I'm curious about one point on recording. Does the Digihome (and clones) just record the incoming data stream for the channel selected or does it do any processing as part of the recording process? In other words, does the processor have to work harder during playback (and decoding of the live streams) than when recording?

The reason I ask is that I watched a program last night which had been recorded with the box in standby. There were one or two slight momentary jumps with the picure and sound but when I rewound and played it again, it was fine. Obviously, thats far better than having a iffy recording.

If (as has been suggested) any jumping that occurs is when the signal isn't perfect, it is presumably because the box has to work harder to decode a data stream that contains errors. Does this sound right?

I'm trying to work out what processes and actions stress the box most - so I can avoid doing it and get the best results. If recording is not too processor intensive, I might be more inclined to try the dual record firmware.

Thanks all!

PS If any of this sound like a moan, it's not meant to be! For the money, I think this is a very good box and I'm very happy with it.

These are the questions I've been trying to work out too . I assume when recording, the raw streams are just saved to disk (certainly, I don't think the Digihome applies any compression), but error correction probably has to happen at this stage, I would think. Interesting that you found that the recording played better a second time - I usually find that it jumps always at the same place no matter how many of times I try, so obviously the recording is screwed up a bit.

Regarding playback, I half wonder if the Digihome does some simple image processing on the decoded stream to improve image quality (helping to reduce mpeg artefacts, for example). The only reason I think that is for two reasons:

1. When I compared it to my old Sagem PVR's output, I found the Sagem to have more mpeg artefacts, so the Digihome output looked better.

2. When you view the same channel PIP as on the main display you will notice that the PIP is 0.5 seconds or so ahead of the main picture. This may just be because the render time for the PIP is quicker.

I'm trying to pinpoint the reason for the recording jumping - certainly signal is a factor, but even with a good signal things aren't perfect. I've noticed the way it jumps has differed between software versions too. Jumps on 4.9 and below, and maybe even 5.3, tend to just be a slight pause in the video and then it speeds up and catches up with itself. The audio remains ok throughout. Whereas the jumps on the twin record software are much more prominent - cuts in the audio, mpeg artefacts, etc. So, I would guess that the software can be improved, and it's not just signal quality that is the problem.

Anyway, that's my view on the subject - not that it helps much factually

In a new thread today titled "Filesystem" fishears has connected his hard drive to his PC and determined that it is formatted as linux partitions. Each recording is in its own folder and is broken down into several files. A little like split VOB files on DVDs I suspect. I wonder if the jumps occur when the playback or recording crosses one of the file splits? If this is the case, it is a 'bug' that could perhaps be fixed in a future firmware update.
Last edited by Technonotice : 15-02-2007 at 16:07

Of course, having said it only occurs on playback, there was one glitch yesterday that WAS on the recording.

Obviously, if an increase in error correction is root cause, then it could occur at any point during recording or playback.


I'd noticed that too but hadn't but hadn't thought it though.


Is your experience that 5.3 is the most solid? My Dual is on 4.9 and I'm waiting for an OAD update to 5.3 but nothing seems to be scheduled at present.


But at least you aren't alone in your confusion!

Well, 4.9 was perhaps the breakthrough version - I first had 3.9 which was a little temperamental to say the least. I've not noticed much difference between 4.9 and 5.3, but it certainly isn't any worse than 4.9, so from that logic 5.3 is most likely better than 4.9. Perhaps that's stating the obvious, but as an ex-Sagem PVR owner, it is hard to adjust to software updates that don't break stuff that was working before