Download Golden Media UNI-BOX 9080 CRCI HD PVR COMBO Plus
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TEST REPORT HDTV Receiver Golden Media UNI-BOX 9080 CRCI HD PVR COMBO Plus A PVR Receiver with an Exceptional BlindScan Function •Whoever designed the housing of Golden Media’s UNI-BOX 9080 deserves a pat on the back. It’s very pleasing to the eye and would nicely adorn any TV rack or living room cabinet. The front panel sports an elegant black see-through Plexiglas flap behind which you’ll find eight buttons that can be used to fully control the UNI-BOX 9080 should the remote control go missing. You’ll also find two integrated card readers as well as a CI slot behind this flap. While the card reader is only compatible with the Conax encryption system, the CI slot can communicate with every type of module, for example, Irdeto, Cryptoworks, Seca or Viaccess. 02-03/2011 Golden Media UNI-BOX 9080 CRCI HD PVR COMBO Plus Perfect family receiver but also a top choice for the satellite DXer thanks to its high-speed BlindScan function 10 TELE-satellite — Global Digital TV Magazine — 02-03/2011 — www.TELE-satellite.com TELE-satellite World www.TELE-satellite.com/... Download this report in other languages from the Internet: A VFD display can be found fit your needs. DVB-S2 and in the middle of the front DVB-C as well as DVB-T and panel and is very easy to read DVB-C even if the front panel flap is available from the manufac- closed. When the receiver is turer. combinations are on, it shows information on the currently selected chan- An absolute must for any nel, the time as well as tech- HDTV receiver is an HDMI nical parameters using small output icons. the best possible audio and that can Arabic العربية www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-1103/ara/goldenmedia.pdf Indonesian Indonesia www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-1103/bid/goldenmedia.pdf German Deutsch www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-1103/deu/goldenmedia.pdf English English www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-1103/eng/goldenmedia.pdf Spanish Español www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-1103/esp/goldenmedia.pdf French Français www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-1103/fra/goldenmedia.pdf Hebrew עברית www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-1103/heb/goldenmedia.pdf 中文www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-1103/man/goldenmedia.pdf Chinese Polish Polskiwww.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-1103/pol/goldenmedia.pdf PortuguesePortuguêswww.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-1103/por/goldenmedia.pdf Russian Русский www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-1103/rus/goldenmedia.pdf Turkish Türkçewww.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-1103/tur/goldenmedia.pdf Available online starting from 28 January 2011 provide video quality to the TV. In grammable 0/12V output as trol’s plastic housing, the but- addition manufacturer well as a main power switch tons themselves are covered of this new Golden Media included Scart jacks (for use so that the receiver can be with a slip-free surface that receiver is also a joy. The in Europe), six RCA jacks for completely makes the entire remote con- first thing you notice is the YUV, stereo audio and com- from the power source. two tuners; our test receiver posite video plus an RJ45 came equipped with DVB-S2 jack, an optical digital audio We were also very pleased manual also included in the and tuners. output, an RS232 serial inter- with the included remote con- package must also be men- Since these tuners are plug- face and since this is a PVR trol. It sits comfortable in your tioned. Even though at first in modules, it is possible to box you’ll also find a USB 2.0 hand plus all the buttons are glance it seemed to be some- customize the receiver with port. To top it all off, the rear legibly labeled and organized what unorganized, in the end a combination of tuners that panel also comes with a pro- in a very logical manner. In the user manual was able to contrast to the remote con- answer every question that Looking at the rear panel DVB-T HDTV the disconnected trol comfortable to use. The excellent multi-language user popped up during our tests and should therefore be an outstanding source of information for the user at home. 0.55 All in all, we were very happy with the receiver’s quality; we were impressed with its design and even with the remote control and user manual Golden Media did not spare any expense. When the UNI-BOX 9080 is turned on for the first time, an Installation Assistant did not appear as is the