No, you're right - it's maybe me who has misunderstood . There are so many different versions of iPlayer it is hard to keep track. It seems new devices in general have the BBC connected red button service, instead of the MHEG iPlayer.

Regarding networking, choose Dynamic it'll obtain all the correct settings from your router providing that DHCP is enabled on the router (by default it usually will be). Probably the iPlayer will be better on your TV anyway.

Version 1 - Not aimed at the "Big Screen"
Version 2 - browser based - first "Big SCreen" version - end date of September 2014 - radio support ceased in early 2014
Version 3 - browser based - TV version currently includes radio
Version 4 - 4 flavours - TV version does not include radio

There are different flavours of version 4. There are "WEB" flavours for computers, tablets and smart phones and there is a fourth flavour for TV which does not include radio. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/internet/...ew-BBC-iPlayer has a picture illustrating all 4 flavours.)

My TV is using version 4 which the iPlayer's system help page states is "BigScreen Version: 4.1.4.279".
This demonstrates that where there are references that state **the** Big Screen version is being discontinued in September what they meant is that it is **a** big screen version that is being discontinued. Even some of the BBC authors don't appear to realise that the TV version of version 4 is being referred to as "Big Screen" by iPlayer itself.

It will be interesting to see how long version 3 is available.


In terms of functionality my TV has both the new connected red button service and it also has a version 4 of the iPlayer app.

Yes, my TV, PS3 and PS4 all have the latest 4.1.4.279. Sony Blu-ray is still running v3. My T7300 is running v2 and is showing a banner that it will stop working next month - not sure if the retail T7300s are running the same.

Where does the MHEG-IC version of iPlayer fit in your list - version 1, or something else completely? (I couldn't find a version number in the menus anywhere)

So, unfortunately I did not imagine it, my original T7655 is still exhibiting the same issues as previously discussed - skipping/judder on live TV and playback (where were not a problem at all on the T7650 and T7300). It's perhaps not a major issue for some, but having come from a T7650 it is a definite step backwards. Whether this is a hardware or software/firmware issue, or maybe just a faulty unit, remains to be seen...

Yesterday I received a new T7655 test unit as per the new Bush models at Argos and coincidentally I received a reply on the Argos website this morning:


I can confirm all these points, although I thought the old T7655 had YouTube too at some point, but its internet portal was unbearably slow so not really much fun to use. The speed of iPlayer and the connected red button on the new model is pretty impressive though and on par with my new Sony TV and PS4.

The user interface is perhaps the most striking difference, although it is really just another facelift and fundamentally it is the same as previous models. It does look a little more polished now with a mainly black/grey/blue colour scheme replacing the blue/white/red of the old software.

There have clearly been more software changes, other than those listed, under the hood though. The hardware appears to be exactly the same as before, but I have noticed a couple of things that have been fixed already (without going through my bug list). Of course, the one thing that I will be looking out for is the judder/skipping problem - hopefully it has been fixed too.

What is going to be a nightmare is discussing T7655s as there are now at least 3 different software builds. My original T7655 is running v2.50 (project_amber2) and the new one is running v1.15 (project_emerald). The T7655 models with no internet portal presumably had a different build too (project_amber like the T7650 uses perhaps). The T7300 had project_breathe by the way. The project names are show when scanning for an OTA update manually.

So, and heaven forbid, if the hard drive ever fails on our 7650. The new 7655 could now be an acceptable replacement? Or are the hard drives easy enough to pick up? Am I right in assuming that they don't have the error checking that pc drives have? Does that actually make them cheaper?

Cheers Tom

I need to test the new T7655 software for longer before I can conclude that the problems are gone and whether I could recommend it and not T7650.

The hard drive can easily be replaced and bought from many online retailers - whether it is cost-effective is another matter. Yours probably has a Western Digital AV-GP 3.5" SATA drive. My T7655s have Toshiba Video Stream 2.5" SATA drives. This is in an age where manufacturers make AV specific drives - back in the T810 days I don't think they did and bog standard PC drives were used. I remember at the time there were discussions where people insisted the drives were special, and error checking was mentioned, but equally others swapped the drive with old PC drives without any trouble. How different the AV drives are is debatable, but probably most important are the physical characteristics of any drive that you put in a PVR - i.e. how much power does it need, how loud is the mechanism and how much heat does it put out.

