briteView BV-980H / Zinwell ZAT-980H thread - Page 8

I'm sorry about your experience. I have the feeling there isn't enough horsepower for HD. I never have seen problems with my SD cable channels. Maybe the person who gets the refurb will only use the aux inputs.

I'll see if SS has place for a review. Best of luck. See you around.

What is "SS"?

Joe, if you hurry, you could be the first BV-980H "Reviewer" at SS.

I believe the "SS" Joe refers to is Solid Signal, a briteView BV-980H retailer.

Yes and I was. I forgot that Solid Signal and Summit Source might be confused. I have used both in the past without any problems. Review has not yet passed their censors.

BV-980H company forum:

The pull down of "Jump To" for the BV-980H has all its options there twice. I posted the bug, but didn't post it on the thread for bug reports. I wasn't sure which one to use.

Still can't get 1080i to stick after making a recording on a 480i channel. I guess it flunks "tuner 101". Not that I would use anything as a tuner, even my Sony TV. Channel surfing isn't too popular when you have 100 or 200 channels. A cable STB helps though.

Joe, I noticed you posted in the brite-View forum your wish list for the BV-980H. One item you posted reads "Remove the analog diagnostics."

What are "analog diagnostics"? I noticed you have used the word "diagnostics" in this forum before -- but I don't understand what that is, or is a reference to.

In general, a diagnostic is a piece of software that, when executed, tests the hardware for various kinds of failures and reports on these. Such a program is designed to stress one component (e.g.: memory, drive, video and/or audio circuit, port, power supply, etc.) at a time in an attempt to isolate a failure (or predict future failure) and recommend a repair. Diagnostics often make use of "Built In Test" (BIT) capabilities of the component itself.

Menu->Channel Scan->Manual Scan. [post 155]

Only vsb/analog/NTSC channels can be selected. Not so Brite. Funny, but I don't get analog diagnostics on my TV or other DVR units - only digital channels are shown. Some show bars like a phone, some show a decimal number, some show a percentage. Best is SNR since that a pretty good quality indicator. Higher the better. Just my opinion.

I'll see if I can update the other post. Stay cool. It will be warm today.

My review: still not approved.

OK. I just would never thought of that function as "a diagnostic." To me, a diagnostic is something you use to diagnose a problem. But I don't see a manual scan function as a way to diagnose a problem. Although I have to admit the purpose of the manual scan function is quite mysterious in this product. What is one manually scanning for exactly??

Well, let's say you want to autoscan for channels. You start it and walk away. The manual scan has come to be used when you wish to force a channel to be included. I guess it is a bad name. Manual scan is also the way I can turn off (edit) my channels on some equipment. I called it a diagnostic since it displays an indicator of signal strength. Since there are no valid vsb/analog/NTSC channels on this unit, the data is a waste of time.

I didn't decide to put the signal test there, but I can understand that logic. Especially after owning the Mag 515H which has some tuner issues of its own. Too bad it doesn't allow QAM or 8vsb/ATSC channels to be examined.

I'm cable only. Anything I say about OTA is speculation.

If there was a way to show the signal strength of your HD channels with pixelation, that would help decide if it was a bad tuner or a bad cable.

That all makes sense to me -- I just never would have thought of labeling that function as a diagnostic.

And I totally agree, that the signal strength function would be better served if made available to the QAM HD channels.

Yes, that would have been very helpful. Although I wonder since the unit had a bad tuner (or something else interrupting the signal path), if it would have even sensed/reported the accurate signal strength anyway...

I tried different cabling (including a brand new "quad shielded" RG6 cable), and I tried connecting into my cable connection at several different points at the split, trying 3 different splitters, and including a brand new allegedly high-quality amplified splitter. No matter what cabling and configuration I tried, I got varying degrees of pixelation -- and failed recordings. Meanwhile, all the rest of my digital-tuner devices never had any pixelation nor recording problems.

