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Samsung SMT - S7800 Freesat PVR 1080P


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Old 13-07-2011, 18:48
REPASSAC
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Loving the Samsung, apart from the clock, which never shows the right time apart from when the unit has just been switched off. Is this a known fault?
If it really does not know the correct time then this is a problem for a PVR.
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Old 13-07-2011, 19:22
hairlessheart
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Have been playing with the BBC iPlayer again today. I have to say that I'm very impressed with both the integration of thd service and the quality of the playback, especially in high quality mode. Can't wait for the ITV version and maybe 4OD too, sometime?

Doug
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Old 13-07-2011, 21:45
Amarok
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If it really does not know the correct time then this is a problem for a PVR.
Not really, if the recordings are based on running status rather than on current time. However, it is strange that current time is often ca. 15 sec slow. AFAIK, time shall be obtained from broadcasted data, so I have no idea why sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't
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Old 13-07-2011, 21:50
gomezz
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So not the clock drifting over time the longer it is kept in standby which is quite common? Could be a power saving device?
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Old 13-07-2011, 21:53
Automan
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Since the latest software I have not caught the clock being more than one second out.

Often before Software Version 5.0.300 I had caught it being 15 seconds slow.

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Old 13-07-2011, 22:01
Amarok
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So not the clock drifting over time the longer it is kept in standby which is quite common? Could be a power saving device?
Then the time differences would be different, dependent on the time the box was in standby.
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Old 13-07-2011, 22:02
gomezz
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Exactly. Which is why I said "not" but thought it worth double-checking this was the case.
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Old 13-07-2011, 22:08
Amarok
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Exactly. Which is why I said "not" but thought it worth double-checking this was the case.
Indeed
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Old 13-07-2011, 23:22
grahamlthompson
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My topfield was about 4 minutes slow after not being used for a month or may be 6wks. A power cut today booted the box as it came back on and reset the clock. pvrs don't seem to have the clock accuracy of quartz watches.
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Old 14-07-2011, 00:00
gomezz
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They are accurate enough if used daily or even weekly.
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Old 14-07-2011, 08:02
casioman
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Well after getting my on Tuesday, the time appears correct on the box display
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Old 14-07-2011, 08:48
bramble
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I received my SMT-S7800 from Amazon yesterday and I'm generally impressed with it as a replacement for my Foxsat-HDR. However I would like to know whether two matters of concern are "features" or whether my box is faulty. Both occur after the box has been in standby for over about five minutes:
[LIST=1][*]Is the discussion in this thread about the clock referring to the hh:mm showing on the front display of the unit? If so, mine appears for only about five minutes after being put into standby, following which it disappears and then just the blue light shows - no clock[*]The SMT-S7800 volume setting reverts to a default (maybe about 60%) when I switch the unit back on after more than five minutes in standby. If I switch it back on before five minutes of standby, the volume is still at maximum, which is where I want it as I control all devices using a Harmony remote which always uses the TV volume.[/LIST]
I have done a full power recycle and I installed V5.0.300 before doing anything on the box.

Thank you to automan and others who did so much to uncover faults. I have gained from fixes applied to the faults they found and I probably paid significantly less for the box than early adopters.
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Old 14-07-2011, 09:20
nickdenker
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Bramble - had this box now since day one - and both of these "features" have been on my box all the way through.

Not sure if others happen like this - but the clock on the front display seems a bit pointless as only shows for 5 mins or so.

The volume issue - have stopped putting into standby now.

Is anyone else getting some random hanging every so often for up to a minute or so, when playing back, followed by what seems to be a mini re-boot - just back to blank display then BBC1?? Quite often happens after fast forwarding through adverts, which then follows by video only playing a frame every second or so (with normal audio) - stop and restart to try to resolve and then crash.

I guess some form of memory leak or something?
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Old 14-07-2011, 09:51
Automan
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Not sure about the volume level as I either use my TV volume or my amp.

When you put the box in standby it actually goes to sleep five minutes later and that is when the clock goes off.

Power consumption then drops to below 1 watt.

The only other time the unit shows the time is after it wakes up (15 minutes before a scheduled recording) and while making recording/s while in standby.

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Old 14-07-2011, 10:16
bramble
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Not sure about the volume level as I either use my TV volume or my amp.

When you put the box in standby it actually goes to sleep five minutes later and that is when the clock goes off.

Power consumption then drops to below 1 watt.