case with many other receivers. But it didn’t really matter; a single push of the Menu button immediately takes you to the Main Menu. And just like the elegant design of the receiver’s housing, the Main Menu is just as elegant and organized. It consists of eight submenus that let you take care of all of the receiver’s settings and also let you access all of the receiver’s functions. Since this is a Combo receiver with two different tuners, the receiver naturally needs to be matched to two www.TELE-satellite.com — 02-03/2011 — TELE-satellite — Global Digital TV Magazine 11 More on This Manufacturer Read TELE-satellite’s Company Report: GOLDEN MEDIA Manufacturer and Distributor, Germany www.cynextra.com receiver with an SCR system, and reliably during our tests. you’re in luck: the UNI-BOX An especially useful feature 9080 single-cable is the audible signal tone that solutions and lets you define can be activated so that it all its required parameters. isn’t necessary to repeatedly The extensive LNB settings look at the TV screen while are expanded even more with aligning the antenna. supports the ability to increase the LNB supply voltage by 0.5V. This www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-1009/eng/goldenmedia.pdf different antenna setups. As UNI-BOX receiver is not yet mentioned before, our test DVB-T2 compatible. receiver came with are run to the antenna is unusu- the receiver itself has been ally long, increasing the LNB matched supply voltage by just 0.5V system, the next step would would be enough to overcome be the channel scan. The any larger-than-normal volt- channel scan is available in age drop that would occur in three different modes: satel- the cable. lite scan, manual transpon- correctly to entered the and antenna der scan and of course the An DVB-T Once all of the settings is a great idea! If your cable especially interesting BlindScan. Even though the feature for those who have receiver comes with two CI reception, older satellite systems would slots and two integrated card the necessary settings and be the 0/12V programmable readers, the channel scan can options are far more exten- RCA output on the back of the be limited to only FTA (free) comes preprogrammed with a sive. manufacturer receiver. It can be individually channels. You can also fur- list of DVB-T settings from a included preprogrammed activated or deactivated via ther limit the scan to TV or total of 17 different regions. list of 44 European satellites. the settings menu for every radio only with one button- Most of these regions are in Unfortunately, Asian, Ameri- satellite entry. push on the remote control. Europe: Great Britain, Ger- can or Oceanic satellites are many, Greece, Slovenia, Den- not to be found in the list and In general we noticed with ahead when it came to the mark, Finland, Italy, Poland, even the included European the UNI-BOX 9080 that the Network scan; in our tests an Russia, Spain, Sweden, The satellite transponder manufacturer at a variety of automatic scan of the HOT- Czech Republic and Slovakia. data is not all that up to date. points in the operating con- BIRD satellites at 13° east There are also settings for On the other hand, we were cept of the receiver incorpo- was completed in just over six Australia. These regional set- impressed with the variety of rated some really wonderful minutes and yielded 1427 TV tings take into account any the available LOF and DiSEqC ideas and bonus features that channels and 395 radio chan- differences there might be settings. make it all the more easier for nels. HDTV and DVB-S2 tuners. For DVB-T, the receiver For DVB-S/S2 The a and Golden Media also thought the end user to play with this from one region to another such as the frequency band The UNI-BOX 9080 sup- box. In the case of satellite used or the channel plan. Nat- ports a range of DiSEqC pro- settings, it would be the auto- wanted to take a closer look urally you can manually scan tocols including 1.0 for the matic DiSEqC recognition. at the DVB-S2 tuner. There each desired frequency in the classic UHF or VHF band with indi- with up to four LNBs, 1.1 for Who hasn’t seen this prob- was SCPC reception with very vidual parameters. The UNI- the dual reflector dish with lem? The signals of multiple low symbolrates or whether BOX 9080 can also supply 5V up to 16 LNBs as well as 1.2 satellites are delivered by a it was reception of very weak at the DVB-T antenna input so and 1.3 (USALS) for use with DiSEqC switch with a single signals. It easily handled our that a signal amplifier could a cable to the receiver but then SCPC test transponder with a be used with an antenna with- available LOF settings were you remember