richard123 Posted June 4, 2004 Posted June 4, 2004 Are Mediastar STBs any good? The HD ones go for about $435. Good buy?
richard123 Posted June 4, 2004 Author Posted June 4, 2004 Model: HDT-900 I just bought it for $500. RRP around $900 or so? Specs: DVB-T Standard Compliant COFDM Demodulation HD/SD TV Format Support Dolby Digital AC3 Surround Sound Tuner RF Signal Loop Through Picture Resolution 1080i,720p,576p & 576i S-Video, Composite & YPbPr Picture In Picture Supports 16:9 / Widescreen &4:3 /Letterbox External Video/Audio Input Auto/Quick Channel Search Full Teletext / Subtitles Parental Control RS-232 Software Upgrade Signal Level Indicator Closed Caption Transmission System Terrestrial Input Frequency 51~858 MHz Demodulator COFDM Video Output PAL Voltage (External AC / DC Adaptor) Input: 100 - 240VAC, 50 - 60Hz, 1.2A Output: +12VDC/2A.5VDC/2A Dimensions 189(W) 265 (L) 43 (H) mm Memory Chipset BCM7020 RD0KPB5 Flash 2 MB DRAM 64 MB SDRAM Digital Specifications Video Decoder MPEG2 MP@ HL/MP@ ML Audio Decoder Dolby Digital/ MPEG layer 1&2 Connectors Tuner Input IEC / F Audio RCA L / R SVHS Mini DIN Composite Video RCA jack Serial Data RS - 232
richard123 Posted June 4, 2004 Author Posted June 4, 2004 I have bought it, and it's being delivered to my house in the next week some time. I got it at http://www.graysonline.com.au/ where it sold for $435 plus freight and the 12.5% auction fee - total being about $500. I ended up ringing and then emailing mediastar.com.au and they told me the retail price and sent me a pdf with the spec. I will let you know when I get it, but my review would be limited to channel changing speed etc. as I am just now going from a 17 year old TV to a new Palsonic 86 cm 86WSHDA (which, incidentally, I picked up for $2600 at Harvey Norman without having to haggle and I paid by credit card, so I think you may get it a bit cheaper.... $2400? $2500?). Anyhow - as mediastar is most likely closed for the weekend, I have uploaded the pdf they sent me to: http://www.carbroker.com.au/OPAC_900_DM.pdf It'll be there for 4-5 days or until I decide to take it down or until mediastar put it on their own site.
dongiorgio Posted June 4, 2004 Posted June 4, 2004 if any members wants one of those mediastar units at a good price ,mention my name. the importer is opac pty ltd 02 96185777 ask for jacob or murray the outlet is open on saturday 10-2 aswell.
Mustang Posted June 5, 2004 Posted June 5, 2004 I recently got an HDT-900 from Domayne Penrith store. $589 It’s a rippa box well ahead of everything else on the market. The picture quality is great on my Pioneer HD Plasma. I was able to compare Dgtec and Thompson on the same screen. Watching 9HD on 1080i the MediaStar was the best. I also liked the small size 265cm wide, 43cm high and 189 deep. It comes with a bookshelf cradle. You can have the box upright like a Sony playstation. Since my HIFI cabinet is already full with VCR,DVD,HIFI and Fox boxes I have the HD box upright on the side of the screen. - Runs cool thanks to internal fan. In standby mode the fan shuts down. - The box has AV input, you can connect your Fox,DVD or VCR and it will up convert to component YPbPr you can select to view it on your HD plasma. - Will do PIP within the same stream + the AUX I can watch Fox in the PIP and HD on the main or bring up FOX to full screen. - As well as YPbPr the box has S-Video and normal A/V . The box will down covert HD to normal PAL meaning you can record on normal VCR or view the HD on a standard TV. - I really like the Menu settings are simple and straight forward. - It has program reminder function - The information plate will also show you a program progress bar. You can instantly know if the program is half way or about to finish. - CC key is a close caption direct access key. - Box updates channel changes automatically. When 9 interactive come up on Friday night footy the box updates automatically and you get that extra channel without having to rescan. I am very happy with it. Definitely top dog of the day.
Basil1503559642 Posted June 6, 2004 Posted June 6, 2004 well as YPbPr the box has S-Video and normal A/V . The box will down covert HD to normal PAL meaning you can record on normal VCR or view the HD on a standard TV. -Hi Mustang Just confirming , will the Box will do SDTV thru component connections ?. My neighbour has asked for help in choosing a STB, his Sony TV(SD) has component inputs(no S Video) so may as well use them. Regards Basil.
dogsrus Posted June 6, 2004 Posted June 6, 2004 So, am I right in reading that this box will upscale through its inputs to HD???? If so, how good is it???