From another web site about the eZ1:

Our Price: $139.95 Our Price: $106.25 Apply $10 off now! Coupon#: mx5z022668 eZ -Digital TV Program Recorder Unique design and extremely easy recording of digital broadcasting and digital clear cable programs, make PHD-eZ1 the leader of consumer DTV recorder box in its class ! Product Release Date: Later Q1 2010 Key Technical Features : Inputs : 432 MHz MIPS CPU n ATSC/QAM RF Input HD 720p /1080i Best -in -class video quality : Outputs : Video scaling and enhancements n 1x HDMI (up to.

No, I didn't cut off the end. That's all there was. I think we have passed "later Q1 2010" in this part of the universe.

Seems recording "History" only has one page with the last eight titles.

Mine always goes to 480i after recording anything. Still working on that one. You would think that an HD unit would default to 1080i. Still guessing on Auto HDMI. Feel free to educate me.

Filled up hard drive again. No loss of scheduled titles, status or history. Only lost sound. Power cycle fixed that. Loss of audio may or may not be related to full hard drive. I'll test it again.

Seems to repeat. After a scheduled 1080i recording and sitting on a 1080i channel I bring up the Menu. As I move right to check history, I see it has gone back to 480i. I move it to 1080i and the video talks to my TV and they sync. The audio then dies. It stays that way until I power cycle the unit. Any backup? Could it be my TV which has CEC disabled? I hear crickets.

No more loss of audio. Don't know why.

Still drops to 480i. Recording two hours nightly. Filled up drive twice now with no errors. Changed recording to a one hour HD program that doesn't cross midnight. I managed to get 44 hours of HD content. I scrapped that and cleared the history too. HD still spotty on both recording and playback. No stutters with 480i. I'm go to see if lowering the signal level helps. It's easier than trying to raise it.

Crickets are getting louder.

Chirp, chirp!

You are to be congratulated for sticking with this thing. I used my Zat CECB, but it sure had its share of quirks. I had the original model with the hidden extended EPG, so I accepted some quirky behavior in exchange for added features.

But designing an HD recorder to default to 480i, that really defeats the purpose of having an HD recorder, doesn't it? And losing audio, very disappointing. Too bad this box isn't turning out to be trouble-free. I'm leaning toward a CM-7000pal, warts and all.

I wish, but I'm cable only. It's a limited fee-free environment. I have found NBC to be better than CBS, probably since there are active subchannels on NBC which might limit its bitrate. But, honestly, I don't take this unit seriously. It's a mystery why they even built it, excepy maybe to make .ts files to use with something else. Perhaps OTA is better. It does save to the USB port perfectly. With a 16Gb memory stick you can save one hour of HD/5.1 quality video.

It doesn't default to 480i. It goes to 480i after recording. The next recording will be 1080i if that is what the channel puts out. But the playback of a 1080i recording will be 480i unless you change it through setup first.

At least it's small.

Any news on Channel Master? They were supposedly putting out a new DVD-R this year. And since they already have the Pal for OTA, the only reason I can think of for another is to cover the cable side of things, at least QAM. Cable cos are trying their best to make customers pay for their proprietary recorder.

I guess any marketing department would have two problems with a new QAM device. First would be a shrinking market as more cable companies drop clear QAM channels and give out a free DTA to unscramble them. Second will be the price. For SD there is the Magnavox 513H/515H at about $200. You don't get a guide with either unit and with the quantity of channels, recording raw channel number (like a VCR) can be too complicated for your average person.

You did say DVD-R, of which there are many units under $100, and again they have no guide. Add a hard drive and its file management is a big price jump. A guide adds to the price also.

Like the AT&T/Verizon battle, 99% of Americans get OTA free, but 99% of America needs cable to get anything. Big difference is that AT&T is building more rural cell towers, but the networks are hoping somebody will build fiber cables to small villages. I would think seriously about FiOS, but it's not in my borough. Either is higher speed DSL - I have cable at 12Mbs and DSL at 1Mbs.