symbolrate of 1.240 Ms/sec. out the need of an external just as extensive: in addition which satellite is connected on INTELSAT 14 at 45° west power supply. to a universal Ku-band LNB, a to what DiSEqC port. For the as well as two very weak tran- C-band LNB can also be con- Golden Media UNI-BOX 9080 sponders on BADR at 26° east The red function button can nected. Thanks to the manual this is no problem at all; with while other similar receivers be used to start a fully auto- LOF entry, less popular LOFs the push of one button, the hardly even recognized those matic channel scan across the that are not preprogrammed receiver automatically looks signals. entire frequency band. In our in the receiver can be manu- at each port to identify which case the scan found all avail- ally entered. port the currently selected Over the past several years satellite is connected to. This we’ve tested quite a variety feature of BlindScan receivers here multifeed motorized The able DVB-T channels in 84 seconds. Unfortunately, the If you want to use this that in mind, we were no hiccups whether it antenna antenna. With 12 TELE-satellite — Global Digital TV Magazine — 02-03/2011 — www.TELE-satellite.com can’t quite functioned quickly 1 at TELE-satellite but it’s safe range nor can you limit the to say that the UNI-BOX 9080 scan to only one polarization. can be ranked as one of the Nevertheless, it’s a function best. We started a BlindScan that’s an absolute ‘must have’ on HOTBIRD at 13° east and for every DXer and feed- were surprised that it finished hunter. the task in just about seven 2 3 minutes. It found 1479 TV The entire installation pro- channels and 430 radio chan- cess is rounded off by two nels. At first we thought the more outstanding features: receiver worked off of a pre- the first is the sub-menu pared channel list; there was “Automatic Installation”. This no other way to explain this feature takes much of the exceptional such setup work away from the a short time. So, we then end-user. In this mode the moved our roof antenna to receiver attempts to identify another satellite and started on its own what satellites – a new BlindScan. The UNI- even through a DiSEqC multi- BOX 9080 identified 287 TV switch – can be received with channels and 143 radio chan- the available equipment. The nels on TÜRKSAT at 42° east; automatic channel scan of all even the narrowband SCPC the receivable satellites can transponders recog- be started with the push of nized and stored in the chan- just one button. This feature nel list. worked very well in our tests result in were and in addition to the usual To compare, we then suspects such as ASTRA performed a channel scan 19.2° without the BlindScan func- 13.0° east, ASTRA2 at 28.2° tion using only the prepro- east and BADR at 26° east grammed transponder data were also recognized without from the manufacturer and any problems. east and HOTBIRD achieved very meager results: 4 only 25 TV and 3 radio chan- The second feature is an nels were found on TÜRKSAT. azimuth and elevation cal- Additional tests of the Blind- culator. You have to enter in Scan function, for example, your local coordinates manu- on EUTELSAT 36° east, con- ally but they can easily be firm its incredible speed and found with Google maps or precision; even the narrowest some other Internet service. bandwidth SCPC transponder In return though, you’ll get all was easily recognized and the necessary parameters to processed. A more precise align your satellite antenna. presentation of the BlindScan 5 test results can be seen in Once the UNI-BOX 9080 Table 1. The only drawback to has been set up with all the the BlindScan function: you local parameters, it would be can’t set a specific frequency a good idea to take care of all HOTBIRD 13° Ost TÜRKSAT 42° Ost EUTELSAT 36° Ost EXPRESS AM44 11° West ■ Table 1: BlindScan Results 7 Minutes 1479 TV and 430 Radio Channels 8 Minutes 287 TV and 143 Radio Channels 10 Minutes 35 TV and 3 Radio Channels 4 Minutes 19 TV and 1 Radio Channels 1. Golden Media UNI-BOX 9080 Start Screen 2. The clear and concise Main Menu 3. Separate settings for DVB-S/2 und DVB-T Reception 4. Region selection for DVB-T reception 5. The extensive settings capabilities in DVB-S/2 mode 14 TELE-satellite — Global Digital TV Magazine — 02-03/2011 — www.TELE-satellite.com 6 11 7 12 8 13 9 14 10 15 16 TELE-satellite — Global Digital TV Magazine — 02-03/2011 — www.TELE-satellite.com 16 21 17 22 18 23 19 6. The UNI-BOX 9080 supports SCR single-cable solutions 7. Channel scan options 8. Automatic recognition of receivable satellites 9. Calculation of Azimuth and Elevation 10. Language selection 11. Eight timer positions are available 12. Various