Mustang Posted June 7, 2004 Posted June 7, 2004 So, am I right in reading that this box will upscale through its inputs to HD???? If so, how good is it??? Yes, I have Fox into the HDT900 AV inputs. I can watch 9 HD and activate PIP will show FOX in the PIP window. I can also select AUX will show FOX full screen. The screen is connected via Component YPbPr running 1080i so it must be up converting. There’re no connections between the screen and Fox. To answer your question I did not notice much difference between a direct connection “Fox-screen” compared with via the HDT-900.
bosustow Posted June 15, 2004 Posted June 15, 2004 Hi Mustang I have a Thomson HD box, but am thinking of getting this box. While the Thomson box is good picture quality, I would like a box with auto switching, when you go from channel 90 HD 1080i, to channel 9 SD 576i does the box auto switch to that resolution our does it stay on 1080i. So in your opinion (I have a Pioneer 50" plasma as well) the HDT900 gives a better picture than the Thomson. Have you noticed any compatability problems with the HDT900 and the plasma??, I also have a Tosh 23A and had real problems with the HD picture, Pioneer finally admitted it and sent me the Thomson for free beacuse of this. I am also currently trying out the new Tosh 25A with my Pioneer but the same problems exist. So while I have compared Thomson v Tosh, I prefer the pricture of the Tosh it looks more vibrant than the Thomson, because of the HD problems I was going to keep the Thomson I was given, however if the picture is better on HDT900 then this could be the box for me.
Mustang Posted June 16, 2004 Posted June 16, 2004 The Toshi and Mediastar have similar features and picture quality is the same. The Mediastar is less then a quarter the size of the Toshi Comes with a bookshelf bracket. Runs cool thanks to a cooling fan Menu is more user friendly then the Toshi The price is also friendlier
yossarian17 Posted June 16, 2004 Posted June 16, 2004 Mustang, have you had any problems with reception? I'm looking for a replacement for my QTR2140 that seems overlty sensitive to electical noise interference>
Mustang Posted June 16, 2004 Posted June 16, 2004 Electronic noise interference. Before considering a new box have a go at improving your cabling, antenna setup and isolate your AV setup. Try quad shield RG6 cable between antenna and your box and keep it well away from any power lines. Active diplexer or signal booster can introduce electrical interference. Try better quality AV / Component cables and keep them away from any other AV cables or AC lines.
yossarian17 Posted June 17, 2004 Posted June 17, 2004 Mustang - over the last 4 months done all that, plus a bit more (surge protectors/power conditioners, earth the antenna pole, ferrite donuts on leads, etc ) Obviously you've had no problems with yours?
bosustow Posted June 17, 2004 Posted June 17, 2004 Mustang, I assume the Mediastar does noy have auto video switching when going from HD to SD, ie the Medistar just inputs out 1080i for all channels if set to this.
Mustang Posted June 17, 2004 Posted June 17, 2004 Regardless of the "Video Format" you select 1080i, 720p, 576p or 576i I can view all the channels HD or SD by simply selecting the channel from the list or by keying the numbers say 7 will bring up 7SD, 07 will show 7HD etc… If you view an SD channels and the video format is 1080i the box will up convert to 1080i, the Resolution remains the original (PAL) picture. As mentioned before the box has also an A/V input “AUX” You can hook up Fox, DVD or VCR and view it in the PIP or full screen. The box will up convert to whatever Format you have selected. In other words you can run FOX on your Plasma receiving the signal via the YPbPr component. At the same time the L/R audio input is converted to digital PCM outputted via the SPDIF. A clever little box.