So, for now, I light a candle and hope my cable company keeps its current attitude. I get 125 clear QAM (and 25 analog) channels, with a dozen in HD. They even publish the raw QAM channel numbers on their web site. Yet they strip all PSIP data, so they're not perfect.

Yes, I did say DVD-R, and now that doesn't sound right at all, lol, since the Pal doesn't have that. So maybe it was another HD recorder, with HDD.

FIOS pic is supposed to be great, but it was a horrid installation, months of jackhammering streets and sidewalks - twice for the sidewalks, they used the wrong concrete mix. Verizon sold FIOS to Frontier here, and Frontier doesn't want to support the TV side of things. The city is holding them to a promise not to raise rates, so instead they said they'd charge $500 for installation. FIOS is not a popular option here.

I will be using a DVR for OTA time shifting. Which unit is recommended: BV-980H or the CM-7000PAL?

I really enjoy my CM-7000PAL, it has the occasional random reboot but that's really the only issue I've had with it in 6+ months I've owned it. It works very well, I can't speak to the brite-View because I've never used it but I don't think I could get by with just the one tuner. The Channel Master has two tuners so I can record two programs at once.

If you need a new hobby, get the 980H. If you want a popular unit that is OTA only, go for the CM. BV also has a user forum.

http://www.brite-viewforum.com/viewforum.php?f=74

You should have little problem making your decision.

[1] From the online lit and manual I cannot discern whether the product includes two tuners, and can thus support simultaneous viewing of one channel while recording another.

[2] I also can't tell whether the device includes a typical "Signal Quality" screen that can show any of AGC Level, Error Rate, or just plain 0 to 100 relative "Quality"; all of these essential to the antenna pointing excersize.

[3] Finally, I can't determine if, in any of the specific OTA or Cable settings, the tuner will also react to and add to the lineup signals NOT of the specified setting. That might seem an odd question, but it speaks to the ability to inject an "in-house" QAM signal into the RF Spectrum, along with the received ATSC signals. It's an application I'm occasionally asked to support for Casinos, etc. A number of Pansonic, Sony, Toshiba, etc., DTVs will do this to some degree.


Any user experience on any of the above much appreciated.

1 - NO
2 - NO (see analog diagnostic screen comment above and on BV forum)
3 - Not found. It will accept any QAM channel even if scrambled. No OTA experience. If you need to add a channel my Mag 515H does that. The Mag doesn't validate the channel when you enter it. My Sony TV will allow you to enable a scrambled channel, but does not permit channel mapping or adding after the scan. If I misunderstood the question I'm sorry. The Mag is SD digital only with 1080p upconversion of stored OTA/cable content.

One tuner. You can watch a recording in progress with 1/3 of the screen used for recording status. Previous posts describe the final result and format of the ts file created. It has been noted that recording at 1080i is a challenge. No issues with 720p or 480i so far. Content dictates recording quality or bit rate.

http://www.brite-viewforum.com/viewforum.php?f=74

Guys, does the BV-980H allow you to extract to a computer the recordings on its internal hard drive? Guessing no, but thought I'd ask. If not, can you force it to record to an external USB drive, then attach that to a computer to get at the TS files?

No, it has no function to move or copy the ts file to something connected to the USB port.

Yes, you can select the USB port as a destination for your ts file. I have used a USB 16Gb SanDisk. I bought a 1TB drive, but recording 1080i seems to be a problem for me.

Also see:

http://www.brite-viewforum.com/viewforum.php?f=74

More items on the wish list there.

I have enjoyed reading all the post about this unit and its issues, very useful information. I am considering buying this unit to use for OTA time shift recording and for use as a tuner and I would be interested in your opinions and to learn if anyone knows of a better solution in this price range for these applications.
1. I would like to be able to record a one or two OTA shows a week at the native broadcast resolution to view later. I already have DSS DVR to record my cable channels.
2. I would like to be able to use the unit as a tuner to feed the HDMI input of my digital projector, so that I can view broadcast TV programs with the projector.