settings possibilities 13. Software update 14. Detailed information on the free space of a USD device 20 15. Network parameters can be set either via DHCP or manually 16. DVB-T channel scan 17. HD channels and encrypted programs are identified in the channel list by their own icons 18. Satellite selection 19. Channel list restricted to Irdeto encrypted channels only 20. Saving the channel list and all settings to a USB Stick 21. Channel list search function 22. Info bar with data on the current and upcoming program 23. Current programs in the EPG overview www.TELE-satellite.com — 02-03/2011 — TELE-satellite — Global Digital TV Magazine 17 the user-defined settings as Indonesian, Slovenian, Swed- the local time difference from ture, some organization will well as matching the TV to the ish, Slovakian as well as a few GMT as well as activate or be needed. For this task the receiver setup. The receiv- other languages. deactivate UNI-BOX 9080 comes with er’s OSD can communicate with you in English, German, French, savings time (summer time). numerous possibilities all pre- As you would expect with sented in a clear and easy-to- Russian, any good DVB-S2 receiver, We were surprised at the understand menu. Just like Spanish, Turkish, Portuguese, the internal real time clock extensive on-screen display with the EPG display and the Arabic, Polish, Ukrainian, Per- (RTC) settings avail- channel list, the red function sian, Romanian, Hungarian, via the satellite signal. The able. In addition to standard button is used to limit the Croatian, user, however, needs to set parameters such as display number of displayed chan- timeout, display position or nels. It can be set to show transparency, you can also only those channels on a spe- set brightness, contrast and cific satellite, those using a color saturation. Be careful specific in adjusting these settings or those from a specific pro- though, as they also affect vider. The list can also be set the displayed TV picture. to display only HD channels 24 Italian, daylight Bulgarian, Czech, is automatically set that were encryption system as well as only those channels 25 When connected to an LCD from one or the other tuner. or plasma TV, the UNI-BOX The remaining channels can 9080 can present the video be renamed, moved, deleted, signal via the HDMI output in locked with a PIN code or 480p, 576p, 720p 50 Hz, 720p skipped over. 60 Hz,1080i 50 Hz and 1080i 26 60 Hz. If you can’t or don’t Especially useful is the abil- want to use the HDMI output, ity to edit entire transponders the signal is also available in all at once, greatly simplify- RGB and YUV. You can also ing this task. Thanks to the select how a 4:3 signal can be powerful displayed on a 16:9 screen. individual channels can be Using a dedicated button on found simply by entering the the remote control, the video first few letters of the channel format can be changed to name. Channels can also be match the currently received moved into one of 32 Favor- signal. ites lists for easy access later. search function, The channel list editing feaAll of these settings capabilities are topped off with tures are also available in the Favorites lists. the ability to select a fast or 27 regular standby mode. In fast Once all the settings have standby mode, the receiver been dealt with, the receiver uses a little more power but has been matched to the comes out of standby much antenna more quickly than in regular channel list has been filled, mode. Additionally, the VFD you can finally leave the Main display Menu. The UNI-BOX 9080 will can be completely system and the turned off in standby mode if then desired. over to the first available automatically switch channel. Once the channel list has been filled (8000 max) with Every time you change a thousands of channels thanks channel, a very detailed Info to the speedy BlindScan fea- bar appears momentarily that 24. The REC button can mark programs for recording directly in the EPG 25. Display of the technical parameters of a channel with a symbolrate of only 1.240 Ms/sec. 26. MP3 playback 27. JPEG display 18 TELE-satellite — Global Digital TV Magazine — 02-03/2011 — www.TELE-satellite.com provides information on the very good and were about tion displayed In the OSD settings you can current and upcoming chan- one second between two dif- channels can once again be select whether to show the nel. The icons that appear let ferent transponders. reduced to a specific satellite, channel list in one, two or package or Favorites. With three columns. A feature that the user know what additional features are included by the The electronic button, the program the help of the yellow func- we don’t see very often