Basically, as long as you pick a replacement drive with a similar spec, it'll be fine. An AV branded drive will be safest, but I wouldn't be surprised if any old SATA drive would work fine in a T7650 - 3.5" or 2.5".

Magic. Hopefully I won't need to replace it any time soon though

Cheers Tom

Since retuning my 7650 this morning (I know, a day late )...

(1) I cannot power it on via the remote control nor the button on the unit - I have to turn off the mains supply and back on again;

(2) Even more often than every minute I get a notice up saying "Can't schedule a recording, there is already one scheduled on this channel" (similar wording), which I have to OK out of. It happens when watching a recording or live TV. Needless to say I'm not trying to schedule a recording and it doesn't make any difference if I change channels.

Despair!

I've not retuned my T7650 yet, but it sounds like a timer issue. Have you tried a first time installation to clear the timer list? This is probably the reason why the T835 erased all the timers on a retune.

I haven't retuned my T7650 yet but I'm also getting the "Cannot schedule recording" message. In the past, I fixed this by deleting and re-adding timers. I've found it's a good idea to do this anyway after a re-tune otherwise some recordings may be missed.

Also http://pvrbugs.futaura.co.uk/view.php?id=372

Thanks for both your replies. I couldn't do anything yet because a movie was recording (I hope! but not the end of the world if it failed).

I dread doing a factory reset but that was what I planned - if it were not for the powering-on problem I'd just take up the timers suggestion (I'll remember that for another time, thanks) but now... factory reset here I come

All is well after a first-time install. Back to my occasional little friend "An error occurred in the current recording"

Generally speaking you can get away with just a standard channel scan if you do not have any timers set on channels affected by the retune, such as when channels are added or renamed. If channels move to a different MUX, or the MUX frequency changes, a first time installation is required. Sometimes you can get away with just deleting the affected timers, but often it is quicker to start from scratch. It needn't be this way and could be fixed in the software, but that's what we're stuck with

Speaking of software.....

I don't suppose there's any sign of an update for the 7650? For my use, I'm not sure what benefit one would bring but I'm a bugger for updating stuff though

Cheers Tom

Unfortunately not - since v1.49 was the last version to go through QA, they do not seem keen to release newer dev versions including v1.55. Shame really as in my experience v1.55 is no worse than v1.49 and contains a few little nice fixes. I never give up though and remain hopeful that the bugs I'm reporting for the new T7655-emerald may lead to updates to the older models (I'm thinking mainly 5.1 sound issues that can make viewing some HD content impossible, which has plagued all models).

You must feel as if you're talking to a brick wall sometimes. Best of luck to you though....

Cheers Tom

So, I'm sure everyone is familiar with how accurate recording works on Vestel boxes. However, I'm trying to get my head around a change that has been made for this on the T7655-emerald. Now, if the programme start signal is not received before the scheduled start time, it starts recording anyway at the scheduled start time and does not wait for the start signal. That means if a programme starts late, like they often do, you get a few minutes of rubbish at the start of recordings. If a programme starts early before the scheduled start time, the start signal is obeyed so that the recording can start early, as before.

Not sure I understand why this change has happened as I never really have any problems with missing the start of programmes - accurating recording signalling always seems accurate to me. The last time I remember a problem was with Channel 4 and Homeland last October, when they failed to issue the start signal on time so lots of boxes missed recording most of the episode, and for sure this change would have helped then. Other than that it is going to be annoying to have to start fast forwarding the start of most recorded programmes .

My only problem is with some of the 'cheapo' channels which start their programmes late and therefore the ends are chopped off I can't remember if manual padding is possible, but in any case I think that would cause problems with clashing recordings.

Of course manual padding is possible, and I have to use it on the new (to me, cos I never bothered to look at them until I realised they catered for my "true crime" addiction) cheapo channels such as CBS Reality.

I am pretty sure it's those cheapo channels which caused the problem of the every-30-seconds popup "cannot schedule a recording because...", as since I have deleted those series timers the problem has gone away.

I hereby vent that Freeview UK should not alow channels on the platform that do not comply with published timings* - and, for that matter, that do not give specific programme info in the EPG

*I'm talking about channels that do not have the excuse of covering live events.

