Download Golden Interstar DVB-T/S 8300 CI Premium Digital and Terrestrial

TEST REPORT
Satellite & Terrestrial Receiver
Golden Interstar
DVB-T/S 8300 CI Premium
Digital and Terrestrial Plus Spectrum Analyzer!
Digital satellite TV has already found its way into over a million homes in Europe while the
a dark-colored glass panel behind which can
changeover of terrestrial TV from analog to digital in many of the old world countries is taking
be found the four-digit display and the infra-
its time. If you are interested in both of these methods then you definitely should not skip
red receiver for the remote control. Along-
over this test report.
side are the buttons for channel selection,
volume control and on/standby arranged in
a half circle.
The DVB-T/S 8300 CI Premium is one of the
And this is just what is printed on the
newest receivers to come out of the German
receiver‘s box leaving you with the idea that
To the right is a flap under which can be
manufacturer Golden Interstar and its list of
this is a technologically advanced and reli-
found two SmartCard slots as well as slots
features promise quite a lot: two tuners - one
able product. We took a closer look at the
for two CAM modules making this receiver
for digital satellite reception and the other for
8300 CI Premium to see if it could deliver
compatible with the reception of PayTV sig-
digital terrestrial signals - enough memory
everything as promised.
nals.
for up to 6000 channels on as many as 1000
The design of the box is simple yet ele-
A Menu button and an OK button are also
gant. Two thirds of the front is enclosed in
to be found behind this flap. Together with
transponders, every DiSEqC protocol plus
USALS and to top it off a two-year warranty.
TELE-satellite International — www.TELE-satellite.com
Satellite & Terrestrial Receiver TEST REPORT
the channel up/down buttons and the volume
These settings are only first found in the
nothing appears to have been left out in
control buttons, all of the system settings
third submenu.
for this box can be handled directly from the
are English, French, German, Arabic, Per-
a desired satellite, a channel scan can be
front panel.
sian, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Czech, Greek,
started by simply pressing the blue button
Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, Hungarian and
on the remote control.
The available languages
This is an intelligent solution for those
Italian even though the printed user manual
moments when you discover that the remote
indicates that only eight languages are avail-
control needs a new set of batteries.
able.
It is
the channel scan settings.
After selecting
In addition to a progress bar graph,
Golden Interstar was confident enough to
unfortunate that the manufacturer didn‘t
also included an elapsed time indicator (min-
think to include an Exit button as well; it‘s
In the installation you must first choose
utes and seconds) for the channel scan. 75
easy enough to get into all the menus but
between satellite and terrestrial. In satellite
Astra transponders were scanned in just
getting out is a little bit more involved.
mode a list of all the preprogrammed satel-
3 minutes and 26 seconds.
lite positions is displayed on the left side of
achievement considering that we activated
the screen.
the Network scan and searched for all avail-
Looking at the rear panel you will find an
input for the satellite antenna, an input for
digital terrestrial signals plus one for standard terrestrial channels.
An incredible
able channels!
The 8300 CI Premium has 83 of these
positions with additional positions that can
The scan of terrestrial channels follows a
be added manually. All of the current set-
similar path.
All of these three inputs also have corre-
tings for the selected satellite are shown in
for all available digital channels in Europe or
sponding looped-through outputs with the
a window on the right side. Here you can
a manual scan on a particular channel fre-
standard terrestrial output connected to a
not only select the local oscillator frequency
quency. The Astra position alone delivers
modulator. In addition to the two Scart con-
(LOF), the DiSEqC settings or activate a
over 1000 TV and radio channels. If recep-
nectors for a TV and VCR, there‘s also a set
Network scan, but you can also view the
tion is expanded to multiple satellites, the
of three RCA jacks that provide composite
signal strength and quality in a spectrum
number of channels will, of course, increase
video and stereo audio outputs plus there‘s
analyzer display for every transponder from
dramatically. Naturally some form of organi-
extra connectors for a 0/12-volt programma-
the selected satellite.
zation of all these channels is necessary. For
ble output and an S/PDIF output for digital
audio.
It can be an automatic scan
starters, channels can be individually moved
This feature is extremely helpful when
into one of the eight Favorites lists.
precisely aligning the antenna since in specThe remote control is not too big and not
trum analyzer mode the signal strength and
In many cases this is where the user-
too small and is light and easy to use. We
quality is displayed as two moving lines of
friendliness typically comes to an end. What
would have preferred to see the volume con-
different colors. What resembles the lines
good is a high-speed channel scan and lots
trols set apart from the ring buttons so that
on a medical chart help to precisely map
of channel memory when it will take you an
the ring buttons could be used for other com-
signal changes as the result of moving the
entire weekend just to sort through all the
mands, but this is really our own impression
antenna.
channels and move them into appropriate
and doesn‘t in any way take away from the
type of display is that instead of having just
overall ergonomics of the remote control.