is provider. For example, this guide (EPG) also turned out tion button as well as the REC the ability to use the colored could be teletext, subtitles, very well. It can be accessed button, timer entries can be function buttons to display various languages and EPG from a dedicated button on setup directly from the EPG. the EPG data of a channel data to name a few. As is typi- the remote control and is Up to eight timer settings are directly from the channel list. cal with every DVB receiver, available available. It is also possible What could be better than a push of the Info button dis- modes: to set these timers to work skimming through the chan- on a daily, weekly, monthly, nel list and pushing a single in four different plays expanded programming information with a description Current – the current EPG weekday or weekend basis. button to read more about of the program assuming of data from five channels is dis- So, it really doesn’t matter the currently selected pro- course that this data is made played anymore when your favorite gram? Deciding what to watch Next – the EPG data of the TV shows are shown, this out- couldn’t be any easier than next program is shown for standing timer function won’t this. The red function button five channels let you miss any upcoming can also be used to reduce episodes. the channel list to a certain available by the provider. For those more technically oriented, even more information is available by pressing More – EPG data in table format for five channels satellite, provider or content. the red function button: from Schedule – in this mode the If you use the receiver with- This same button can also be PIDs all the way to signal channel list is shown on the out an attached hard drive used to switch between the strength and quality, dozens left side while the EPG data and therefore can’t record two reception modes; in our of parameters are displayed from the next couple of weeks any programs, you can use case it was DVB-T HDTV and that would raise the pulse of for selected the timer function to provide DVB-S2. If you want to make any technician or DXer. channel is shown on the right a user-settable reminder as a small change to the chan- side. to when to switch over to the nel list while the receiver is in desired channel. operation, the UNI-BOX 9080 the currently As far as this receiver’s picture and audio quality are concerned, we were It doesn’t matter which of very the four modes you select, impressed during our tests regardless whether it was provides the necessary tools the for this task in a somewhat they are all put together in Golden Media UNI-BOX 908 slimmed down graphical ver- an and also turned out quite well. sion. The blue function button organized fashion The channel list of an HD or SD channel. Chan- correctly EPG It can be displayed with the provides order in the channel nel switching times were also data. Thanks to the red func- single push of the OK button. list. It can be used to sort the present the 20 TELE-satellite — Global Digital TV Magazine — 02-03/2011 — www.TELE-satellite.com list based on free or encrypted Naturally, the PVR can be be checked using the inte- also be updated via DVB-S, channels, encryption mode as used with both tuners regard- grated speed test function. DVB-T, USB and the RS232 well as alphabetically. All of less of what path the content The external storage devices interface, but in the end, the these channel list features uses to get into the receiver. can be formatted in either Internet is the most widely are available not only in TV If you’re not familiar with the FAT or NTFS. Obviously the used mode but also in radio mode. term PVR, we’d like to take a fact that this would delete required Switching moment and provide a brief any content already on them eters can be obtained by the explanation. received is implied and doesn’t need to receiver button on the remote control. DVB signal is stored digitally be expanded on here. Since DHPC from a local network Thanks to the 32 Favorites and without any signal degra- Golden Media opted for exter- router or they can be manu- lists, thousands of channels dation on an internal or, in our nal storage devices with the ally entered by the user. can be properly organized. case, external storage device. UNI-BOX 9080, recorded con- Each family member can cus- During playback, all of the tent can be easily transferred And to top it all off, the UNI- tomize personal features you have come to to a PC where you can then, BOX 9080 also comes with Favorites list with their favor- know such as Pause and Fast- for example, convert it to a three integrated video games ite channels. Forward/Rewind DVD. that you can use to