How's it going with the newest T7655, Futaura? Only when you get time

The good news is the new emerald unit does not exhibit the skips/jumping issue that the amber2 software has, although I can't be 100% sure that this was not caused by a defective unit, but I strongly suspect it was a software issue. However, there is bad news in that there is now a new video quality issue that I have never seen before - I can only describe it as deinterlacing artefacts, and it is as annoying than the old issue. This tends to manifest itself as motion blur/flicker or a halo around moving objects. This problem again puts me off recommending this box, but hopefully it will get fixed soon - I have made several video captures that demonstrate the problem.

Still lots to evaluate, but here are the pros and cons that have compiled so far compared to the T7650 and T7655 amber2:

+ New faster HTML engine (Opera, like Sony TVs use for example)
+ Latest HTML iPlayer
+ BBC Connected Red Button, News, Sport and YouTube apps
+ Folder/Series library view (sort mode), but this needs more work
+ External DLNA playback in the media browser
+ Better new look user interface (might be a con for < 40" TVs)
+ A recording in progress is not erased if there is a power cut / reboot
- Poor video processing with apparent deinterlacing artefacts
- Rewinding of HD content is now jerky (like T7300), not smooth
- Programme start signal ignored if starting late (might be a pro)
- No remote timers button support (T7655 remotes lost this button)
- No telnet access (probably doesn't matter to most though)

Although new features are nice, it still gets on my nerves that Cabot do not test them properly, and prefer to add yet more new features before fixing the bugs in the previous batch of new features. For example, there are still issues related to the T7650 v1.49 new record 2 watch another on same MUX feature, which are still present on the new T7655. The new folder view on the T7655 emerald being the most recent example - just adds to the general lack of polish that many people perceive.

Thank you for that thorough summary, Futaura. The "deinterlacing artefact" (whether apparent or actual) means I shan't be tempted.

Sony, Philips, Digital Stream, TVonics, Technika... all gone? Any others?

What brands are available now? Humax and Vestel, that's all I know. Oh, and Panasonic - just found the DMR-HWT230 selling on eBay, £200 from Richer Sounds, must check reviews

EDIT - Forgot Sagem and IceCrypt.

Sorry to digress, but why was the technology so difficult?

Sony's last PVR was based around the DigitalStream and Technika is just a Tesco brand name (made by Vestel and others). I guess the lack of manufacturers must be related to profit, but equally how can manufacturers expect to make a profit if they ship products with broken software, etc. Humax and Vestel are about the only manufacturers who have permanently been around since the first SD PVRs. I guess you could include Sagem(com) too. I don't really think there is anything difficult or complicated, although it helps to have a software development arm in the UK so developers can test stuff using live broadcasts, and not using just limited tests streams outside the UK.

I'm surprised that the Vestel HD PVRs haven't become more widespread - I mean it is mainly just Argos selling them, with a bit of interest from Currys and Amazon. Especially when you consider how widespread the SD models were. I'd have thought Asda or Tesco might have shown some interest.

BTW, if anybody is interested in my T7655 emerald video captures, see https://drive.google.com/folder/d/0B...5hYXlxQ0E/edit - first 10 show amber vs emerald comparisons in slowmo capture mode and then there are 2 videos showing the accurate recording difference that I mentioned.

While I'm at it, I can't remember if I already posted these a while ago: https://drive.google.com/folder/d/0B...RKVkV5X1E/edit - these are all from the old T7655 amber2 box, although the 5.1 decoding bug applies to the T7650 and T7300 too.

I think that the lack of UK 'real world' testing could be a very significant observation, Futaura.

Thank you for the videos, I don't fancy watching that moiré pattern

I should clarify that those videos are not HDMI captures, but relatively poor captures using my phone's camera and the moiré pattern is down to that. This is the only camera that I could find to capture the issue, as capturing at regular speed missed the artefacts (low FPS). I on purpose did not describe the differences in the videos as I was curious as to how obvious it really is . You'll see it in the emerald videos, but not the amber/amber2 videos. For some reason it tends to jump out more when red is involved - look at moving red objects or objects moving against stationary backgrounds.

Well I think you've done a brilliant job in the circumstances!