bosustow Posted June 17, 2004 Posted June 17, 2004 Thanks Mustang With the Toshiba you select auto, and it will adjust the picture to resolution being received eg 1080 for channel 90HD, or 576p for channel 70 it swiches to thta resolution. This one will just always try to upconvert to 1080 if set at that switch, I always thought that this effected the picture quality of the SD program, ie you got a better picture quality for something set for: 576i to 576i (as Tosh auto would do) rather than 576i to 1080i (as you have said the resolution is still PAL) However I am not sure, once again thanks for your feed back
richard123 Posted June 17, 2004 Author Posted June 17, 2004 I received my STB the other day (the HDT900 ). I already have a Visionplus tuner card in my PC and I compared the 2 side by side on the ch 9 HD demo. The VP card is just a smidgeon better. It's only noticeable in one place - where the camera zooms out and pans away from a big tree with purple flowers. The HDT900 just has a small amount of pixelation, whereas the VP card has a tiny amount. Overall, the HDT900 is an excellent unit with reasonably fast channel changes. I run it in 1080i mode. The VP card runs in 720p (or actually 768p) because I can't find a working way to output 1080i from my video card in the PC. The only annoyances are: 1. I can't understand (yet? I will ring Mediastar tomorrow) how the "favourites" work. Pressing the Favourites button does nothing at all. 2. My wife is hopelessly lost and frequently asks me how to turn the unit on, and how to channel surf. Actually, I mentioned the second point to a neighbour. They recently bought a STB (not a Mediastar, but it doesn't matter I don't think), and their usage of the TV has reduced dramatically as a result of "everything is so complicated now". It takes about 5 button pushes to turn the TV on, and about a minute to change channels (finding the right one amongst all the network channels). I suppose one day, the designers will wake up to the fact that this new technology won't fly until they make it simple.
Mustang Posted June 19, 2004 Posted June 19, 2004 Reply to richard123 Favourite: Press select button first then “favourite” will bring up Fav 1 or 2 provided you have created a FAV 1 or 2 in the Favourite menu. Creating Fav list. Press menu > Ch Manager > Favourite select to choose your favorites. Once you finish press menu will exit the whole menu at once. On/of is a simple red button on the top lefty corner of the remote. Channel surf is simple press the select key and the channel list will appear highlight Ch-/+ the channel you want to watch press Select and the channel is running.
richard123 Posted June 19, 2004 Author Posted June 19, 2004 Thank you, Mustang. YOur tip (in a previous post) re channels 10,12 and 2,20 etc. to change channels worked well too. This STB is even better than I first thought when I got it. I was watching "Amnesia" last night on the ABC, and it was superb.
ozthunder Posted June 23, 2004 Posted June 23, 2004 I am new to the world of digital TV. I am thinking of getting a widescreen 76cm TV and this box. 2. My wife is hopelessly lost and frequently asks me how to turn the unit on, and how to channel surf. However this comment has me worried. I too have a wife that likes things as simple as possible. She will want to just be able to press a channel UP and channel DOWN button. Does this box do that? Thanks Michael
Mustang Posted June 25, 2004 Posted June 25, 2004 Mediastar have released a new HDT-1100 same compact size as the HDT-900 but has infra red remote extender. The box can be hidden up to 3 meters from the display. It also has a full on active EPG (Electronic Program guide) with picture in graphics The front display can be rotated for Vertical set-up using the bookshelf bracket or Horizontal.
Mustang Posted June 25, 2004 Posted June 25, 2004 2. My wife is hopelessly lost and frequently asks me how to turn the unit on, and how to channel surf. However this comment has me worried. I too have a wife that likes things as simple as possible. She will want to just be able to press a channel UP and channel DOWN button. Does this box do that? Thanks Michael In your favourite list you can narrow it down to the channels you want. Once you have created the favourite its simple channel surfing. Press select will bring the selected list, Up / Down to highlight the channel and select to view. Or. You can press 7 9 or 10 on the remote number keys will bring up the corresponding channels. In other words if you press 7 that channel will be viewed.
richard123 Posted June 27, 2004 Author Posted June 27, 2004 I am new to the world of digital TV. I am thinking of getting a widescreen 76cm TV and this box.2. My wife is hopelessly lost and frequently asks me how to turn the unit on, and how to channel surf. However this comment has me worried. I too have a wife that likes things as simple as possible. She will want to just be able to press a channel UP and channel DOWN button. Does this box do that? Thanks Michael Neither her or I use the favourite feature. Instead, she keeps it very simple by pressing 2 for channel 2 7 for 7 9 for 9 10 for 10 28 for 28 ... it's very much acceptable for channel surfing The HD channels are 20 for ch. 2 70 for 7 90 for 9 12 for 10 (and I'm not sure about SBS off the top of my head). I have discovered an issue with the box, though, and I will be contacting Mediastar about it. It drops the sound when watching HD. About 1-2 seconds (i.e. significant enough to be annoying) and about 7 times per hour of watching. Has anyone else seen this?
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