prefer to display. I cannot confirm how far ahead the existing TopTV-customized EPG actually goes as I haven't had mine installed as yet. Hopefully somebody else can answer this for us.
 
It seems to me that the EPG is out of sync. The info on the EPG does not match the broadcast and can be up to two hours out. Any news as to when this will be fixed?
 
rph72 said:
It seems to me that the EPG is out of sync. The info on the EPG does not match the broadcast and can be up to two hours out. Any news as to when this will be fixed?
Click to expand...
I'm sure that's just a rollout glitch and will likely be resolved within a few days at the very most.

Can you confirm if the EPG is able to see up to 7 days ahead?
 
Kheiron said:
I'm sure that's just a rollout glitch and will likely be resolved within a few days at the very most.

Can you confirm if the EPG is able to see up to 7 days ahead?
Click to expand...

I can only see channel info up to monday afternoon. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place. Will check again later.
 
Thanks rph72.

So it seems that it's only capable of +24hrs for now.

I wonder if they'll have some kind of TV guide. I don't want to have to hop online every time I want to see what's coming on a few weeks in advance.
 
It'll be interesting to see what they rollout in the next few months - from what I've seen I wouldn't expect anything major but I'd guess at some interesting bits for us at least :D

That is, if I can ever get through to the consultants :D
 
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