a display of the signal conditions at that
The supreme advantage to this
Favorites lists?
moment, the overall results of moving the
Fortunately, the 8300 CI Premium did not
Everyday Use
antenna around can be seen at the same
disappoint us here. In the Channel Editing
time making it easier to interpret and ulti-
submenu we find a two-column display with
After turning on the receiver for the first
mately correct the alignment.
the entire channel list on the left side and the
time or after the box is reset to its default
settings, the main menu will first appear
Favorites list on the right side. Simply select
Should a DiSEqC motor also be connected,
the desired channel and push the OK button
these settings can also be taken care of in
to move the channel over to the Favorites
For less experienced
this menu. In the Transponder Settings sub-
list. It doesn‘t get easier than this.
users it might have made more sense to
menu, transponders can be edited, added
make the menu language selection the first
or individually scanned.
The manual entry
Golden Interstar suggests that its channel
step before doing anything else.
of PID data is also possible here. All in all,
switching time is extremely fast. In practice,
in English.
The submenu „Installation“ is
already highlighted.
www.TELE-satellite.com — TELE-satellite International
nearly a full second was needed from the
nel number and name as well as the satellite
CI Premium.
time a new channel is selected to the point
with transponder frequency and symbols for
tion to let you enlarge portions of the video
where it actually appears on the screen.
FTA/CAS, teletext, audio options and paren-
image. Even this tool is becoming available
Within the same transponder this time is
tal controls.
in more and more receivers even though the
somewhat faster and when switching over to
There‘s even a Zoom func-
actual usefulness of this feature still remains
an encrypted channel you actually need to
The signal strength can be displayed either
wait a little longer. This is nothing to write
in bar graph form or in spectrum analyzer
home about but at the same time it is nothing
form. Unfortunately, the title of the current
to complain about either.
program is not automatically displayed. This
much more important.
only appears with an additional push of the
button on the remote displays a seven-day
Info button.
preview of the current channel. The direc-
The waiting time can be indirectly shortened by selecting the fading option in the
user settings menu.
This will let the old
to be seen.
A good Electronic Program Guide (EPG) is
A push of the EPG
tional buttons can be used to change chan-
channel fade out and the new channel fade
It seems that it has become a prerequisite
in - something that is quite pleasant to the
for a receiver to come with a variety of video
EPG is designed with clarity and loads the
eyes.
games to pass the time during long commer-
data reasonably fast and then reliably dis-
cial breaks. This is no different with the 8300
plays this information.
The menus are clearly laid out and permit
quick and easy navigation to the individual
submenus. The overall design, with its background colors and outlines, is a very pleasant experience and all of the functions in the
8300 CI Premium can be found where they
would normally be expected.
The Info bar that appears for a userdefined number of seconds when switching
+
nels and also select the preview day.
The
Expert conclusion
A solid and good-looking receiver for satellite and terrestrial
reception. Fast software and excellent options for aligning a satellite
antenna manually or with a DiSEqC motor. Let‘s not forget the turbocharged channel scan.
-
The OSD design is for our tastes a little bit too colorful.
Armin Gottwald
TELE-satellite
Test Center
Austria
to another channel or when the Info button
is pushed on the remote, displays the chanwww.TELE-satellite.com — TELE-satellite International
TEST REPORT Satellite & Terrestrial Receiver Info-Box
Main menu
Golden Interstar DVB-T/S
8300 CI Premium
Digital FTA+CI satellite
and terrestrial receiver
TECHNICAL
Distributor
Golden Interstar GmbH
Stuttgarter Str. 36,
73635 Rudersberg, Germany
Fax
+49 7183 30594 20
Email
[email protected]
SATELLITE
INTERNATIONAL
RESULT
TEST
DATA
Internet
www.golden-interstar.com
Model
DVB-T/S 8300 CI Premium
Function
Digital FTA + CI satellite and
terrestrial receiver
Channel memory
6000
Satellites
83 pre-programmed
Symbol rate
1 ~ 45 Ms/sec
DiSEqC
1.0 / 1.1 / 1.2
USALS
Yes
Programmable
0/12 V Yes
Digital Audio Output
S/PDIF (optical)
Scart connectors
2
Video/Stereo Audio Output
3 x RCA
Colour system
PAL, NTSC
S-VHS Output
No
Modulator
Yes
SCPC compatible
Yes
EPG
Yes
Teletext
Yes (OSD und VBI,
only OSD available in test)
Power Supply
100 –250 VAC
Power Consumption
25 W max.
Motor setting
EPG
Info
Features
Channel Memory
Channel list
Channel
Scan Speed
Channel
Switching Speed
Video Quality
Audio Quality
Tuner Sensitivity
TELE
TELE-satellite International — www.TELE-satellite.com
Satellite setup