pass the is between handled their by modes pushing own a The at various speeds are available. Along update method. network The param- automatically via time during those long com- The two internal card read- with this is the Time Shift fea- As with most PVR receiv- ers and the CI slots had to ture that lets you pause a live ers, the Golden Media box also prove themselves using a transmission and then restart can also playback MP3 music We really enjoyed putting variety of modules and cards. it from the point where it was and display your vacation pic- the new UNI-BOX 9080 to the Unfortunately, the card read- stopped when you’re ready tures that were previously test here at our test center. It ers are only Conax compat- to continue watching. So, if stored on an external storage is an extremely user-friendly ible and are therefore limited for example a telephone call device. In our tests, as with receiver in their use. interrupts the movie you were everything else so far, this well thought out. It makes a watching, you can pause the feature functioned perfectly. perfect living room receiver As the name of the receiver movie, carry on your tele- suggests, this box becomes phone conversation and then a true PVR receiver once an mercial breaks. with every detail for the entire family while its storage large selection of features, continue watching that movie devices need not only be used its stable operating software external storage device such after hanging up the phone for the PVR function or for and above all its outstand- as a USB hard drive or USB without missing a thing. storing MP3 and picture data, ing BlindScan function also but they can also be used to make it very interesting for stick is attached. Thanks to These external the speedy USB 2.0 connec- The UNI-BOX 9080 lets you comfortably install new firm- the professional user. Thanks tion, high resolution content time shift and record another ware as well as saving the to its BlindScan function, this can be recorded without any channel at the same time but receiver the receiver has found a perma- problems. it would require a sufficiently channel list. And let’s not nent home here in our test fast storage device which can forget that the firmware can lab. 22 TELE-satellite — Global Digital TV Magazine — 02-03/2011 — www.TELE-satellite.com settings and + Expert Opinion TECHNICAL DATA As a Combo receiver, the UNI-BOX 9080 can receive DVB signals two different ways. The two integrated CI slots and card readers allow operation with a variety of encryption systems. The firmware did not give us any problems during our Thomas Haring tests. TELE-satellite Test Center Up to 8000 channels can be stored in the receivAustria er’s channel memory; this is sufficiently large enough so that this receiver can easily be connected to a motorized antenna system. SCR single-cable solutions are supported as are all the different DiSEqC protocols. Both the DVB-T and DVB-S2 tuners are extremely sensitive; in DVB-S2 mode the receiver had no trouble handling narrowband SCPC signals or very weak signals. The outstanding BlindScan function deserves especially high praise! - Unfortunately, the included satellite and transponder data is not all that up to date and there are only eight free timer positions available. Distributor Golden Media, Cynextra GmbH Stuttgarter Straße 36, D-73635 Rudersberg Tel. +49 (0) 7183 / 30 777-0 Fax +49 (0) 7183 / 30 777-20 [email protected] Websitewww.golden-media.net Model Golden Media UNI-BOX 9080 CRCI HD PVR COMBO Plus Function Digital HDTV dual tuner PVR receiver with various Features & Blindscan, available tuners DVB-T HDTV, DVB-C, DVB-S/S2 Channel Memory8000 Input range DVB-T 170-230 MHz, 470-860 MHz RF-input level DVB-T -70dBm to -8dBm Demodulation DVB-T COFDM 2K/8K Input range DVB-S/2 950-2150 MHz Signal level DVB-S/2 -65dBm to -25 dBm SCPC compatibleyes DiSEqC 1.0 / 1.1 / 1.2 / 1.3 USALSyes HDMI outputyes Scart connectoryes ENERGY Audio/Video outputs DIAGRAM 6x RCA Component video outputyes S-Video outputno UHF modulatorno 0/12V connectoryes Digital audio outputyes EPGyes C/Ku-band compatibleyes PVR-functionyes Apparent Power Active Power Mode Regular StandBy Active Fast StandBy Apparent 5W 27 W 25 W Active 2W 15 W 13 W Factor 0.4 0.55 0.52 USB 2.0 connectoryes Ethernetyes E-SATAno Power supply 100-250V AC 50/60Hz Power consumption 40W max. Dimensions300x231x64mm First 15 minutes: StandBy (regular) - Second 15 minutes: Receiver boot-up, then active operation with channel switching, recording, playback, etc. Third 15 minutes: Fast StandBy Weight2kg Operating temperature 0°C to 45°C www.TELE-satellite.com — 02-03/2011 — TELE-satellite — Global Digital TV Magazine 23