The only other time the unit shows the time is after it wakes up (15 minutes before a scheduled recording) and while making recording/s while in standby.

Automan.
The clock going out is not a big issue, but, as nickdenker said, it just seems a bit pointless having it for five minutes.

The volume is an annoyance as I control the volume with my Harmony remote using only the TV volume. To compensate for a low SMT-S7800 volume I have to increase the TV volume such that switching devices leaves it booming out. I might try reporting it as a bug - the Foxsat left its volume at maximum once set. Do other devices not work that way?
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Old 14-07-2011, 11:21
grahamlthompson
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the Foxsat left its volume at maximum once set. Do other devices not work that way?
Put it this way I have never found anything that did not, believe me over the years I have had a few vcrs pvrs and TV's.

They do reset the volume to defaults if you do the equivalent of a reset to factory defaults (including the Foxsat)
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Old 14-07-2011, 12:20
Johnste
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Really considering the Samsung now. Are any more updates expected shortly and what bugs still need attention?
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Old 14-07-2011, 12:48
bramble
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Put it this way I have never found anything that did not, believe me over the years I have had a few vcrs pvrs and TV's.

They do reset the volume to defaults if you do the equivalent of a reset to factory defaults (including the Foxsat)
Thank you, Graham, that confirms my opinion.

I've logged this (losing user volume setting after low power standby) as a "con" in a review on the SMT-S7800 site, but does anyone know if there is a method for reporting it as a fault?
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Old 14-07-2011, 13:19
hairlessheart
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Have you tried changing the sound settings so that that digital volume control is off? On mine, this made for a much louder output, which I use my harmony remote to control through an AV amp.

The clock going out is not a big issue, but, as nickdenker said, it just seems a bit pointless having it for five minutes.

The volume is an annoyance as I control the volume with my Harmony remote using only the TV volume. To compensate for a low SMT-S7800 volume I have to increase the TV volume such that switching devices leaves it booming out. I might try reporting it as a bug - the Foxsat left its volume at maximum once set. Do other devices not work that way?
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Old 14-07-2011, 14:07
Automan
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I have just noted the clock display on my one 15 seconds slow while recording from CHN4 HD.

So perhaps the issue only occurs on some channels?

Automan.
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Old 14-07-2011, 14:22
bramble
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Have you tried changing the sound settings so that that digital volume control is off? On mine, this made for a much louder output, which I use my harmony remote to control through an AV amp.
Brilliant. Thank you. I've now set Dolby Digital/DTS on in sound settings. The volume control on the DTS-S7800 remote no longer has any effect and the volume is exactly as I want it, controlled by the TV volume.

I can now say unreservedly (well, tentatively ) that this is for my purposes a really good DTR.
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Old 14-07-2011, 14:44
grahamlthompson
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Brilliant. Thank you. I've now set Dolby Digital/DTS on in sound settings. The volume control on the DTS-S7800 remote no longer has any effect and the volume is exactly as I want it, controlled by the TV volume.

I can now say unreservedly (well, tentatively ) that this is for my purposes a really good DTR.
Have you tried an SD channel (ie one using MP2 sound). The best arrangement is one that lets you change the volume of MP2 and fixes AC3. You can then adjust MP2 to match AC3.
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Old 14-07-2011, 14:55
bramble
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Have you tried an SD channel (ie one using MP2 sound). The best arrangement is one that lets you change the volume of MP2 and fixes AC3. You can then adjust MP2 to match AC3.
Both SD and HD channels are outputting similar levels with the volume being controlled exclusively by the TV volume. Switching to Freeview on the TV or to my media player delivers a similar sound level, which is exactly how I wanted it. (Sorry i don't know technically what sound formats are being used).
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Old 14-07-2011, 15:07
hairlessheart
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This has been a wonderfully informative thread, if not a little daunting to dive into to begin with, at what is now 34 pages!
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Old 14-07-2011, 15:09
grahamlthompson
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Both SD and HD channels are outputting similar levels with the volume being controlled exclusively by the TV volume. Switching to Freeview on the TV or to my media player delivers a similar sound level, which is exactly how I wanted it. (Sorry i don't know technically what sound formats are being used).
That's fine then. Normally there would be no problem with a seperate TV input as TV's/AV amps usually remember different settings for each input. The problem generally is having two different levels sharing the same input. IE A satellite box outputting a different level for a HD channel using Dolby Digital as compared to a SD channel using mpeg 1 layer 2 compression.
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